marcus_a_j
Senior Member
LI Mike: Ricoh Coliseum is on the Exibition Place grounds.
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First time visit to Toronto - what to do in one week?
- Thread starter ralf_merkel
- Start date
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Now that's my kind of list. Okay, here's what I can recommend beyond the usual Casa Loma, CN Tower, Ontario Place, Toronto Zoo, Rogers Centre and Air Canada Centre...
1) architecture and exceptional buildings / monuments
- Spadina House - http://www.toronto.ca/culture/spadina.htm
- Mackenzie House - http://www.toronto.ca/culture/mackenzie_house.htm
- Allan Gardens - http://www.toronto.ca/parks/parks_gardens/allangdns.htm
- First Toronto Post Office - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Toronto_Post_Office
- Osgoode Hall - http://www.lsuc.on.ca/about/a/history/osgoode-hall/
- Gibson House - http://www.toronto.ca/culture/gibson_house.htm
- Saint James Cathedral (the bells at noon are great) http://www.stjamescathedral.on.ca/
- Take a walk through my neighbourhood of Cabbagetown http://www.donvalecra.ca/index_files/about_don_vale.htm
- Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre Centre (the last "double-decker" or stacked Edwardian theatre facility in the world) http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_2374_1.html
2) Historic sites
- Fort York http://www.fortyork.ca/
- Black Creek Pioneer Village (have a tin lamp made) - http://www.blackcreek.ca/
- Toronto Aviation Museum http://torontoaerospacemuseum.com/indexh.html
3) Lifestyle
- Hockey Hall of Fame (also great if you like old buildings put to other uses) http://www.hhof.com/
4) Dining
- http://www.thelaurentianroom.com/
lokyin
New Member
i think it'd be nice to visit scarborough bluffs if weather is hot.
in many ways, a week in Toronto is a lot. should spend at least one day at niagara falls region, that place is a tourist trap but tourist trap for good reason. and niagara-on-the-lake is still very nice.
or visit Kingston (i think a 2.5hr train ride perhaps?) and also visit thousand islands?
For late night drinks in toronto, should go to panorama up at manulife center.
in many ways, a week in Toronto is a lot. should spend at least one day at niagara falls region, that place is a tourist trap but tourist trap for good reason. and niagara-on-the-lake is still very nice.
or visit Kingston (i think a 2.5hr train ride perhaps?) and also visit thousand islands?
For late night drinks in toronto, should go to panorama up at manulife center.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Well, if you're planning a day trip out of Toronto, you must check out the Kitchener-Waterloo area http://www.kwtourism.ca/ and the surrounding towns, as this is where a lot of German folks live.
adma
Superstar
Scarborough Bluffs really makes most sense if you've got a car or a bike...
Admiral Beez
Superstar
A great way to see Toronto is to rent a scooter or motorcycle. On-street parking is free for scooters and motorcycles throughout Toronto.
BuildTO
Active Member
It should be noted that when people mention the "Gardiner", they are referring to the Gardiner (Ceramics) Museum (across the street from the Royal Ontario Museum) - not the Gardiner Expressway. 
I always cringe when tourists ask me for directions to Casa Loma. It fits my definition of "tourist trap". I can't imagine someone from Europe being impressed.
I do add my recommendation to walk around neighbourhoods such as Kensington or the Beaches, and my first activity when showing tourists the city is to take the ferry to Ward's Island, follow the path to the west, and cross the footbridge to Algonquin Island to see the neighbourhood there. It's one thing that makes our city unique.
I always cringe when tourists ask me for directions to Casa Loma. It fits my definition of "tourist trap". I can't imagine someone from Europe being impressed.
I do add my recommendation to walk around neighbourhoods such as Kensington or the Beaches, and my first activity when showing tourists the city is to take the ferry to Ward's Island, follow the path to the west, and cross the footbridge to Algonquin Island to see the neighbourhood there. It's one thing that makes our city unique.
BuildTO
Active Member
Respectfully, I would not recommend to tourists to do this. Toronto traffic is bad enough in a car when you're unfamiliar with the streets and city. There are too many bad or inattentive drivers - and that becomes compounded when you are on two wheels.
syn
Senior Member
It should be noted that when people mention the "Gardiner", they are referring to the Gardiner (Ceramics) Museum (across the street from the Royal Ontario Museum) - not the Gardiner Expressway.
I always cringe when tourists ask me for directions to Casa Loma. It fits my definition of "tourist trap". I can't imagine someone from Europe being impressed.
I'd agree if was built solely to attract tourists, but there's some legitimate local history behind it.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Get a car.
If you plan on seeing more of Toronto than downtown and its surrounding neighbourhoods - and if you have a week to kill, you certainly will exhaust downtown in about two and a half days - I would strongly advise renting a car. Some of the most interesting sights in this part of the world almost require having 4 wheels: Pacific Mall, the McMhichael Art Collection, Niagara Falls, Muskoka, etc, while some of Toronto's most impressive sights are actually roads themselves, like the enormous 401, which could very well be the busiest freeway in the world.
If I were a European tourist, some of the things that Toronto has that would blow me away include one of the world's largest freshwater lakes. Go to the Beach(es) neighbourhood and contemplate how a body of water that seems to go out to infinity just licks at the shore like a duck pond - no influence of tides or storms, here. To compare, Germany's largest lake, the Bodensee, could fit twenty times over in the space of Lake Ontario - and Lake Ontario is hardly the most impressive of the great lakes, Lake Huron (and if you can make it, Lake Superior) are far larger. Grand Bend and Wasaga Beach are nice little beach towns, except you have to remind yourself that you are on a lake, not an ocean.
Toronto's ethnic diversity is best seen in the suburbs. There's the new Hindu temple at Rexdale and the 427 and the giant Pacific Mall is one of the main shopping destinations for the half a million Chinese people who call Greater Toronto home. Also, there are a couple of malls around the Highway 7/Leslie area in suburban Richmond Hill that are totally devoted to the Chinese emigrant community. Inside you will find restaurants serving some of the tastiest food that puts the Chinese food of Europe to shame.
Niagara Falls is almost best seen for its tourist traps. There's a street called Clifton Hill which makes Las Vegas look downright cultured. Not to be missed!Speaking about cullture in Niagara, take your passport and go to Buffalo and visit the absolutely phenomenal Albright-Knox museum. If you like contemporary art, this museum is the most underrated gallery in the world. Yes, world.
Get yourself a good map. There are a lot of streets and road signage in Ontario is furchtbar.
And don't forget to rent that car.
If you plan on seeing more of Toronto than downtown and its surrounding neighbourhoods - and if you have a week to kill, you certainly will exhaust downtown in about two and a half days - I would strongly advise renting a car. Some of the most interesting sights in this part of the world almost require having 4 wheels: Pacific Mall, the McMhichael Art Collection, Niagara Falls, Muskoka, etc, while some of Toronto's most impressive sights are actually roads themselves, like the enormous 401, which could very well be the busiest freeway in the world.
If I were a European tourist, some of the things that Toronto has that would blow me away include one of the world's largest freshwater lakes. Go to the Beach(es) neighbourhood and contemplate how a body of water that seems to go out to infinity just licks at the shore like a duck pond - no influence of tides or storms, here. To compare, Germany's largest lake, the Bodensee, could fit twenty times over in the space of Lake Ontario - and Lake Ontario is hardly the most impressive of the great lakes, Lake Huron (and if you can make it, Lake Superior) are far larger. Grand Bend and Wasaga Beach are nice little beach towns, except you have to remind yourself that you are on a lake, not an ocean.
Toronto's ethnic diversity is best seen in the suburbs. There's the new Hindu temple at Rexdale and the 427 and the giant Pacific Mall is one of the main shopping destinations for the half a million Chinese people who call Greater Toronto home. Also, there are a couple of malls around the Highway 7/Leslie area in suburban Richmond Hill that are totally devoted to the Chinese emigrant community. Inside you will find restaurants serving some of the tastiest food that puts the Chinese food of Europe to shame.
Niagara Falls is almost best seen for its tourist traps. There's a street called Clifton Hill which makes Las Vegas look downright cultured. Not to be missed!Speaking about cullture in Niagara, take your passport and go to Buffalo and visit the absolutely phenomenal Albright-Knox museum. If you like contemporary art, this museum is the most underrated gallery in the world. Yes, world.
Get yourself a good map. There are a lot of streets and road signage in Ontario is furchtbar.
And don't forget to rent that car.