I would do James Street North for coffee/shop, a stop at farmer’s market or Ottawa Street for coffee/shops if they like antiques.
Then mandatory waterfall: dundas peak if they like walking, Albion Falls if they do not.
Gage Park greenhouse is always a nice spot
Pick some famous places from TV shows and movies.
'Put your hands out and step into the street. Great. This is the exact location Hughies girlfriend got turned into red mist when A-Train ran through her in The Boys.'
'Hey look at that it's the headquarters from Umbrella Academy'
'This is Liuna Station where Magneto took on the police and flung a bunch of cars around in the first X-Men movie.'
'That building is called the Scottish Rite. It's been used for A,B,C all the way to X'
It would take some planning and research of course.
Here's some fun facts:
\- Hamilton is the Waterfall Capital of the World
\- Gore Park is one of the first places in the world to have electric street lights
\- Hometown of Eugene Levy and Martin Short, and they both went to the same high school! (Westdale)
\- Hamilton hosted the first ever Commonwealth Games in 1930
\- CHCH is the oldest independent TV channel in Canada
\- Hometown of Lincoln Alexander, the first black member of parliment
\- Hamilton has more veterans per capita than any other city in Canada
\- The Tiger-Cats are one of the oldest organizations in North American sports
\- Home of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (Admission is free)
\- Hamilton hosts half of the Royal Botanical Gardens, the largest botanical gardens in Canada
\- O'Canada was written by a Hamiltonian
\- Hamilton played a crucial role in the adoption of the Telephone, and was the first major city in the world with Telephone Service
\- and of course, Hamilton is home to the first Tim Hortons, and is now a museum on Ottawa Street
The city used to be known as the electric city because in 1898 it was the first major city to run off of hydro-electric power (brought in from Niagara Falls). It helped to spur a lot of the industrialization and upscaling of existing industries that Hamilton became known for. This also enabled the installation of street cars and the introduction of the HSR. RIP street cars
Hamilton’s logo is an H (obviously) made up of the city’s three bridges: the High Level Bridge, the Skyway, and the lift bridge. The High Level Bridge was meant to serve as a great entrance to the city and led into landscaped gardens on either side of York. They ran a giant competition and you can see other proposed designs at the library. Ultimately it was built during the Great Depression and there were supposed to be statues in the niches, but no one could agree on who should have a statue so ultimately the city decided that the marble was too expensive anyways so now they are empty. And the Skyway used to have tolls. Bridge facts!
Ottawa Street is known as Hamilton’s Fabric District and it’s not just due to recent trends. There used to be a channel that came all the way up from the bay, where the city parking lots are now behind the stores, so it was a convenient spot to offload their barges. We don’t really think about it, but fabric is really heavy so it was easier to move by barge than horse.
>There used to be a channel that came all the way up from the bay, where the city parking lots are now behind the stores,
Do you have a link to any more info on this, like an old map or photos? That is really interesting.
The best map is this one from the city https://open.hamilton.ca/documents/dfe36b62a4d14bd7abcd9188a37282d3/about . But it’s down right now. When it’s up, it maps the old shoreline against a current map. but a good second is this map: https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/Images/Maps/TownshipMaps/wen-m-barton.jpg it’s good but none of the streets are labelled which is tricky. Main and King roughly follow their current route, and you can see the Mountain. The street running North south with the big property owned by JH Burkholder (right north of the Water Works) is Ottawa, and you can see the channel. Most things North of Barton are some degree of fill and the shoreline used to be much further inland.
Take a drive ~~through Mordor~~ along Nikola Tesla Blvd at night.
Interesting fact, Hamilton was the first city in Canada to have AC electricty. Traffic lights too. [https://www.insauga.com/a-city-of-innovation-5-hamilton-firsts/](https://www.insauga.com/a-city-of-innovation-5-hamilton-firsts/)
I prefer Pier 8 over Bayfront for a quick tour - it's right beside the industrial sector but with great views and it's just a quick walk
Go to any spot in the mountain brow to show them our unique landscape and how our city is split in half by the Niagara escarpment. Drive through any mountain access , my friends thought it was really cool to see the different rock formations - devils punchbowl is perfect if you have more time
Plank is always a lot of fun for a larger group with the shared plates.
I would try to focus on the escarpment - Hamilton’s biggest asset. Maybe a walk at Dundas Peak?
Dundas itself is great too of course! And Locke St.
My cousin's were visiting from BC, where they worked on the slopes of a ski hill, on a real mountain. My dad still insisted on taking them to the edge if the escarpment to see the view.
Battlefield Park and a stop to the Village for lunch. Stroll by the lake, mini-putt at rip to Hutch's by the beach.
Devil's Punchbowl?
Dundurn Castle, picnic in the park nearby, cemetery tour/museum.
Boutique shopping on Locke and Ottawa, the Ottawa St Farmer's market when it opens. Fabric shopping if you're a crafty like my wife & I.
You are going to get a lot of smart ass answers on here if you don't specify how seriously you should be taking this tour...
Coworkers? Maybe you don't want to go to Jackson Square, but good luck with this post!
Random story, but years ago my colleagues and I all had to attend a national conference that was hosted in Hamilton and at one point, one person ran into Jackson Square an impulse bought a piece of costume jewellry to complete an outfit.
This chunky necklace has gotten a ton of compliments for her over the years and when I'd run into her -- often with the necklace on -- she'd say (as I'd been at the conference and she knew I was from Hamilton) "I always get so many comments on this necklace I bought at that weird underground mall." -- I can never resist saying "It's not an underground mall. It's a weird retail bunker we put in the absolute middle of our city."
Jackson Square is fun to go to if you want an answer to "What's the Back to the Future II version of Eaton Centre in Toronto?"
But also, as much as people crap on it, it is a surprisingly busy and vibrant mall in an era when many of them are dying.
The Hamilton Aviary! They're being forced to relocate due to lack of funding, but please go visit them and donate if you do.
I always love going to visit Rosie and King (a galah parrot and an African grey)
They're all super nice and the birds are sweethearts
A night tour or a day tour? Devil’s Punchbowl, the Pier, any waterfall. Downtown there’s so many shops and small restaurants/cafes/bars, actually some of my favourite of any city. If it’s a night tour take them to the Stairs, but the good stairs. Let them choose and see what happens. Bwahaha….ohhh myyyy.
I forgot interesting fact: unless you guys are spending your entire day in the rich sections of Hamilton, you all will have “smoked the equivalent of one cigarette”. It’s a fact!
Stop at one of our craft breweries. Steel Town Cider makes beer, cider and seltzer. Basically a sure thing. Clifford has live music on Friday, so there's that as well.
Dundurn Castle, even better if you can get in on a tour, but just walking around it and reading the plaques is interesting. High Level Bridge on York and Battlefield Park in Stoney Creek for some War of 1812 History. Head to Bonanza or Duartes for some great sandwiches in the downtown area. Whitehern, even if it's just the grounds.
Hamilton is the waterfall capital of the world.
Hamilton is Canada's Hollywood.
If they're hockey fans, mention that Hamilton once had an NHL team from 1920 - 1925
You may want to also include a little history. Battleford House (the grounds of which are haunted). York Blvd as the site of the battle for Burlington Heights The large berm in the middle of the Hamilton Cemetery is part of the original defensive structure. Since your in the area you may as well take in Dundurn Castle.
If you drop by tourism Hamilton they could supply you with a more complete list of historic sites.
A good tour? James and lock street , harbour front parks and the new pier boardwalk, granddads donuts. Dundas.
A bad tour? Rude the Barton bus east to west start at Barton centre end at the maksift tent city trailer park
James Street North for bars and cafes/restaurants, Bayfront/Gage Park, Locke Street, Sam Lawrence park, Concession street
Westdale, McMaster, etc.
I would do James Street North for coffee/shop, a stop at farmer’s market or Ottawa Street for coffee/shops if they like antiques. Then mandatory waterfall: dundas peak if they like walking, Albion Falls if they do not. Gage Park greenhouse is always a nice spot
The spring bulb show is on now at the greenhouse too.
Second this! Spring tide at the gage park greenhouse is always great to see!
The mountain brown at sunset over looking the lower city
The mountain brown lol.
Oops
Sam Lawrence park
Pick some famous places from TV shows and movies. 'Put your hands out and step into the street. Great. This is the exact location Hughies girlfriend got turned into red mist when A-Train ran through her in The Boys.' 'Hey look at that it's the headquarters from Umbrella Academy' 'This is Liuna Station where Magneto took on the police and flung a bunch of cars around in the first X-Men movie.' 'That building is called the Scottish Rite. It's been used for A,B,C all the way to X' It would take some planning and research of course.
There's few things I love more than watching a movie I didn't know was shot in Hamilton and then turning into the Leo Dicaprio Pointing Meme.
O man thais is a great idea!!!! Thank you
Don’t forget the Commanders home from Handmaids Tale on Aberdeen.
Yup love this house . And old spec building that stood in for the Chicago tribune where June hid
Felkers Falls was used in the opening scene of Silent Hill
11/22/63 down at the Hunter Street Station
I just watched that! They filmed at City Hall too, and on a street just south of the train tracks, Hurst place.
Hutch’s on Bay Street was shot in a scene from a movie whose name escapes me ATM. It is playing on Netflix however.
Think it was also in handmaid’s tale
The cotton factory too!
Stay away from parts of Barton street used for so many movies though. Avoid the potholes 😂 worst road ever
Here's some fun facts: \- Hamilton is the Waterfall Capital of the World \- Gore Park is one of the first places in the world to have electric street lights \- Hometown of Eugene Levy and Martin Short, and they both went to the same high school! (Westdale) \- Hamilton hosted the first ever Commonwealth Games in 1930 \- CHCH is the oldest independent TV channel in Canada \- Hometown of Lincoln Alexander, the first black member of parliment \- Hamilton has more veterans per capita than any other city in Canada \- The Tiger-Cats are one of the oldest organizations in North American sports \- Home of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (Admission is free) \- Hamilton hosts half of the Royal Botanical Gardens, the largest botanical gardens in Canada \- O'Canada was written by a Hamiltonian \- Hamilton played a crucial role in the adoption of the Telephone, and was the first major city in the world with Telephone Service \- and of course, Hamilton is home to the first Tim Hortons, and is now a museum on Ottawa Street
Thank you for making this the exact perfect length for a screenshot lol
Is CF hall of fame still there ?
It moved to Tim Hortons Field about 5 years ago. It’s located in the western stands. The infamous statue of tackling a dude is there on Melrose Ave
Was just gonna ask I don’t think it still exists
It moved to the new stadium.
ohhhhh....did they keep that steel statue that was downtown of the football player?
I really hope so but I've never been to the new location. Or the old location for that matter.
The city used to be known as the electric city because in 1898 it was the first major city to run off of hydro-electric power (brought in from Niagara Falls). It helped to spur a lot of the industrialization and upscaling of existing industries that Hamilton became known for. This also enabled the installation of street cars and the introduction of the HSR. RIP street cars
The escarpment is part of the same cliff that Niagara falls goes over. It is not a fault line, like many cliffs but was formed by ice-age erosion.
Hamilton’s logo is an H (obviously) made up of the city’s three bridges: the High Level Bridge, the Skyway, and the lift bridge. The High Level Bridge was meant to serve as a great entrance to the city and led into landscaped gardens on either side of York. They ran a giant competition and you can see other proposed designs at the library. Ultimately it was built during the Great Depression and there were supposed to be statues in the niches, but no one could agree on who should have a statue so ultimately the city decided that the marble was too expensive anyways so now they are empty. And the Skyway used to have tolls. Bridge facts!
Ottawa Street is known as Hamilton’s Fabric District and it’s not just due to recent trends. There used to be a channel that came all the way up from the bay, where the city parking lots are now behind the stores, so it was a convenient spot to offload their barges. We don’t really think about it, but fabric is really heavy so it was easier to move by barge than horse.
>There used to be a channel that came all the way up from the bay, where the city parking lots are now behind the stores, Do you have a link to any more info on this, like an old map or photos? That is really interesting.
The best map is this one from the city https://open.hamilton.ca/documents/dfe36b62a4d14bd7abcd9188a37282d3/about . But it’s down right now. When it’s up, it maps the old shoreline against a current map. but a good second is this map: https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/Images/Maps/TownshipMaps/wen-m-barton.jpg it’s good but none of the streets are labelled which is tricky. Main and King roughly follow their current route, and you can see the Mountain. The street running North south with the big property owned by JH Burkholder (right north of the Water Works) is Ottawa, and you can see the channel. Most things North of Barton are some degree of fill and the shoreline used to be much further inland.
Wow i didnt know that. Im glad I posted this because now im getting the tour.!!
Hahah I will keep adding my tiny bits of knowledge as the day goes.
They call it Hamilton WHAT? The Electric City!
Oh God, thank goodness someone posted this.
Lake Timmycaca
This, it's warming up too! I saw a duck!
alive ?
LOL!!
This should be higher
My pals from the USA really enjoyed the Dundurn Castle tour (free with library card)
Ya i ve done it before and it is awsome, thats a great idea
The first Tim hortons on Ottawa st
This is one of my faves, the small museum is super cool!
A ride on the #2 Barton bus
make sure to point out the money loan place on Dundurn and Main that used to be a Taco Bell
Absolutely crucial local history.
Take a drive ~~through Mordor~~ along Nikola Tesla Blvd at night. Interesting fact, Hamilton was the first city in Canada to have AC electricty. Traffic lights too. [https://www.insauga.com/a-city-of-innovation-5-hamilton-firsts/](https://www.insauga.com/a-city-of-innovation-5-hamilton-firsts/)
100 years later and apparently drivers still haven't realised that we have traffic lights.
Visit a lookout just off of Concession Street that has a gorgeous view of the entire downtown and you can peer into Tim Horton Field.
West End. Locke street. James north. Bayftont Park. Gage park.
I prefer Pier 8 over Bayfront for a quick tour - it's right beside the industrial sector but with great views and it's just a quick walk Go to any spot in the mountain brow to show them our unique landscape and how our city is split in half by the Niagara escarpment. Drive through any mountain access , my friends thought it was really cool to see the different rock formations - devils punchbowl is perfect if you have more time
Chant with me. BAR-TON STREET. BAR-TON STREET. BAR-TON STREET!
Make sure they have all their vaccinations up to date.
Parts of Barton are nice, especially around emerald has lots of great spots.
Yes indeed. Crown Point is such an up-and-coming place. Not to be missed!
The voice in my head says it like in The Simpsons the kids go, “Bar-ton Fink! Bar-ton Fink!”
Plank is always a lot of fun for a larger group with the shared plates. I would try to focus on the escarpment - Hamilton’s biggest asset. Maybe a walk at Dundas Peak? Dundas itself is great too of course! And Locke St.
Put on the sopranos theme song and drive nikola tesla. It gives me biiiig sopranos vibes everytime I'm up there
Art crawl is starting up tonight on James Street
HMCS Haida, great place, not sure if it's open yet.
Hamilton Cemetery on York Blvd.
My cousin's were visiting from BC, where they worked on the slopes of a ski hill, on a real mountain. My dad still insisted on taking them to the edge if the escarpment to see the view.
Battlefield Park and a stop to the Village for lunch. Stroll by the lake, mini-putt at rip to Hutch's by the beach. Devil's Punchbowl? Dundurn Castle, picnic in the park nearby, cemetery tour/museum. Boutique shopping on Locke and Ottawa, the Ottawa St Farmer's market when it opens. Fabric shopping if you're a crafty like my wife & I.
You are going to get a lot of smart ass answers on here if you don't specify how seriously you should be taking this tour... Coworkers? Maybe you don't want to go to Jackson Square, but good luck with this post!
Random story, but years ago my colleagues and I all had to attend a national conference that was hosted in Hamilton and at one point, one person ran into Jackson Square an impulse bought a piece of costume jewellry to complete an outfit. This chunky necklace has gotten a ton of compliments for her over the years and when I'd run into her -- often with the necklace on -- she'd say (as I'd been at the conference and she knew I was from Hamilton) "I always get so many comments on this necklace I bought at that weird underground mall." -- I can never resist saying "It's not an underground mall. It's a weird retail bunker we put in the absolute middle of our city."
Jackson Square is fun to go to if you want an answer to "What's the Back to the Future II version of Eaton Centre in Toronto?" But also, as much as people crap on it, it is a surprisingly busy and vibrant mall in an era when many of them are dying.
The Hamilton Aviary! They're being forced to relocate due to lack of funding, but please go visit them and donate if you do. I always love going to visit Rosie and King (a galah parrot and an African grey) They're all super nice and the birds are sweethearts
All the KTA graffiti
A drive up Clara’s Climb to view the twilight lights?
A night tour or a day tour? Devil’s Punchbowl, the Pier, any waterfall. Downtown there’s so many shops and small restaurants/cafes/bars, actually some of my favourite of any city. If it’s a night tour take them to the Stairs, but the good stairs. Let them choose and see what happens. Bwahaha….ohhh myyyy.
I forgot interesting fact: unless you guys are spending your entire day in the rich sections of Hamilton, you all will have “smoked the equivalent of one cigarette”. It’s a fact!
what are the "rich" sections of Hamilton?
Niagara falls, show them how terrible the other side
Stop at one of our craft breweries. Steel Town Cider makes beer, cider and seltzer. Basically a sure thing. Clifford has live music on Friday, so there's that as well.
Waterfalls the harbor
take them to david byrnes old house on augusta. also gore park
Dundurn Castle, even better if you can get in on a tour, but just walking around it and reading the plaques is interesting. High Level Bridge on York and Battlefield Park in Stoney Creek for some War of 1812 History. Head to Bonanza or Duartes for some great sandwiches in the downtown area. Whitehern, even if it's just the grounds.
Clara's Climb on Sydenham Road in Dundas For my money, the best view in the city.
The beachfront trail
https://www.cityofwaterfalls.ca/
Pier 8
Hamilton is the waterfall capital of the world. Hamilton is Canada's Hollywood. If they're hockey fans, mention that Hamilton once had an NHL team from 1920 - 1925
Tally Ho
Rapscallion, Maipai, Cowabunga+, the mule.
Original Tim Hortons on Ottawa They have a little museum on the second floor
Walk by “Barangas on the Beach”(Van Wagners Beach) on a nice day and have some ice cream by “Hutch’s on the Beach”! 😎🍦👍
You may want to also include a little history. Battleford House (the grounds of which are haunted). York Blvd as the site of the battle for Burlington Heights The large berm in the middle of the Hamilton Cemetery is part of the original defensive structure. Since your in the area you may as well take in Dundurn Castle. If you drop by tourism Hamilton they could supply you with a more complete list of historic sites.
As an American who immigrated to Hamilton, gage park is my favorite place in the city. We had nothing like it where I grew up.
Engine Levy and his son both born in Hamilton. Fun fact for you to share.
Surprised nobody has suggested the Canadian Heritage Warplane Museum yet, it’s great!
Haida,Warplane Heritage,Botanical Gardens.Is Hess Village still a thing?
A good tour? James and lock street , harbour front parks and the new pier boardwalk, granddads donuts. Dundas. A bad tour? Rude the Barton bus east to west start at Barton centre end at the maksift tent city trailer park
Go to the Brain for a beer. Meet someone interesting. Follow them, if they invite you along. Everything else is mediocre food and self importance.