Aga Khan Museum Toronto: A Visit Plan With Park and Gardens

You can arrive through a park, cross a courtyard and step into a building designed around light. That is the Aga Khan Museum, and it is one of the most beautiful afternoons on the north side of the city.

What is the Aga Khan Museum?

The museum was founded in 2014 and holds a growing Permanent Collection of over 1,200 masterpieces, including manuscripts, paintings, ceramics and textiles from the 9th to the 21st century. It opened its doors to the public on September 18, 2014. You will find it at 77 Wynford Drive.

The core of the collection was assembled by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, and it spans from Spain and North Africa in the west to South Asia and China in the east. If you want a preview, the museum invites you to browse its masterpieces online.

What makes the building special?

The museum’s own history page says architect Fumihiko Maki was asked to design the building around the many notions of light. Look for that idea as you move from the atrium to the courtyard to the galleries. It is our favourite way to see the place: follow where the daylight lands.

What is the Aga Khan Park?

Across from the museum is the Ismaili Centre, designed by architect Charles Correa. Its glass dome roof marks the highest point of the 6.8-hectare site, and it is mirrored in five granite-lined pools of the formal gardens. Landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic designed those gardens.

The park connects the Centre with the museum, and the museum calls it a place equally suited to tranquil reflection and dynamic programming. In practice, that means you can build a visit with a slow walk at either end.

What is on now?

These are the exhibitions we would plan around, using the dates the museum has posted.

• Saks Afridi: SpaceMosque. A temporary exhibition in the Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, on view from October 24, 2026 to March 7, 2027. The museum describes it as a speculative narrative that examines a forgotten global event at the turn of the millennium.
• Hayv Kahraman: Nabog. An installation in the Museum Collections Gallery from March 10, 2026 to February 21, 2027. Nabog is a recent acquisition for the Permanent Collection by Kurdish-Iraqi artist Hayv Kahraman.
• Spotlight: Spanish Holbein Carpet. On view from July 21, 2026 to February 21, 2027. The spotlight loan presents a woven masterpiece from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, made in southeast Spain where Muslim weavers adapted eastern Mediterranean designs to local traditions.
• Kamrooz Aram: Lapis Intervention. On view from July 14, 2026 to July 11, 2027. The artist chose a thirteenth-century ceramic from the museum’s collection to hang alongside one of his Arabesque paintings.

Is there a free way in?

Yes. BMO Free Wednesdays offer free admission to the galleries during extended hours every Wednesday evening. Tickets for those evenings are only available in person at the Guest Services Centre. Our free museum days guide collects more ways to visit for less.

You do not need a ticket to visit the Atrium, Courtyard, Bellerive Room, Diwan Restaurant or Museum Shop. The Toronto Biennial of Art installation, which runs July 23, 2026 to April 11, 2027, is a free exhibition too. It spreads across the Aga Khan Park, Atrium, Bellerive Room and the museum façade, and the museum is a partner of the 2026 Biennial.

What about music and performance?

Performances are part of the museum’s DNA. TD Pop-Up Performances bring informal sets of jazz, Latin, Persian, traditional Asian music and more to the public spaces and galleries, and TD Bank Group supports them.

Two ticketed evenings are coming up. Labyrinth Ensemble performs on Saturday, November 7, in the Nanji Family Foundation Auditorium. Chai & Jam follows on Saturday, November 14, bringing Indian classical, jazz, R&B and world musicians together for an improvised performance.

How do you get there?

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Line 5, stops at Aga Khan Park and Museum Station, followed by a short walk along the pathway through the park to the museum entrance. For more on the line, see our Line 5 Eglinton guide. The walk is part of the visit, so give yourself a few extra minutes.

Where should you go next?

The museum shop celebrates artisans throughout the Silk Route and beyond, a handy stop for gifts. Our guide to museums in Toronto and our list of small museums in Toronto are good next stops, and the North York hub has more to explore nearby.

Send this to the friend you would bring for a slow afternoon and a walk through the gardens.