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Bata Shoe Museum

327 Bloor St. W. | (at St. George St.), Toronto, Ontario M5S 1W7, Canada (The Annex)
416-979-7799
Website
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Ranked #39 of 233 attractions in Toronto
Type: Specialty Museums, Museums
Fee: Yes
Recommended length of visit: <1 hour
Description: Clothes don't make the man (or woman), but shoes do: visit this fantastic collection of more than 10,000 items of footwear spanning 4,500 years.
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218 reviews from our community

Visitor rating
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    40
    10
    2
Date Rating
Toronto, Canada
Senior Contributor
21 reviews 21 reviews
5 attraction reviews
Reviews in 10 cities Reviews in 10 cities
13 helpful votes 13 helpful votes
3 of 5 stars Reviewed May 21, 2013 NEW

As part of a class studying cultures, I visited the museum. We took the official tour but simply found it boring and did not live up to any expectations. In addition, staff could not answer many questions posed by students and offered a bland and monotonous tour.

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See 4 more reviews by TheMariasMA for Toronto
Syracuse
Reviewer
5 reviews 5 reviews
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
4 of 5 stars Reviewed May 20, 2013 NEW

We found this museum in the AAA guide book and it had a "gem" rating. The description sounded interesting, and, in fact, it was. When you think about the development of civilization, one doesn't normally think about how our ancestors decided to protect their feet. The collection of shoes from different continents is amazing, although there is a preponderance of... More

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See 4 more reviews by Metsfan52 for Toronto
Toronto
Senior Contributor
21 reviews 21 reviews
14 attraction reviews
Reviews in 13 cities Reviews in 13 cities
15 helpful votes 15 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed May 17, 2013

Question: which fictitious secret agent had a telephone built into his shoe? You can find out at this one-of-a-kind museum. If I were a shoe I’d leave instructions to be buried here. Shoe-heaven spanning 4.500 years over 4 floors in an award winning building. From chestnut-crushing clogs to celebrity shoes bequeathed by John Lennon, Marilyn Munroe and Madonna (to name... More

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See 7 more reviews by CAS52 for Toronto
Toronto, Canada
Top Contributor
99 reviews 99 reviews
48 attraction reviews
Reviews in 56 cities Reviews in 56 cities
343 helpful votes 343 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed May 12, 2013

The "Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture" is what finally brought me to the Bata Shoe Museum, and it did not disappoint. If you are a fan of sneakers, then you will enjoy this - but note that it is a temporary exhibit. It was fun seeing the evolution of the sneaker over time - seeing the... More

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Shiloh, Illinois
2 reviews
4 of 5 stars Reviewed May 3, 2013

Went with a couple of friends to the shoe museum, had everything from the first time cloth was wrapped around feet, the the enormous shoes worn by Shaquille O'Neal (apologies if I have spelt his name wrong). Interesting place, shoes from around the world and from different centuries.

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Maspalomas, Spain
Top Contributor
72 reviews 72 reviews
34 attraction reviews
Reviews in 42 cities Reviews in 42 cities
21 helpful votes 21 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed April 26, 2013

The museum is located on Bloor St. and it’s not too far from the subway station. It was really a very interesting museum with shoes from all over the world, some very old, and some other relatively new. Some shoes have been donated by famous people, like the huge one of Shaquille O’Neal from his first rookie here in the... More

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Paris/Boston
Top Contributor
51 reviews 51 reviews
19 attraction reviews
Reviews in 15 cities Reviews in 15 cities
17 helpful votes 17 helpful votes
3 of 5 stars Reviewed April 25, 2013

I had been here many years before, and it really wowed me. So much so, that I would tell people to go to Toronto just to visit a museum. of SHOES. Then, there was one exhibit in particular that I really loved. Unfortunately, this trip the 4th floor was closed, so we could only see the main exhibits (which are... More

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See 4 more reviews by Momof2Paris_Boston for Toronto
Riverton, Wyoming
Senior Contributor
44 reviews 44 reviews
6 attraction reviews
Reviews in 23 cities Reviews in 23 cities
16 helpful votes 16 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed April 16, 2013 via mobile

Our hotel Concierge recommended this museum, he noted that he'd been dragged to it by his wife and once there was drawn in by the excellent historical and cultural exhibits. It was less about fashion, and more about history and culture. Although fashion did have a solid place. I would recommend a visit here by anyone traveling to Toronto.

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See 2 more reviews by Cpyles for Toronto
Miami, Florida
Reviewer
5 reviews 5 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
5 of 5 stars Reviewed April 10, 2013

Excellent little museum one can do in about two hours. Very well organized, very interesting and very close to the ROM. Great day of museums. Very attentive staff

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See 3 more reviews by nitagarcia for Toronto
Norristown, Pennsylvania
Top Contributor
92 reviews 92 reviews
56 attraction reviews
Reviews in 18 cities Reviews in 18 cities
24 helpful votes 24 helpful votes
4 of 5 stars Reviewed April 10, 2013

A decent sized museum with some good exhibits on celebrity shoes, shoes in different cultures, and the making of shoes. It can get a bit loud because of the acoustics when there are children running around, but overall a good museum.

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See 10 more reviews by Lindsay M for Toronto

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