I’m passionate about the story behind amazing places.

Meet Michael

Hi! I’m Michael Binetti, an urban planner, specializing in public transit.

Born in the Scarborough area of Toronto, I gained an interest in travel and photography by the young age of 6, on family trips to Arizona, New York City, and New Jersey.

Believing travel is the best education, I have been to over 30 U.S. states, traveled extensively in Canada, including to remote parts of Northern Ontario, and have visited countries in Europe and Asia, including visiting the DMZ border between North and South Korea.

I have always had an interest in history and stories of the places we live in or visit. I believe people should enjoy the history and places that make our cities unique, and be tourists in the very places we live.

I want to bring unique tours to you, that go beyond the flashy tourist attractions, and really bring people in touch with the history of Toronto, Ontario, and beyond. Whether through a tour or a living history event, let’s have some fun exploring our amazing city and region!

Thank you for visiting the website, and I hope you enjoy exploring with me!

Walking & Biking Tours

Michael has walked and cycled large parts of Toronto, including almost all the ravine trails in the city.

Tours bring to life the stories of Toronto’s history, people, and places, that make this city unique. Michael also likes to highlight off the beaten path places, that many locals may not have visited in years, or thought of visiting.

Toronto’s ravine system, the largest in the world, is of particular interest to Michael, and he wishes to make the ravines better understood and explored.

If you want to see different places, learn about local history, and discover places not in the tourist books, come exploring with Binetti!

Historical Events

Tours are great. But reliving history is just plain fun and exciting.

After giving tours about Toronto’s downtown department store history, Michael came up with the idea of reliving the grandure of the Eaton’s Department Store Round Room Restaurant, closed for decades.

Michael believes living history events, can bring about even more understanding about the historic places and people that make Toronto what it is today.

And who does not want to travel back in time?

You’ve made it this far, thank you!

Here’s a little story behind the photo at the top of the page. I was in Fort Niagara, in Youngetown, New York, when this photo was taken, and I was pointing to Fort George across the Niagara River and Border in Niagara On the Lake. If this photo had been taken in 1812, I would have been pointing to enemy territory.