King and Queen St. West in Toronto. A wealth of cafes and restaurants greet the tourist who needs a break from browsing the shops and vendors. (AP/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)
With the U.S. dollar surging against Canadian currency, a vacation
north of the border is suddenly affordable again. The U.S. dollar was
worth $1.23 Canadian in late November, a comeback from a one-to-one
exchange rate last year.
In addition to being a good deal, Americans headed to Toronto may also find Canada's largest city refreshingly hip, diverse and utterly cosmopolitan.
Here
are some tips to help you explore the city known as "Tronno" or "T-dot"
while saving those loonies (the colloquial term for Canada's $1 coin).
GETTING
AROUND: Travel to the city's colorful neighborhoods on the public
transit system known as the "TTC." A fare of CA$2.75 (US$2.23) allows
you transfer between subway, streetcar and bus if you get a transfer (a
slip of paper) when you first pay. Exact fare is required on buses and
streetcars. TTC day passes for CA$9 ($7.30) or weekly passes for CA$25
($21) are also available for unlimited travel.
And,
instead of taking a costly taxi from the airport, take a shuttle bus
for CA$13 ($10.55) to Union Station, Toronto's transit hub, which
offers travel within the city, as well as to Toronto's suburbs and
outlying cities and towns via the Go Trains and Via Trains; http://www.ttc.ca.
GETTING AROUND BY FOOT: Grab an InfoTOgo visitor map — http://www.toronto.ca/visitors/infotogo.htm
— from one of 23 stand-alone booths located around the city. The maps
are CA$2 ($1.60) from the booths and point out more than 20 tourist
sites including historic locations and transportation stops. It's
relatively easy to spend the day walking from Toronto's trendy and urban-fashion-forward Queen Street West to peruse its shops and underground culture, to Chinatown to grab some cheap eats, and then on to Yorkville to check out how the city's rich and famous shop and live.
THE WATERFRONT: Toronto's Harbourfront is an easy walk south from Union Station.
This pretty lakefront region offers events year-round, with lots of
ethnic festivals, arts programs, music, inexpensive food and ice- and
roller-skating; http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com.
Take
the Queen Street streetcar, starting from Queen Street West (at
Dufferin) to check out Toronto's, uber-cool, gritty hipster 'hoods all
the way east to The Beach, a stretch of waterfront that's especially
fun in the summer. In warm weather, take a dip in the tepid water, play
pickup volleyball, stroll the boardwalk, or attend the free, annual
jazz festival so big it shuts down the street each July.
VIEW FROM THE TOP: Although Toronto might be known for its view from the CN Tower (once the world's tallest building),
it's an expensive view that'll put you back anywhere from CA$21-$40
($17-32) depending on the tour package. There is an alternative. Head
to the Panorama restaurant in the Manulife Centre located near the city's chic Yorkville neighborhood (Bay and Yonge Street). Grab the elevator to this romantic restaurant on the 51st floor and sip a Chardonnay as you take in the view; http://www.eatertainment.com/restaurants/panorama/.
MARKETS: From the Harbourfront, walk north to Front Street and east along Front to the St. Lawrence Market, comprised of three historic buildings that made up Toronto's first City Hall. Today it houses an antique market and food market, named among the world's top 25 markets by Food & Wine magazine. Grab Canadian bacon
on a bun at Carousel Bakery for CA$3 ($2.45); a potato latke for
CA$1.25 ($1) at European Delight; or organic, fresh fare at one of the
several shops.
Kensington Market,
the hip, activists-inhabited neighborhood adjacent to Chinatown, is
funky, with organic, fair-trade coffee shops, vegetarian fare, and
frequent environmental or social justice protests or activities to
boot. Its history of poor immigrant families who set up shop here has
left a legacy of budget-friendly, ethnic-inspired fare that tempts your
tastebuds.
Try a one-of-a-kind chicken
and kimchee empanada, CA$3.75 ($3) at El Gordo Fine Foods; a pork or
chicken tamale with mole or green salsa, wrapped in banana leaves, for
CA$2 ($1.60) at Perola Supermarket; a Montreal smoked meat sandwich,
CA$3.49 ($2.83); a 6-ounce all-beef Texas burger, CA$2.29 ($1.85) at
European Quality Meat and Sausages; or a mini-roti to go, CA$3 ($2.43)
at Shai's Cafe. The market's boutiques and vintage shops also offer
great, unique grabs if you're willing to sift through the racks.
No
food-on-a-budget mission can exclude Chinatown. Grab a Vietnamese sub
for CA$1.50 ($1.20) at Banh Mi Nguyen Huong, 322 Spadina; a full meal
for CA$8 ($6.50) at Buddha's Vegetarian Foods, 666 Dundas St. West; or
nosh on steamed buns stuffed with pork for CA$5 ($4) at Chinese
Traditional Buns, 536 Dundas St. West.
A DISTRICT WITH CHARM: Many of Toronto's
coolest neighborhoods are recently gentrified, once- industrial
districts. The Distillery is one such neighborhood. Formerly known as
the Gooderham and Worts distillery, producing whiskey and spirits and
housing flour mills, the area was one of Toronto's historical
manufacturing centers. Today, the preserved Victorian industrial
architecture and cobblestone streets have a European feel, further
enhanced by art galleries, one-of-a-kind boutiques and myriad arts and
culture festivals, from wine tastings to artisan and fashion events; http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com/frameset.html.
The Royal Ontario Museum in the stone facing of a doorway at the museum in Toronto. (AP/The Canadian Press, Adrian Wyld)
ARTS:
Last year, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) reopened after years of
renovations to reveal a massive and obtrusive crystal addition. The
dramatic aluminum and glass-clad addition juts and soars from the
original Italianate Neo-Romanesque building. The family-friendly museum
specializes in world culture and natural history. Check out the
dinosaurs, Chinese temple art,
the current diamonds exhibition and more. Admission is free Wednesdays,
4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m., and half-price, CA$11 ($8.95) on Fridays, 4:30
p.m.-9:30 p.m.; http://www.rom.on.ca.
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) opened its doors this month after a major renovation designed by star-chitect Frank Gehry,
who grew up in the neighborhood. Its new billowing glass facade wraps
the building and beckons passers-by to explore both the architecture
and the art. Free admission Wednesdays, 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m.; http://www.ago.net/
LONG YONGE STREET: Once noted in Guinness World Records as the longest street in the world, Yonge Street
is Toronto's major arterial thoroughfare, but it actually stretches
1,178 miles from the lakeshore here beyond the city to the Minnesota
border. Wander from the heart of the Toronto's mini-"Times Square"
at Yonge and Dundas up to the shopping district at Yonge and Bloor. In
the winter, check out nearby Yorkville, which transforms into a winter
wonderland; click on "holiday magic" at http://www.bloor-yorkville.com.
FESTIVALS: The city has free events, concerts and festivals almost every weekend, especially in summer. Details at http://www.toronto.com/events or http://www.nowtoronto.com/ or http://www.eyeweekly.com/.
LODGING: Stay in the clean and safe Hi Toronto Youth Hostel, 76 Church St., in downtown Toronto for as little as CA$26 ($21) a night. The hostel also offers discount tickets to shows, sporting events and more; http://www.hostellingtoronto.com.
