-4

I grew up Hong Kong and went a dingy publicly funded school in concrete jungle ...no green space! It doesn't look like the fee-paying schools beneath.

Since I moved to Toronto, visiting these pulchritudinous schools becalms me, relieves stress, and allays my medical issues. They feel like resorts and eco or nature therapy.

I can't fit these schools' open visitor days in my travel plans – there aren't many of them, and I must work! It's weird to request personal tour, when I don't have kids. It's creepy for an adult to walk around and tour, without giving notice! What to do? Thanks!!!

Bishop's College School - QC Canada. Second pic from Wikipedia.

I know Swiss boarding schools are for elite 1%, but I see why. Aiglon College

16
  • 5
    You live in Canada. The whole country is filled with spectacular scenery. I'd bet that within an hour of where you live there's enough scenery to keep you happy, just without the school.
    – user90371
    Jul 20, 2019 at 5:16
  • 1
    One photo is enough. (I am a mod.)
    – Willeke
    Jul 20, 2019 at 7:12
  • 3
    Re "Muskoka is 3 hrs away": the closest of the schools you mention (Bishop's College and Marvelwood) are about 7 hours away. Some of your other examples are on a different continent. If you're only interested in schools in/near Toronto, you should say so in the question, and remove all the pictures of schools thousands of miles from Toronto.
    – Pont
    Jul 20, 2019 at 7:16
  • 2
    There are many areas of fabulous natural beauty much closer than the Muskokas. Let's start with the Rouge Valley, then Hilton Falls, Forks of the Credit, Darlington Provincial, Crawford Lake, Rattlesnake Point... all under an hour from Toronto, and there are plenty more. Jul 20, 2019 at 21:22
  • 1
    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is not about travel. Jul 21, 2019 at 20:41

1 Answer 1

6

These schools, like office campuses and other private facilities, are not generally open to the public. They expect visitors to have genuine business there, and people just loitering will usually be asked to leave.

That said, some schools do host public events on occasion, either renting out their facility—such as The Vancouver Island Concours d’Elegance & Motorcar Weekend you linked— or their own events: neighborhood community meetings, lectures, music and theatrical performances, etc... If you check the school's website, there may be calendar listings for these. You'll want to be careful to determine whether the event is truly open to the public or only open to the school community; you can call the school's office if you're unsure. If a public event matches with your schedule and interests, you can get a brief look at the facilities while you're there.

If the school campus does rentals, weddings, events, another way to get a tour would be to schedule one to consider the space for a special event, but it would be quite unethical (and awkward) to do so unless you were legitimately looking to host such an event.

Another idea is to consider that many university/college campuses are, broadly speaking, open to the public (specific facilities and services may not be, but the grounds often are as long as you behave yourself), and there are some beautiful colleges with lovely campuses with lots of green spaces; some even have natural areas. Cornell has 4,300 acres of botanic gardens, for example. So if you adjust your search to higher education institutions instead, you'll find many more options, without the creep factor.

2
  • 1
    "If the school campus does rentals, weddings, events, another way to get a tour would be to schedule one to consider the space for a special event, but it would be quite unethical" or just... rent it. The smallest possible room just to legitimately have access to it and to enjoy the nature.
    – kiradotee
    Jul 22, 2019 at 23:38
  • 1
    @kiradotee You'd have to see what they offer (if they do rentals at all). Some schools may be willing to do weddings and large events, but aren't really setup to do, say, an inexpensive hour breakfast meeting in a conference room, because they're still fundamentally schools and would have to provide staff and facilities even for a very small event. Since they aren't a hotel, the cost of any rental that's worth the trouble for them to even talk to you is likely to be rather expensive. You might find you need insurance, etc... Jul 23, 2019 at 0:57

You must log in to answer this question.