Graziella5b

Hi, My husband and I are going to Toronto next week for 5 days. Through Priceline we got the Westin Harbour Castle, as I picture it, a very nice hotel but a little out of the way. We like a lot to walk and planned to take public transportation but someone told me that the short five blocks that separates Union Sq and the hotel are not nice at all...?
We are the type that like to try restaurants all over istead of eating in the hotel.
They say they have a free shuttle...I was wondering if there is a tramway near by?
Please, I am all ears to get some good advice....Thank you.

traveller69

It has been almost 20 years since I stayed at the Harbour Castle but at that time it was no problem at all in the area and a very easy walk to restaurants. Unless the area has gone downhill and I would really doubt that you shouldn't have a problem. Maybe somone in Toronto can enlighten you but I don't think I would worry about it.

Graziella5b

After I asked for help I did my homework and found a lot of information on the Westin Harbour .
Great stuff but mostly is 5 or more years old.
I am a little lost, is the hotel renovated by now?
How good is the shuttle from the hotel? Is it worth it? I shall appreciate all the inf. you can give me. Thank you

BAK

Have no fear, more or less.

Yes, it is out of the way, but,. opn the other hand, it's close to lots of stuff.

Let's try to make sense of this.

The hotel is at the corner of Queen's Quay (pronounced key)and Bay Street. Walking north from thehotel up Bay Street, with the lake at your back, you go under some raised roads, you cross some ground-level roads, and you walk through a long tunnel filled with cars, over which there are railway tracks. Along one side of the tunnel is a glassed-in walkway, so you are not completely exposed to fumes. And then you arrive at Front Street and Bay Steet, right beside Union Station. Union Station is the downtown passenger rail station for major trains, the main GO Transit bus and railway station for commuter service, and there's a normal Toronto Transit Commission subway station, too.

So yes, it's a fairly long, boring, not particularly pleasant walk.

But you don't have to take that walk. In one of the office buildings across the street from the Hrabour Castle there's an underground streetcar stop.

This streetcar stop (as distinct from a subway stop)is on the streetcar route that runs from Union Station subway station south to harbourfront and Queen's Quay, and along Queen's Quay to Spadina AVenue, and then north to Bloor and Spadina, where it goes into another subway station.

So, you can take the streetcar, and then the subway, from right across the street. $2.50 cash fare. And get pretty much anywhere you want.

But, there are more choices. From the hotel you can walk west along the side of the lake, right by the water, past some apartment buildings and then past stores, theatres, a fireboat station, a cop shop with nice boats, assortedfd art galleries, boats to rent, and then you have several choices of where you can turn north and walk over and undeer those self-same roads as mentioned earlier, and end up at the CN Tower, Rogers Centre (which used to be SkyDome), the Steamwhistle Brewery, and assorted other interesting places.

Walk another couple of blicks north from the CN Tower, and you are surrounded by a couple of dozen restaurants.

A good long walk before dinner, and a cab back to the hotel.

Also, from right beside the hotel, you can take a ferryboat to Toronto Island.

All in all, the harbour CAstle is a great summertime hotel for tourists.

definitions: subway is multi-car, looks like the New York or London subways, is mostly but not all underground, and there are several routes. One is U-shaped, and runs north-south, and there's an east-west subway that runs along Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue (which is really the same street with two names)

Streetcars are single or double units that run on the surface, on tracks, with electric connections to wires above the road. There's one underground stretch near the hotel.

Buses look like buses, run on diesel engines.

And trolleybuses (getting rare) look like buses, run on rubber tires, but are connected to overhead wires. You can switch among all these using a tranfer, which is a little slip of paper you get from your initial boarding spot.

BAK
An

Graziella5b

I must confess, I was hoping BAK would answer my SOS and indeed he did ;-)

BAK: Thank you very much for all the useful and great inf.

I have a question, if we take the streetcar and go West and then North all the way till I reach the nice area of Yorkville, will it take a long time?

Also , On our frist day our plane is arriving at 6.30PM ( couldn't get anything better), we would like either to go to Yorkville ? or to a closer restaurant?, ideally by public transp coming back by taxi. We are thinking of a light dinner , looking to have a feeling of the city. Any suggestions....? ( I am not thinking of
rest for tourists rather on ITalian, Greek,Portuguese, ....restaurants. Thank you again.

Graziella5b

Hi, BAK if you read this posting.

I was thinking if the first night we take the street car going North on Spadia and get off at Bloor st
and have dinner in Real Thailand which is right in the corner. Will this be reasonable? How long will the street car take to get us there aprox. at night
(I fiugre 8, 8:30), is it safe? and coming back taking the subway after dinner is it safe>? Or what do you recommend. We shall take any rest you recommend us, for the first night we would like a light dinner.
I thought Thailandese food would do fine.
Thank you

BAK

Don't worry about safe. You'll be fine.

I'm not a Thai restaurant expert, except to say...

East, on Queen Street West between Duncan and John is nice deecor, excellent food, beautiful, and reasonable. Five of us ate there the other night for about $100, including one beer each.

It's on the edge of the entertainment district, and we got to and from it by walking to from and to the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Plus it is opne late enough for you, without question. Our guest flew in from Wahington and did not get to the hotel until eight.

To get to East from your hotel, take the (underground) streetcar I mentioned before to Union Station, and transfer to the Spadina route of the subway, and get off at Osgoode Station.

Once on the ground, walk west toward the sunset a couple of blocks. East is right across the street from the giant TV station that says CITY-TV / CHUM on it.

After dinner, if you want to walk, go west half a block to John, turn south (left) along the side of the CITY building, past Chapters books (I'll probably be there in Starbucks reading -- I spend a lot of time there) and keep walking south past some more restaurants, parking lots, to King Street. Notie all therestaurants you can see there, then keep walking south towad the CN Tower and Rogers Centre (old SkyDome) Keep walking betweeen them, past the Steamwhistle Brewery, look for the road to keep going outh (it's to your right/west a little) and keep walking until you get to the lake.

Turn left, and walk through Harbourfront, past some apartments, and you'll be back at your hotel, tired, happy, and prepared for the next day.

Skip Yorkville the first night.

Now, my other piece of Thai knowledge -- on Bloor Street West, next to McDonald's, just west of Aenue Road, upstairs, is a really cheap, really good, Thai restaurant.

If you arrrive around 1:30 for lunch,you won't get rushed out. Otherwise, they'll move you along to make room for the people lining up for good food at reasonable prices. Much less fancy than East, but the soup is very good, and according to others, other food is good, too.

BAK

Graziella5b

Hi Bak,THANK YOU¡¡ Priceless information.

Most likely we will go to East on our first night
(Thailand foof is not my prefered cuisine but one of several that we enjoy). East's price, location.etc sounds just perfect for that occasion.

Only remaining question, bear with me:

Around 10 PM sfter dinner , walking all the way S and E to the Hotel as you suggested would it be safe?

I am asking this question and at the same time I am realizing how I have changed! Years ago I wouldn't
have asked this question! Now it is the second time
I am placing it.
By the way till what time at night would you say it is
ok to ride the subway? Special having to take the tramway at Union...
As a rule when we travel ( EUrope,Buenos Aires,
Mexico City (of course!!!) we take a taxi going back to the hotel.
I am placing the subway question anyway because is good to know what options are available.
We also like to go to bookshops, and sometimes we
have an expresso, at Sturbacks, although because we are American-Italians I end up complaining it is too bitter, to strong.
Oh!, how do I miss the real cappuccinos, totally absent in this city....I bet in Toronto you have better places for a nice
expresso or cappuccino, served in a real cup, than in Florida, US where we live.
THANKYOU, ;-) MERCI, GRACIAS,GRAZIE.....

BAK

I've lost track of your travel days.

On Friday and Saturday evenings there will be hundreds of people on the street on the majority of that route, lots of cops on the strteet (lots are hired duty coping with clubs, and lots on real normal cop duty). The rest of the week, still lots of people out at 11 and until midnight.

I live in the middle of all this, and there are men, women, teens, all out and about until midnight and later.

You can, if you want, walk as far as the entrance to the CN Tower, see some of the sights I mentioned, and then look ahead and decide to take a cab instead of walking.

Now, about coffees.

I am a man of simple tastes -- Starbucks staff in Chaptrs mostly know it is tall, bold, balck for me, unless the decaf that day is also a dark raost, adn then they know to ask me. At the Second Cup at King and John, they are pouring my coffee as soon as they look out the window and see me waiting for the traffic light to change so I can cross the street and come in.

That said ... the Starbucks staff in the Chapters store a block from East know what they are doing, most of the time. Just tell them you are worried it might be bitter, and they will adapt. And tell them you want a real cup, not cardboard.

If the more experienced staff are there, I guarantee you will be happy. And the newer staff will probably satisfy you, too.

Find your way to Little Italy to check out more fancy coffee service.

HogtownJim

Toronto is safely walkable at all hours of the day in my opinion.

The Starbucks at Queen and Bay is a good way to rest one's weary feet.
It offers a view of the old and new
city hall.

There is a Second Cup on
Queen's for a late night coffee that you can go to. At Harbourfront you
can sit outside at a restaurant and watch the world go buy. On the second floor, there is an exellent Chineese restaurant.

There are three Italian areas of the city - College Street and Clinton area, St. Clair and Dufferin and the north west suburb of Woodbrige.



There is more to Toroto than downtown Toronto. You can explore all the villages to be found in Toronto by car or transit. There are several other quaint towns in the greater Toronto area which are worthwhile destinations.

These areas include Bloor West at Runnymede, Leaside (Bayview area where Hollywood Gelato is located, the Beaches (Queen Street east), Unionville (Kennedy and Highway 7 region) and downtown Oakville (Trafalgar and Lakeshore Boulevard - check out the Whole Foods Store and the marina area).

Woodbridge is where most Italians live in Toronto and is bounded by
Weston Road and Highway 7 on the east
and the village of Woodbridge and Highway 27 on the west.

The destination points here are the Kortright Centre conservation area
the Vaughn Mills mall, town of Woodbridge, Gelato Gelato and Fortinos grocery store.

For coffee in Little Italy, try
Cafe Diplomatico 594 College Street.

For Gelato, Gelato Gelato in Woodbridge
(905-851-0400 100 Marycroft) and Hollywood Gelato (1640 Bayview Avenue Toronto, ON 416 544-9829 (great cappuccinos too) are not to be missed. Hollywood Gelato is closer but Gelato Gelato has over 40 flavours.

The best cappuccino I have had downtown
was at Acqua which is a lounge/restaurant at BCE Place (Front and Yonge) next to the
Hockey Hall of fame.

For Italian food stores, be sure to visit Pusateri's main
store at 1539 Avenue Road at Avenue Road and Lawrence. They have a smaller
store at Bay and Yorkville downtown.
(http://www.pusateris.com/about.htm)

For everyday food shopping, I shop at Longos at Yorkmills and Leslie.

Be sure to check out Italian sculpture on wheels - the Lamborghini dealership at Bathurst and Front and the Ferrari dealership in the Yorkville and Avenue Road area.

BAK

It's a long way to Oakville, but if you take the GO Train, Whole Foods is just a medium walk fromt he station. Getting to Lakeshore and Trafalgar is more of a problem, but that's what cabs are ford.

Or you can get to Whole Foods in Toronto via the Bay or Museum subway stops.

Sending tourists to a grocery store is sort of weird, but on the other hand ... we'll be in Whole Foods Oakville today just to buy a loaf of bread -- it's worth driving a couple of miles out of our way, and spending an extra half dollar.

The Beaches and Bloor/Runnymede ideas are good ones. Streetcar to the Beaches, subway to Jane Station on the Bloor line, then walk east past the Runnymede Station, keep going to the entrance to High Park, turn rignt / south through the park (it goes downhill) to Queensway, and take the sttreetcar back downtown.

I'll probably be buying fruit and begetables at Bloor and Jane on Monday.

BAK

Graziella5b

Thank you all. As it happens I love markets. Here in Florida, it is not feasible to go to a fruit/vegetable market like Saint Laurence in Toronto( for what I read) we too buy a lot of stuff in Whole Foods, like
organic vegetables, etc etc,is is also far from home, only way to get there for us is to drive.Here public transportation is not good. Everything is spread out. Well no complains because instead I am looking at the ocean from my window.
But I surely miss to be in a walking city, here people drive to go three blocks to the post office...may be because of all this we are happy to visit Toronto as we love visiting other cities as well.
I guess that where we live I am the only persons that walks from place to another .
One question, please,I read something about the Distillery Historic Distric, ...where is it, and is it worth going...?
By the way we were thinking of going Saturday to
St Laurence and have breakfast there, is this ok?

BAK

If you look in the tavel section at www.briankilgore.com you'll find info about breeakfast at the St. Lawrence Market. Pictures of the sandwiches, etc.

Yes, it is an excellent place for breakfast. You can walk from the hotel.

Just head east on Queen's Quay to the big Loblaw's store, turn north (otherwise you hit the lake) and walk a couple of blocks up Jarvis, and you are at the market.

Better food from the stands rather than addington's, and then take your food outdoors to eat on the balcony.

Distillery District is almost straight west four or five blocks.

Walk east on Front Street past the Porsche dealership, the Opera Headquarters, and cut across the paking lot of the car wash and Budget rental office, to Parliament Street, and you'll see big signs and old fashioned distillery buildings.

You'll see my old apartment, but it's no tourist attraction. I moved before the neighborhood improved.

Graziella5b

Hi BAK, I did look and I enjoy it very much.
Thank you.
Your attention to detail has been tremendously helpful.
So, it is as good as to go North walking on Bay St or on Jarvis St ? We might use Jarvis also for going for dinner at Romagna Mia restaurant.It seems this is the kind of place we like for dinner. It is located at 106 Front. So everything seems ok.
I liked your pictures.
You know, after you being so kind I was thinking may be one day we cross each other while you are having coffee at Chapters for instance and we shall never know. But now I 'll know. Thank you again and hope everything goes great with you.

JM

You've been given some excellent advice here, but here is my two cents. Give yourself a break, especially on your arrival night, when you'll be tired. Take a taxi both ways to the restaurant (assuming it's downtown) It shouldn't cost that much more than public transit...remember it will cost about $10 round trip for the two of you on the TTC anyway.