Toronto: Sights, Culture, Shopping

Neighborhoods:

Toronto has a multitude of ethnic neighborhoods, including Greektown (where the action goes on until after midnight), Little Italy, Corso Italia, 3 Chinatowns, Korea Town, Little Poland, Little India, Portugal Village. Other ethnic communities also congregate in certain parts of the city and you can explore Jewish, Russian, Ukrainian, Somali and many other restaurants and shops. There you can seek out ethnic food, fashion and art from faraway places and sample delicacies from around the world at Toronto’s more than 7,000 restaurants.

In addition to the ethnic flavor that Toronto offers in abundance, there are a variety of other unique neighborhoods. The center has several interesting areas to visit:

– the financial district with all its skyscrapers. It is also home to the “underground city”: 11 km (6 miles) of interconnected passages under the streets that feature more than 1,200 retail stores and services.

– the downtown entertainment district – bars and clubs galore

– Queen Street West: a modern and eclectic shopping area

– Gay Village: This is where Toronto’s large gay and lesbian community congregates. Here you can find bars, shops, restaurants and outdoor patios

– the fashion district with a myriad of fashion outlet stores and loft-style apartments that were converted into 19th century factories.

– Port with its cruise ships and ferry terminal, restaurants and places of art, theater and music.

– Rosedale and Forest Hill – Two very unique stately neighborhoods in a park-like setting

– Cabbagetown: a former working-class area, now home to beautiful renovated Victorian homes

– Distillery District: North America’s best-preserved collection of Victorian industrial architecture, formerly the Gooderham & Worts Distillery, founded in 1832. Now home to galleries, artists’ studios and workshops, boutiques, retail stores, restaurants, bars and cafes.

– The Beaches, one of my favorite areas, with its shops, parks, sports facilities, bike trails, and beach volleyball facilities, is Toronto’s version of oceanfront California.

See more information on Toronto neighborhoods here.

Main sights and architecture

Being a relatively young city, Toronto has quite an eclectic mix of architecture that includes

– the CN Tower, at 553 m the tallest free-standing structure in the world

– the Skydome, a modern multi-purpose stadium with a retractable roof

– the shining skyscrapers of the center

– Historic Fort York, the site of the Battle of York during the War of 1812 and the birthplace of modern Toronto

– Old City Hall, built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style

– the campus of the University of Toronto, Canada’s largest university

– Casa Loma, built in the 1920s as a dream castle by Sir Henry Pellat, a wealthy famous Toronto industrialist

– Queens Park, the provincial government buildings, also built in the Romanesque style

Culture: Theatre, Music, Museums

Toronto is the third largest theater center in the world. Here you can enjoy Broadway-style musicals, local productions, traveling shows and classical music concerts. Some of the great theater and music venues include the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Princess of Wales Theatre, Elgin/Winter Garden Theatre, Hummingbird Center for the Performing Arts, Royal Thomson Hall and many others.

A more complete list of theaters and production companies can be found at this link:

http://www.showmetoronto.com/toronto_theatres.htm

Toronto also has a great diversity of cultural institutions and museums:

– the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum)

– the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario)

– the Bata Footwear Museum

– the Hockey Hall of Fame

– the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art

– the Bay of Spirits Gallery: Toronto’s best collection of indigenous arts and crafts

– Black Creek Pioneer Village: a collection of 40 restored houses, shops, public and farm buildings, complete with interpreters and artisans in period costume.

– The Toronto Holocaust Center

– The Ontario Science Center

Markets and Shopping:

– Mercado de San Lorenzo: the original market of the city, where farmers, artists and artisans sell their products. Known for the freshness and high quality of its meat, fish and agricultural products.

– Kensington Market: Known in the 1920s as the Jewish Market, Kensington Market today is a collection of merchants from around the world. Here you can find fishmongers, buskers, impromptu speakers, and shoppers filling the streets.

– The Eaton Centre, Toronto’s famous indoor shopping mall, built around a spacious atrium, has 285 stores in the heart of downtown Toronto. It is one of Canada’s great public spaces.

– Bloor Street/Yorkville has many unique designer boutiques, antique shops, galleries, spas, and restaurants.

http://www.torontotourism.com

http://www.city.toronto.on.ca

http://www.toronto.com

http://www.torinfo.com

http://www.showmetonto.com