toronto

[fuggy]

i am going to toronto in december. i would be glad of any suggestions as where to go, places to vist, ect and any advice in general. thanks in anticipation.

[pond50]

niagara falls but it is very commercialised
pioneer village its just like little house on the prairie

[pond50]

p.s. also went to Algolquin park - not sure of spelling - which has bears etc - never saw any although i went in september when all the trees were golden and red coloured. not sure how far out of town it is but 200 miles is nothing to the canadians on their boring straight roads if you do go to toronto shopping area beware of immigrants pickpockets etc it shopuldn't spoil your fun i had a wonderful time

[vehelpfulguy]

I went to Toronto twice on business, once for 2 weeks.

First time was in January and it was COLD COLD COLD.

It was so cold that if you went out without a hat on it hurt your head, so cold that people dont wash their cars because if they did the locks would freeze and they could not open them.

There is a massive underground world in Toronto city center called PATH. It is so cold outside they have built this vast subterranian world under all the buildings.

People get out the tube train then walk, underground, to their office or place of work, never having to go out into the open.

Their are shops under there, bars, restaurants, cinemas and so on. Nicely done out with marble floors etc. No graffitti and very safe.

You can read more about it here:

http://www.toronto.ca/path/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(Toronto)

Here is a map of it (rather large)

http://www.ocap.ca/path/path_brochure-2.jpg

Path brochure

http://www.toronto.ca/path/pdf/path_brochure.p df

[vehelpfulguy]

Due to the cold weather did not get about much.

There is the CNN tower

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/images/xlwang/2005/ 10/13/canon300d20050605_198.jpg

but I did not go up it due to the glass floor

http://homepage.mac.com/lesposen/iblog/B804953 44/C475525321/E20070511221443/Media/0501websto ry_eureka6.jpg

There is Lake Ontario, which Toronto is right alongside, but it was totally frozen over when I was there.

View from the lake to the city

http://www.canada25toronto.com/toronto-skyline -photo.gif

[vehelpfulguy]

Here is a guide to the weather in Toronto.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g155019-s208 /Toronto:Ontario:Weather.And.When.To.Go.html

While it says the average termp is minus 2 in January when I was there there was a freezing wind and it went down to minus 15.

Not saying you will get that cold, but make sure you take good coat, strong boots, thick socks, "long johns", a woolen hat and some gloves.

Of course you can buy anything there if you find you do get a cold snap.

Bit more about Toronto in December

http://gocanada.about.com/od/monthbymonthtoron t1/p/dec_in_toronto.htm

[vehelpfulguy]

One final thing I noticed about Toronto.

Obviously I live in England, and have been to the USA on business quite a few times.

Well Toronto (Canada) is a sort of cross between the UK and the USA.

When in the USA it feels very American and you get few things which remind you of the UK. No UK programs on TV and so on.

But in Toronto I felt like I was in the USA, but not quite.

There were English programms on the TV, if you go to a music / DVD store then then there are loads of CDs and DVDs for sale of UK music, or UK TV programs - comedy like Hello Hello or the Fast Show and so on.

They also seem to be more socially aware, I saw plenty of adverts for health support (like our NHS) whereas in the USA it is mostly private health care.

I also rememeber seeing a "fish and chip shop" which I dont think I have ever seen in the USA.

There are loads of people who have emigrated from the UK to Canada so you meet a lot of people who know the UK very well, and I syppose it does give it that "UK" feel.

As I said, I did not get about much due to the weather, but I hope I have given you some help.

[fuggy]

thank you all for the info supplied, i am most grateful.