starry said:
I will be driving up from the Philly area. I want to do a little sightseeing while I am there. Any suggestions for places I simply MUST SEE while in Toronto? I have never been there before.
Well, the hotel that the congress is taking place in is located right downtown on the corner of Bay and Queen Street. If you're a shopper, you'll find the Eaton Centre across the street - you absolutely can't miss it. Yorkville is great for upscale shopping as well. It's a bunch of little boutique stores, as well as some high-end names, along the Bay and Bloor Street area. (There's also a fun little latin restaurant/club there called Babalu'u, though the floor is a bit small. The best place that I've found to dance in the downtown Toronto area is El Rancho, though.) Also nearby is Yonge and Dundas Square. It's right across the street from the Eaton Centre on the corner of...you guessed it, Yonge and Dundas. They have the Artisan Market on Saturdays and Sundays, where you can check out what local craftsmen have to offer. It's also the location of the T.O. Tix booth...where you can get day-of discounted theatre tickets for most of the shows in town.
Some of the typical touristy spots are the CN Tower (though I'd suggest getting there early in the morning if you want to go to the top, since it gets pretty busy relatively quickly), The Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario. If you're a sports fan, there's the Hockey Hall of Fame as well. The Harbourfront Centre has Harvest Fest going on that weekend, which is a fall festival that includes food, music and, I believe, independent films in a nice location right on the lake. If history is more your thing, be sure to check out Fort York and Casa Loma.
The weekend of the Congress will be a busy one. It coincides with the Fall International Home Show, which usually draws a big crowd...as well as the Canadian thanksgiving weekend. My suggestion would be to stay parked at the hotel and use the
TTC (buses, streetcars and subways) ...the routes are pretty straightforward and it's pretty easy to get around.
If you want suggestions on dining at all, let me know. If you're looking for a certain type of cuisine, you can find it in downtown Toronto...also, for pretty much any budget. Any questions at all? Feel free to respond here or send me a PM.
who are you?? I'm rather curious now