So we are heading to the big city!
My DH's best friend and his family live there. We will be staying with them at their cottage (need to get used to not saying cabin) but we will have about 3 days in the city to tour. The only thing on our must do list is the Hockey Hall of Fame - my DD rolled her eyes but is actually being a good sport.
What else needs to be on our must do list? We will be flying so shopping items may be limited. (I have done a H&H search but alot of the info is for shopping.) I may try to find some vintage fabric to sew into cushion covers and such...
Is the Bata Shoe Museum worth touring? DD and I love shoes!
We are thinking of taking the train to Niagara and Niagara on the Lake for one day trip?
Yonge street and Bloor street seem to be streets that I always here about.
My kids like history and tours - not really amusement parks.
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Someone was just telling me you can get tours of the old Don Jail until the end of August. You can look up the Don Jail online.
HH of Fame is really great. I think you'll all enjoy it. The Eaton centre, in my opinion, is highly over rated. There are no stores in there that you can't find in any old suburban mall anywhere in the country, pretty much. Plus, since the rent is so pricey, most of them are actually smaller versions of what you'll find elsewhere. On top of that the whole place is sadly in need of a facelift.. Its dark, outdated and its crowded. Oh, and its now anchored by SEARS of all things. Blech all around. If you like malls, Yorkdale is just a subway ride away and a much nicer experience. (and they have a Crate and Barrel). Otherwise, find some great neighborhoods to browse in. Yonge St and Mount Pleasant are both interesting up in the Eglinton / Lawrence area and there are lots of great places to eat too, in addition to some of the shopping areas others have mentioned.
thanks Cherylsmom, we haven't left yet - we fly out on Tuesday. How come we should avoid the Eaton Centre (IYO)?
My DD has listed shopping as her activity and although we would love to do high end shopping that is not in the cards for us at the moment. (We weren't one of the Sask people who won 6/49 last night:cry:)
The hockey hall of fame is actually the first place we will be visitng. DS and DH can hardly contain their excitement!
ROM, Science Centre, Shoe Museum, Art Gallery, would be my first 4 recommendations, if your kids are into that stuff, as you say they are.
Substitute in the Hockey Hall of Fame for any one of the above, if you are hockey fans. It is really excellent.
Queens Park (parliment), Edwards Gardens, Allen Gardens, Old Fort York, Casa Loma, Spadina House, Gardiner museum, city archives, etc. are less on the beaten path. There are several cathedral type churches, and some lovely old architecture to visit as well. Osgoode Hall is very interesting, though you might have to call to get a tour.
If you like mall shopping - Bayview village is very small and very upscale. Sheway Gardens is medium and mostly upscale. Yorkdale is huge and has both middle of the road and upscale options. Personally I avoid the Eaton Centre like the plague, but there's a nice flagship Bay store at Yonge and Queen.
There's wonderful upscale shopping on Yorkville, Cumberland and Bloor street - all right aroudn the corner from the ROM, so they make a good combo day trip, even if you are just window shopping. Stop into Summers Ice Cream on Yorkville while you are there for some "Toronto Pothole". They are across the street from Teatro Verde, and you have to look for them as they are down a set of stairs. Its a family business and they make their own ice cream and waffle cones.
Kensington Market is a series of small streets with lots of funky shops and interesting food stores. The St. Lawrence Market is the real "market". There are permanent vendors in the south building all the time (wonderful meats, cheeses, baked goods) and the "farmers market" part is in the north building n the weekend.
More interesting shopping is on King and Queen street, both east and west of Yonge. I've never been to the Distillery District, but I hear its nice too.
There is also the various ethnic neighborhoods. Little India, or India Bazzar on Gerrard is very interesting. China town on Spadina is interesting, though in my opinion, overrated and usually smelly.
For dining, check out the restaurants listed in Summerlicious. The event is over, but you'll get a great list of restaurants to consider.
[URL=http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/summerlicious/index.htm]http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/summerlicious/index.htm[/URL]
Hope you haven't left yet on your trip, and that some of that helps a bit!
The ROM is a must see....be sure to check the web site for hours & ticket prices because they have free admission on Wed.& 1/2 price on Friday 4;30 to 9;30
Although I love the Niagara area 3 days won't be enough. Esp. if you don't have a car. I would definitely take one of the off & on tour buses. Ride thru 1 X & then decide what you want to see. The "yellow" one hits most of the major downtown sites..... Casa Loma, ROM, Shoe Museum etc. Also, don't forget about the zoo if you have animal lovers. If you are there on a weekend you can also buy a "family" subway pass for $9./day. It allows 2 adults & I think up to 4 children to travel anywhere by TTC. It useable on buses, streetcars & subway.
I have been on toronto's website. As a visitor I find it overwhelming. Also knowing that we only have 3 days, we want opinions of what are must sees cause we know that we can't do everything. thank you for all the info - keep it coming!
Casa Loma is really neat if you have never been there! [url]www.casaloma.org[/url]
I'd second the ROM. The first time we hit Toronto I think I was 8 or 9 and went there. Even my eye rolling brother (who was 14 and way too cool for things that I liked) liked it and I still remember just being so excited seeing things like mummies there.
I wasn't impressed with the zoo since we have a good one here so it was not really anything new to us so I'd concentrate on things you can't see anywhere else. I remember being pretty impressed with the great lakes (although at the time lake Ontario was pretty stinky to me who had never seen such a thing. I remember thinking it smelled like dead fish but that may vary for others). When you aren't used to being around water like that, those big lakes are really like the ocean. Niagara Falls is a good one as it's pretty spectacular and there are tons of goofy tourist shops and the wax museum to see there. There are also oodles of fruit stands/markets on the way if you rent a car for the trip.
The other thing that Toronto is pretty good for when you are from other places is the independent diners. There are some really good small old diners that are very well known to the locals as well as bakeries and other funny little local businesses that are one of a kinds. You'll find people who can tell you where to find the best muffins or best cream cheese and bagel or best whatever especially if you are downtown near Spadina or Queen. I used to love visiting those places when I went back as an adult because we have almost none of that in Calgary.
Don't miss going to the ROM (Royal Ont. Museum) if you like history. They have the Dead Sea Scrolls right now. Also worth seeing would be Casa Loma and this is a great time to go to Centre Island and see the city from there. Take the ferry across and do a picnic there. Great to walk around and meet some of the residents and really enjoy the water and the views.
Art Gallery of Ontario has also been recently re done and apparently is quite nice. In the fall we will go when King Tut comes in. (He's on a slow boat methinks)
Toronto Zoo is worth seeing too - go to Toronto.ca for ideas. There are lots of buses going to the falls too and if you can ditch the kids for a day, they have the Gambling Buses that take you to the Casino (Fallsview) and bring you back as long as you visit their tables and slots. Cheap date.
IF you are not afraid of heights - there is the CN tower:confused:
I went to the Bata Shoe Museum a couple of years ago for the first time and really enjoyed it. There was much more to see than I thought there would be and I found it really interesting.
not sure about Toronto, but there's lots to do - Science Museum, Canada's Wonderland and all sorts of stuff like that, google tourism Toronto and you shoud get loads of info.
As far as Niagara on the Lake goes, I think the train (and bus) only run to St. Catharines or Niagara Falls. There is a bus from St. Catharines to Niagara on the Lake, but I think it is Tuesday and Thursday (could be wrong it might be Monday and Thursday!). Google st. Catharines Transit and give them a call. Inter-city travel in the Niagara Region is non-existent.
If anything else in Niagara takes your fancy, let me know, I lived there for over 25 years, until 3 months ago!