Accustomed to long airplane trips, I was astounded when the wheels touched down at the Toronto Airport after only an 80-minute flight from New York. I was barely into the morning newspaper, and already I was at my destination! And I was ready to begin spending, with the U.S. dollar now worth $1.60 Canadian! (Friends who flew in from St. Louis told me the flight for them was only slightly longer, 90 minutes, they said.)
What could be a better weekend getaway than Toronto, I thought. It's in a foreign country with the appeal that brings to planning an escape, but not too foreign, since English is the primary official language here. It's a big city, yet has the reputation of being safe, litter-free and friendly. And it's so close to many major US gateways -- Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Minneapolis, you name it, it's less than a two-hour flight from a lot of places. That's nice -- no, make that good, I thought, in deference to Toronto's unofficial nickname.
"Toronto The Good" was an appellation often uttered about Canada's premier city back in the days (not so long ago) when Montreal was considered the place to be. By "good," those who deprecated Toronto's cleanliness, low crime rate and neatly manicured beauty meant "boring." Montreal, on the other hand, had the Gallic charm, the allegedly better food, the almost-European flavor and just a whiff of sin (well, nearly) -- all the things that were supposed to attract visitors.
But today, Toronto is really good, for its residents and for vacationers. It's doubly good for citizens of the USA bound for a weekend getaway here, because the American dollar stretches so far on a Canadian budget. At the time of writing, one US greenback gets you $1.60 CDN (the Canadian dollar). And prices are low to begin with.
How low? Well, just walking along King Street West -- a popular venue for low-priced lunches with residents, office workers and visitors equally -- you can see signs that read CDN $4.95 Lunch Special, which is about US $3.10. And there are plenty of other restaurants in the vicinity that charge only CDN $7.95 (about US $5) for all you can eat. By and large, you can be sure of a good meal (no drinks) almost anywhere for CDN $8 to $16 (about US $5 to $10). As for hotels, very nice lodgings can be had (per room) for CDN $99 to $120 (about US $61 to $75), and there are cheaper, but more Spartan, places far below that in price.
Doing Lunch in Downtown Toronto
Toronto, like many other major North American cities, has benefited from the influx of a plethora of nationalities in the past few decades, the immigrants bringing their attractive cuisines with them. So the image of boiled veggies and overcooked roast beef from the British background of many Canadians is a dim memory of the past. You have the following cuisines available in Toronto (and I may have missed some): Cajun, Canadian, Caribbean, Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Jewish (Kosher), Latin, Mediterranean, Mexican (Southwestern), Middle Eastern, Portuguese, Russian and Thai. And don't forget vegetarian, which may be a world, not just a cuisine, all its own.
In addition to the restaurants mentioned in passing above, you should seek out one or more of the following inexpensive options:
Tiger Lily's Noodle House, 257 Queen Street West, lets you create your own Asian noodle soups or select from an expansive menu. You stand in line, place your order and wait for it to carry back to your table. Wildly popular at lunchtime on working days. Vegetarian dishes and weekend dim sum, too. Entrees from CDN $8 to $14 (about US $5 to $9). All major credit cards. Open for lunch and dinner daily. Phone is 416/977-5499, but they don't take reservations.
At 7 Charles Street West, just off Yonge (the main drag of Toronto, pronounced Young) in the Midtown section, is the eponymous 7 West Cafe, which serves up light Italian-type meals in an ever-cool 24/7 cafe, perhaps the most casually chic in town. Prices for main dish run about CDN $10 to $16 (US $6.25 to $10). Phone them at 416/928-9041.
The Mars Diner, east of Bathurst Street at 432 College Street, is also open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but is known primarily for its cheap and huge breakfasts, ranging upwards from CDN $6 (US $3.75). Their phone is 416/921-6332, in case you can't find them, as reservations here are also not taken except for large parties.
Happy Seven is a Cantonese restaurant (though some Szechwan is served), and is located at 358 Spadina Avenue, phone 416/971-9820 (but no reservations). Standard food here, but always well above average in quality, making it one of the most reliable places to eat in Chinatown. There are 14 kinds of noodle soup, for starters. Main dishes run from CDN $8 to $16 (US $5 to $10).
Added to all your restaurant bills will be 15% in taxes for food, 17% for liquor. Tips are not usually added for you, so give about 15% on the pretax total if the service has been good. You can find more restaurants, especially Canadian-themed ones, at Tourism Toronto's Web site, www.torontotourism.com.
Civilized Attractions, Of Course
Culture vultures will love Toronto's Downtown, as there are dozens of galleries and shops here, featuring not only contemporary and historical art, but crafts (especially Inuit, Native American and African works) and photography, as well as design. Some of the latter category's spots feature books, ceramics and glassware. The list in the Stride Art & Gallery Guide, intriguing in itself, runs from the Academy of Spherical Arts through the Bata Shoe Museum to the haughty Royal Ontario Museum (note that these fascinating examples are not in the Downtown district, but nearby).
If you're lucky enough to be in Toronto between August 16 and September 2, you can visit the Canadian National Exhibition, one of the world's largest, a carnival and cultural celebration, they say, rolled into one. Also in September, there's the International Air Show along the waterfront and the Toronto International Film Festival (the 26th annual). In November, the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, including the Royal Horse Show, makes up the world's largest indoor agricultural, horticultural and equestrian competition (in its 79th year).
Throughout the year, museums can be a source of fun, especially for youngsters. There's a Children's Own Museum (COM), the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Jewish Discovery Place Children's Museum, the Martin House Museum of Doll Artistry & Store, the Museum for Textiles, the Redpath Sugar Museum and the Toronto Police Museum, just to mention a few spots. In winter, you can easily spend more than a full day trekking through the underground passages that connect at least 26 blocks of the Downtown area, with everything from shopping (vast amounts) to a bus terminal, hotels, banks, the stock market, City Hall, and the CN Tower, plus an air terminal and a railway station. All this is connected to the city's excellent subway system, too.
Staying Comfortably On the Cheap
All the hotels I have picked are in the Downtown area, though there are plenty of others in the popular Midtown section, just to the north. Remember to ask for promotions or specials, as at any given time, at least one should have such deal-makers going, especially the Quality Inn listed below.
Lodgings in the moderate budget price range include my favorite, the Hotel Victoria, at 56 Yonge Street (near Front Street), phone 800/363-8228 or 416/363-1666. Web site is www.toronto.com/hotelvictoria, e-mail is reception@hotelvictoria.on.ca. Recently refurbished (1999), it has the perfect location if you like the somewhat raffish atmosphere of Front Street, with its sidewalk cafes, active nightlife and almost Greenwich Village ambiance, not to mention the National Hockey Hall of Fame and the Hummingbird Center for the Performing Arts, home to the Canadian National Ballet. At the same time, you're just around the corner from the elegant old Royal York Hotel, still a center for some of the city's nicest social functions. The art deco entrance leads into a small lobby (with adjoining restaurant and bar). The 48 rooms are small, but elegantly furnished in a simple manner. Residents have access to a nearby fitness center. Prices per room start at CDN $95 (US $59) in winter, CDN $129 (US $81) in summer.
Nearby is the Strathcona, owned by the Victoria's patron, at 60 York Street, phone 800/268-8304 or 416/363-3321, its 193 rooms just across the way from the Royal York. It has also received a thorough going over two years ago, and the renovation has made this a first-class establishment, with higher prices than before, but still within the moderate range. There's a street level bar and restaurant, too, with a popularly-priced menu. Their Web site is https://toronto.com/E/V/TORON/0020/15/57/, their e-mail strathcona_hotel@hotmail.com. Rack rates start at CDN $99 (US $62) per neatly furnished room.
Just a bit off the center, on the edge of Downtown in fact, is the Quality Inn at 111 Lombard Street (near Jarvis Street), phone 416/367-5555. Though the front desk can be less friendly than is usually common in Canada, the hotel itself is good value, with newly renovated and adequately sized 196 rooms, a comfortable lobby, a restaurant and a small fitness center (just a small room). Free "deluxe continental buffet breakfast." Rates from CDN $110 to $170 single or double (US $69 to $106). Their Web site is www.toronto.com/qualityhotel.
At the bottom of the scale, dollarwise, but a summer-only heaven for budgeteers (early May through late August), is the Neil Wycik Campus Residence at 96 Gerrard Street East (near Yonge Street), phone 800/268-4358 (for Canada and northeastern USA only) or 416/977-2320, fax 416/977-2809. The 300 rooms are tiny, but adequately furnished with phone and bed (but no TV or air-conditioning). Each suite consists of five bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen. There is a communal laundry and a TV lounge, as well as a breakfast room, which serves simple meals daily. The cost is only CDN $54.96 (US $34.35) for a double room, CDN $62.50 (US $39) for a family room sleeping two adults and an unspecified number of children. Rates are even lower for students, seniors and hostel members. Taxes are not included in all rates mentioned above. There are also two roof decks where you can take the sun, and a sauna, yet. For more information, check out their Web site at www.neill-wycik.com, e-mail hotel@neill-wycik.com.
Going the Whole Hog
Right down on The Esplanade, which lies between Front Street and the waters of Lake Ontario, is the Novotel, an expensive hotel (with a few cheaper rooms) carved from the interior of old office buildings in this formerly all-commercial area. The rooms are large, but not particularly evocative of any place in particular. There is a fitness center, which includes a pool, and other amenities common to first-class and deluxe hotels. Phone them at 800/668-6835 or 416/367-8900. Their Web site is www.novotel.com, e-mail tcenmail@aol.com. Rates from CDN $99 to $240 single or double (US $62 to $150).
Attractions Nearby
You're not all that far from Niagara Falls, so if you haven't been there, you might want to consider a day trip to the site. The mighty American Falls and the even bigger Canadian Falls are worth the journey alone, but the scenery along the way (once you're outside the sprawl of Greater Toronto) is lovely, too. You could stop in at Hillebrand Estates, a famous Canadian winery, for a superb lunch, main courses from CDN $14 to $16, about US $9 to $10. There are tours (with tastings) at the winery, which is famous for its ice wine (made from grapes frozen on the vine) all day during summer, as well as jazz evenings and the like. Phone them at 800/582-8412 or visit their Web site at www.hillebrand.com.
There are other good wineries in the area, too, all of which can be researched at the Wine Council of Ontario's Web site, www.wineroute.com.
The town of Niagara-on-the-Lake has been all gussied up and looks too much like a Disney World Main Street for my taste, but you may enjoy browsing through the city's many shops. Attractions at nearby Niagara Falls, in addition to the roaring waters themselves, are pretty commercial, ranging from a 24/7 casino to a Marineland (the latter great for kids, open May through October, CDN $16.95 for adults, CDN $12.95 for children 5 to 9, about US $10.60 and $8). Open year round is the Niagara Falls Museum, with more traditional amusement, including Egyptian mummies, costing only CDN $7.50 for adults, CDN $6.50 or less for kids and seniors (US $4.75 and $4).
Toronto's environs are an excellent venue for hiking, especially along the Niagara Escarpment, where two gigantic tectonic plates meet, resulting in a fault running 725 km (about 450 miles), north to south. A good jumping off place for a hike, short or long, is Crawford Lake, where there is a reconstructed 15th-century Iroquoian village, one of the best such reproductions I have ever seen. The lake itself has about 16 km (ten miles) of color coded trails, covering from 1.4 km (8/10 of a mile) and taking only 30 minutes, to 7.2 km (about 4.3 miles), taking two to three hours one way. (The shortest two trails are wheelchair accessible, by the way.) The Bruce Trail's Main Route, covering the entire length of the escarpment, runs through the Crawford Lake Conservation Area, itself a 212-hectare (about 524 acres) park. For more information, phone them at 905/336-1158 or e-mail admin@hrca.on.ca. Their Web site is www.hrca.on.ca. Open daily May to October and weekends and holidays throughout the year, 10 to 4. Admission for adults is CDN $4 (about US $2.50), for children 5 to 14 CDN $2.75 (US $1.72), seniors $3.25 (US $2), children under 4, free.
Summing up, if you want a metropolitan area getaway, with a reputation for being "good," you couldn't do better than terrific Toronto!