While London Ontario is not the tourist mecca London UK is, it has its charms. It can legitimately be called “The Forest City” as there are many tree canopied streets in the residential areas as well as along the Thames River. Yes, many of the early Canadian settlers named rivers, villages and towns after places they moved from in Europe.

And yes, Canada’s London does have some fun tourist attractions including two year-round public markets – Covent Garden Market in its downtown and Market at Western Fair District which both feature local food and crafts vendors. History buffs will want to visit the Middlesex County Court house, built in 1829 to resemble the Castle of Malahide in Dublin. Culture vultures will love Museum London which features exhibitions of local artists and travelling exhibits and perhaps a play at the Grand Theatre. Those who like gardens will want to visit Eldon House and Storybook Gardens.

London’s Normal School built in 1900 is now a YMCA Education Centre.

Architectural Find

But for me, the challenge when travelling anywhere is always to find the hidden gems, the off-the-beaten path places you don’t find in the typical tourist guides. For example, London’s Wortley Village is home to a quirky main street with a café, several boutiques, a pub (with live music on the weekends, including a fun jam on Sunday afternoons) and a quaint Home Hardware store. Jane Jacobs, the renowned mid 20thcentury community enrichment advocate, would love Wortley Village with its mix of local vendors in mix of older buildings with diverse architectural designs.

It is also home to one of London’s signature heritage buildings, London’s Normal School (156 Elmwood Avenue East) which is mixture of Romanesque and Gothic revival architecture, what some call High Victorian architecture. When you first see it, you can’t help but think this must be a church or an old city hall as it is huge – they definitely don’t build schools like this anymore! It provided teacher training from 1900 until 1956 and then was junior high school until 1963, when it became London Board of Education headquarters until 2005. After being vacant 10+ years the YMCA moved in to create the YMCA Wortley Education Centre.

And, the Normal School is not the only fun architectural find in Wortley Village. Wander the residential streets and you will be treated to dozens of heritage homes each with their own charm. (photos of homes, including ice cream house and contemporary infill house)

Wortley Village is an eclectic collection of buildings including several early 20th century homes that have been converted into retail, cafe and restaurant spaces. It also includes a library and major grocery store as well as its own hardware store.

Wortley Roadhouse offers live music on the weekends and a popular Sunday afternoon jam.

This church has been converted to apartments.

Loved the ornamentation of the heritage homes.

And yes there were a few modern infill homes.

Suburban Markets

In addition to London’s two inner-city public markets, there are several boutique markets in the ‘burbs. One of our favourites is Angelo’s Italian Bakery & Market, located at 755 Wonderland Rd W, across the street from the Costco Gas Bar. Here you will find not only a mini market but a bakery that offers up the largest selection of different breads I have ever encountered (see photos), as well as large selection of cakes and pastries. Grab something there or stop by the food bar with sandwich, pasta and pizza stations. It is always animated by the locals.

Unger’s Market (1010 Gainsborough Road) is even further out in the ‘burbs, but definitely worth dropping by if you are nearby. The Unger Family (German Mennonite) immigrated to Canada in 1925, but didn’t start to sell their homegrown vegetables until 1984. Though the space is small it is packed with fresh fruits, vegetables and includes a bakery and butcher shop (renowned for its meats). It even has clothing and charming café. It is the perfect place to stop for a coffee butter tart.

Hot Tip: Next to Unger’s is the Scoop Cream shop, serving Shaw’s Ice Cream. Founded in 1948 by Carl Shaw in St. Thomas, it is now owned by three sisters from Tillsonburg and who expanded the business and opened up a state-of-art ice cream plant in their hometown. Shaw ice cream is legendary in southwestern Ontario.

Unger’s market doesn’t look like much from the outside, but wait until you get inside.

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the butter tart shelves.

The Scoop was closed for the winter, but it still created a fun sense of place upon arrival.

Artisan Bakery

Speaking of bakeries and cafes, Artisan Bakery (864 Dundas St) in a heritage building in Old East Village is worth a visit – the sandwiches are huge and delicious. The artisan bread was the best I have had in a long while. Yes, it is in the “roughest” part of town, but it makes perfect sense when you know one of the owners, Brie Sims is a mental health and addictions advocate with a degree in social work. The other owner is Sean Hannam, a Red Seal Chef passionate about sourdough breads and Viennoiserie (breakfast pastries in the style of Vienna). A perfect match for this location.

The Chef’s Table

Speaking of chefs, one of the things we like to do when visiting a new city is to see if there is a Culinary School with a public restaurant that offers lunch and dinner. And we lucked out as London’s Fanshawe College’s The Chef’s Table is located right downtown at 130 Dundas Street. We loved the ambience (great windows to the street as it was once the Kingsmill’s department store), the food and how hard the students were working to be professional with their service.

Note: The restaurant is only open Monday to Friday, 11am to 1:30 pm for lunch and 5 pm to 8 pm for dinner. Probably best to phone ahead to check if open given school terms, as our experience is post-secondary culinary school restaurants are only open during school terms.

There is also a Café and Market just down the hall of building - great if you want a quick bite or a coffee and maybe treat to go. It is a great opportunity to mix and mingle with the students.

Hot Tip: You can get yummy butter tarts for $1 at the Market. Butter tarts are an iconic Ontario treat, popular with early pioneers (and me)! The earliest published recipe dates to the 1900 Women’s Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook in Barrie, Ontario. Traditionally, butter tarts were made with corn syrup, but in some places today they are made with maple syrup. And there is an ongoing debate whether you can add raisins or not!

Bibliophiles Binging

London is home to three unique bookstores. One is in the lobby of the Central Library, where they sell a respectable selection of books they are deaccessioning. The other two are operated by Goodwill - one at 1044 Adelaide St N and the other at 979 Wellington Rd, both are smaller thrift stores devoted to the selling of books.

While the prices in all three bookstores are a bit higher than you would find at a typical thrift store, the fact the books are curated and in great shape, saves a lot of time. I always find something to take home.

I didn’t buy this book but it was a fun flaneur find. I did buy a first edition Francis Bacon biographer book.

Crazy Ceramics

Finally, if you are into ceramics and pottery, you must visit Jonathon Bancroft-Snell Gallery in downtown (258 Dundas Street). It is Canada’s largest private gallery devoted to Canada’s leading ceramic artists. And yes, they do have some crazy ceramic artworks, as well as some more traditional ones, and a selection of functional pottery. Every five years, they organize a major ceramics exhibition titled “Matter of Clay” featuring work by Canada’s leading ceramic artists – next one is in August 2025. I should start planning now.

FYI: The Chef’s Table, Central Library and Johnathan’s are all within a block of each other on Dundas.

This self-portrait art work was in the window and is by Kirsten Abrahamson, who I ironically know and have one of her works in my collection.

Last Word

For most tourists, the “must visit places” in Ontario are probably Toronto, Niagara Falls and Ottawa, but if you are looking for a more authentic Ontario experience, consider visiting some of the smaller cities, towns and villages as each have their own unique charm and charact

London Hidden Gems: Books, Bakeries, Art etc.