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TorontoToronto'''Toronto''' is Canada's largest city, with a total population of approximately 2.5 million people. It is widely regarded as a world city, and is one of the primary economic and cultural centers of the east coast of North America. It is the capital of the province of Ontario (province)|Ontario, Canada's second largest but most populous province. Image:Torontoharbourview.jpg|frame|The Toronto Skydome and CN Tower, as seen from the harbor ==Districts== *Downtown **Toronto/Downtown|Downtown -- The downtown core is the economic powerhouse of Toronto, although it lacks the cultural appeal of the outlying districts. **Toronto/Chinatown|Chinatown -- One of North America's largest Chinese districts **Toronto/The Annex|The Annex -- A food and shopping mecca, this district is well known by Torontonians as one of the friendliest neighborhoods **Toronto/Clubland|Clubland/Theater District -- Home of entertainment and party people alike. **Toronto/Boytown|Boytown or Church and Wellesley -- Toronto's Queer district. **Toronto/Yonge Street|Yonge Street -- Ample shopping and activity along this heavily visited main district. **Toronto/Fashion District|Fashion District/Queen St. W *Toronto/Midtown|Midtown *Toronto/North|North York *Toronto/West|West Toronto/Etobicoke *Toronto/East|East End ==Understand== In the late 1990s the city of Toronto was amalgamated with several surrounding cities and boroughs - Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke, York, and East York - to form a new city of Toronto. This is also known as Metropolitan Toronto or "the 416" after its area code (although now there are some new minor area codes, the overwhelming number of phone numbers in the new City are "1-416...") and has a population of over 3.2 million people. Fully half of these were born in some country other than Canada - a fact obvious to any visitor immediately, as the city has many vibrant bustling neighborhoods with street signs in several languages. In fact, Toronto has a higher percentage of immigrants (52% of the population) than any other city in the world. There are also several suburbs surrounding Toronto, such as Mississauga, Brampton, Richmond Hill, Markham, and Pickering. Collectively, these suburbs are called the Greater Toronto Area (or GTA). They are also known as "the 905" after ''their'' area code, although technically this code is also used in both Hamilton (Ontario)|Hamilton and the Niagara Region, stretching to the border in Niagara Falls. The entire area including Toronto is known as the "Golden Horseshoe" and has a population of over 8 million people. ==Get in== ===By Bus=== Two major carriers provide the bulk of transportation into Toronto. [http://www.greyhound.ca Greyhound] provides transportation from most major Northeast cities, and [http://www.gotransit.ca GO Transit] provides buses from outlying Toronto areas. ===By Air=== Pearson International Airport is situated about 45min. by car from the downtown core and is serviced by most major international carriers. '''Getting downtown from the Airport''' For very affordable Limo or car services call Skyline Limousines Toronto 1.877.410-6689 [http://www.skylinelimousines.com Skyline Limousines] Several other options exist to make your way downtown from the airport: *A quick, convenient way to get to downtown Toronto is by the [http://www.torontoairportexpress.com Airport Express]. The bus picks up at all 3 terminals and stop at several major hotels in the downtown core. A round trip cost $26.75CDN. Travel times to and from the airport vary due to traffic conditions. *The [http://www.ttc.ca TTC] (Toronto public transit) have a few bus services that run to and from Pearson. The best TTC option is the 192 Airport rocket that runs between Kipling Station on the Bloor-Danforth Subway, in the west end of the city, and Pearson Airport. Kipling Station is the western most subway stop on the Bloor-Danforth line and it takes between 30-45 minutes to reach downtown. One way adult fare on the TTC is $2.50CDN ===By Train=== Toronto is situated along a primary VIA Rail corridor. Trains travel both east towards Montreal and westwards towards Western Ontario. There is a daily train from Chicago in the USA, a short trip but with a very long customs delay built in at the border. Express service exists between Toronto and Montreal. The only stop in between is Montreal Airport. It is a very nice service with beautifully painted carriages. Remember to ask for student fares if you have an ISIC card. The Canadian service operated by VIA (not daily) goes past Western Ontario, across the praries, all the way to Vancouver. Daily Maple Leaf service goes to New York and is operated by Amtrak. One schedule uses a train all the way through. Other schedules use a bus from Toronto to Buffalo. ===By Car=== Major highways leading into Toronto are the QEW, the 404, the 401, the 400, and the 427. Toronto is in the enviable position of being the largest city in Canada, so it's relatively easy to find a sign pointing you in the right direction. Be advised that traffic on incoming highways can be extremely heavy. For very affordable Limo or car services call Skyline Limousines Toronto 1.877.410-6689 ==Get around== Toronto has a well maintained and effective public transportation system, the [http://www.ttc.ca TTC], and you can get pretty well anywhere you want in the main part of the city with the subway / streetcars / buses. Current fares are $2.50 (discounted to $2 if you buy 5 or more tickets or tokens at a time). There are two primary subway lines: *The Bloor line runs east-west along Bloor/Danforth Street *The Yonge/University line runs in a U formation, travelling North-South along Yonge Street, and North-South along University, Bathurst and Spadina street. Taxis are plentiful and safe, but not cheap. As with most big cities, driving a car downtown can be annoying; parking is often hard to find and expensive, and traffic along certain streets can make vehicle travel slower than mass transit. If you need to get out of the city, the [http://www.gotransit.ca GO Trains] (commuter trains) go out to the outlying areas. ==See== Toronto has great tours available. These tours are very affordable ($25-$35) and offer pick up and drop-off from most hotels. http://www.torontotours.ca/ http://www.kingtours.ca/ http://www.etours.to/ '''Sites to See''' *The '''CN Tower''', located Toronto/Downtown|downtown. *'''[http://www.rom.on.ca Royal Ontario Museum]''', located in Toronto/The Annex|The Annex. *'''Toronto Islands''', located Toronto/Downtown|downtown. *'''[http://www.casaloma.org Casa Loma]''', located Toronto/The Annex|The Annex. Toronto has several major league sports teams: * The Toronto Blue Jays, Major League Baseball, play at the Rogers Centre (formerly "SkyDome") * The Toronto Maple Leafs, National Hockey League, play at the Air Canada Center * The Toronto Raptors, National Basketball Association, play at the Air Canada Center * The Toronto Argonauts, Canadian Football League, play at the Rogers Centre (Skydome) * The Toronto Rock, National Lacrosse League, play at the Air Canada Centre Toronto has a great theatre scene for every taste and budget. Check out the big theatres on King Street for the big splashy ( and pricey) shows like Chicago, The Lion King, Les Miz, Cats, etc. Small theatres in the Annex and elsewhere offer smaller productions that range from original Canadian works, avant-garde, experimental theatre, small budget musicals to British murder mysteries. Toronto is served by a number of free weekly newspapers, which can be good sources of information on dining, cinema, theatre, music and other events and local news. Look out for the free-papers in boxes on street corners and in racks stores and restaurants. *[http://www.eye.net Eye Weekly] *[http://www.nowtoronto.com Now Toronto] ''See district pages for more information'' ==Do== * The Lakefront, in the Toronto/Downtown|downtown core offers biking and walking trails, with an excellent view of the Toronto skyline. * '''[http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com The Distillery District]''' - the former Gooderham & Worts distillery lands have been rejuvenated into a pedestrian-only village dedicated to the arts and entertainment. Fantastic restaurants, festivals and artist galleries * Toronto has some excellent beaches in the Toronto/East|east end that offer typical beach activities. ''See district pages for more information'' ==Buy== Toronto has ample opportunities for shopping, and nearly any section of the city has unique places to shop and find deals: *Toronto/Yonge Street|Yonge Street is the longest continuous street in the world. It runs from the edge of the Lake right to the edge of the province! The in town end is a touristy-shopping district with many restaurants, souvenir and gift shops etc. *Located a short walk west of the Eaton Centre is the city's Toronto/Fashion District|fashion district along Queen St. West, an area usually bustling with local hipsters looking for the latest looks in a variety of trendy stores. *Kensington Market, around College and Spadina, has hundreds of stores. Most of them are food vendors, but there are a number of used clothing shops as well. *'''Pacific Mall''' at Steeles and Kennedy in Markham, [http://www.pacificmalltoronto.com/en/]. The largest Chinese indoor mall in North America. ''See district pages for more information'' ==Eat== Toronto is generally considered to be one of North America's top food cities. It has the same variety as New York or San Francisco, many places are open much later, and the compact and relatively safe downtown keeps them closer together. The immigrants make them authentic, and the Canadian dollar makes them cheaper. It is easy to eat out in Toronto and have a superb meal for cheap. There are a number of local web sites offering reviews on Toronto restaurants, try: *[http://www.nowtoronto.com/restaurant/index.cfm Now Toronto] *[http://www.torontolife.com/cityguide/restaurants.cfm Toronto Life] === Vegetarian Food === See the district pages for more details. * '''Le Commensal''' in Toronto/Downtown|Downtown * '''Fresh by Juice for Life''' in Toronto/The_Annex|The Annex, with another location on Toronto/Fashion_District|Queen West * '''Fressen''' on Toronto/Fashion_District|Queen West http://www.fressenrestaurant.com/ ==Drink== The majority of Nightlife in Toronto is centered around the appropriately named Toronto/Clubland|Clubland, and in the Toronto/Fashion District|fashion district on Queen Street West. Nearly anywhere is packed to the brim with pubs, bars, but none so much as Adelaide and Queen Street in those districts. ==Sleep== Most hotels and hostels are situated directly outside of the downtown core. Prices for rooms generally range from $100+ for a standard hotel, $60-80 for a motel, and $20-40 for a bed in a hostel. ==Contact== For emergency, dial 911 (you can dial it at the pay phone without putting in any coin). Local call at the pay phone costs 25 cents each. It is not metered, so you can talk as long as you want. However, due to the popularity of mobile phones, pay phone booths are disappearing at an alarming rate. Toronto has two area codes: 416 and 647. These area codes overlap. That is, they are both associated with the same geographic area. The suburban areas outside of the city also have two overlapping area codes, 905 and 289. As a result, Toronto has '''10-digit local dialing'''. You must always dial the area code as part of the number you are trying to reach. Toronto is a city with many internet cafés, especially on Yonge Street around Bloor and Bloor Street between Spadina and Bathurst. It's not hard to find a place to call home and the costs are relatively low, from $3 for 30 minutes. However, currently internet cafés are opening and closing in T.O. at an astounding rate so on repeat visits to the city you may find that the one you used last time has disappeared. ==Stay safe== In general, Toronto is an exceptionally safe city for its size, but there are areas to avoid. The downtown area east of Jarvis is generally more dangerous than the rest of the city, and some sections of the West end around Lansdowne have fallen into tough times. You're still far less likely to run into trouble in these areas than in most cities, but exercising caution never hurt. ==Get out== Toronto is a great starting point for exploring southern Ontario (province)|Ontario. The Niagara Region, including Niagara Falls and Niagara on the Lake, is less than an hour's drive from Toronto towards the United States border at the Falls. The Waterloo (Ontario)|Waterloo region to the west has colleges and culture, and Muskoka, north of Toronto, is cottage country, with country inns, lakes, and parks. ==External links== * [http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/ Official Website] * [http://www.torontotourism.com/ Toronto Tourism] with [http://www.torontotourism.com/web.cms/pdf/Toronto_map.pdf Toronto Map] WikiPedia:Toronto First page | Prev | Next | Last page |
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