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erin_trying and I are going to Toronto, Canada from July 7 to July 12. You guys have any touristy suggestions? We like architecture, museums, tasty food, and pretty things. Obviously free/low-cost is better than not, but suggestions are suggestions. I'll be picking up the DK guidebook (my favorite brand, thanks Eyewitness Books from my childhood corrupting me to this very day) today or tomorrow for more ideas, but personal ones are best, of course. We'll be staying in Harbourfront, but the subways and Zipcars can take us anywhere, so long as it's not too far afield.
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Date: 2009-06-23 12:52 am (UTC)The CN Tower is another major tourist item that's fun. The view is lovely. It's basically "tall tower with viewing deck," so if that's not your thing, then you can give it a pass, but ... it's really tall. And there's a glass floor that you can stand on. The restaurant in it is VERY expensive, but it's a revolving restaurant and your bill from the restaurant includes admission to the tower itself, so if you were going to go to the tower anyway, the restaurant becomes a reasonable deal. It's a revolving restaurant, and is good casual-fine fare. It makes a nice romantic dinner.
On the other hand, Toronto's big, big thing is ethnic food. We are one of the most multicultural cities in the world, and this shows in the ethnic food available, so if you like any foods of exotic ethnicity, then it's worth asking more specifically to see if people can make recommendations.
O'Noir Toronto, (http://www.onoir.com/TO/frames.htm) will be open by then. It will have JUST opened (June 24th), so I recommend reservations. If you have not done dining in the dark (I mean, pitch can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face dark.) it is a must-do. I have not been to the Toronto location, obviously (since it's not open yet), but I have been to the Montreal location and loved every minute of it.
If you've never done market-style dining, there's a fun restaurant called Richtree Marche right at Yonge and Front in what used to be called BCE Place but is now called something else -- the building with the Hockey Hall of Fame in it. You get a swipe card and go around various stalls to pick and choose your meal out. You can eat cheaply if you watch it or you can really add it up. BCE Place is also a nice architectural thing. It used to be an outdoor street that they enclosed, so there are some remaining facades inside, and it has a really futuristic look -- many science fiction TV shows and movies are filmed in there. It often stands in for City Hall of the future and things like that.
Speaking of which, that and most of downtown is on PATH, which is an underground tunnel system / shopping mall that can get you around a lot of downtown underground. Pretty typical for cities with such things but neat-ish if you're new to that experience.
Queen St. W. is the place to go if you want to wander and window shop. You can start at University and walk westbound as far as your legs will go. Lots of great shopping. It's trendier east of Spadina and artier west of Spadina, but both segments are worth going to. Pages Bookstore, which is on Queen St. W., has a very nice section of Canadian work if you want to pick up something Canadian. (Also, they have a fantastic architecture section.) They're my second-favourite bookstore in the city. If you start at Yonge instead of University, you'll have some dead space to walk past (where there are just offices or things), but you'll see some great old buildings as well as old city hall and new city hall.
Umm. I mean, I live here, so like all residents I'm not that expert in being a tourist here, but seriously, if you can prompt me or have any questions, I'm very happy to answer. I totally love Toronto.