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Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Smart travel tips and important contact info make planning your trip a breeze, and detailed coverage of sights, accommodations, and restaurants give you the info you need to make your experience enriching and hassle-free. If you only have room for one guide, this is the one for you. The best guide to Toronto, packed with essentials Walking tours and sights: Harbourfront Centre, ethnic neighborhoods, museums, Victorian and modern architecture Markets, galleries, and shops from Yorkville to Chinatown Theater, blues and jazz bars, lounges, Latin dance clubs Side trips -- Niagara Falls, Stratford, Niagara-on-the-Lake Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget Sleek modern hotels, historic charmers, B&Bs, country inns French restaurants, Italian trattorias, chic cafes, steak houses, and fish houses, delis, Asian eateries, spots for patio dining Fresh, thorough, practical -- off and on the beaten path Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands All reviews based on visits by savvy writer-residents, including Toronto Sun restaurant critic Sara Waxman 18 pages of maps -- and dozens of great features Important contacts, smart travel tips Fodor's Choice What's Where Pleasures & Pastimes Festivals Complete index

On the Road with Fodor's
About Our Writers:Each year the Gold Guides are written and updated by more than 500 resident writers
Connections How to Use This Book:Describes organization, icons, and other key information
Don't Forget to Write:Tells you how to get in touch with our editors
The Gold Guide Smart Travel Tips A to Z:An easy-to-use section divided alphabetically by topic
Under each listing you'll find tips and information that will help you accomplish what you need to in Toronto
You'll also find addresses and telephone numbers of organizations and companies that offer destination-related services and detailed information and publications
Destination: Toronto:Helps get you in the mood for your trip
An Amazing Metamorphosis New and Noteworthy:Cues you in on trends and happenings
What's Where:Gets you oriented
Pleasures and Pastimes:Describes the activities and sights that make Toronto unique
Great Itineraries:Provides a range of options, geared to the length of your stay, that help ensure that you get the most out of your visit
Fodor's Choice:Showcases our top picks from special restaurants and one-of-a-kind accommodations to out-of-the-ordinary sights and activities...
Let them inspire you! Festivals and Seasonal Events:Alerts you to special events you'll want to seek out
Exploring Toronto Old Toronto The Financial District The Waterfront Along Dundas and Queen Streets Around Queen's Park Cabbagetown Forest Hill and Beyond Southwest Toronto Northwest Toronto Northeast Toronto Southeast Toronto Dining Lodging Nightlife and the Arts Outdoor Activities and Sports Shopping Side Trips Stratford The Niagara Peninsula
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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This excerpt, from the Pleasures and Pastimes section, gives you a taste of what Toronto has to offer and the sights and scenes that make it a great place to visit.

Dining

The city's dining scene has flourished in the late '90s, providing a huge variety of choices. Formal establishments and even steak houses are thriving, but not at the expense of the many new bistros, tapas bars, and noodle bars. After each of Toronto's immigration waves, an intriguing new batch of restaurants open. In the last half century, Toronto has been introduced to everything from Hungarian schnitzel after the 1956 revolution to Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian cuisines in the 1970s and beyond. Italian restaurants dominate the city's dining scene, reflecting the locals' long-term passion for this cuisine in all its regional variations, but you can also choose from an abundance of excellent Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Thai, seafood, vegetarian, creative contemporary, and, of course, Canadian fare. The wine lists of the finest restaurants include, in addition to international selections, excellent regional wines, while local microbrews provide wonderful acc
ompaniments to more casual meals. If you're visiting in summer, do as the locals do and dine alfresco, a cherished Toronto pastime.

Ethnic Neighborhoods

You can tour the world in Toronto, where you'll encounter markets, clothes, music, newspapers, cuisines, and customs from around the universe. If you walk around long enough, you'll hear everything from Hindi to Greek. You can pick up a sari on Gerrard Street East, purchase Chinese herbal medicine on Dundas Street, and browse for French books on Queen Street West. The West Indian community holds a summer festival, Caribana, that draws hundreds of thousands of people. Many of the immigrants who originally settled Toronto's ethnic enclaves have moved to the suburbs, but others have taken their places and kept the old traditions alive.

Lodging

Toronto offers an array of places to lay your head that is commensurate with a city of its size and sophistication. Although it isn't strong on historic lodgings or bed-and-breakfasts, there are some notable exceptions, and chain hotels have reliable properties in convenient locations around town. The First Nations inhabitants who came up with the name Toronto, or "place of meetings," certainly had foresight: Conventions book huge blocks of hotel rooms year-round. This can mean annoying lobby bustle, but it also tends to ensure that properties in this competitive town have plenty of amenities and high levels of service. The emphasis on business also means that rates sometimes go down drastically on the weekends; many hotels have special packages for couples and families, too.

Parks and Ravines

When Toronto was first settled, it not only had a fine natural port, but also sat at the mouth of two rivers and a handful of streams. While these small streams have either dried up or been covered over by urban development, their valleys and ravines have been retained by the city as parkland. Many parks offer dirt, cinder, or asphalt paths for bikers and joggers. High Park, west of downtown, is lovely, and miniparks throughout the urban core afford good views, public sculpture, historical plaques, and, of course, benches for resting tired feet.

Shopping

From haute couture to ethnic markets, Toronto has retail options for every purse and personal taste. Megamalls like the Eaton Centre vie with intimate boutiques on Bloor Street West and in the Yorkville area for shoppers' attention. Unique areas to explore include the St. Lawrence and Kensington markets; funky Queen Street West, with its street-smart shops; Chinatown and Spadina Avenue, loaded with bargains; Queen Street East, with a treasure trove of vintage and antiques stores; and Queen's Quay Terminal, a delightful converted warehouse on the waterfront (the Harbourfront Antiques Market is nearby, too).

Spectator Sports

Toronto has venues for American favorites like baseball (the Toronto Blue Jays) and basketball (the Toronto Raptors), as well as for other spectator sports that have a stronger following in Europe. Ice hockey is a national mania; children start out as soon as they're old enough to toddle around on skates, move to league play when they're around 10, and generally keep going as long as their knees hold out. Maple Leaf tickets are a scarce commodity in this town. Amateur leagues sometimes play at 2 [am] because there's so much competition for ice time. For a free look at nonprofessional enthusiasts, check out any park with a skating rink on a bright winter's day. American fans may want to sample Canadian football at an Argonauts' game; the play is faster and (locals say) more exciting.

Excerpted from Toronto 2004: The Complete Guide with Walking Tours, Museums, Restaurants, Shopping and Nightlife by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Toronto 2004 : The Complete Guide with Walking Tours, Museums, Restaurants, Shopping and Nightlife

Toronto 2004 : The Complete Guide with Walking Tours, Museums, Restaurants, Shopping and Nightlife

0679000631

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