Toronto City Guide: Hotels, Food and Sights

Toronto sits on the north shore of Lake Ontario and is the largest city in Canada. It is a place of tall towers and short walks between neighbourhoods that have very little in common. You can spend a morning on the water and an afternoon in a museum, and eat somewhere different every night. Give it a few days and the pieces start to fit together. Most visitors base themselves downtown, where the main sights, the waterfront and the transit lines are all close at hand.

Places to Sleep

• The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto: Downtown on Wellington Street, a short walk from Roy Thomson Hall. Rooms are generous, the staff tend to anticipate what you need, and the higher floors have views of both the lake and the skyline.
• The Hazelton Hotel: A small hotel in Yorkville, the shopping district just north of Bloor. The design is modern and the staff learn your name by the second morning. It stays calm in a way the busier blocks to the south rarely do, which suits people who want to sleep well.
• The Fairmont Royal York: Opened in 1929 across the road from Union Station, and still the easiest hotel in the city to reach by train. High ceilings, old brass and a lobby worth walking through even if you are staying elsewhere. The airport rail link also pulls in at Union Station, just over the road.

What to See and Do

• CN Tower EdgeWalk: You are clipped to an overhead rail and walk the outside ledge of the tower, 356 metres up, with nothing between you and the street below. It is the highest hands-free walk of its kind. From up there the lake, the islands and the grid of streets all lie flat beneath you. Plan it for a clear day, and book a slot in advance if you can.
• Royal Ontario Museum (ROM): Natural history is housed in one half, world cultures in the other, in a building where a 1914 stone wing runs straight into a jagged glass addition. Dinosaur skeletons, Egyptian coffins and Chinese textiles all sit under one roof, so pick a wing or two rather than trying to see it all.
• Toronto Islands: A short ferry from the downtown docks puts you on car-free islands with beaches, a lagoon and bikes for hire. Look back from the far shore and the whole skyline is lined up across the water. Pack a picnic, since the best spots are a good walk from the ferry docks.

Where to Eat

• Canoe: On the 54th floor of the TD Bank Tower, cooking Canadian ingredients with the city laid out below the windows. Book well ahead and ask for a table by the glass; sunset is the time to aim for.
• St. Lawrence Market: A covered market at Front and Jarvis that has been trading since the 1800s. Butchers, cheese counters, produce stalls, and a peameal bacon sandwich people queue for on a Saturday.
• Alo Restaurant: A small dining room above a Spadina Avenue storefront, serving a set French menu. It earned a star in the first Michelin guide to cover Toronto. Reservations open about a month out and go quickly, so set a reminder if you have your heart set on it.

A Few Things Worth Knowing

• The CN Tower: At 553 metres, the CN Tower was the tallest free-standing structure in the world from 1975 until 2007, when the Burj Khalifa in Dubai overtook it. It is still the landmark every other building in town is measured against.
• A city of arrivals: About half the people living in Toronto were born outside Canada, and more than 160 languages are spoken across the city, which is why a short subway ride can feel like a trip between continents.
• The PATH: Thirty kilometres of tunnel run under downtown, linking office towers, shops and subway stations. In February you can cross most of the core without going outside, which is a real gift when the wind comes off the lake.
• Film in September: TIFF, the city's big film festival, fills the downtown cinemas every September, and a good share of the screenings are open to the public.
  None of this is far apart. Streetcars and the subway cover most of the ground, and the stretches worth walking are short ones. A weekend works here. A week works better, especially if you want a day trip to the falls or the wine country.