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.