“Toronto, Almighty Toronto!” Welcome back to Toronto, where we started this
chapter of our journey. Previously, we traveled so far to many different
destinations, starting from the west and slowly moving to the east. As above
mentioned, we started this chapter of the journey in Toronto; then we went to
Niagara Falls, making some small stops. Now, it is time to get back where it
started, to the largest city of Canada, Toronto!
Where: Toronto, Canada.
Most obviously,
you will see a lot of guides and brochures, inviting you to the Old Town of Toronto. It
is very much reasonable. Take your time to visit the very heart; I would say
“the old heart” of the city, not meaning its age but the history. The place is especially beautiful in summer,
when you can grab a coffee and sit outside and read a newspaper, magazine, or
simply view all what happens around you. Visit those shops, watch some shows,
which regularly take place in there, and simply walk and enjoy the day. You are
going to be amazed how different it is from the downtown area. You can sit
there and see one of the highways full of people rushing by, hear the noise
from the business district of Toronto, see the CN Tower, and feel the breeze from the lake. That is how different
the place is. It is like a town within the city.
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| Old City Hall |
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| The Old Town |
To be more
precise, you can find the Old Town if you walk out the Union Station and behind you is the lake. So, you need to turn
right and move forward till you see some old brick buildings, they are not
high. That will be the place you are looking for. In any case, you can always
check your route using Google Maps, which is really helpful. When you are in
that area, do visit St. Lawrence Market; there you can find fresh food, some souvenirs to
purchase, and try some unique flavors of familiar dishes; you are going to be
excited a lot! Well, I can tell you that when you are in the Old Town, there
are a couple of shops where you can buy domestic chocolate and different
chocolate stuff. It is very tasty and not expensive. If you like some antique
stuff, there is a place for you, passing by those historic buildings with
special signs, you can visit basically each and every shop you like and,
finally, purchase something.
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| St. Lawrence Market |
There is one
thing I would like to point out. When you are at the intersection of Front St. E. and Lower Jarvis St. and if you look directly to the direction, where
the Union Station is, you can see a very interesting
building (Front St. E. and Church St.). That building reminded me of Times
Square in New York City. I am sure, most of you have ever seen it in movies,
but that building does look very alike but a little smaller. So, I would name
it as a “Canadian Times Square”.
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| Police car |
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| One of districts |
There is another
world famous place in Toronto, which is worth visiting. I mean the outstanding Hockey Hall of Fame. You can reach it simply going from the Union Station
to the Old Town. Hockey Hall of Fame is located on Yonge St. (intersection with Front St. W.). There you can see many
interesting stuff and bring back lots of good emotions. I will not describe it
so that you could check it out on your own and enjoy every moment. If you are a
fan of hockey, that place is for you! Prices might seem a little too high, but
it is totally worth it. Therefore, find time to visit the place.
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| Downtown Toronto |
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| GTA (Greater Toronto Area) |
If you like all
exciting and not standard things, you need to visit the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. It
is quite far from Union Station, but you can take a bus or a tram and get
there. The place is located on Queen St. W. I was confused when I first saw that building; it
does look weird but attractive at the same time.
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| The Museum of Contemporary
Canadian Art |
Moving on to
another part of Toronto, we get to one very unusual but totally lovely place, Canada’s Wonderland. It is a huge amusement park with anything you might
imagine; a good family place for all day long. I would recommend it as one of
your stops during your trip.
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| Casaloma castle |
Definitely,
amusement is very important as your travel memory and experience, but there is
always a room for history, an interesting and exciting history. I am speaking
here about the Pioneer Black Creek Village. This
is one of those amazing places in Toronto I would like to talk about a little
more. When I was there, I felt the history was alive; everything was untouched
and even the smell of wooden buildings, farms, anything was reminding of truly
Canadian history. I loved that very much. You move from one building to
another, watch, enjoy, learn and appreciate. That is something we should
remember… the way it all started. This place offers a closer look into the
inside of Canada’s life at times of first comers to the land. There are many
parades taking place in the village, so you can observe them and become a part
of the action. A place worth visiting especially with children; it is too
exciting to miss such an opportunity. Some of those “local” shops within the
village offer domestic products, mainly with world famous maple syrup, but also
other products. At the entrance / exit you can purchase different souvenirs,
great books (I bought one there and have a chance to enjoy it very much). And
now it is time to help you with your way to get there. First, you take subway
(if from Union station, then go to east end of it, Downsview St. and then take a bus 106 till The Pond Rd. with Shoreham
Dr. or simply ask a driver).
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|
Pioneer Black Creek Village |
Now it makes sense to talk about
transport in Toronto in detail. The whole system is call Toronto Transit System (you
can see it in many movies, videos), or in short TTS. The same system applies
for all big cities in Canada. You can use the same ticket at the crossing
station (but there is a limited time), i.e.
with that ticket you can get off your bus and get to the subway (and the
opposite way) without a need to purchase a new ticket. The price per ticket was
$3CAD (as per October 2012). Honestly, Toronto Transit System is very
comfortable and useful. As for subway, Union Station is the central one with
lots of connections to other transport and also railroad. Here is a subway map
with current lines and another one with the forthcoming opening of extensions
and new lines.
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| Current subway map |
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| Forthcoming subway map |
In addition,
there is a good railroad connection between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. As for the rest of Canada, it
is not that popular and well maintained any longer. The company, which covers
the whole country, is called Via Rail. Obviously, the connection between the major business
centers of Canada should be perfect and rapid; therefore, there exists another
company, Go Transit, which covers those major business centers and has
not only railroad, but also buses (and in plans some lines of subway).
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| Bus |
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| Tram |
As it comes to
transport more, here is more interesting information about that. Here is a list of some airports in Greater Toronto Area (GTA); but I would like to concentrate more on
two of them, the first one is the airport where most of flights get to or
through, Toronto Pearson International Airport, and the second one is Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, on Toronto Island.
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| Toronto Pearson International Airport |
Pearson airport is huge; my first flight
to Canada was exactly to this airport. It is full of people, lots of gates,
terminals, walkways, etc. You can get lost unless you read all the signs, which
make it pretty easy to find the required destination. Since 2007, the time of
my first trip to Toronto, and 2012, it has changed a lot. Many new things
appear. It is hard to describe due to a great variety of things inside of the
airport. All I can say is that Pearson airport is very comfortable and
convenient. There is a plan of future extensions of the subway lines, one of
which is supposed to get passengers directly to the airport as in most of the
world largest cities, for instance, like in Vancouver, BC, or in London,
U.K. As for Finland, there is a plan for upcoming extension and new
lines in Helsinki metro to Vantaa airport, which would be so much
convenient; however, the project has not been approved yet, but it is to come…
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| Downtown Toronto |
As for Billy Bishop airport, well, it is
located on Toronto Island, which is in the city center. It is very comfortable,
suitable not only for business trips, but regular ones too, and simply not very
expensive. I was not there, but on one of the lectures the group was told about
it and the information I gathered about it is that if you count all expenses,
it makes it a little cheaper in some ways, but usually it is a little more
expensive than the regular airports. The reason is that it is small and has
lots of connections to the required popular destinations, for instance, Ottawa,
Montreal, New York City, Chicago, etc. There was also something about the
customs, but do not remember this now. Anyway, you can go check it out yourself
and feel the service.
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| Ajax, view to the lake |
I would now suggest moving to one of the
districts of GTA, i.e. Ajax. That is
a good district, a very beautiful place. I had a chance to be there and observe
and enjoy it very much. That is a small paradise not far from the city center
of the largest city of Canada. During the good days, you can see the CN
Tower, the downtown skyline and even somehow the Niagara Falls. But
basically what you see is the beach in front of you, the lake, which is
awesome. Lake Ontario right in front
of you, one of the Great Lakes, and yes, you can see it from another point of
view. It seems like a sea, so big it is. Take your time to visit Ajax, it is
definitely worth it.
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| Ajax, battlefield scheme |
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| Ajax, park |
As for downtown area, Toronto is also
famous for its underground level, i.e. several levels. It is terrific how deep
the levels go down. You can basically live there and do all your stuff being
totally underground. People living in downtown really rarely go out to the
“real world”. They do not need to. All they need is to take an elevator to get
to the desired level and walk to the required place, for instance, a bank, a
shop, a supermarket, a hairdresser’s office, or anything. Then if you need to
take subway, go ahead, it is anywhere you go, all the directions. Basically, it
is very convenient for citizens. And as far as I know, Toronto was one of the
first cities in Canada to offer and to build such a level. Toronto is a really
unique and great city.
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| Downtown Toronto |
What comes to accommodation, there are
plenty of options both in downtown and in the GTA; basically, you can find the
one you need, depending upon price level, location, personal preferences, and /
or something else.
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|
Downtown Toronto |
Let us talk about sport a little. As you
might know, there is a famous NHL team
in Toronto, it is called, Toronto Maple Leafs. It has its own shops, where fans
can purchase stuff with the team symbols on it. If you are interested, you can
watch hockey or soccer games at the main stadium, which is in downtown. The
stadium is called Rogers Centre. You
can get there following Lower Simcoe St.
crossing Bremner Blvd. There is a
Metro Toronto Convention Centre right in the corner of the Olympic Park. The Olympic park is a beautiful family place.
Definitely, there are so many parks in Toronto, where you can see many
squirrels running, jumping and staring at you, which is quite funny.
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| Downtown Toronto |
Right there in front of the park, you
might find the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre,
i.e. railway museum. It is very nice and interesting historic place. I was
there and enjoyed everything. It is in downtown, so you can get there quite
easy. Kids love that place, they have fun, feel happy and walk around exploring
new things. But it is very attractive to adults as well. Besides, there are
some cafés around it, where you can enjoy your time spending there.
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| Toronto Railway Heritage Centre |
Well, it is time to get to the final part
of this chapter of the journey, Toronto. And to me it makes most sense to
finish up with a symbol of this city, world famous CN Tower. The CN Tower was meant to be just a media source;
however, its meaning has changed into a symbol and the most attractive place
for tourists and citizens. CN means Canadian National (and also Canada’s
National), but it is not used since CN is more commonly in use. It used to be
the tallest building in the whole world until 2007. Now it is the 5th tallest
building in the world. But, I believe, it is still the tallest in Canada. To discover more
about the CN Tower, you can also read our Observation Decks section with a special article, dedicated to this world famous Canadian wonder of the world.
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| CN Tower |
To conclude this “chapter of the
journey”, I would like to say that every place you go, every stop you make is
already a good memory, is your own history and your own experience. Take every
opportunity to travel and enjoy. Here I would say The More You Explore, The
More You Discover. It is yet to be continued in the future, and for now we move
to Finland to explore a northern neighbor. And to end this, I would use the
famous phrase by Mark Twain “Explore. Dream. Discover.”
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| A shop in the Old Town |
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| View to the CN Tower |
Kirill “Traveler” Malyutin
About Travel Smart series:
“Travel Smart” is a section,
narrating about different countries and good travel tips, advised by the
author, Kirill Malyutin. The series contains recommendations, including selected
places to visit, character accommodation, and reasonable
shopping. Simply get inspiration!
All stories of the series →
О серии «Travel Smart»:
«Travel Smart»
– раздел, в котором автор Кирилл Малютин рассказывает о разных странах и дает
необходимые в путешествии советы. Серия включает в себя рекомендации по
посещенным автором местам, характерным средствам размещения, а также разумному шопингу.
Вдохновитесь приключением!
Все выпуски серии →
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