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Sights & Attractions in Toronto

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Toronto Sights

The boundaries of what Torontonians consider downtown, where most of the city sights are located, are subject to debate, but everyone agrees on the southern cutoff—Lake Ontario and the Toronto Islands. The other coordinates of the rectangle that compose the city core are Bathurst Street to the west, Parliament Street to the east, and Eglinton Avenue to the north. Beyond these borders are numerous Greater Toronto sights that make excellent morning, afternoon, or full-day excursions. An ideal way to get a sense of the city's layout is from one of the observation decks at the CN Tower on a clear day; the view is especially lovely at sunset.

Most city streets are organized on a grid system: with some exceptions, street numbers start at zero at the lake and increase as you go north. On the east-west axis, Yonge (pronounced "young") Street, Toronto's main thoroughfare, is the dividing line: you can expect higher numbers the farther away you get from Yonge. Yonge Street is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "longest street in the world," stretching 1,896 km (1,178 mi) from the lakeshore in Toronto, northwest to Rainy River, Ontario, near the Minnesota border.

Traffic is dense and parking expensive within the city core. If you have a car with you, leave it at your hotel when exploring the city and use it for excursions to outlying attractions or to towns like Stratford. In the city, take taxis or use the excellent Toronto transit system (TTC). A single ride costs C$2.75 and one-day passes are C$8.50 (just one pass will cover up to two adults and four children on weekends).

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