June is a great month to visit Toronto. Visitors tell us that our City is clean, friendly and very multicultural. They’re right. As Canada’s largest city with 4.7 million residents, Toronto enjoys a remarkably high quality of life – it is safe, pleasant, and prosperous. As a city of immigrants (over 50% of Toronto residents were born abroad) you will find more than 100 cultures and languages represented here. Toronto enjoys a diversity that is unusual in the world.
Toronto has four distinct seasons. Summers are generally warm and humid, with many sunny days and temperatures between 16 and 27°C. For an advance peek at the City, visit Tourism Toronto’s official web site at www.seetorontonow.com or the unofficial but helpful web site www.toronto.com. You can also find local news, restaurant reviews and event information at the Toronto Life magazine web site www.torontolife.com.
I’d like to share with you a few suggestions for your visit to Toronto, which I’ve organized into (1) What to See, (2) Where to Eat, (3) Where to Shop, and (4) After Dark. Getting around Toronto is easy. The downtown is compact and built on a grid pattern. Toronto is well-served by its underground subway, taxis, and numerous city tours including a hop on-hop off bus that stops at major attractions.
What to See
It is always a challenge to see a large and diverse city in only a few days. Toronto’s most famous landmark is the CN Tower – the world’s tallest building that soars to a height of 553m (1815 ft) and stands out among the skyscrapers of Toronto’s downtown. Your visit will include ascending in a high-speed elevator at a rate of 22 km/hr; walking outside around the world’s highest observation deck; standing on a glass floor and staring straight down the tower; watching the sun set from the revolving 360 Restaurant; and enjoying a glass of wine from the world’s highest (500-label!) wine cellar.
Toronto’s grandest boulevard is University Avenue, which connects the mid-town neighbourhoods of Bloor Street-Yorkville to the Financial District and Lake Ontario at the south end of the City. A stroll down University Avenue is a wonderful summertime activity. Starting at Bloor Street and heading south, you’ll pass the Royal Ontario Museum (Canada’s largest museum of world cultures and natural history); Queen’s Park and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario (a magnificent 1893 sandstone edifice); the University of Toronto (with its 56,000 students and over 180 acres of academe in the heart of the City); many of Canada’s leading hospitals; Osgoode Hall, a beautifully preserved 1860 edifice which houses the Court of Appeal for Ontario and the Law Society of Upper Canada (as well as The Great Library which has been called “the most beautiful room in Canada”); the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (home of the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada); and finally the Financial District. As you cross Dundas Street, remember the rumour (probably true) that 80% of Canada’s lawyers work in Toronto south of Dundas Street! You should also make a detour two blocks west on Dundas Street to visit the newly-renovated Art Gallery of Ontario, one of the largest art museums in North America, with more than 68,000 works in its collection.
While Toronto is a large city, a reprieve from City life is only a ten-minute ferry ride away. Catch the ferries on Lake Ontario across to the Toronto Islands, a municipal park that has been protected from development. The Islands offer trails for walking, biking, and in-line skating; bikes and paddle boats for rent; an amusement park with restaurant facilities; and lots of parkland and beaches. They also offer spectacular views of the City. Ferries to the Islands leave from the foot of Bay Street behind the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel. If you really enjoy being on the water, consider sailing on one of the tall ships that cruise the Lake at a leisurely pace.
An hour and a half drive south of Toronto is Niagara Falls – one of the seven natural wonders of the world – which straddle the border between Canada and the United States. As you witness one-fifth of the world’s fresh water crashing down 13 stories, at a rate of over 2,800 cubic meters per second, you will be in awe of this wonder of nature. You should also take advantage of being in the Niagara Region by visiting the beautiful historic village of Niagara-on-the-Lake (about a twenty minute drive north of the Falls), and one of the many vineyards which are open for tours and tastings (some of which have outstanding gourmet restaurants). Try some Canadian “ice wine” while you’re there.
Toronto also has a vibrant entertainment scene, featuring music, theatre, and professional sports. Pick up a copy of Where magazine when you arrive or visit www.where.ca for a listing of current events. To purchase tickets in advance, visit one of the web sites www.ticketmaster.ca, www.ticketking.com, or www.totix.ca. Among the best experiences are watching the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team play at the Rogers Centre (with its 38-storey high retractable roof); enjoying the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall; seeing the opera or ballet at the Four Seasons Centre; attending a rock concert at the Air Canada Centre; or catching a play at one of Toronto’s numerous theatres, many of which are located in the Entertainment District just west of the downtown.
For children and families, stop by Ontario Place (an outdoor amusement park and entertainment complex built out into Lake Ontario); the Toronto Zoo (with over 5,000 animals and 10 km of walking trails); the Centreville Amusement Park on the Toronto Islands; or the Fort York National Historic Park where costumed performers (including “red coats”!) bring alive the place where Toronto was founded in 1793 and where the Battle of York took place during the War of 1812.
Where to Shop
Toronto’s shopping scene is as diverse as the City itself. The largest shopping complex in the downtown is the Toronto Eaton Centre, featuring more than 285 shops, situated along Yonge Street between Dundas Street and Queen Street. While visiting the Eaton Centre, be sure to venture out along Yonge Street which has been called the “the longest street in the world” (it continues to Northern Ontario and runs 1,896 km in length!). While Yonge Street teems with crowds, its variety of culture, sights and sounds makes the experience worthwhile.
If you want to escape the summer heat, the towers of the Financial District are linked together by an interesting “underground city” called the PATH, consisting of 27 km of interconnecting passages and over 1,100 shops. The complex holds the Guinness World Record for the largest underground shopping complex.
For those who prefer strolling through neighbourhoods, Bloor-Yorkville is Toronto’s most exclusive shopping scene. World-famous designer boutiques, jewellers, and specialty shops line Bloor Street east of Avenue Road, while smaller shops and upscale restaurants run along Yorkville and Cumberland Avenues, just north of Bloor. The Hazelton Lanes Shopping Centre within Yorkville is famous with the international jet set, and brims with celebrities during the annual Toronto International Film Festival.
For an eclectic but equally fun shopping experience, wander along Queen Street west of University Avenue. While you won’t find many designer boutiques in this area (which at times seems like Toronto’s answer to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury!) you will find numerous trendy apparel and accessories boutiques, art galleries, and funky crafts shops.
The Distillery Historic District, only a short taxi ride east of the downtown, is one of Toronto’s “hot spots”. Once the home to the Gooderham & Worts distillery, the district is a well-preserved Victorian-era industrial neighbourhood that has been revitalized into a sophisticated shopping and dining area.
Where to Eat
The Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood has an assortment of fine dining establishments. Among the better known ones are Sotto Sotto (Italian), Opus (international), Pangaea (international), Sassafraz (French), Truffles (French), and Morton’s (American). A little further south on Bay Street is the famous Bistro 990 (French).
The 360 Restaurant atop the CN Tower has a great menu and affords a truly unique dining experience.
The Financial District has its share of upscale restaurants that serve North American and international cuisine, including Canoe and Bymark (in the Toronto-Dominion Centre complex), Jump and Far Niente (in the Commerce Court complex), Reds Bistro (in First Canadian Place), and Hy’s Steakhouse (across Adelaide Street from First Canadian Place). For a fun casual dining experience, visit the Richtree Market in Brookfield Place, where fresh meals are prepared to order in a European marketplace setting.
The Entertainment District, just west of the Financial District, offers a more varied mix of good restaurants. If you wander a few blocks along King Street, west of University Avenue, you will quickly discover the enormous variety of cuisine available here.
Toronto’s many ethnic neighbourhoods are also great places to eat. Three popular ones are Chinatown, which runs along Spadina Avenue south of Bloor Street; Greek Town, the largest Greek neighbourhood in North America, which runs along The Danforth east of Bloor Street; and Little Italy, which runs along College Street west of Bathurst. All of these areas are compact, lively, and full of culture.
After Dark
If Toronto’s theatre, music, and sports scene aren’t enough, you can check out the night life. Drop by some of the pubs and bistros along Bloor Street, west of Spadina Avenue. This neighbourhood is frequented by university students and has a decidedly bohemian feel. For even more night clubs, dance clubs, and live music, visit the “club district” along Queen, Richmond, Adelaide, King, Peter, and John Streets, west of University Avenue. Dozens of clubs sit alongside one another with tens of thousands of patrons pouring out onto the streets on warm summer nights. Toronto also has many good jazz bars and comedy clubs that you can enjoy as part of your visit.
I hope that this overview whets your appetite. Enjoy your visit to Toronto!
Ira Nishisato is the National Leader of the Commercial Litigation Practice Group of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and a Partner in the Toronto office of BLG inishisato@blgcanada.com |
