Mississauga

Streetsville to the Port Credit lighthouse along the Credit River

Follow the Credit River through Mississauga in a day: breakfast in Streetsville's old mill village, the free Art Gallery of Mississauga in City Hall and Kariya Park's Japanese garden at midday, then south through Erindale Park to the Rattray Marsh boardwalks in Clarkson and sunset by the Port Credit lighthouse.

Morning. Begin in Streetsville, the old mill village on the Credit River, with breakfast on Queen Street South. The main street keeps its 19th-century storefronts, and the river trail runs just behind it. Drive or take a bus south to the City Centre and spend an hour in the free Art Gallery of Mississauga inside City Hall, then walk to Kariya Park, a small Japanese garden with a pond and a stone lantern, built to honour the twin city of Kariya in Japan.

Afternoon. Follow the Credit River south through Erindale Park, then continue toward the lake to Clarkson for the boardwalks of Rattray Marsh, one of the last lakeside wetlands on this shore of Lake Ontario. Families can swap the marsh for the Bradley Museum, a 19th-century farmhouse nearby, or Benares Historic House.

Evening. End in Port Credit. Walk out along the marina and the river mouth, past the lighthouse replica that marks the harbour, and watch the sun set over the lake from J.C. Saddington Park. Dinner is on Lakeshore Road, where most of the city's best small restaurants and bars line up within a few blocks. If you are sleeping in Toronto, the Lakeshore West GO train leaves from Port Credit station a few minutes' walk away.

Malton Punjabi kitchens, Dundas shawarma and Lakeshore Road patios

Food is the best reason to explore Mississauga, where more than half the population was born abroad. Malton's plazas serve Punjabi butter chicken, chole bhature and mithai; Dundas Street and Hurontario around Cooksville mix Lebanese, Pakistani, Filipino and Polish places, and Paramount Fine Foods started here. Port Credit has the lakeside patios.

Food is the best reason to explore beyond the waterfront. More than half the population was born outside Canada, and whole districts cook for their own communities. Malton, around the airport, has a large Punjabi community, so the plazas there serve butter chicken, chole bhature and sweet shops piled with mithai. Along Dundas Street and Hurontario around Cooksville, Lebanese, Pakistani, Filipino and Polish places share the same strip malls; Paramount Fine Foods, the Lebanese chain now found across Canada, started here, and shawarma and manakish are everywhere. Erin Mills and the west end have Chinese, Korean and Japanese restaurants.

For a sit-down dinner with a view, Port Credit is the place. Lakeshore Road has bistros, pubs and patios that fill on summer evenings, plus ice cream by the marina. Streetsville's Queen Street is quieter, with pubs and family restaurants in old brick buildings. The trick is to treat the city's plazas the way locals do: an unremarkable strip mall can hide an excellent kitchen, so follow the busy car parks, not the signs.

Carassauga, Bread and Honey and the Southside Shuffle

The weather follows Toronto's pattern, tempered by the lake. January averages about minus 1C by day and minus 9C at night, with grey skies and frequent snow; July reaches about 27C and can be humid. Rain is spread evenly, roughly 60 to 80 mm a month, so no season is truly dry or wet.

The city's calendar is more local than its size suggests. Late May brings Carassauga, a multicultural festival where community groups run pavilions with food, music and dance from dozens of countries. Streetsville's Bread and Honey Festival fills the village in early June with a parade, rides and local food. Summer moves to the lake: Port Credit hosts waterfront events, and the Southside Shuffle blues and jazz festival takes over Port Credit in mid-September. Celebration Square runs free concerts and outdoor films through July and August and becomes a skating rink in winter.

For the lakeshore, June to September is best. In winter, plan indoor time at Square One and the Living Arts Centre, or a Raptors 905 basketball game at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.