Well I can not believe it,it is only seven weeks until I finally arrive in Toronto.
We booked this trip last year ,I can hardly believe it is nearly here ,I have looked at loads of things we really want to do , while we have been ticking the weeks of .Not sure if 10 days will be enough
I would love to visit Niagara Falls and Niagara on the lake(people we met on holiday in April said Niagara on the lake is a must)The people we met on holiday were all from Toronto said it is a really lovely town to visit .I have always wanted to visit Toronto for as long as I can remember ,and Niagara on the lake sound beautiful .
So now have so many questions,
We are staying at the Sheraton on Queens Street West ,Are there any places close by for breakfast ?Apparently the food at the Sheraton is not great .
And are there any supermarket close so we can buy drinks and fruit for snacking in the room.
How about flower shops? Any good ones nearby as we will be visiting my Great Aunts grave's in Prospect Cemetery while we are there .
How far is the Royal Ontario Museum form the Sheraton ?
As we noticed that *China's Terracotta Army* will be on show while we are there and we may as well add that to our list .
I had a look at the Goggle map and it looks as if we are in walking distant of the harbour front ,how often do the ferry's to the islands run?
Well final few question for now, has any one used or heard reports on the following trips to Niagara,

http://www.airlinktours.ca/

http://www.torontotours.com/index.ph...ickets/niagara

They seem reasonably priced we thought and offer discounts for on line booking so may be a cheaper option than booking with the concierge at the Hotel much cheaper than booking with our holiday company .
Which would you recommend the day trip or the evening trip?
We are still undecided as to going on a coach trip or hiring a car ,The parking costs are putting me off hiring a car.
Well that is it for now
Liz
I hope Morning Glory see this, and I hope we are still on for a coffee

I would only rent a car for the few days you are spending in Niagara... enjoy Toronto and drop a side trip into your stay that includes a weekend fri-sunday in Niagara... depending on your budget you can stay near the falls and drive out to Niagara on the Lake or vice versa... The bus tours to niagara are too short and you only get a taste of the area...

Queen St is a pretty far walk to the Harbour and has you walking under the highway through tunnels... public transportation is easy in Toronto so don't overlook it as an option... the subway and trollys run all day and cut out long walks...

Hi Liz - I was near Granby Street the other day and remembered you'd be coming soon so topped our posts from last year - was disappointed when you didn't respond so glad to see this post.

Yes, of course, still on for coffee. What dates will you be here...I'm thinking of getting away myself for a week or so.

There are at least 3 flower shops in the concourse to which the hotel is connected for your visit to Prospect Cemetery.

The Sheraton is connected to The Path http://www.toronto.ca/path/ which has several food courts and a new Movenpick Marché should be open by then. The Bay department store is close by and it has a couple of places that serve meals as does the Eaton Centre. So lots of choice.

If you're walkers, I personally don't think the hotel is too far from Harbourfront but I walk a lot and wouldn't describe the walk as going through tunnels...perhaps you can make up your mind once you're here. Queen Street to Bloor Street for the Museum is a mile and a quarter. Or 3 subway stops.

The tickets for the Terracotta Army are timed - I saw it a week or so ago. http://www.rom.on.ca/terracottaarmy/en/

NOTL is pretty but you've got so many, many lovely villages and small towns in England so I'm not so sure it's worth it but I see one of those tours includes it - for shopping it says. (I was recently in England tracing family in Gloucestershire ...loved Gloucester and the villages associated with my family - stayed in a 600 year old Inn with Roman pavements nearby.)

My English cousin, her daughter and SIL took a tour to the Falls which included dinner and fireworks - she described it as magical so I'd choose the evening trip.

http://www.toronto.ca/parks/island/summerschedule.htm - the ferry schedule.

You can buy weekly transit passes http://www3.ttc.ca/

Hope this helps.

I just got back from my trip to Toronto. I stayed at the Cambridge Suites, which is about 2-3 blocks away from the Sheraton on the same street (Richmond). There is a place that is called Sunset Grill, right on the corner of Richmond and Yonge, right across the street from The Bay. I didn't eat there for breakfast, but someone else on the forum recommended that place to me. And as it is pointed out above, check out the PATH for many eating choices. I did like the Richtree/Marche places when I wanted to grab something quick.

You will need to take the TTC to get to the Royal Ontario Museum. If you take the subway, get off at the Museum stop. I know I definitely wore out my weekly TTC pass during my stay. The one thing to keep in mind is that the weekly pass always starts on a Monday through Sunday. I arrived in Toronto on a Thursday, so I had to buy single day passes for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then used my weekly pass and bought another day pass for Monday.

I really enjoyed the Terracotta Soldier exhibit. It came around before out where I live, but I never got a chance to see it then. I was able to get into a guided tour, which lasted about 45 minutes. They take about 24 people split into two separate groups. When I bought my ticket, the worker explained to me that they don't offer the guided tours every day. It started at noon the day I was there and only cost an additional $5 per person, if that's something you would be interested in.

I should clarify that the because the terracotta soldiers are a special exhibit, it is an additional $10 from the regular museum fee. Then the guided tour is an additional $5, which is worth the price.

Breakfasts.
Depends on what you want. Blueberry pancakes at $18 in the hotel.
Sunset Grill is a Toronto tradition, although new inthis location, at Yonge andRichmond, a block from the hotel's back door. Eggspectations on Yonge Street, inthe Eaton Centre, is about two blocks away. Took worldy people to St.Lawrence Market -- fifteen minute walk -- for breakfast a couple of weeks ago.
St. Lawrence Maret is good source Tuesday through Saturday for wide variety of good food to keep at the hotel.
How many of you are there? I'd recommend renting a car for the Niagara Falls, Niagara on the Lake day. Much more convenient, and may be less expensive depending on how many use it.

Plus it would b e handy for going to the cemetary.

If budget permits, pick it up early one morning, go to Niagara, keep the car overnight, visit other non-transit friendly places the next day, plus the cemetary, and then return the car.

I walked from Union Station to the Sheraton six times recently, and Union Station is not far from Harbourfront, so for Brits -- I think of you as a nation of hikers -- it won't be too far.

Flowers -- your choice of dozens of fancy florists or even more casual flower retailers (look for lots of flowers in green buckets in front of grocery, variety, and flower shops, on the way from hotel to cemetary. (I used to be in the green bucket flower business)

Closer snacks, food than the market: walk west on Queen Street 5 blocks to Queen and John, or head into the tunnels under the hotel. Plus, Bay department store has lots of takeout in the basement near thetunnel that runs straight from the hotel's lower level.

Good food from trucks across the street from the hotel. I prefer the most easterly truck, for hotdogs and french fries.

Some days there is a farmer's market in Nathan Phillips Square, in front of city hall, immediately north of the hotel.

BAK

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Gary,
Any suggestion for rental car company's to look at?Or are they all much the same.Is it easy to find a parking space in Niagara?Here in the UK parking is always an issue where ever we go.And that fact alone always puts us of taking the car anywhere.
Bouradly,
we arrive on a Monday so that will be handy for our weekly TCC pass,the Terracotta Soldier exhibit has also been to London back in 2007/2008 if I remember correctly ,for some reason we never got to see so we are looking forward to seeing it in Toronto.I will check out the guided tour.
Bak,
thanks for all the suggestions for breakfast,I am not a breakfast person fruit juice ,porridge or a muffin for me but my husband loves his breakfast and would rather have breakfast than lunch ,so St. Lawrence Market could be ideal I had not realized it was such a short walk,and as we love walking that sounds good.The farmers market in front of the city hall sound good to.
Hi Carolyn,
I have checked in on the forum every now and then and had never seen the other tread so I have just had a look,I did missed a couple of posts.
We arrive into Canada on the 30th of August and we leave on the 10th of September.We love walking,we will be getting a weekly pass for the TTC.
We are still not sure about hiring a car I did wonder if Niagara on the lake would be worth the longer visit than the coach offers.I have to agree with you,some of my family are living in picture prefect villages here in the UK and we live near the New Forest with it little villages of thatched cottages.So I will give that some thought.Problem is there is so much to do and nowhere near enough time .
Bye for now and thank you
Liz

Hi - we can "talk" closer to the date re meet up for coffee.

C

The attraction of Niagara on the Lake is the Shaw theatre Festival with several plays running daily and an abundant Wine region... the village itself offers a few boutiques, fudge shops, and restaurants along with the theatres... you might consider afternoon tea at the Prince of Wales if you miss home... the wineries offer local foods prepared well, as well as icewine, a sweet afterdinner treat...

If you have never seen Niagara Falls, make sure to view the panorama from the Canadian side and take the Maid of the Mist tour... you can do much more if you allow time...

Yes, it was 2007 when the Terracotta Soldier exhibit was at the British Museum; I missed it by a month when I was in London for a few days. In the tour group I was in, there was a couple from England and the tour guide asked if they saw it when it was in England and they had missed out on it.

I thought of a couple pretty close grocery stores near where you are staying. If you go north on Bay Street and past the Eaton Centre, you will see a shopping complex called Atrium on Bay. You can also take the PATH to get there. At the bottom level, there is a store called Kitchen Table. There is also another in the PATH if you head south to the Brookfield Centre near the Hockey Hall of Fame. This place is called Longo's and it is at the bottom level. Both are about a 7-8 minute walk.

Bring your own bag and save 5 Canadian cents as the city charges for plastic bags. I didn't bring any from home, but I did keep the couple I bought and put it in my purse so I could reuse them whenever I came across things I wanted to buy.

Thank you,
That is great,We will go with the guided tours for the Terracotta Soldier exhibit and looking forward to having a look around the Royal Ontario museum as well.I will remember to pack a shopping bag,I have loads in the back of the car these days .Our supermarkets are not charging for bags yet but we are heading that way.Thanks for the grocery stores we will look out for them to stock up with my drinks if nothing else.
Gary ,I love the idea of afternoon tea,it is only available in tourist area's here in the UK these days,and I can not remember the last time we had afternoon tea.We like the idea of the wineries and of course the ice wine,looks like hubby will be driving not me .

Here's an article on places that offer afternoon tea in the city -
http://where.ca/toronto/article_feat...ing_id~118.htm

I'd choose the Red Box for something a bit different. I had it at the Windsor Arms - maybe it was because there was a big wedding going on but it wasn't very good.

Re the 5 cents/a nickel for a bag - a farmer at the market in city hall square told me yesterday if I just said "no, I don't have a nickel", he'd give me the bag anyway. The city is forcing merchants to charge for the bags but they aren't collecting the money from them so it goes into the merchant's coffers (one drug store chain is giving the money to charity)...another reason to make sure you carry a bag or 2 with you.

I probably shouldn't say this but I was disappointed in the terracotta warriors exhibit - there weren't enough of them.

Thanks for the article,some of those afternoon teas look very impressive.The last time we had afternoon tea was in Devon and it was worth it just for the scones and clotted cream.
I have already retrieved a couple of bags out of the car ready to go in the case.
Thank you for your honesty about the terracotta warriors exhibit,A friend from work I mentioned it to yesterday expressed the same opinion about the London Exhibit apparently there was only about twenty came to the UK,and she had also been disappointed .It was one of the things on our list we were considering doing only if we have time so we will see.We had the same experience when we went to see the Tutankhamun exhibit at the O2 a couple of years ago.

I didn't count them but suppose it's twenty - I can go again for free as a member of the ROM.

Shoes instead of soldiers?

The Bata Shoe Museum is only a couple of blocks west of the Royal Ontario Museum, on Bloor Street West at St. George.

Vases?
Teh Gardiner Ceramic Museum (or some such name) is across Queens Park from the Royal Ontario Museum, with lots of fascinating glassware.

That said, remember that there are a whole lot of interesting things in the Royal Ontario Museum, that are part of the normal exhibits.

If you like museums, it's worth going to with the soldiers.

BAK

I love museum ,and I had not considered the shoes instead of soldiers ,not sure what hubby would make of it, he just does not understand why I need so many shoes not sure what he would make of a museum full of them
I have looked at The Black Creek Pioneer Village as another option?
We are now seriously looking at hiring a car for the Niagara trip and staying over night,so we can see it both during the day and the evening when it is all lit up. Any idea where the nearest care hire company is to The Sheraton,or do they delivery to the hotels?
We will probably stay over night at the Hilton at Niagara or the Hilton at Niagara on the Lake as we have some points we could use.

Lots will deliver to the hotel.

We're renting a car on Monday from Entrprise,and it will pick us up at home, but I think we need to drop the driver off back at the Enterprise office. Don't know for sure.

There are several car rental offices in Union Station, a ten minute walk from the hotel.

The hotel desk will have lots of info, too.

Once picked up a rental at Dundas and St. Patrick, ten minutes walk. Think that was Avis.

Anyway, it will be easy.

DO YOU CARE ABOUT OLD PLANES? Canadian Warplane Heritage, at the Hamilton airpiort, is full of old planes, many that flew from Britain during WWII/(I may habve mentioned this earlier)

Black Creek is a long,miserable, inner-city, traffic-filled drive from the hotel. Much closer is Fort York, downtown, and Fort George, in Niagara on the Lake, but both lack the life-style content of Black Creek.

HUSBAND STORAGE -- any chance you leave the hotel together and he heads to the Hockey Hall of Fame (south) and you head to the shoe museum, (north) and then meet up later for The Royal Ontario Museum or general high end shopping?

And if you like glass art, get a visitin at the Gardniner museum before he returns from the Hockey Hall of Fame.

But this assumes he likes hockey. I certainly would not be off at the Cricket Museum if I was in London.

Does he have a serious hobby? Maybe we can work with that.

BAK

If you do decide to go to Black Creek Village, I have a family membership which means I can take non-family in, too.

I loved the husband storage idea ,not sure that he would
Hockey would hold no interest to him,We just do not do Hockey in the U K ,it is all Football(soccer),Rugby or Cricket,and as for cricket,we had our winter holiday late this year as it had to coincide with the twenty/twenty cricket going on in the West Indies in April,then our eldest son invited himself along when he realized he had time off at the same time.So I was left at the resort while Hubby and eldest son watched cricket(it was great to have some Me time to read my books and generally do nothing) and then they went diving(his only other hobby)and I think the lakes would be to cold for him to go diving.
I love old aeroplane I grew up in a small village in Norfolk about ten miles away from the R.A.F. base that used to be home to the *Battle of Britain flight*We used to often see Spitfire's and Lancaster's flying over to attend air shows ,I believe the R.A.F. have move the base to Lincolnshire now and they only have one last Lancaster flying.
Is Hamilton airport far from Toronto?While looking around I came across a mention of the air-show that happens over Labour weekend and that happens to be the only weekend we will be in Toronto.Hows that for luck

http://www.cias.org/content/view/37/52/

Would we need a car to get to Black Creek? Or would it possible to get there by public transport?
And thank you Caroline for your kind offer.
well thank you again Liz