Toronto, Canada
Currency converter
Airport: Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
Served by: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair
City Statistics
Overview
Getting There By Air
From London - 8 hours; New York - 1 hour 35 minutes; Los Angeles - 5 hours 15 minutes; Sydney - 17 hours 25 minutes.
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ)
Tel: (416) 203 6942
Web: www.torontoport.com
Airport facilities:
There is a restaurant at the airport. Car hire should be arranged in advance from downtown companies, which will arrange for pick up at the ferry landing.
Getting Around
Hotels
Toronto’s luxury hotel scene has exploded in the last few years, with new offerings from prestigious names like Four Seasons, Trump and Shangri-La. But the high end accommodation that the city has become famous for is only one side of the story, and away from the central areas you’ll find plenty of trendy boutique hotels, b&bs and youth hostels to cater for all tastes and budgets. The best hotels tend to be located on the fringes of the downtown area, although downtown itself has several luxury hotels as well as a selection of lively hostels. Look to the outskirts and the area around the airport for good budget accommodation.
The Toronto hotels below have been hand-picked by our guide author and are grouped into three pricing categories:
Luxury (over C$250)
Moderate (C$120 to C$250)
Cheap (up to C$120)
These Toronto hotel prices are the starting prices for a standard double room and include taxes and breakfast unless otherwise specified. Hotel prices are subject to a provincial sales tax, levied at 5% on accommodation, as well as a federal goods and services tax of 5%. This is usually added to the bill at the end. Tipping is expected in Toronto and porters are usually given a C$5 note for their efforts.
Cheap
Bond Place Hotel
Its downtown location coupled with remarkably cheap room rates makes this one of the most popular hotels in the city. The rooms are clean, comfortable and well-designed with facilities that you would expect of a much more expensive hotel, and many of Toronto's biggest malls, clubs and sightseeing attractions are within an easy walk. Facilities include a fitness suite and well-equipped conference rooms as well as the obligatory free Wi-Fi service for guests.
65 Dundas Street East
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 362 6061.
Web: www.bondplace.ca
Howard Johnson Inn Scarborough
This cheap and cheerful hotel close to Toronto Zoo is a good basic choice. It's a two-minute drive or an easy walk to downtown and has a selection of facilities including free Wi-Fi, a business centre with conferencing facilities and a fitness centre. The Howard Johnson also welcomes pets, making it the hotel of choice for anybody travelling with their furry friend.
4694 Kingston Road, Scarborough
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 913 7184.
Web: www.hojo.com
The Strathcona
A popular budget hotel, The Strathcona is located directly across from the city's main railway hub - Union Station. The Strathcona now aims itself at the budget business traveller. It provides corporate rooms with Wi-Fi access and has a full service meeting room and 24-hour business centre. The guest rooms are small but comfortable and the hotel is just steps away from the Queen's Quay waterfront, theatres and great shopping. All rooms are en suite.
Theatre/Financial District
60 York Street
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 363 3321 or 1 800 268 8304.
Web: www.thestrathconahotel.com/
Fairmont Royal York Hotel
The tallest building in the British Empire when it opened in 1929, the massive Royal York even now is a prominent feature of Toronto's Lake Ontario skyline. It retains quite a bit of its between-the-wars classic ambiance, but frequent upgrades have allowed it to keep pace with its many nearby competitors. Its convenient location (steps from the banks of Bay Street and connected by tunnel with Union Station) makes it a favourite with both business and leisure travellers. Amenities include a business centre, indoor lap pool, 24-hour fitness centre, spa and children's wading pool.
Financial District
100 Front Street West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 368 2511 or 1 866 540 4489.
Web: www.fairmont.com/royalyork
Hazelton Hotel
Since opening in 2007, the Hazelton in the ritzy Yorkville district has drawn a steady stream of actors and hipsters, many attracted by its proximity to luxury boutiques and Toronto International Film Festival events. Granite, leather and velvet predominate the décor in the hotel's public areas, 62 rooms and 15 suites, which also feature original Canadian artworks. Huge bathrooms have heated floors, soaker tubs and rainfall showers. Business centres on each floor and hotel-wide Wi-Fi cater to the corporate crowd. Amenities include a lap pool, fitness centre, spa, private screening room and 24-hour room service. Mark McEwan, chef at the hotel's restaurant One , is a local culinary celebrity who also owns North 44.
Yorkville
118 Yorkville Avenue
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 963 6300.
Web: www.thehazeltonhotel.com
Park Hyatt Toronto
Formerly known as the Park Plaza, this hotel has a rooftop bar-lounge that has made appearances in some Canadian novels, such as Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye (1988). Millions of dollars were invested in refurbishment of the 1930s art deco building - including the addition of the Stillwater Spa. Along with its location in ritzy Yorkville, the hotel boasts typical business amenities of two-line telephones, plush bathrobes, in-room safe, complimentary shoeshine and internet access.
Yorkville
4 Avenue Road
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 925 1234.
Web: parktoronto.hyatt.com/
Cambridge Suites
Located in the heart of the Financial District, this all-suites hotel is designed with the business traveller in mind. The experienced staff can handle all kinds of business occasions, from state-of-the-art presentations to informal breakfast meetings. The exterior of the hotel is typically North American - 20 floors of green glass, while the 231 guest rooms range from one bedroom apartment-style units to deluxe duplexes, usually decorated in muted browns and creams. All rooms have work areas that are comfortable, well designed and feature two double-line telephones and high-speed and Wi-Fi access. The penthouse suites have Jacuzzis.
Financial District
15 Richmond Street East
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 368 1990 or 1 800 463 1990.
Web: www.cambridgesuitestoronto.com
Delta Chelsea
Canada's largest hotel, the glass-clad, sky-high Delta Chelsea tries to cater for everybody in its 1,590 guest rooms. For families, there are Nintendo games, a bottomless cookie jar (in the Family Fun suites only) and kids' discounts in the restaurants. For business travellers, there is a dedicated floor of rooms equipped with cordless speaker telephones, faxes, well-stocked desks and back-friendly chairs. All rooms are en suite. Facilities include two pools (one with a water slide) and a fitness centre. Many rooms have been designed for travellers with disabilities and the staff are always on hand to assist with meeting planning or presentation. Weekend packages are often very economically priced.
Downtown
33 Gerrard Street West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 595 1975 or 1 800 243 5732.
Web: www.deltachelsea.com/
The Gladstone Hotel
This is the oldest continuously operating hotel in Toronto (built in 1889), and it is now one of the city's most exciting, with artist-designed hotel rooms and suites, studios and exhibition spaces. In this hotel, guests have instant access to the Toronto art scene - either through events, by going outside to enjoy the city's art and design neighbourhood, or simply by enjoying the paintings in their rooms. The hotel offers 51 comfortable hotel rooms and suites.
1214 Queen Street West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 531 4635.
Web: www.gladstonehotel.com/
Business Etiquette
Business cards are normally exchanged after meals or meetings, not during introductions. The giving of gifts in business situations is unusual and might be treated suspiciously. In the workplace, it is common to answer the telephone by stating one's first and last name. Around the office, however, people (both superiors and co-workers) are usually addressed by first name. Working hours are typically Monday to Friday 0900-1700, although slight variations are not uncommon. The best time to visit Toronto for business purposes is between September and May, as the summer is the most popular time of year for holidays.
Sightseeing
Immediately to the north is the dense cluster of office towers that comprise the Financial District, including some architectural wonders by Mies van der Rohe (Toronto-Dominion Centre) and Santiago Calatrava (the galleria at BCE Place).
Interspersed between these (and even underlying many of the buildings) are some of the city's main shopping areas, with the theatres and nightclubs of the Entertainment District to the west, and some of Toronto's chief tourist attractions just to the north.
The latter include Toronto City Hall, a gem of modern architecture, the nearby Art Gallery of Ontario, the vast collections of the Royal Ontario Museum, and the medieval-inspired 20th-century castle, Casa Loma, which stands a bit further to the north.
In the city's west end, the enormous, sweeping patch of green known as High Park unfurls, while along the waterfront Ontario Place and the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds provide fun days out for families with children. Beyond the trail-laced ravine of the Don Valley, to the east of the centre, is The Beaches, with chic boutiques and a waterfront promenade.
Toronto is known as a city of neighbourhoods and many of these are a short distance from the Financial District's towers. Unlike many major North American cities, Toronto has a thriving, vital, leafy downtown that keeps home owners and families from fleeing to the suburbs.
Two of the city's most affluent areas are Rosedale and Forest Hill - pleasant for walks and people-watching. Yorkville, a hippy enclave in the 1960s, predictably went chi-chi in the 1970s, today offering elegant cafes and restaurants and even a Prada store.
Toronto's Chinatown - arguably North America's best due to Toronto's enormous Chinese community - centres on Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West. Danforth Avenue is home to Greektown. Toronto has one of the highest concentrations of Italians outside Italy and many of them originally made their homes in Little Italy, west of the city centre.
Near the University of Toronto, the Annex is a trendy, popular neighbourhood known for its lively nightlife and cultural scene. The area around Church and Wellesley Streets is home to the city's out and proud gay and lesbian village.
Suite 590, 207 Queen's Quay West
Tel: (416) 203 2600 or 1 800 499 2514.
Website: www.torontotourism.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1800.
Ontario Travel Information Centre
20 Dundas Street West
Tel: (416) 314 5899 or 1 800 668 2746.
Website: www.ontariotravel.net
Opening hours: daily 0830-1700 (until 2000 from late May through August).
Key Attractions
Reopened after a C$254m expansion led by Toronto-born architect Frank Gehry, Canada's premier art gallery, the AGO, contains 110 galleries displaying temporary exhibitions and a large permanent collection of international art. Its European collection covers the Italian Renaissance, Flemish Masters, 17th-century French painting and the Impressionists, right through to 20th-century works by Chagall and Picasso and beyond. The gallery's greatest attraction, however, is the Canadian collection, featuring a cross-section of work from the Group of Seven - a group of early 20th-century painters whose work embodies the sublime beauty of Canada's boreal wilderness. The gallery is also home to one of the world's largest collections of Inuit art, as well as works by Henry Moore. It is worth allowing extra time to visit The Grange, a restored 19th-century house, adjacent to the gallery.
317 Dundas Street West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 979 6648.
Web: www.ago.net
Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1730 (until 2030 on Wed).
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Bata Shoe Museum
The Bata Shoe Museum is the only museum of its kind in the world. Housed in an equally unique building shaped, appropriately enough, like a shoebox, the museum owns some 12,500 items of footwear, dating as far back as 4,500 years. Pieces range from Elvis Presley's loafers and Queen Victoria's ballroom slippers to 19th-century beaded Native American shoes and leather broad-toed Tudor shoes. A semi-permanent exhibition showcases celebrity shoes from the 20th century, while three galleries featuring regularly changing exhibitions mean there's always something new to see.
327 Bloor Street West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 979 7799.
Web: www.batashoemuseum.ca
Opening hours: Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat 1000-1700, Thurs 1000-2000, Sun 1200-1700.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
CN Tower
At a height of 553m (1,815ft), the CN Tower is the defining symbol of this lakefront city. On a clear day, it offers stunning views of up to 120km (75 miles) across the surrounding cityscape and Lake Ontario. Glass-fronted elevators (one with a newly installed glass floor) bring visitors to the main section (at an equivalent to 114 storeys high) where a terrifying glass floor enables visitors to stare 342m (1,122ft) straight down. A more leisurely view can be had from the revolving 360 Restaurant on the floor above. Another set of elevators leads to the SkyPod, 33 storeys further up. There is also a group of entertainment venues at the base of the tower, including a motion-simulator ride. A new aquarium is scheduled to open at the base of the tower in July 2013.
301 Front Street West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 868 6937.
Web: www.cntower.ca
Opening hours: Usually from early morning until 2200 or 2300. Opening hours are adjusted seasonally, so visitors should call the tower to check.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Canada's Wonderland
Located in the northern suburb of Maple, Canada's Wonderland is, as its name suggests, an amusement park. Although not on quite the same scale as a Disney or Universal outfit, it nevertheless features over 200 attractions on its 121 hectares (300 acres) of landscaped grounds and 8-hectare (20-acre) waterpark. There are 69 rides, including 'Drop Tower', 'Jet Scream', 'Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion', 'Shockwave' and 'Splashworks', a 20-acre water park. Recently added attractions include one of the world's largest animatronic dinosaur experiences, 'Dinosaurs Alive!' and giant rollercoaster 'Leviathan'.
exit 33)
9580 Jane Street (Highway 400
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (905) 832 8131.
Web: www.canadaswonderland.com
Opening hours: Daily 1000-2200 (Jun-Aug); Sat & Sun 1000-2000 (May, Sep and Oct).
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Casa Loma
Toronto seems an unlikely location for a castle, but since 1911 the soaring battlements of Casa Loma have lent an element of magic to the city. The 98-room castle was completed in 1914 by Sir Henry Pellatt, a charismatic financier, industrialist and philanthropist, to be his home. Financial ruin forced its sale years later and the castle eventually became the popular tourist attraction it is today. The castle is a bizarre hybrid of a medieval-style stonework exterior (replete with turrets and battlements) and an early 20th-century interior. Highlights include the splendidly carved Oak Room, secret passageways and pseudo-gothic Great Hall, which has 18m- (60ft-) high ceilings. The gardens are open between May and October.
1 Austin Terrace
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 923 1171.
Web: www.casaloma.org
Opening hours: Daily 0930-1700.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Fort York
Fort York harks back to the days when Toronto, then as British as afternoon tea, was named York. As a colony, the city occasionally had to deal with revolutionaries to the south, so Fort York was founded in 1793 to ensure British control of Lake Ontario. Most of the buildings, however, date from 1814 because, during the War of 1812, the evacuating British blew up the gunpowder magazine - an explosion so unexpectedly large that it killed 10 of their own men and 250 advancing Americans, and destroyed a good deal of the fort. Highlights of Fort York include blockhouses, barracks, officers' quarters, costumed staff and period demonstrations.
off Fleet Street
100 Garrison Road
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 392 6907.
Web: www.toronto.ca/culture/fort_york.htm
Opening hours: Daily 1000-1700 (late May-early Sep); Mon-Fri 1000-1600, Sat-Sun 1000-1700 (early Sep-late May). Several short closed periods throughout the year.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Gardiner Museum
One of the world's premier ceramic art museums, it now boasts 2,694 sq m (29,000 sq ft) of exhibition space and features Asian ceramics, 19th-century ceramics made at Minton, and contemporary studio ceramics, in addition to collections including Ancient American, Italian Renaissance majolica, and 17th- and 18th-century English delftware. The museum also features a restaurant and an expanded shop specialising in artist-designed and handmade objects – and you can even have a go at replicating some of the exhibits with the hands on Clay Classes for students of all ages and abilities.
111 Queen's Park
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 586 8080.
Web: www.gardinermuseum.on.ca
Opening hours: Mon-Thurs 1000-1800, Fri 1000-2100, Sat-Sun 1000-1700.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Ontario Science Centre
The Ontario Science Centre was opened in 1969, with a mission to 'open minds to science by creating environments that excite curiosity, inspire insights and motivate learning in science and technology'. This difficult task is successfully accomplished with over 800 fascinating exhibits. Themes explored in depth include the mysteries of the human brain and space travel. Interactive exhibits include piloting a spacecraft or touching the hair-raising Van de Graaff generator. In 2012, the Centre introduced a new range of semi-permanent exhibits, and a new permanent exhibition called The Human Edge will be unveiled in 2013.
770 Don Mills Road
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 696 1000.
Web: www.ontariosciencecentre.ca
Opening hours: Generally 1000-1700 but it varies by season; call to check.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, next door to the iconic CN Tower, Ripley's Aquarium of Canada -a $130 million facility now under construction - will open this summer. The aquarium will feature more than 13,500 exotic sea and freshwater creatures and a unique 96m-long (315 ft) moving walkway through an tunnel set beneath a shark lagoon and a tropical reef tank.
288 Bremner Boulevard
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (647) 351 3474.
Web: www.ripleyaquariums.com
Opening hours: To be opened in summer 2013.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
The ROM is one of the most exciting museums in Canada. Its striking facade alone will take your breath away, but deeper within, the museum houses excellent collections featuring almost 6 million artefacts. The exhibits representing East Asia include a renowned collection of Chinese art, with wall paintings, snuff bottles and ceramic head cushions, as well as the only complete example of a Ming tomb in the west. Other levels handle the life sciences, the ancient Mediterranean and a Canadian heritage collection. Take the Director's Choice Audio Tour to discover the stories behind some of the museum's most celebrated exhibits.
100 Queen's Park (Bloor Street West at Avenue Road)
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 586 8000.
Web: www.rom.on.ca
Opening hours: Sat-Thu 1000-1730, Fri 1000-2130.
Admission Fee: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Culture
Massey Hall
Massey Hall was opened in 1894 and hosts everything from jazz, classical, rock and world music to international dance troupes. It is a National Historic Site of Canada, and is worth a visit as much for its historic façade and 1940s interior as for the world-class acts that regularly play in the Hall. Notable past performers include Neil Young, who recorded his album Live at Massey Hall 1971 here, Rush, and Jerry Lee Lewis.178 Victoria Street
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 872 4255.
Web: http://www.masseyhall.com
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Evidence of how seriously the city takes its role as a cultural capital is the C$181 million Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the magnificent new home of the Canadian Opera Company inaugurated in June 2006. Designed by Toronto architect Jack Diamond, the centre integrates the best features of the grand European opera houses with innovative technology in acoustics and sightlines. The centre is also the performance venue for The National Ballet of Canada.145 Queen Street West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 363 8231.
Web: http://www.coc.ca/AboutTheCOC/FourSeasonsCentre.aspx
Theatre
Harbourfront Centre Theatre
Near the waterfront, the Harbourfront Centre Theatre, at the Harbourfront Centre, was built as an ice house in the 1920s but was renovated into a modern theatre, showing musicals alongside more serious pieces, in the 1990s. It has just 450 seats, making it an intimate venue with a flexible performance space that lends itself to everything from jazz acts to Shakespearean plays. It is the home of Toronto's French-speaking theatre company and also frequently hosts chamber music and cabaret.231 Queen's Quay West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: (416) 973 4000.
Web: http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/
Royal Alexandra Theatre
Built in 1907, the Royal Alexandra Theatre is an old, spacious Victorian theatre that shows musicals along with the occasional piece of serious theatre. It claims to be the oldest continually-operating theatre in North America, and with nearly 1,500 seats and a calendar packed with the best of international talent it is the centrepiece of Toronto's arts scene. Historically, Maggie Smith, Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr and Ingrid Bergman have all performed here, and it continues to attract the biggest names in theatre today.260 King Street West
Toronto
Canada
Tel: 1 800 430 8903.
Web: http://www.toronto-theatre.com
The content of this page is provided by www.worldtravelguide.net copyright © Columbus Travel Media Ltd 2012