Central Canada Road Trip: Toronto

Dates of Visit: 14 to 17 Sep 2019, then back on 20 Sep 2019 to fly out of Toronto

Toronto

Canada’s largest city Toronto, like Canada’s capital Ottawa, is in Ontario Province where a third of Canada’s population lives. 

Most immigrants settled in Toronto, making the city one of the most multicultural cities on earth with 140 different languages spoken within Toronto communities.  Today half of Toronto’s residents were borne outside Canada.  Little Italy, Greek Town, Koreatown, Little Portugal, and Chinatown in downtown Toronto are neighbourhoods where you find distinctive ethnic identities.

Toronto is located by the coast of the massive Lake Ontario.  Niagara Falls is a 1.5-hour drive along the coast in the eastern direction.  Ottawa is a 5-hour drive northeast of Toronto.  Its central location makes Toronto a good base to start a road trip in Central Canada.

A 3-day itinerary in Toronto

If you have 3 days in Toronto, you may want to spend a day in Toronto downtown exploring the 30-km PATH – downtown Toronto’s mostly underground pedestrian walkway network, and visiting Yonge-Dundas Square, Chinatown, Little Italy, Koreatown, and St Lawrence Market to feel and experience the multicultural vibe and food being offered. 

Then you may spend a day visiting Toronto Islands on the massive Lake Ontario.  Toronto Islands is a very popular Toronto locals’ day-trip destination.  Take a walk in the harbour area to appreciate the Toronto city skyline when you take a ferry over to Toronto Islands from Toronto Harbourfront.  Read about Toronto Island trip.

A visit to CN Tower is another way to appreciate the Toronto city skyline. 

Also try to visit local or suburban parks such as Woodbine Beach Park and Tommy Thompson Park, which are Toronto locals’ favourite parks, to appreciate how the locals live their lives in the suburbs. 

I had the opportunity to watch Cirque du Soleil’s “Alegría” live show touring in Toronto while I was in Toronto. 

It is always a good idea to Google “Toronto events” when you plan your itinerary.  This applies not just to Toronto, but any other destination.  You may be able to add a surprise itinerary item to enhance your travel experience. 

This itinerary is part of a Central Canada road trip.  Read more about the overview of the Central Canada Road Trip.

Pickering

Pickering is a 30-minute drive northeast of Toronto downtown on the coast of Lake Ontario, within the Greater Toronto Area. 

Like Toronto, Pickering is very multicultural and has a population of around 90,000.  The continued development of Toronto is moving people to the Greater Toronto Area such as Pickering because of its affordable real estate, proximity to Toronto city, and good transport connections to Toronto city. 

You may drive 15 minutes from Pickering to Scarborough city, a secondary business district outside Downtown Toronto, to take a metro train to Toronto city centre.

Pickering is not a tourist attraction.  International travellers may not know anything about Pickering.  However, Airbnb may just bring international visitors to Pickering and other suburban areas close to Toronto city.  My accommodation was a 3-night Airbnb stay in Pickering while I travelled to Toronto, Niagara Falls, and Hamilton.

Toronto Downtown PATH – The largest underground shopping complex in the world

According to Guinness World Records, Toronto Downtown PATH is the largest underground shopping complex in the world, with 371,600 m² (4 million sq. ft.) of retail space.

PATH is a 33-km network of pedestrian tunnels and walkways beneath the office towers of Toronto Downtown linking around 1,300 restaurants, shops, and services in the PATH that employ around 5,000 people. 

The acronym (PATH) represents 4 directions using different colours to identify them to help visitors with navigation: The red P represents south, the orange A directs pedestrians to the west, the blue T directs them to the north, and the yellow H points them to the east.

Before the pandemic, PATH generated approximately A$1.7 billion in annual sales and contributed A$271 million in Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal annual tax revenues.

More than 75 buildings are connected to the PATH which also links 6 subway stations, 3 major department stores, and 9 hotels.  Toronto’s busiest transit hub – Union Station – is accessible through the PATH as well as tourist and entertainment attractions such as CN Tower, Hockey Hall of Fame, Old City Hall, Yonge-Dundas square, and Toronto harbourside waterfront.

While PATH’s name and logo are registered to the City of Toronto, there is no company managing the PATH system.  The PATH is a private-public cooperative partnership.  The City of Toronto coordinates and facilitates the directional signage, maps, and identity markers throughout the system.

PATH serves to reduce vehicle traffic within Toronto downtown and provides comfort to visitors and pedestrians so they can avoid walking outdoor in hot summer and cold winter.

Yonge-Dundas Square

Yonge-Dundas Square is an outdoor public open space at the northeast section of the PATH network, at the intersection of Yonge Street and Dundas Street.

This is an event venue for a wide range of activities such as concerts, exhibitions, and community events.  Permanent digital screens and dancing fountains make this spacious open square very inviting and popular.  This is where you should walk outdoor from the underground network.

Toronto Chinatown

Toronto Chinatown is arguably the second-largest Chinatown in Canada, after Vancouver.  This is despite Toronto having a higher Chinese Canadian population than Vancouver.  Toronto has over 630,000 Chinese Canadians, just over 10% of its total city population, whereas Vancouver has over 470,000 Chinese Canadians, just over 19% of its total city population. 

Canada’s Chinatowns in major cities have always been fascinating places to visit.  Not only that you will always find authentic Chinese and Asian food, the sights and sounds, architectural and cultural characteristics, ambiance, and vibe are so distinctly different from other parts of these cities.  The younger generations of Chinese Canadians are gradually moving away from Chinatowns into other districts of Canadian cities.  But, for now, Chinatowns still retain that very interesting vibes and offer authentic Chinese and Asian food.

Toronto Chinatown is worth exploring on foot to see and experience the bustling produce markets, restaurants, cafes, and shops.  Choose a restaurant to enjoy a typically affordable and yet very delicious meal.  You may want to check out Dragon City Mall and Chinatown Centre, the 2 shopping malls in Chinatown where you can browse through a variety of shops in a single building.

Kensington Market

Kensington Market is within walking distance just north of Chinatown and is packed with grocery stores, produce markets, arts and crafts, and other retail shops, restaurants, and bars.  You will feel the vibrant and multicultural vibe as you walk through the streets. 

Check out the Kensington Market website to learn more.

Little Italy

Less than 1 km west of Kensington Market you will find Little Italy, centred around College Street between Shaw Street and Euclid Avenue.  Little Italy is not an exclusively Italian neighbourhood, there is also a large Portuguese population in the same neighbourhood.  While visitors do find a high concentration of cafes and restaurants featuring authentic Italian and Portuguese cuisines, this appears to be a very multicultural neighbourhood. 

Koreatown

Less than 1 km north of Little Italy is Koreatown centred around Bloor Street West between Christie Street and Bathurst Street.  You will not miss Koreatown because you will notice large amounts of Korean signage on a lot of the shops and restaurants here.

Toronto has more than 50,000 Korean Canadians and is the largest Korean Canadian population among all the Canadian cities. Toronto is the only Canadian city that has a designated Koreatown.

The Annex

Continue on Bloor Street West in the eastern direction past Bathurst Street you will be in The Annex, a lively area with many casual eateries, bookshops, bars, and cafes.  Because of its proximity to the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus, The Annex is popular with students.

St Lawrence Market

The historic St Lawrence Market, which began in 1803 (more than 200 years ago!), actually comprises 3 buildings: St Lawrence Market South, St Lawrence Market North, and St Lawrence Hall. 

St Lawrence Market South has 2 main floors with over 120 specialty vendors of fruit, vegetables, meat, seafood, grains, baked goods, dairy products, cooked food, and non-food items.

St Lawrence Market North is primarily known for its Saturday Produce Market, which started in 1803.  The St Lawrence Market North was vacated in 2015 for a new building expected to be completed in 2022.  For now, and until the new St Lawrence Market North building is completed, Saturday Produce Markets are held at a temporary site just south of the St Lawrence Market South building.

St Lawrence Hall houses retail businesses and offices.

St Lawrence Market was named the best food market in the world by National Geographic in 2012.  So, be prepared to taste great delicious food while you are here.  Other than good food, there is so much to see and discover in this very lively market. 

Woodbine Beach Park

Within a 15-minute drive east of Toronto Harbourfront and on the coast of Lake Ontario, Woodbine Beach Park is a huge 15-hectare park.  Woodbine Beach is a popular spot for picnics, beach volleyball, sunbathing, and swimming.   Just want to walk or jog?  You may stay on the wooden boardwalk built alongside the beach. 

Tommy Thompson Park

Just a 5-minute drive west from Woodbine Beach Park towards Toronto city direction, you will find Tommy Thompson Park.  Remarkedly, the 250-hectare Tommy Thompson Park is on man-made land.  The man-made land was created by using millions of concrete, earth fill, and dredged sand from Toronto Outer Harbour to extend the land 5 km into Lake Ontario. 

The park was truly a wilderness created by accident.  It is a great place to experience nature and the outdoors, whether cycling, rollerblading, jogging, walking, hiking, or fishing.  It is also a great place to enjoy viewing wildlife, the picturesque Toronto city skyline, and Lake Ontario.  The park is very popular with the locals.

You will find Toronto Harbour Lighthouse at the end of the park, 5 km from the park entrance.

CN Tower

Located less than 1 km from Toronto Harbourfront Centre, CN Tower is another Toronto landmark.  Standing at 553 m tall, the observation tower was built by railway company Canadian National in 1976.  CN refers to Canadian National. 

Other than attracting more than 2 million international visitors annually to its several observation decks, CN Tower also features a revolving restaurant with panoramic views.

Live Entertainment in a pandemic – Cirque du Soleil

Starting in 1984 with 20 street performers, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group went on to become a world leader in live entertainment.  Cirque du Soleil has completely transformed circus arts and acrobatic gymnastics by combining music, dance, lighting, costume, and stage design into high-quality artistic live shows. 

The successful Montreal-based organization has managed to draw 180 million spectators to its artistic touring and resident productions presented in 450 cities in 60 countries.  Just before the pandemic, Cirque du Soleil employed 5,000 people, including more than 4,000 artists, who originated from nearly 50 countries.

Six months after I watched Cirque du Soleil’s “Alegría” live show touring in Toronto, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic on 11 Mar 2020.

The pandemic has hit Cirque du Soleil hard when countries went into lockdowns, shutting all the live show venues.  Cirque du Soleil filed for creditor protection and terminated more than 3000 jobs in June 2020.

Thankfully, the world has finally emerged from lockdowns in 2021, and Cirque du Soleil has gradually restarted touring and resident shows again in 2021.  While the world is still in a pandemic in Mar 2022 after 2 years of the pandemic, lives have returned to normal in many parts of the world.  

Hope the WHO will declare the pandemic to be over soon and the world will be able to enjoy Cirque du Soleil world-class touring and resident shows again like pre-pandemic.

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