As temperatures climb and patios open across the city, downtown London businesses are hoping to make the most of the summer. To help draw residents into the core, Downtown London has relaunched its Patio Trail, a digital passport program that encourages visitors to explore more than 30 participating patios while earning points toward prizes and gift cards. “The more people that we can get into downtown businesses, the better it is for all of us, because we want our businesses to succeed so that we have an exciting and vibrant downtown,” said Vicki Smith, interim executive director of Downtown London Business Association. The trail, which runs until Aug. 28, allows participants to check in at 35 patios throughout the downtown core using a free digital passport. Each visit earns points that can be redeemed for prizes, including Downtown Dollar gift cards that can be spent at local businesses. Organizers say the initiative is designed to boost foot traffic, support independent restaurants and help people discover new spots they may not have visited otherwise.
Putting businesses on the map
Downtown London’s Patio Trail for 2026 includes 30 restaurants and cafés. (Downtown London)
For Smith, the Patio Trail is about more than encouraging people to spend an afternoon outdoors.
“It’s a community that has been created with people coming in and getting to visit and get to know the owners and the servers that are at the restaurants and patios that you’re visiting,” said Smith.
The program’s reach has grown in recent years. According to Downtown London, 589 people participated in the 2025 Patio Trail, logging more than 16,600 check-ins across 36 participating businesses.
Smith said those visits help introduce people to businesses they may not have otherwise discovered while encouraging repeat trips to the downtown core.
“We all need a healthy downtown to have a healthy city,” she said.
Putting more cafés on the map
For Alicia Berkelmans, executive chef and general manager of the London Bicycle Café, that visibility is one of the biggest benefits of participating in the trail. “We started off with the bakery trail, and we found success with every trail that they presented,” said Berkelmans. “For us as a small business, obviously, advertising is very expensive, and they have a really solid following.” The farm-to-table restaurant and bicycle shop doubles as a community gathering space, hosting live music, workshops and other events throughout the summer. Located near the river on the edge of downtown, Berkelmans said the café isn’t always visible to people walking through the city’s core. “For them to put all this time and effort into putting us on a literal map is really important,” she said. “People don’t know we’re here.”
Alicia Berkelmans, executive chef and general manager of the London Bicycle Café, says the Downtown London Patio Trail helps put local businesses ‘on the map’ by introducing them to new customers. (Josiane N’tchoreret-Mbiamany/CBC)
Building a vibrant downtown
For Berkelmans, encouraging people to explore downtown businesses goes beyond supporting individual restaurants and cafés. “Downtown in any city, as far as I’m concerned, is the heart,” she said. “Participating in downtown is a form of stewardship in our community, where we are preserving that alive feeling of our city.” She said supporting downtown businesses helps preserve the vitality of the city’s core. “Downtowns are cultural centres, art centres, museum centres, all of these things,” said Berkelmans. “We need to keep contributing to that.”
Ashton Samson, owner of Studio Coffee, says participating in the Downtown London Patio Trail helps support neighbouring businesses and encourages more people to explore the city’s downtown core. (Josiane N’tchoreret-Mbiamany/CBC)
That belief resonates with Ashton Samson, owner of Studio Coffee, a creative café on Dundas Street that aims to support artists, musicians and other members of London’s creative community.
Studio Coffee is participating in the Patio Trail for the first time this year.
Samson said some people discouraged him from opening downtown because of concerns about homelessness and addiction in the core. But after several months in business, he said those fears have not reflected his experience.
“People give downtown a bad rap. We have a great community here, a thriving community and we definitely want to be here for the long haul,” he said.
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