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Toronto Vacation Help - September 2013

DM4 said:
One question though, should we check out Queen St during the day or in the evening?

I am an Urban Planning student with great interest in cities and architecture and I really want to take in the city as much as I can while there. I love very active areas, old(pre1940's)/new architecture (not a huge fan of the 60's through 80's), and areas of great urban design. I also love a good skyline view, even though they have nothing to do with a cities greatness in my opinion.
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I would say Queen during the day, as all the non-restaurants will be open.

Toronto had some of its building booms at different times than the US, so you'll see your fair share of 60s-80s architecture! Toronto does boast the best in brutalism though. Robarts Library on St. George St on U of T campus is excellent, as is the Manulife Centre just a few blocks over at Bay & Bloor (Manulife has a rooftop bar on the 51st floor, great views there).

If its rainy and you literally want to just see the city, I echo taking the 501 Queen streetcar across the city. The 504 streetcar from Broadview Station running south and along King, and then up Roncesvalles to Dundas West station is also a good way to see lots of the city too.

I forgot how many days you are here, but before we moved here my wife and I did practically the whole city from the Beaches to High Park in 5 days. It's doable! Have fun!
 
If driving around town, there is the Toronto Zoo in the northeast corner. (General Admission (ages 13 - 64) $28.00 ($24.78 + $3.22 HST))

Black Creek Pioneer Village, in the northwest. (Admission (ages 15 - 59) $15.00)

Woodbine Racetrack & Casino, just north of the YYZ airport if flying, in the northwest corner of the city if driving. (Free admission) Check calendar for race dates.
 
If you are an urban planning student I definitely recommend walking through both Queen (Dufferin to Yonge) and King (Dufferin to the Don River). Likely too ambitious, but maybe taking the streetcar the whole way and stopping along at interesting places would be a good plan.

I would also strongly recommend visiting Sugar Beach. It's a tiny oasis in the middle of a transforming industrial area, but it remains hands down one of the most unique urban features in Toronto:

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It's a short 5 minute walk south of the St. Lawrence Market.
 
Try doing the double decker bus tour earlier. Like on the first or second day. The reason is because its a good, easy and fast way to cover a lot of ground and get a general idea of where things are. While you're on the bus you can note the places that look interesting to you and then come back and visit them later.
 
I wouldn't recommend bus tours in any city. They leave you with the false impression of having 'been' somewhere when in fact you haven't.
 
RC8 said:
I wouldn't recommend bus tours in any city. They leave you with the false impression of having 'been' somewhere when in fact you haven't.
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please read my suggestion more carefully. Specifically the part after the words "The reason is because . . ."
 
I read it carefully the first time around. This is purely subjective so there's no harm in disagreeing, but getting a tour before I explore a place spoils the experience for me.

Going to a place I've already overlooked from a bus or a car doesn't give me the same degree of satisfaction as getting there by myself for the first time ever - without a clue of what awaits me. Getting a taste of the destination dilutes the quality of the journey to get there.

Google Streetsview is a better way to figure out whether you should visit a place or not, in my opinion.
 
The vacation is a month away and we are both very excited. Thank you again for all the help!

Any suggestions on where to get the best skyline views?
 
Four places:

Some people would suggest the Island Ferry or Cherry Beach but my personal preferences are from Broadview Ave.

if you're headed to the Danforth, and take either the Dundas or King streetcar to Broadview Station, you can't miss the views from East Riverdale Park. If you take the TTC, and it's best if you do in general, buy day passes for 2 so you can hop on and off the streetcars. Both of these run almost every 5-10 minutes. If you take the subway, it's about a 10 minute walk south of Danforth.

However if you walk 10 minutes north - or take any one of 4 buses from Broadview to the Browning stop - go to the end of Chester Hill Rd. you'll see over the valley and the city.
 
If you have the money, there are helicopter tours from a low (?) $113.70 USD (for an 8 minute ride) per person, and up. See this link.

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[video=youtube_share;l26fiq5pVhE]http://youtu.be/l26fiq5pVhE[/video]

Hope for a clear day.
 

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Just wanted to say thanks for all the help, we had an awesome time! What a great city. We ended up going Thursday - Sunday which was a better choice IMO than what our original plans were, Friday through Monday. Here is a list of what we ended up doing in no particular order or sequence.

Walked Yonge from Lakefront to Bloor.
Explored the CBD
CN Tower at at sunset
Bloor Street West
University
Queen West several times. Day and night.
Union Station
Chinatown
Kensington Market (Found amazing vegan donuts, and Im not vegan)
Casa Loma
Took subway to Rosedale and walked around Cluny Drive area.
Walked a few residential streets west of Avenue by Whole Foods.
Cumberland Street/Yorkville
King West at night.
Harbour Front/lakefront area
St Lawrence Market Saturday morning.
Walked Esplanade to Distillery District. Took King East streetcar back.
Koreatown/Bloor Annex?
City Hall
Eaton Centre
Dundas Square
And walked all over the place south of Bloor, north of Front mainly, and west of Yonge. Too many streets/areas to remember. Im probably forgetting something.
On the way home we went out the way and drove down Yonge to North York. Then drove to Niagara Falls and did Cave of the Winds. Great trip.

Great transportation system. Took the subway and streetcars all over the place. Still did a ton of walking and we were extremely sore, so the the subways/streetcars were very useful. Woke up early and went to bed late. Couldn't have had the same experience without you guys. Thanks!
 
That's a great itinerary, DM4. You guys really got a lot of variety and definitely experienced some of the things that us locals do on a day-to-day basis!
 
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