Toronto recommendations?

[mmntech]

Be sure to inquire about WiFi and parking (if you're driving) for the downtown hotels.

WiFi is hit and miss (and if it's not included it's $15-20 more per night), and most of the downtown hotels don't include parking IIRC, unless you get a package deal (higher than base rate).

That may change your hotel choices.

My best piece of advice, pay for the hotel's valet parking service. It often works out cheaper than going to the garages in the near by towers. Impark will molest you. I'm still seeing a therapist after I got charged... sorry this is difficult for me... after I got charged $50 parking overnight at TD Waterhouse Tower. I've never felt so violated. :'(

FWIW, prices aren't well advertised either. Big part of why I rarely go downtown. If I do, I take the train.

I suppose, though Yaletown on the weekend now is just all suburbanites who flock down to drink/party. I rarely go there anymore, unless it is for something very specific. I prefer to stay in Gastown/Chinatown/Strathcona these days.

I stayed in the Strathcona. It's decent but the rooms are small and there's no view. Other than that, can't complain.

As for things to do, Jays (provided the Yankees or BoSox aren't in town) and TFC tickets are pretty cheap. There's TFC games on the 23rd and 30th. Jays are in town the whole last week of August, but away the week before. Sadly, they're playing, yep, the Yankees and BoSox. Though Tampa is in town on the 23rd and 24th. Those tickets will be cheap.

The CNE (Ontario's famous "state" fair) will be on at the end of August. Buskerfest runs from the 21st to the 24th. There are Tom Petty and Arcade Fire concerts running the last week. The air show also runs from the 30th to the 1st.

For food and drink, take a tour of the Steam Whistle brewery, which is at the roundhouse (on Bremner) across from the CN Tower. Yes, free beer is provided. There's also the distillery district, which is at Mill and Parliament (don't venture north of there though).

Usually events going on at Yonge and Dundas. Big mall there too. The Royal Ontario Museum is up at Avenue and Bloor.

Outside the city? Burlington has its big Ribfest on the waterfront at Brant and Lakeshore. Runs Labour Day weekend. Live bands, lots of food. Milton does it's Steam Era that weekend too, if you're in to country stuff. It's at Country Heritage Park at Tremaine and the 401. Steam tractors and classic car show.

If you head out Waterloo way, St. Jacobs has a huge farmers market and quaint country/Mennonite village.

Looking for something more rustic, might want to check out Huntsville in Muskoka. Though lodging will be expensive that week. I prefer the Kawartha Lakes part of Cottage Country myself.

 

[Eug]

I get self park at the hotel. Don't have to tip a valet.

 

[Imp]

I think the cheaper hotels are by the Airport, but that would put you in Mississauga...

There's a museum and art gallery close to subway lines. Science center and zoo are in the middle of nowhere.

The biggest mall is downtown at Yonge & Dundas. Other ones are in the middle of nowhere at the ends of the subway lines.

Restaurants are abundant downtown, go crazy.

 

[silverpig]

Where are you staying?

I'd recommend the Beverley Street BnB. It's 3 doors down from my old place, is on a great little street, is 20 seconds walk from a streetcar stop, 5 minutes walk from the subway, and 10 minutes walk from Kensington Market and Queen West.

If you want stuff to do:

Cheap/free:
-Walk over to Rosedale ($$$ houses) and go for a walk in the trails of the Don Valley. There are a whole bunch that snake around there. Just google for where to get in/out.
-Go for an iced mocha at Jet Fuel on Parliament(? I think...) street.
-Go to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). It's not free, but you can spend all day in there so it's a very low $/time activity
-St. Lawrence Market. Make sure it's open (it isn't on Sundays).
-Kensington Market. It's my favourite spot in the city - very eclectic. There are some good coffee places, a great pie shop called Wanda's Pie in the Sky, and you can get a hot sandwich at Sanagan's butcher shop, or you can walk down Spadina to Pho Hung for some awesome cheap vietnamese food

Reasonable $ - $+
-Bar Volo on Yonge is my favourite beer place. They have a good selection of local and craft brews on tap or in cask, and the list is always changing because they order everything fresh. The food is pretty expensive for what you get, but you'll fill up on beer. Sit on the patio if you can.
-If you want to do fancy-pants shopping, Bloor street. Less fancy-pants, Eaton Centre. But only if you have to.
-Distillery district is good, Toronto Island is good, but probably not great for a first trip where you are there for a day.
-My favourite restaurant is called La Palette on Queen West. Bistro style, game meat. Yum.
-For a fancy cocktail place (jeans and a t-shirt is fine...) go to Bar Chef. It's one of those molecular gastronomy cocktail bars and the drinks range from not too expensive to very expensive. Worth it for the trip though.

 

[roguerower]

I swear I saw one in Niagara Falls, right on Clifton Hill in fact. The funpass is a great deal if you plan to hit those places. Zoo is nice, wear walking shoes and hat, there is a lot of walking involved.

There is one there, but it's a piece of shit when compared to the one in Oakville. The one at NF is basically a big fan at the bottom which blows air up in a very specific area. You fly out of that area and you fly out of the wind and fall to the pads. The one in Oakville is an enclosed flight chamber which is MUCH more powerful (I can fly on my head easily) and much more fun because you don't have to wear the huge baggy jumpsuit that you normally would at the NF one.

Be sure to inquire about WiFi and parking (if you're driving) for the downtown hotels.

WiFi is hit and miss (and if it's not included it's $15-20 more per night), and most of the downtown hotels don't include parking IIRC, unless you get a package deal (higher than base rate).

That may change your hotel choices.

I think there was a package at that one you recommended where wifi & parking were included. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[roguerower]

My best piece of advice, pay for the hotel's valet parking service. It often works out cheaper than going to the garages in the near by towers. Impark will molest you. I'm still seeing a therapist after I got charged... sorry this is difficult for me... after I got charged $50 parking overnight at TD Waterhouse Tower. I've never felt so violated. :'(

FWIW, prices aren't well advertised either. Big part of why I rarely go downtown. If I do, I take the train.

I stayed in the Strathcona. It's decent but the rooms are small and there's no view. Other than that, can't complain.

As for things to do, Jays (provided the Yankees or BoSox aren't in town) and TFC tickets are pretty cheap. There's TFC games on the 23rd and 30th. Jays are in town the whole last week of August, but away the week before. Sadly, they're playing, yep, the Yankees and BoSox. Though Tampa is in town on the 23rd and 24th. Those tickets will be cheap.

The CNE (Ontario's famous "state" fair) will be on at the end of August. Buskerfest runs from the 21st to the 24th. There are Tom Petty and Arcade Fire concerts running the last week. The air show also runs from the 30th to the 1st.

For food and drink, take a tour of the Steam Whistle brewery, which is at the roundhouse (on Bremner) across from the CN Tower. Yes, free beer is provided. There's also the distillery district, which is at Mill and Parliament (don't venture north of there though).

Usually events going on at Yonge and Dundas. Big mall there too. The Royal Ontario Museum is up at Avenue and Bloor.

Outside the city? Burlington has its big Ribfest on the waterfront at Brant and Lakeshore. Runs Labour Day weekend. Live bands, lots of food. Milton does it's Steam Era that weekend too, if you're in to country stuff. It's at Country Heritage Park at Tremaine and the 401. Steam tractors and classic car show.

If you head out Waterloo way, St. Jacobs has a huge farmers market and quaint country/Mennonite village.

Looking for something more rustic, might want to check out Huntsville in Muskoka. Though lodging will be expensive that week. I prefer the Kawartha Lakes part of Cottage Country myself.

I think we (at least I) would prefer to stay in a hotel with a view. Being right on the lake in a big city like that I could enjoy the view.

I keep forgetting that weekend is Labor Day weekend and it's screwing up pricing probably.

We're up for almost anything, although she doesn't drink and I don't drink a lot. The ribfest sounds good and the brewery sounds delicious. Not sure about the TFC game since although we both played soccer I dunno how much we'd be interested in watching a game. The Jays game I could get behind but like I said earlier, I had planned on trying to catch a Bisons game here in Buffalo. We are seriously looking at the CDS show that's opening that week.

Where are you staying?

I'd recommend the Beverley Street BnB. It's 3 doors down from my old place, is on a great little street, is 20 seconds walk from a streetcar stop, 5 minutes walk from the subway, and 10 minutes walk from Kensington Market and Queen West.

If you want stuff to do:

Cheap/free:
-Walk over to Rosedale ($$$ houses) and go for a walk in the trails of the Don Valley. There are a whole bunch that snake around there. Just google for where to get in/out.
-Go for an iced mocha at Jet Fuel on Parliament(? I think...) street.
-Go to the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). It's not free, but you can spend all day in there so it's a very low $/time activity
-St. Lawrence Market. Make sure it's open (it isn't on Sundays).
-Kensington Market. It's my favourite spot in the city - very eclectic. There are some good coffee places, a great pie shop called Wanda's Pie in the Sky, and you can get a hot sandwich at Sanagan's butcher shop, or you can walk down Spadina to Pho Hung for some awesome cheap vietnamese food

Reasonable $ - $+
-Bar Volo on Yonge is my favourite beer place. They have a good selection of local and craft brews on tap or in cask, and the list is always changing because they order everything fresh. The food is pretty expensive for what you get, but you'll fill up on beer. Sit on the patio if you can.
-If you want to do fancy-pants shopping, Bloor street. Less fancy-pants, Eaton Centre. But only if you have to.
-Distillery district is good, Toronto Island is good, but probably not great for a first trip where you are there for a day.
-My favourite restaurant is called La Palette on Queen West. Bistro style, game meat. Yum.
-For a fancy cocktail place (jeans and a t-shirt is fine...) go to Bar Chef. It's one of those molecular gastronomy cocktail bars and the drinks range from not too expensive to very expensive. Worth it for the trip though.

Thanks for the tips. I checked out the BnB...looks awesome. I'll bring that up. It'll have been about 3 months since we last saw each other and I'm not sure how squeak proof their beds are. I'll keep this stuff in mind.

So far I've got...

Cirque du Soleil
CN tower
Blue Jays
Islands off downtown
ROM
Aquarium
Ribfest
Kensington Market
Rosedale (we like walking)
Brewery Tour

That's a pretty good start and should fill 2.5 days pretty well...now accepting restaurants...looking for a good meat/steakhouse place and a good bar/pub fare place.

 

[Mayne]

You can crash at my place if you want. I'll smoke you up and get you drunk. but I'm no tourist guide.

 

[silverpig]

So far I've got...

Cirque du Soleil
CN tower
Blue Jays
Islands off downtown
ROM
Aquarium
Ribfest
Kensington Market
Rosedale (we like walking)
Brewery Tour

That's a pretty good start and should fill 2.5 days pretty well...now accepting restaurants...looking for a good meat/steakhouse place and a good bar/pub fare place.

The islands are nice, but will take up most of your day. Go in the morning, come back later in the afternoon.

I'd suggest not doing the brewery tour if it's Steam Whistle. I just don't like their beer.

Meat place - La Palette. It's a bistro that focuses on game meat. It has excellent charcuterie boards, and the mains are fantastic. You can get the standard beef, pork, chicken, but also duck, venison, musk ox, water buffalo, wild boar, and horse. I get the horse every time because it's awesome.

Right after dinner there, just walk a block or two east on Queen to Bar Chef for fancy cocktails.

For more of a pub with beer, Bar Volo is my best recommendation. Bellwoods brewery is a cool pub on Ossington (it's cool all along that street actually) - it's very laid back.

 

[Imp]

If you're doing ROM or Kensington Market, the "posh" shopping district is right outside the ROM and Chinatown is right beside the market.

 

[nageov3t]

Steam Whistle brewery tour was pretty fun... we did that on our last day there, when we had an hour to kill before having to head out to the airport (checked out of the hotel, walked to the brewery, and then called a cab from there to go back to the airport)

if you're in the area, grab dinner at Richmond Station. one of the best meals I've ever had.

 

[Eug]

I think we (at least I) would prefer to stay in a hotel with a view. Being right on the lake in a big city like that I could enjoy the view.

Oh, in that case you may want a waterfront hotel like the Westin or Radisson or something like that.

The problem though with those hotels is that the waterfront is separated from the main downtown area. It's easily walkable, but nonetheless it's less convenient.

The hotels in the core generally have more convenient walkable access to entertainment venues and restaurants, and to the subway. Examples are like the Sheraton or the Eaton Chelsea, etc.

Then again some of those waterfront hotels might be a bit closer to certain attractions:

- Waterfront, obviously.
- Centre Island (and ferry station)
- Steam Whistle brewery
- Ripley's Aquarium
- CN Tower
etc.