5 Best Places to Shop in Side Trips from Toronto, Ontario

There are many fruit stands and produce markets along the streets of Niagara-on-the-Lake, but just outside of the area is the mother lode that dwarfs the others. Alitura Fine Foods & Market, in a barn with a red-and-white-striped awning, sells regional fruits and vegetables and tempts with its fresh-baked goods: sausage rolls, bread, and fruit pies.

This shop has been making jams, jellies, and marmalades from mostly local produce, using family recipes, since the company began in 1927. The spreads are free from preservatives, pectin, or additives. The jams are often served for afternoon tea in upscale hotel restaurants.

It's a real treat to visit this brewery, tasting room, and retail store for one of the most popular beers in Ontario, especially if you come for the free tour. While you're here, taste beers like the cream ale and Mad Tom IPA, or seasonal ales like the Peach of Mind kölsch, the Dry Hopped Wit Out a Paddle, or the Hollow Cane Vienna lager. It's halfway between Gravenhurst and Bracebridge, off Highway 11.

In two locations (at the Avon and Festival theaters), this is the place for Shakespeare finger puppets, every Shakespeare play ever written, original costume sketches, soundtracks to musicals, quotable aprons, and Bard-themed children's books.

At this brimming curio shop you might find a cat curled up among the reasonably priced china, glassware, French soaps, kitchen gadgets, and other bric-a-brac. The Bradshaw family has owned a store at this location in various forms (it used to be a high-end china hall) since the 1800s.