A Weekend on the Uxbridge Studio Tour
Just an hour north of Toronto, where the highway shifts to quiet roads and the air turns crisp with the first hint of autumn, Uxbridge is quietly getting ready to show off its best-kept secret: the artists who call this rolling countryside home.
Welcome to the Uxbridge Studio Tour — a self-guided journey through farmhouses, barns, and backyard studios where painters, potters, woodworkers, glass and textile artists throw open their doors and invite you in. This is a chance to stand in the very spaces where the work is made, coffee in hand, chatting with the people who made it, while the leaves outside just start to turn gold at the edges.
Pack the car, grab a friend (or the kids, or the dog), and set off on a route that winds past cornfields and cedar rail fences, through the “Trail Capital of Canada.” Stop at a Blacksmith’s forge to watch steel hammered into shape on the anvil; Wander into a sunlit studio smelling of linseed oil and fresh canvas; See how the various artists have made their homes and studios unique and inspiring. Along the way, pick up a hand-thrown mug or a piece of hand-forged jewellery that will make your next morning coffee — or your next night out — taste and feel a little special for having met the maker of your piece.
A Downtown Worth Lingering In
Whilst studio-hopping, you are encouraged to take a break and point the car toward various places to get refreshment, both around the township and in historic downtown Uxbridge. With its century-old brick storefronts, tin-ceilinged shops, and tree-lined streets, the downtown core feels like it was built for slow afternoons and unhurried browsing. Duck into a local boutique, pick up some local baked goods, or simply sit on a bench and watch small-town life go by.
When hunger strikes, Uxbridge’s independent restaurants are ready to spoil you. Skip the chains — this is a town built on family-run kitchens, cozy cafés, and chef-owned bistros that take genuine pride in what lands on your plate. Grab a hearty brunch before you hit the tour route, refuel with a locally-sourced lunch at a downtown café, or linger over a leisurely dinner and a glass of beer at the in-town brewery, as the sun sets behind Main Street’s historic facades. Every meal here comes with a side of hometown hospitality you simply can’t get in the city.
Stock up on produce too, Sunday morning is Uxbridge’s in-town award-winning Farmers’ Market, which by mid-September is bursting with the first apples, squash, and pumpkins of the season, perfect for snacking in the car or hauling home for a Thanksgiving table centrepiece.
There’s no admission fee, no rush, and no wrong way to do it. Just pick up a studio tour map or use the App: Toureka! Take the day, but you might need the whole weekend. Find a countryside full of open doors, welcoming studios, and a downtown that knows how to make visitors feel like locals.
So close to the city. So far from ordinary
Come early fall, come curious, and come hungry — for art, for good food, and for the kind of small-town charm that lingers long after the drive home. Bring a little bit of Uxbridge back with you: a piece of pottery for your table, a painting for the wall, or even an idea to have a future work of art made for you that you have discussed with an artist you have met, and perhaps a new favourite restaurant you’ll already be planning to revisit.
Save the dates and make plans to enjoy the Uxbridge Studio Tour on September 19th, 10am to 6pm; September 20th, 10am to 5pm.
