I am planning our upcoming trip to Toronto and would love some input of things to see, do and eat. Most of all eat. Thusfar, I am planning to book a hotel/entertainment package that would have us staying at the Hotel Victoria and includes entry to the Hockey Hall of Fame, two tickets to the Second City Improv All-Stars, and a 9.5 hour motor coach tour out to Niagara Falls that includes the Maid of the Mist and dinner at the Fallsview Dining Room at the Sheraton at the Falls as well as a winery stop.
We are planning our departure out of Washington, DC on Sunday, arriving around 2 pm. Should we take the Rocket Bus from the Airport to Kipling Station, then the metro to a stop near the hotel, or take a cab or airport limo (both priced pretty similarly). We won’t have a ton of luggage.
I’m planning on maybe seeing relatives for dinner on Sunday night, but that can be put off till Wednesday. The Falls trip will be on Monday, leaving at 1pm and seeing the Falls in the evening. Second City will be Tuesday night at 8pm. We will probably see the HHOF Tuesday morning. Wednesday is open right now but we may take a drive out to St Catherines (more relatives).
I would love some recommendations, especially for restaurants downtown that will be easy walking distance to a Metro or Streetcar stop, and other things we can entertain ourselves with during our stay.
We live in the Raleigh-Durham area, but are driving up to DC to fly out. The difference in fare is enough to pay for 3 nights in DC as well. For the DC portion of our trip we are going to wing it for the most part.
I wouldn’t bother taking the bus + subway from the airport unless you’re really trying to save money. It’s not bad, but it’s still a bit of a hassle lugging bags around, especially since you would have to transfer twice (from the bus to the subway and from the Bloor line to the Yonge line).
For dining near your hotel (which is right in the financial district), I can recommend Beerbistro (just about everything has beer as an ingredient!), Bier Markt (noticing a trend?) and St. Lawrence Market (great veal sandwiches and churrasco).
For activities, you might take a look at the Toronto Citypass, but perhaps not considering there are better museums in D.C.!
Hubby and kids really liked an Italian restaurant across the street from Cambridge Suites at Richmond and Victoria. King Street West in the theatre district used to have some good restaurants. I used to like KitKat. Also around the corner on John Street. Distillery District?
Forgot…across the street from the ROM (Bloor and Queen’s Park) is the Park Hyatt Hotel and there’s a tapas bar on the 19th floor with an outside terrace that has a pretty good view over the downtown. Great for late afternoon cocktails and snacks.
As I recall, it is–just take the Sheppard East 85B bus that terminates at the zoo. It’s nearly impossible to miss your stop, as the bus turns around at the zoo. The bus ride is about an hour from Sheppard station at Yonge Street, or about 45 minutes from Don Mills station.
I do the same. If you’re staying downtown, as I understand the OP is, it’s easier to get around on public transit. If you need a car to get someplace out of town for a day, it’s a simple matter to rent one.
The ROM is huge and, if you like museums of world culture and natural history, worth considering. However, it’s not my thing. After taking the family there last year, spending 4+ hours looking in all the galleries, we realized we really didn’t care about looking at peoples’ old silverware and pots and pans from centuries ago. The mineralogy gallery, however, was interesting.
For St. Lawrence I’ll be very specific, once inside, go to south-west corner to find Buster’s Sea Cove - anything on the menu is simply great fresh food.
For Asian food, go to Queen St. West & Spadina and go in any direction. My personal fav is Vietnamese Banh Mi Boys. For Japanese, Guu Izakaya or Sushi Time on Queen St West.
Also, Shogun on Cumberland has very good sushi and Japanese cuisine. It’s close to the ROM. I brought my family there in Feb 2011. (TripAdvisor page for Shogun)
Great suggestions all! We will definitely check out a couple of the mentioned restaurants. Hogarth, you had me at beer. The Korean Grill looks awesome too and cheap for lunch!
We will not have a car, but we may rent one if needed. I am very excited about this trip. It will be my first trip outside the US.
I guess convenience is relative. Taking a half hour subway ride and then an hour bus ride each way would be a turn-off for me; the zoo is nice, but it’s not that nice.
There’s a relatively new attraction that let’s you have a bird’s eye view of the city. On a clear day you wander about 1,168 feet up on an open air grating: CN Tower EdgeWalk.
Yes, the CN Tower is great. Hopefully the sky is clear. If the Blue Jays are playing in the Rogers Centre and its roof is open, you can peer down from the tower and see the game – from some 1,200 feet away, that is.
One thing I did with my family in Niagara, Ontario was take curling lessons at the Niagara Falls Curling Club. It was a fun way for the family to learn the game. www.niagarafallscurling.ca
It was inexpensive, too. It provided memories for many years to come.
If you’re interested in politics and government, a tour of the Ontario Legislature is fun. It’s in session the first week of June; attending question period is a good experience if you’re not familiar with parliamentary practice, as there is no US equivalent; the Premier and Ministers are asked questions by the Opposition and are responsible directly to the Legislature for their conduct of public affairs. Even if it’s not in session, it’s an interesting tour.
The Korean Grill looks awesome too and cheap for lunch!