Canada's Largest City

Here is my suggestion when you visit Toronto, Canada.

Toronto is a pleasantly cosmopolitan city of fine modern buildings (like the CN Tower and downtown core), a number of interesting old ones (Casa Loma and Fort York) and a vibrant night and cultural life. Like all of Canada, it's clean, safe and filled with trees. Raccoons and possums are as much your neighbours here as the folks next door, sometimes even more so. Regular neighbours, for example, don't rifle through your garbage bins quite so often.

Except for the downtown core with its skyscrapers, the city doesn't feel overwhelming as many large cities do, and just offshore, in Lake Ontario, the Toronto islands provide a quiet harbour for sailboats and acres of parkland, as well as a great place for viewing the city from the water for those who don't sail. Toronto's sci-fi skyline seen from the islands is worth the visit alone. Some of the islands have private homes on them, one has Toronto's downtown airport and one has Centreville, an amusement park for smaller children. Most islands are available for walking, rollerblading, or cycling (bikes can be rented on the islands) throughout the warmer months. Ferries to the islands run every few minutes from the foot of Toronto's main north-south road, Yonge Street.

Toronto's restaurants capture the diversity of the city's population with Chinese, Italian, and Greek cuisine hugely represented and Thai, Japanese, Indian, Caribbean, Hungarian, and German putting in solid appearances. For lunch, any of the Chinese restaurants on Baldwin St or the Tim Hortons chain of coffee shops, Canada's favourite for coffee, work for me. Some areas of Toronto have become synonymous with particular communities. For example, you'll find Greek restaurants all over the city but especially along Danforth St where even the street signs are posted bilingually in English and Greek. Similarly bilingual, the Chinatown area, around Spadina and Dundas St. West, has an unbelievable concentration of authentic shops and restaurants. Little Italy is a collection of restaurants and clothes shops on and around College Street while Little India, with its restaurants and bazaars, is centred on Gerrard St. West. Over time, all the communities migrate out to the suburbs but their jumping off spot in Toronto remains as a spiritual home from home.

Toronto is the world's third largets theatre centre and its many theatres provide productions for all tastes, including all the big Broadway and West End shows. The theatres, along with the Art Gallery of Ontario and Royal Ontario Museum, are mainly within walking distance, or a short cab ride, of the downtown hotels.

The city's most famous landmark is the CN Tower. It stands, at 1815 feet (553.3m) high, head and shoulders above the other downtown buildings. Over thirty years old, it has only recently been surpassed as the world's tallest building. Elevators take you to the Tower's observation decks at the 1122 feet (342m) level for the 'glass floor' and outdoor deck, 1136 feet (346m) for the Café and indoor deck, and 1150 feet (351m) for the 360 restaurant. If you want an even better view, a further elevator takes you to the Skypod, the world's highest public observation deck at 1465 feet (447m).

As you'd expect, winter plays a big part in Toronto life, from the Santa Claus Parade in November, the ice sculptures and outdoor skating rink at New City Hall starting around New Year, to the underground city linking all the downtown buildings by passageways and shopping plazas. The underground city keeps Torontonians away from winter's icy blast and, at around 27 kilometres of corridors, is so big it has to have its own street map -- PATH. Underground tunnels may not sound enticing but these are bright and airy, more upscale mall than earthy burrow.

In its two centuries of existence Toronto has been called 'Muddy York', 'Hogtown', and 'The Good'. None of these labels were intended to be flattering. Today it doesn't really have a nickname, perhaps because we haven't yet come to terms with how 'good' it really is.