Bata Shoe Museum

Address	327 Bloor Street West
Admission	Adult tickets cost $8 CAN, although you can get family packages (1 adult and up to 4 children cost $12 CAN, while 2 adults and up to 4 children cost $20 CAN). Thursday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. are free.
Hours	Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone	1-416- 979-7799
Website	www.batashoemuseum.ca

This museum houses over 10,000 different shoes in four separate galleries. You’ll find everything from ancient Egyptian sandals to Chinese bound foot shoes, chronicling more than 4,500 years of shoe history. But nothing will excite the kids more than the Walk of Fame exhibit, which features a growing collection of famous people’s footwear. Curious to see what shoes Canadian star Donovan Bailey used while sprinting across the finish line? You’ll find his Adidas sprinting shoe from 1997 on display. More interested in popular culture? Marilyn Monroe’s red leather pumps can be found there, as well as John Lennon’s purple “Beatle Boot”.

There is a lot to learn about the history of footwear, and the Bata Shoe Museum ensures you’ll take note of it all. For example, its display of Latin and Central American shoes includes notes about how the most common shoes in Mexico and the Andean countries five centuries ago were thick leather sandals with layered soles. Bolivian clogs were often colorful and decorated with silver, denoting European influence. Meanwhile, its exhibit that spotlights Indian footwear makes note of the importance of shoes in religious and social life. If you want to learn all that you can about the museum’s exhibits, ask for a guided tour, which are available by reservation.