Next weekend I'll be in Toronto for the first time, and I'm soliciting suggestions for interesting things to see and do in/near downtown on a weekend. The catch: both me and my host / tour guide are of limited mobility at the moment -- me because of a bad hip, and her because she has a prosthetic leg -- so things near the subway and/or streetcar and don't involve lots of walking are ideal.
Fire away!
ShakeyDeal
Jun 28, 13 12:33 pm
Not the CN Tower. Gastown is great. Queen Street District is neat too. Poutine. Thats all i got.
J5LO
Jun 28, 13 12:51 pm
Check out the Sharp center for Design @ OCAD University
observant
Jun 28, 13 1:22 pm
Toronto:
I say YES to the CN Tower - what a view!
City Hall
Chinatown - food
Little Italy on St. Clair West - food (College St. has become Little Lisbon)
Little Lisbon on College St. - food
Greektown on Danforth Ave. - food
Toronto Islands and the ferry boat ride
Casa Loma
"The Beaches"
Univ. of Toronto campus
Riding the TTC subway system
High Park
the zoo
That's all I can think of. I find Montreal to have more, but Toronto is cool.
David Cole, AIA
Jun 28, 13 6:19 pm
^ That all looks like a lot of walking.
I'm also open to suggestions for specific bars and/or restaurants that might be worth checking out, especially places with a good selection of craft beer and/or whisky, and with atmospheres conducive to conversation (i.e., no loud sports bars or tourist traps).
Thanks...
observant
Jun 28, 13 6:32 pm
Get a TTC pass for several days. Many listed items are on subway exits, or close to them. If not, TO has streetcars which look like the older Muni cars in San Francisco. As for the bars and restaurants, I can't remember their names, though excellent Canadian and foreign dishes of all kinds are available in TO. Get the AAA/CAA guide, if you belong, and find the restaurants that way. Also, I recommend Lonely Planet and Frommer's more budget oriented series. Fodor's is for high rollers and their idea of 1 or 2 stars is actually higher than that for the general population. If you walk out of the subway onto Danforth in Greektown, you will be hit in the face with numerous good Greek restaurants.
The only one which I think is a little further east is "The Beaches" but, again, a comprehensive TTC pass should get you there. Yes, Toronto does require a bit of walking, as many exhibits are set back on expansive grounds from where you exit a subway or streetcar.
fulcrum
Jun 28, 13 6:45 pm
I visited Toronto many times(gf lived there) but that was a while ago... but I would love to see Gardiner Museum by KPMB (off Bloor street near Yorkville). If you are into hockey, then you can go to hockey hall of fame and see Calatrava's BCE place. Oh, St. Lawrence market is a cool place to visit, if you guys are foodies. It's very safe city to just walk around at night (or it WAS).
OneLostArchitect
Jun 28, 13 8:26 pm
Montreal > Toronto
Just walk around and get lost.
Check out the ROM
CN Tower was cool but expensive.
Little Italy was cool.
Check out the Crayon Box at UT... I was walking around in the building for fun.
Also try a Poutine... especially if you are not a Canadian.
David Cole, AIA
Jun 28, 13 8:31 pm
Montreal isn't really an option on this trip, since the person I'm visiting lives in Toronto. I'll make it there someday, though.
Normally I'm all about walking... I must have walked well over 100 miles when I spent two weeks in London in 2011, and at least 5 miles in Paris in one afternoon during that same trip. Unfortunately this time, though, our walking distances will be limited because my host has a prosthetic leg that gets very uncomfortable in the summer, and I have an injured hip that gets very uncomfortable whenever I'm awake. It will be a contest to see which of us has the worst limp.
dominiond
Jul 4, 17 11:13 pm
hope you had a good trip- if you didn't get a chance to leave the central downtown, for your next trip here are other suggestions:
Museum: Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) the Frank Gehry designed Stair and Gallery are beautiful
Distillery District- El Catrin has amazing Mexican food
Queens West neighborhood- The Drake (spoken word night) and the Gladstone Hotels
Restaurant: Bar Isabel, one of Grant Van Gameren's restaurants. Mind blowing food
Greetings, all...
Next weekend I'll be in Toronto for the first time, and I'm soliciting suggestions for interesting things to see and do in/near downtown on a weekend. The catch: both me and my host / tour guide are of limited mobility at the moment -- me because of a bad hip, and her because she has a prosthetic leg -- so things near the subway and/or streetcar and don't involve lots of walking are ideal.
Fire away!
Not the CN Tower. Gastown is great. Queen Street District is neat too. Poutine. Thats all i got.
Check out the Sharp center for Design @ OCAD University
Toronto:
I say YES to the CN Tower - what a view!
City Hall
Chinatown - food
Little Italy on St. Clair West - food (College St. has become Little Lisbon)
Little Lisbon on College St. - food
Greektown on Danforth Ave. - food
Toronto Islands and the ferry boat ride
Casa Loma
"The Beaches"
Univ. of Toronto campus
Riding the TTC subway system
High Park
the zoo
That's all I can think of. I find Montreal to have more, but Toronto is cool.
^ That all looks like a lot of walking.
I'm also open to suggestions for specific bars and/or restaurants that might be worth checking out, especially places with a good selection of craft beer and/or whisky, and with atmospheres conducive to conversation (i.e., no loud sports bars or tourist traps).
Thanks...
Get a TTC pass for several days. Many listed items are on subway exits, or close to them. If not, TO has streetcars which look like the older Muni cars in San Francisco. As for the bars and restaurants, I can't remember their names, though excellent Canadian and foreign dishes of all kinds are available in TO. Get the AAA/CAA guide, if you belong, and find the restaurants that way. Also, I recommend Lonely Planet and Frommer's more budget oriented series. Fodor's is for high rollers and their idea of 1 or 2 stars is actually higher than that for the general population. If you walk out of the subway onto Danforth in Greektown, you will be hit in the face with numerous good Greek restaurants.
The only one which I think is a little further east is "The Beaches" but, again, a comprehensive TTC pass should get you there. Yes, Toronto does require a bit of walking, as many exhibits are set back on expansive grounds from where you exit a subway or streetcar.
I visited Toronto many times(gf lived there) but that was a while ago... but I would love to see Gardiner Museum by KPMB (off Bloor street near Yorkville). If you are into hockey, then you can go to hockey hall of fame and see Calatrava's BCE place. Oh, St. Lawrence market is a cool place to visit, if you guys are foodies. It's very safe city to just walk around at night (or it WAS).
Montreal > Toronto
Just walk around and get lost.
Check out the ROM
CN Tower was cool but expensive.
Little Italy was cool.
Check out the Crayon Box at UT... I was walking around in the building for fun.
Also try a Poutine... especially if you are not a Canadian.
Montreal isn't really an option on this trip, since the person I'm visiting lives in Toronto. I'll make it there someday, though.
Normally I'm all about walking... I must have walked well over 100 miles when I spent two weeks in London in 2011, and at least 5 miles in Paris in one afternoon during that same trip. Unfortunately this time, though, our walking distances will be limited because my host has a prosthetic leg that gets very uncomfortable in the summer, and I have an injured hip that gets very uncomfortable whenever I'm awake. It will be a contest to see which of us has the worst limp.
hope you had a good trip- if you didn't get a chance to leave the central downtown, for your next trip here are other suggestions:
Museum: Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) the Frank Gehry designed Stair and Gallery are beautiful
Distillery District- El Catrin has amazing Mexican food
Queens West neighborhood- The Drake (spoken word night) and the Gladstone Hotels
Restaurant: Bar Isabel, one of Grant Van Gameren's restaurants. Mind blowing food
The Royal Ontario Museum
Hockey Hall of Fame
Casa Loma
and for fun Canada's Wonderland (need a full day)
I think David's trip is long over by now