Toronto Car Search

Toronto is the largest city in Canada, its cultural, entertainment and financial capital. Its greater metropolitan area has a population of almost four and a half million and is the fifth largest city in North America. It is the most ethnically-diverse city in the world according to the U.N. and has a lot of interesting places which can easily attract the attention of tourists. Besides the fact that this city has the harshest winters, Toronto is still one of the best places to live in the whole world.

Its most well known sight is definitely the CN Tower - the world's tallest free-standing structure located in Downtown Toronto. It is a communications and observation tower standing 553.33 meters. It is situated near Toronto's Harbourfront district that is located near the Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome), home of the Toronto Blue Jays professional baseball club, and the Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Also not far from it is the AIR Canada Centre, home to the NBA's Raptors and the NHL's Maple Leafs. Tourists from all over the world visit the best museums and galleries of Canada including the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario. The Royal Ontario Museum, commonly known as the ROM, is Canada's largest museum of world culture and natural history. In North America the ROM is the fifth largest museum. It is well-known that this famous museum contains more than six million items and has over 40 galleries. The Art Gallery of Ontario, also known as AGO, is an art museum, one of the largest in North America. More than 68,000 works are there in this museum. They represent the history from the 1st century to the present day. The Art Gallery of Ontario also has a remarkable collection of European art, including incredible works by Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt van Rijn, Thomas Gainsborough, Anthony van Dyck, Emile Antoine Bourdelle, and Frans Hals, and works of some other well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin and Vincent Van Gogh. Many opera houses and orchestras decorate the city. Very remarkable fact is that it is the third largest theatre centre in the English-speaking world. For Americanized theatre check out Ed Mirvish Productions of popular shows. For Canadian Theatre check out CanStage, the Factory Theatre, Harbourfront Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, or the Artword Theatre. Try to see the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Ontario Science Centre, the Metro Zoo, the Legislative Building and the magnificent Ontario Place, an incredible free time and entertainment complex on Lake Ontario. One more place of interest in Canada is Paramount Canada's Wonderland, a large 1.3 square kilometers theme park. This is one of North America's first amusement parks, which has more than 200 attractions. The Paramount Canada's Wonderland park is open seasonally from May to October.

The city of Toronto is also very well known for its great food and fun bars. For example College St. west of Bathurst Street is called Little Italy and there are many restaurants, bars, clubs, cafes and boutiques. For an authentic dirty rock bar head to Ted's Collision, which is known as one of the few indie rocker hangouts on the Little Italy strip, where high heels and greased hair actually look out of place. There's a dark bar area at the front, lit by candles in bottles on the tables, and two pool tables at the back. The small backyard always has a handful of College Street residents who are either musicians, friends of musicians, or just look like musicians. The bar's 90s rock soundtrack takes you back to the days of Pearl Jam, Guns and Roses and those alterna-rock bands you forgot you'd left behind. Try to visit Il Gatto Nero which is a College Street landmark situated in the heart of Little Italy. Serving our espresso and cappuccino for almost 40 years, Il Gatto Nero provides a casual, comfortable and welcoming atmosphere.

For something a little more alternative go to Queen Street West where you will find many independent clothing stores and a great collection of bistros and bars. Queen SW is now best known as a centre for Canadian broadcasting, music, performance, fashion, and the visual arts. Over the past twenty-five years, Queen West has become an international arts centre, and a main tourist attraction in Toronto. Queen St. W between University Avenue and Spadina Avenue is a place of shops and restaurants. Check out Queen St. W. from Bathurst to Dufferin, where you'll see independent designers, coffee shops, pubs, and boutique hotels and bars like The Drake. Located in downtown Toronto 'Clubland', where music is hammered every night of the week, can be found just south of Queen St. W. between University and Spadina Avenue and attracts attention of many tourists. Try also Fez Batik for a good patio, or head to System Soundbar for late night or early mourning dancing.

Yorkville, a former village and the 3rd most expensive retail space in North America, is a district in Toronto. Once the shelter of hippies musicians like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, Yorkville lies just north of the University of Toronto, between Bay Street and St. George Street, on Cumberland Avenue. The district is very famous for its shopping. Tourists will see high end shops, dining, hotels and celebrities floating around this district. A number of the city's most exclusive retail stores decorate its streets, for example Lux Spa, Prada, Gucci, MAC Cosmetics, Hugo Boss, Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Holt Renfrew, Tiffany & Co., Escada, Ermenegildo Zegna, Cartier SA, Harry Rosen, Calvin Klein, Cole Haan, Vera Wang, Lacoste, Ferrari, Maserati, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Williams-Sonoma, Bang and Olufsen, Betsey Johnson, Max Mara, Mont Blanc, Bulgari, Henry Birks and sons, Coach, Guerlain, Swarowski and other fashionable designer boutiques.

The Gay village is an urban geographic location where a large number of lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual people live. It runs along Church Street south of Bloor St. and is a well-known centre of gay and lesbian life and culture. This gay and lesbian community is also home to the second largest Gay Pride Parade in the world which takes place every July. One may find there a plenty of amazing clubs, shops and things to see here. Such areas may represent a gay-friendly oasis in a hostile city, or may simply have a high concentration of gay residents or businesses. Some gay men and women have managed to utilize their spaces as a way to reflect gay cultural value and serve the special needs of individuals in relation to society at large.

If you want to find something new in club life then visit Toronto's alternative queer village located in the west end of the city where there are 44 queer geared nights in more than 60 venues, none with a gay bar label. It is located from Roncesvalles to Spadina, Bloor St W to King Street.

Summer time is the best period of the year in Canada! A great number of different events include an never-ending number of street festivals and cultural events, so make sure you're wearing your walking shoes! One of the most famous is Caribana Festival. The festival of Caribbean culture and traditions, the largest festival in North America, the highlight of which is the parade which typically occurs in early August, draws hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the globe to Toronto's lakeshore. Each year almost 1.3 million visitors come to see this parade.
Read further: Toronto city guide

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