How many days in Toronto
 

Hi

I will be traveling to Toronto in the beginning of August..How many days do you think is ideal for a general Toronto experience? Let me know!

4 or maybe 5 - www.toronto.com will give you some idea of what you might want to see.

There are always festivals and events going on during the summer months - one I can think of in August is Taste of the Danforth but there would be more including the "Ex".

I am with SallyC. TO is a great, multi-faceted city and when you add in a day trip to Niagara Falls (which is mandatory if you have never been!) you will need that much. And don't let anyone talk you out of going to The Ex-the Canadian National Exhibition: it is great fun, but some mis-guided snobbery can make Torontonians very dismissive of this 'grand old lady' of fairs.

I'd say at least 4 or 5 but there's plenty to do if you stay a little longer. Try to make your trip cover a weekend -- there are always festivals on the weekends.

Thanks for the advice!

Count me as one saying don't go to "The Ex". It's an aging midway fiasco with no real exhibitions of anything but bad fast food, cheap gadgets and some critters.

Missing it shouldn't be a problem given your stated visit - it doesn't start until August 15.

"Count me as one saying don't go to "The Ex". It's an aging midway fiasco with no real exhibitions of anything but bad fast food, cheap gadgets and some critters.'

ditto !

I have to agree about the tired old Ex....I gave up attending a couple of years ago after a lifetime of going.

I don't know if the OP is travelling with kids but if so, the Ex might be good. I agree that it's getting tired -- the people I know who go are a) traditionalists who go every year and b) people with kids.

OK, I give up on my sales pitch for the EX! I know both SallyC and Goddess and respect their judgement(s)...and I do confess to being a traditionalist and taking 'kids' to the EX (even if they are all my age!).

BUT, it is because of this that I think the EX does represent a side of Toronto that we should not dismiss so easily.

The butter sculptures, the retro feel ( and admitted 'stickiness') of the Food building, the cows-giving-birth-on-site, the craft displays of First nation arts, the dog and the lumberjack competitions, the talent contests, even the Midway (tired and tacky though it may be), this is part of a Toronto-past and isn't that (part of) what tourists want to see when they go to another place? It may not be what we ARE, but it represents what we WERE, and that may well be part of what we will BECOME.

Anyway, this is a conversation we can hold on August 9th, I believe.

IN the meantime, Jmkramer, you will have a great time: TO is a wonderful and vibrant city.

Okay, LJ. Your post might have convinced me but I still think it means more to Torontonians than it would to a visitor.

But how HOW could you forget to mention Elsie the Cow and Tiny Tom (Tim?) donuts???

Sadly, Elsie doesn't make an appearance any longer.

But they still have Tiny Toms (or did the last time I was there).

Oh yes, mini-donuts in three delicious variations, hot and in a powder-sugar-filled bag.

And the 'deals' at the Better Living Centre. And the ice-cream waffles. And the rows of prize cows being shown by fresh-faced girls and pimply young men from 4H clubs all round Ontario. And the corny dog show that Iams puts on. And the annually smaller and inevitably more moving Warrior's Day march of WWII veterans. And the hopeful musicians vying for busker's rights on the TTC. And the ferris wheel (my all-time favourite ride). And 'swirl painting' and one-day tattoos and hard-won giant pink teddies lugged around by hopeful swains. And, wafting over all, the smell of cotton candy.

C'mon, you've got to admit, it is part of being a Torontonian.

But do you remember when the Food Building was so much fun? Cardboard hats, samples, cooking demonstrations, pickle pins (loved my pickle pin!). Last time I was there, the Food Building had just become one giant, not very pleasant, food court.

Yes, I admit there was a time when the 'samples' were the reason I went...the miniature coca cola bottles are now worth a pretty penny.

The EX was my family's introduction to 'ethnic' foods. The spaghetti and slices of pizza seemed exotic at a time when only The Brown Derby was open on Sundays. Murrays and Frans ruled the family crowd. Except for hotel dining rooms, The Town and Country buffet was as sophisticated as dining out got...

The EX Food building is but a mere shadow of its former self. But you can still get peroghies and a roti on the same plate!Its sort of symbolic of Toronto, don't you think?

We were at Lichee Garden almost every Sunday night! That or the one you forgot -- Bassels, at Dundas and Yonge.

By the way, my uncles used to own the Brown Derby and the Town Tavern.

Jmkramer - what kinds of things do you like doing or did you have in mind ?

NinaM: you are quite right to draw us back to the matter at hand. I hope OP has not become turned off either Fodors or TO as we merrily explored our memories!

I promise to make it up by suggesting a trip to the ROM to catch the final days of the Darwin Exhibit, truly fascinating.

...but didn't we answer the OP's question? I was assuming that we did and that s/he was satisfied with that? No?

Goddess, Bassels was my father's hang-out when he worked downtown!

I thought it was at Gerrard and Yonge not that I was ever in it - you had to be 21.

Yes, I think OP did get what he/she needed now that I look back...I wasn't ever in Bassels either, but my Dad who worked for Molsons, knew and talked about all these places. I DO remember my excitement when ( a few years later) a date took me to The Ports of Call: either of you gals remember that one?

You're right, Sally, it was at Gerrard. And I do remember Ports of Call. I was a teenager by then and I thought it was ever so sophisticated!

Ports of Call - got to go there before it's demise.

Malloney's was a great spot, too. Bars never seem to get that crowded any more - or I'm not in the right places - which is as it should be, I suppose.

I guess you're right - the question was answered (4-5 days)lol. I guess I was trying to figure out what the poster was interested in, and that would better give an idea of how many days to spend there. Honestly, for me, two or three days would suffice for the kinds of things that interest me.

Toronto is a very boring white bread city with no character or sense of place. Sure, it has shopping, restautrants, hows etc, but it doesn't have anything that you wouldn't see in any other big city. Plus, the exchange rate has made Toronto very expensive for Americans. A day or 2 is plenty.

A day or two in Toronto would not give you enough time to explore the more interesting parts of the city, imhornet's experience notwithstanding. If you want to see only the downtown core, sure, a day or two would do it. However if you want to explore the more interesting parts of the city, you'll need more time than that.

If I remember correctly, imhornet's knowledge of Toronto restaurants led him to recommend the eating courts in the Eaton Centre to visitors who were looking for places to eat in the downtown core. 'Nuff said.

There's no indication in your post that you're coming from the US but even if you are, the dollar is almost at par. That doesn't make it 'more expensive' for Americans, it makes it at par. The US dollar is still (very) slightly higher than the Canadian dollar.

I still say that 4 or 5 days would be a minimum visit. I hope you've had a chance to search Toronto on this these forums -- there's a lot here -- and I hope you'll be here for longer than a couple of days.

By the way, we're having a Toronto GTG on August 9 -- any chance you'll be here for that?

Welcome back imhornet. I see that you forgot to mention this time that the Eaton Centre is Toronto's principal tourist attraction.

I do not find Toronto to be any more expensive than any other big city in the US or Canada.

As for the "very boring white bread city with no character or sense of place" comment, I would say that ANY city (outside of Quebec, Quebec) in North America would fit that description as well as Toronto does.

Personally, I don't find that saying a city or town is boring, carte blanc, is helpful at all. Every city and town has something to offer, whether or not it's something you care about.

While I may find one city to not be interesting, to state to others that it's not worth seeing is unfair to both the city and the other people. My likes and dislikes are not equal to everyone else's, so therefore the city I think is "boring white bread" may well be exciting and wonderful to them. To think that my subjective opinion of a city should hold more weight than someone else's desire to visit that city is extremely unhelpful.

How about doing a month or 5 weeks for a home exchange? Would I find plenty to do after I covered the big tourist sights? I am managing very well currently in Vancouver and am considering exploring Toronto next year if I can arrange something.

Thank you.

I think you could fill the time here in the summer. I can think of 6 festivals/street events that are going on this weekend and every summer weekend is about the same.

That's certainly true, especially if you devoted a day or two each to the Shaw and Stratford Festivals. You could also visit the nearby small towns, some of which are quite lovely and have special events of their own, and Niagara Falls. Also, you could spend a long weekend in Montreal, so that would get in another city visit.

On the other hand, fall is very nice here, and there are the fall fairs. I think October (around Canadian Thanksgiving) is beautiful here when the colour is normally at its height.

Oh, wow, I had forgotten all about Ports of Call - what an exotic place that seemed to be!

As for the Ex - I absolutely loved it when I was a kid. It was a magical place. My father had a client who ran a booth in the Food Building (it was called the Pure Foods Building back then) and when I was 14, I actually got to work there. I worked at the Ex for about 4 years and thought I had died and gone to Heaven. Imagine being paid to be a part of something I loved so much! I will confess - I still love it. Yes, it's tired and dirty and tacky and everything else that everybody has said, and I don't go on the rides any more (other than the big ferris wheel) but I love watching them. It's still a magical place to me. I don't live in Toronto any more and the Ex is one of the things I miss. I've been trying to persuade my sweetie to go to the PNE in Vancouver which is sort of similar, but that hasn't happened yet.