Toronto: Sights, Culture, Shopping
Queen's Park - seat of the Ontario government
Neighbourhoods
Toronto has a multitude of ethnic neighbourhoods,
including Greektown (where the action keeps going until way
after midnight), Little Italy, Corso Italia, 3 Chinatowns,
Korea Town, Little Poland, Little India, Portugal Village.
Other ethnic communities also congregate in certain parts
of town and you can explore Jewish, Russian, Ukrainian, Somalian
and many other restaurants and stores. There you can browse
for ethnic food, fashion and art from far away places and
check out delicacies from the entire world in Toronto's more
than 7000 restaurants.
In addition to the ethnic flavour that Toronto so plentifully
offers, there are a variety of other unique neighbourhoods.
Downtown has several interesting areas to visit:
- the Financial District with all its skyscrapers. It also
houses the "underground city" - 11 km (6 miles) of interconnecting
passageways under the streets that feature more than 1,200
retail stores and services.
- the Downtown Entertainment District - bars and dance clubs
galore
- Queen Street West - a hip and eclectic shopping area
- the Gay Village: this is where Toronto's large gay and lesbian
community congregates. Here you can find bars, shops, restaurants
and open-air patios
- the Fashion District with a myriad of fashion outlet stores
and loft apartments that were converted from 19th century
factories
- Harbourfront with its boat cruises and the ferry terminal,
restaurants and art, theatre and music venues
- Rosedale and Forest Hill: two stately very upscale neighbourhoods
in a park-like setting
- Cabbagetown: a former working class area, it now houses
beautiful renovated Victorian homes
- the Distillery District: North America's best preserved
collection of Victorian industrial architecture, formerly
the Gooderham & Worts Distillery founded in 1832. It now
houses galleries, artist studios and workshops, boutiques,
retail stores, restaurants, bars and cafés
- The Beaches, one of my favourite areas, with its shops,
parks, sports facilities, bike trails and beach volleyball
facilities are Toronto's version of California on the waterfront.
Check out more information on Toronto's neighbourhoods here.
Toronto's Beaches: a serene place for relaxation and recreation.
Main Sights and Architecture
Being a relatively young city, Toronto has a rather
eclectic mix of architecture which includes
- the CN Tower, at 553 m the world's highest free-standing
structure
- the Skydome, a modern multi-purpose stadium with a retractable
roof
- the shiny downtown skyscrapers
- Historic Fort York, the site of the Battle of York during
the War 1812 and the birthplace of modern Toronto
- Old City Hall, built in the Richardson Romanesque style
- the campus of the University of Toronto, Canada's largest
university
- Casa Loma, built in the 1920s as a dream castle by Sir Henry
Pellat, a wealthy famous Toronto industrialist
- Queens Park, the provincial government buildings, also built
in Romanesque style
Casa Loma, Toronto's fairy tale castle.
Culture: Theatre, Music. Museums
Toronto is the 3rd largest theatre centre in the
world. Here you can enjoy Broadway-style musicals, homegrown
productions, traveling road shows and classical concerts.
Some of the great theatre and music venues include the Royal
Alexandra Theatre, the Princess of Wales Theatre, the Elgin/Winter
Garden Theatre, the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing
Arts, Royal Thomson Hall and many others.
A more complete list of theatres and production companies
can be found at this link:
www.showmetoronto.com/toronto_theatres.htm
Toronto also boasts a great diversity of cultural institutions
and museums:
- the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum)
- the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario)
- the Bata Shoe Museum
- the Hockey Hall of Fame
- the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
- the Bay of Spirits Gallery - Toronto's finest collection
of native arts and crafts
- Black Creek Pioneer Village: a collection of 40 restored
homes, tradeshops, public and farm buildings, with interpreters
and artisans in period dress
- The Holocaust Centre of Toronto
- The Ontario Science Centre
Markets and Shopping:
- St. Lawrence Market: the city's original market, where farmers,
artists and artisans ply their wares. Known for the freshness
and high quality of its meat, fish and farm products.
- Kensington Market: known in the 1920s as the Jewish Market,
Kensington Market today is a collection of merchants from
around the world. Here you can find fishmongers, street musicians,
impromptu speechmakers and shoppers all crowding the streets.
- The Eaton Centre, Toronto's famous indoor shopping mall,
built around an airy atrium, features 285 stores in the heart
of downtown Toronto. It is one of Canada's great public spaces.
- The Bloor Street/Yorkville holds many upscale designer boutiques,
antique shops, galleries, spas and restaurants.
www.torontotourism.com
www.city.toronto.on.ca
www.toronto.com
www.torinfo.com
www.showmetoronto.com
Useful books about Toronto:
Related articles:
Toronto - A pretty hip cool
place
Toronto - Festivals,
parks, sports and recreation
Check out why I
love Toronto