Bata Shoe Museum: Discover Footwear History
4.5
57 Ratings
Toronto
Discover the fascinating history of footwear at the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. Explore over 4,500 years of styles and see celebrity shoes in this award-winning museum.
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Bata Shoe Museum - EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

In addition to our popular semi-permanent exhibition, All About Shoes, the Museum has three galleries for changing exhibitions, ensuring that each visit to the museum offers a new experience. Exhibitions generally run for a year, with 1-2 new exhibitions opening each year. Through the creation of innovative exhibitions the Museum strives to enlighten and entertain visitors of all ages.

What's Included
  • Bring your own Wi-Fi enabled device for Audio Guide.
What's Not Included
  • Transportation to/from attractions
  • Parking
  • Museum Lectures and Workshops
  • Guided Group Visits - The Museum is designed to be “self-guided”
Additional Information

Experience the wonders of the globally recognized Canadian shoe museum, the Bata Shoe Museum, positioned in Toronto. It is home to over a thousand shoes and corresponding items (out of a total collection of more than 13,000), all housed within an acclaimed five-story building designed by architect Raymond Moriyama.

The BSM honors the aesthetic and practical aspects of footwear within its four magnificent galleries. Showcased footwear varies from Chinese foot binding shoes and ancient Egyptian sandals to clogs designed for crushing chestnuts and showy platform shoes. By reflecting on over 4,500 years of history and displaying a collection of celebrity shoes from the 20th-century in its semi-permanent exhibition, All About Shoes, a dynamic and insightful journey awaits. The museum’s three additional galleries host rotating exhibitions, ensuring something fresh and novel at every visit.

  • Here at the Bata Shoe Museum, we are committed to keeping our staff and visitors safe. As such, we have created a cleaning protocol in response to the COVID-19 crisis. These measures, however, do not guarantee that surfaces that have frequent contact will be 100% clean at all times, given that they are regularly in use. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you take the following steps. The best way to prevent infection is to follow the recommended personal hygiene measures. These prevention measures include: • Practice physical distancing and wear a face mask in public • Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 15 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands • Avoid close contact with people who are ill • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then immediately throw the tissue in the garbage and wash your hands
Location
Bata Shoe Museum
327 Bloor St W, (at St. George St.)
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.5
(57 Ratings)
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Jodieann_w
Apr 28, 2024
Fun time - This was a great place to visit. You wouldn’t think there’s a lot to learn about shoes but that’s where you’d be wrong. The way how the exhibits were structured was amazing. My mother and I took a journey through time and saw how far shoes have progressed. The cultural and religious impact in their creation is something I didn’t know but now I do. Definitely worthwhile and it doesn’t take much time to get through each exhibit.
Review provided by Viator
Susan_c
Apr 24, 2024
Enlightening and delightfull - The information about the pieces and acknowledgement of the artisans and collaborators makes it far more than a display of artifacts, particularly for the Indigenous pieces. Loved the ‘80’s exhibit too!
Review provided by Viator
Jean_c
Apr 7, 2024
Clever - This was such a great experience. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Very clever and fun displays. Even the outside of the building is clever
Review provided by Viator
Venture03025292707
Mar 5, 2024
Bata Shoe Museum Review - It is not a long experience but the museum is packed with information and a lot of interesting shoes! Perfect for anyone with about 2 hours to space. I highly recommend it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tina_j
Jan 21, 2024
Bata Shoe Museum - Great little museum! Loved the '80's section, it was like a walk through my high school days. We spent about 90 minutes walking though, interesting collection of shoes.
Review provided by Viator
Mayuriassudani
Nov 24, 2023
Must visit - It has been the most memorable experience in a shoe museum. I really liked how detailed the history with each creation was. All exhibits were brilliant. A must visit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christine
Nov 5, 2023
Worth the visit - I love it. So many different kinds of shoes and history, I couldn't help but wonder how people walked in them! Really short visit 30 mins tops.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carriekd1479zm
Oct 22, 2023
If you have a love for shoes, this is the place to go visit! - Loved this place! Its a very nicely designed museum and created the essence of what shoes are all about from a historical standpoint. I highly encourage anyone who loves and is passionate about shoes to check this place out! Gift shop was really great an offered a variety of items for the shoe lover! FYI: I didn’t need to pay more for a ‘skip the lines pass’ as there wasn’t a line any didn’t sense that wait times or a long line would ever be an issue.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Delisa_p
Aug 13, 2023
If you like art, fashion and need inspiration, this is the place for you - I really like the museum. The displays were intricate and unique. There are four floors of history and unique styles. This museum is inspirational for all that like art, fashion and need inspiration.
Review provided by Viator
848jeannined
May 25, 2023
A Wonderful Experience - My friends were delighted with the experience. We all learned a lot about something we tend to take for granted. We thought the floral exhibit was exceptional. We also appreciated the eateries near by.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 9 guests
1 Adult
April 2024
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