Toronto: Perfect for City Breaks

Toronto's Sci-Fi Skyline

The city is pleasantly cosmopolitan, with a lot of fine modern buildings (like the CN Tower and downtown core), a number of interesting old ones (Casa Loma, Fort York and the Flatiron building, picture to the right below) and a vibrant night and cultural life.

Speaking of culture, Toronto is home to Ontario's premier Opera Company and also, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Like all of Canada, the city is clean, safe and filled with trees. Raccoons and possums are as much your neighbors here as the folks next door, sometimes even more so. Regular neighbours, for example, don’t rifle through your garbage bins quite so often.

Except for the downtown core with its skyscrapers, the city doesn’t feel overwhelming as many large cities do. It’s human-sized, for the most part. And just offshore, in Lake Ontario, the Islands provide a quiet harbour for sailboats and acres of parkland, as well as a great place for viewing the city from the water for those who don’t sail. The city’s sci-fi skyline (above) seen from the islands is worth the visit alone.

The islands are a mixture of public and private, some still have private homes on them, one has the downtown airport and one has Centreville, an amusement park for smaller children. Most islands are available for walking, rollerblading, or cycling (bikes can be rented on the islands) throughout the warmer, summer, months. Ferries to the islands run every few minutes from the foot of Toronto’s main north-south road, Yonge Street.

Also in summer are the outdoor events like the

Downtown Jazz Festival and the Beaches Jazz Festival where all that's good in jazz, local and international, comes to entertain.

Other big outdoor events are Caribana, a celebration of Caribbean life, put on in July by the many thousands of Torontonians whose heritage is from the Caribbean islands. The Caribana Parade through the city downtown streets is probably the most colorful of Toronto's events, though it has some strong rivals in the annual Santa Claus Parade in November and the annual Pride Parade in June.

The city’s restaurants capture the diversity of the city’s immigrant population with Chinese, Italian, and Greek cuisine hugely represented and Thai, Japanese, Indian, Caribbean, Hungarian, and German putting in solid appearances. For lunch, any of the Chinese restaurants on Baldwin St or the Tim Hortons chain of coffee shops, Canada’s favourite for coffee, work for me. If you want more variety, and like wandering around market stalls, the Richtree restaurant in the BCE place is great for any meal. It’s also handy for visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame, which is right upstairs. You don’t have to love ice hockey to live in Canada but, like soccer in Britain or football in the States, it certainly helps.

Some areas of Toronto have become synonymous with particular communities. For example, you’ll find Greek restaurants all over the city but especially along Danforth St where even the street signs are posted bilingually in English and Greek. Similarly bilingual, the Chinatown area, around Spadina and Dundas St. West, has an unbelievable concentration of authentic shops and restaurants. Little Italy is a collection of restaurants and clothes shops (of course) on and around College Street while Little India, with its restaurants and bazaars, is centred on Gerrard St. West. Over time, all the communities migrate out to the suburbs but their jumping off spot in Toronto remains as a spiritual home from home.

For dinner (‘supper’ in Ontario) there's everything from downright snooty to the New World’s usual easy-going attitude to food. At the upper end of the scale, and with a twist, the 360 Restaurant at the top of the CN Tower is a good place to start a Toronto trip -- if you can stomach heights. The view is spectacular. The restaurant makes a complete circle every 72 minutes, providing an ideal spot for fixing the city’s plan in your mind during daylight or seeing the lights of the city laid out below you after dark.

The CN Tower is the city’s most famous landmark. It stands, at 1815 feet (553.3m) high, head and shoulders above the other downtown buildings. Over thirty years old, it has only recently been surpassed as the world’s tallest building. Elevators take you to the Tower’s observation decks at the 1122 feet (342m) level for the ‘glass floor’ and outdoor deck, 1136 feet (346m) for the Café and indoor deck, and 1150 feet (351m) for the 360 restaurant.

If you want an even better view, a further elevator takes you to the Skypod (that's the small 'blip' you see on the photo halfway between the main observation decks and the top of the mast), the world’s highest public observation deck at 1465 feet (447m). Every spring and autumn there’s a Tower Stair climb, 1776 steps and 142 flights, in aid of charity. The climb costs only C$50 and it’s a lot of fun -- if you’re reasonably fit. The public climbs only happen on one Saturday in April and one in October so check ahead if you’re visiting and want to be part of it.

Visitors are also well served with the shopping (if you'll pardon the pun). The city's many Malls and stores buzz with shoppers any time of the year. Here's a Shopoholics guide to Toronto shopping, neighbourhood by neighbourhood. It includes neighbourhood maps to show where the stores are situated in the city.

Famous Toronto places for shopping include, Yorkville, China Town, and Kensington Market.

The underground city keeps Torontonians away from winter’s icy blast and, at around 27 kilometres of corridors, is so big it has to have its own street map -- PATH. Underground tunnels may not sound enticing but these are bright and airy, more upscale mall than earthy burrow.

If you’re a first-timer, the beauty and appeal of Ontario may strike you with such strength that you’ll want to make it a temporary home for a little longer. Hotels in many cities offer opportunities for a longer visit; this extended stay hotel Toronto is just one example. Be sure to look for similar deals if you think you’ll end up sticking around.

In its two centuries of existence the city has been called ‘Muddy York’, ‘Hogtown’, and ‘The Good’. None of these labels were intended to be flattering. Today it doesn’t really have a nickname, perhaps because we haven’t yet come to terms with how ‘good’ it really is.

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