Experiencing Toronto is much more than climbing the CN Tower, watching a Blue Jays baseball game at the Rogers Centre, watching a Toronto Maple Leafs or Toronto Raptors game at the Air Canada Centre, visiting the Toronto Hall of Fame Canada Hockey or make the trip to Niagara Falls. The best part of Toronto is its eclectic mix of cultures, people, food, shopping, music, events, and festivals.
With museums, art galleries, lounges and bars of all kinds, you’ll need months to fully discover Toronto. Get a taste of Greece in the Greek city of Toronto on Danforth; try Little Italy or Chinatown for a different flavor; maybe some pork bone soup in Koreatown or fine dining all over town.
toronto: A Port for the World
Although Toronto, Canada, is the fourth largest city in North America, it is one of the three most multicultural cities in the world, as declared by the United Nations. It is a port for virtually every nationality and ethnicity in the world, with approximately 50% of its population made up of non-Canadian-born residents.
The best time to visit Toronto is during the summer, from May to September, because the city comes alive on summer nights, from its harbor to its street festivals. During the winter, November through March, it’s nice if you don’t mind the snow, but there are plenty of opportunities for skating and events out of the cold.
5 Toronto Highlights to Discover Art, Culture and Life
If it’s your first time in Toronto, be sure to check out the top attractions: the CN Tower, the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Science Center. if you’re looking for In fact experience Toronto, then these places are for you!
1) Church and Wellesley.
This area in Toronto is considered the Toronto LGBT Community or “Gay Village”. It is located in downtown Toronto and has been developing since the 1980s. Today, many neighborhoods in Toronto are gay-friendly, but since Church Street was the original, it remains the epicenter for many in the community. gay. Plenty of decent shops, bars, restaurants, sushi places, and cafes line the area’s streets, and their patios and outdoor spaces are always packed during summer afternoons.
If you visit Toronto in June, you can take part in Pride Week and the Toronto Pride Parade, one of the largest Gay Pride festivals in the world. This year it will take place from June 20 to 29, 2008.
2) Ride the TTC.
One of the best ways to discover the culture and life of the city is to travel by public transport, and the one in Toronto is the Toronto Transit Commission or TTC: “The Better Way”. Try taking the subway or one of the streetcars and you’ll get a real glimpse and appreciation of the enormous multicultural diversity that exists among Toronto’s population.
Ride the trolleys and hop on and off with a daily or weekly pass. You will be able to pass through tons of different neighborhoods, each with their own flavor and distinction. You might look at the way people work (and don’t work) with each other on their daily commutes from one place to another, but you’ll gain insight into the way Torontonians negotiate through their diversity and differences. This is definitely a unique experience, and one not to be missed.
3) Distillery District.
Located just east of Toronto’s downtown core, Toronto’s Distillery District is one of its own cobblestone avenues. Originally built in 1832 as the Gooderham and Worts whiskey distillery, it was transformed into a hip and artsy district in the 1990s.
Historic buildings have been preserved and redeveloped into a pedestrian-only district filled with art galleries, restaurants, cafes, theaters, and creative spaces and studios for actors, photographers, painters, and more. Today, the Mill Street Brewery stands here, whose wares are well known in every Toronto bar and lounge.
Spend an afternoon here and don’t miss coffee from Balzac’s two-story cafe and some chocolates from Soma chocolatier.
4) Yorkville and Bloor Street.
For high-end culture, chic fashion, and glitzy couture in downtown Toronto, Yorkville and Bloor Street are the place to be. Here you will find major high-end stores such as William Sonoma, Prada, Gucci, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Vera Wang, Ferrari, Harry Rosen, Hugo Boss, etc.
Just north of Bloor, you’ll find Cumberland and Yorkville streets, a haven for celebrities and Toronto’s wealthy. You’ll also find some of Toronto’s best fine dining and fine dining here, including Sassafraz, Pangea, Le Trou Normand, Truffles, and Flow. For a glimpse of high-quality produce, specialty foods, and Toronto’s best pastries, visit Pusateri’s at Bay and Yorkville Ave.
5) Chinatown and Kensington Market.
Although Toronto has about seven ‘Chinatowns’, its main Chinatown today is at Dundas and Spadina in downtown Toronto. Small and large Chinese restaurants sit along its streets along with food stalls selling fruit, long-distance phone cards, and super-cheap sandals. You will see grilled meats in the shop windows and cooks with their woks. Increasingly, the Vietnamese community has also become part of China Town and has established many Vietnamese sandwich shops as well as Pho noodle restaurants.
One of Toronto’s other Chinatowns is located to the north in the Scarborough/Markham area at Kennedy and Steeles Ave.: Pacific Mall, Market Village Mall, and Splendid China Tower. This cluster of complexes forms the largest Chinese mall in North America, yet retains Hong Kong’s small-shop boutique style. This is where you’ll find the best Chinese food in Toronto.
Kensington Market in Toronto is one of my favorite places in the world, and it’s tucked away just a block away, behind the bustle of Chinatown. During the summer the streets are closed to cars and you can walk freely with your fair trade coffee in hand up and down the streets to the sound of reggae and the sights of people dancing, works of art, smells of baked goods into the air. and the colorful variety of fruits and vegetables sold at street stalls. It is home to hippies, artists, dreadlocked musicians and modern bohemians.
If you’re looking for a great indoor market, visit St. Lawrence Market on a Saturday morning and your senses will be overloaded with smells, sounds, and tastes.
