Mucky

Hi everyone,
We live in Wales, this is to be our first visit to Canada and I need to know if August is a good time to Visit Toronto?
How's the Weather? what is the general cost of 3-4* hotels and availability of hotels etc..at this time.
Is car hire a must...
Any recommended websites to view.
Any information appreciated.
We are a family of 4 and we plan to go there for my sons 18th birthday, together with daughter who will be 15.
Thanks

Mucky

nks267

August is summertime here in Canada. The weather is generally warm and occasionally muggy...but a welcome respite from the 5 months of winter! Hotels can cost anywhere from $120 CAD upwards for a 3-4 star hotel. The Delta Chelsea which is located downtown is in this price range and a good vantage point for all travel! Websites I would reccomend would be priceline.com, expedia.co.uk and the websites for the hotels themselves. The Sheraton website has good deals as does the Delta Chelsea. You dont need to rent a car if you plan on staying in Toronto and there are plenty of tours that can be arranged through your hotel if you want to go to Niagara Falls. Having said that, for a family of four it may be a good idea to rent a car for the trip to Niagara Falls..there are plenty of car rental companies to choose from. For travel within the city, cabs, subways, streetcars and busses are aplenty.

Where2Travel

Mucky

For a family of four I wouldn't rent a car for your time in Toronto as getting around the city is so easy. However, if you travel to Niagara Falls I would say it's worth renting a car for that part of your trip. As well as Niagara Falls, you may want to see other places on the way or nearby - eg the wine region, Niagara-on-the-Lake etc.

Are you planning on spending all your time around Toronto or do you plan to venture further away? That would also depend on whether you want to get a car.

For accommodation, are you planning to get two double rooms or some other combination? If you want to keep costs down, there are often great deals to be had for Toronto on Hotwire (eg the Sheraton Centre is easy to identify) or Priceline (I got the Courtyard Marriott for US$32 last May for four nights in Toronto and was very pleased).

Mucky

Thanks to you both for your replies.
We have no schedule at all so not sure yet wether we stay in Toronto or venture out, I am still researching things, car hire is ok if I need to and we would prefer to have 2 rooms or an apartment, the children don't mind sharing a room but it would be great if they had their own.I don't know what Hotwire is...could you explain?
OK I think Niagara is a must see, but we are not great fans of tacky tourist areas really and prefer to see cities and countryside alike. Interesting places for us all are sometimes difficult to find so all areas are considered I guess.

Thanks

Muck

semiramis

Some non-tacky Niagara Falls attractions:
The Falls themselves
The Niagara Parks Commission various garden sites including the greenhouses
The Butterfly Garden and Pavillion
Nearby: Queenston Heights - great views of the Niagara River and they do brunch and tea at the restaurant
The tour of the Adam Beck generating station
The beautiful drive along the river between Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the Lake
Fort George (a great stop along the river drive)
Tacky beyond your wildest imaginings: anything on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls

SusanInToronto

I agree with previous post. The area around Niagara Falls is very nice, and the falls themselves are impressive.

Mucky, I've seen your posts on the Australian board. I think that prices in Toronto are similar to those in Sydney. Our taxes are going to be more obvious - the provincial sales tax and GST are identified separately. But even with the taxes added, the costs were fairly similar. Our dollar is worth about the same as the Aussie dollar, maybe ours is worth a little more.

How long are you planning to visit?

Mucky

Hi again,
usanInToronto, We love Sydney, but my wife insists we should see as much of the world as possible, if Toronto is half as lovely as Sydney we will be happy. But we think that we may only have 2 weeks this trip and we are considering stopping off in New York for 2 or 3 days on the way home. So perhaps around 9 or 10 days in Canada. I know it's not too long so we will need to focus on one specific area I guess therefore Toronto was the first idea.
semiramis thanks for the list of places and everyone so far this is just the info I need.

Muck

SusanInToronto

If you have only 9 or 10 days in Canada, you can still see more than Toronto. Too bad you can't go out to Vancouver! I think it's as nice as Sydney. I've been to Sydney twice, since my mother-in-law lives there, but my family are outside of Vancouver, so I go there often. I also love Toronto, but I think if I had 9 or 10 days, I'd probably split my time between Toronto and one other city, maybe Montreal, but more likely Quebec City, which is a unique city in North America. Mind you, Montreal is also very nice. Montreal is only an hour's flight from Toronto (or about a 5 hour drive). You could do a circle - NY, Toronto and Montreal/Quebec City.

As others have said, it's often hot and humid in Toronto in the summer.

Have fun planning! And welcome to Canada.

SusanInToronto

I also want to say that I agree with your wife! While it's tempting to go back to the same place, it's great to see something different. There's a lot of variety in Canada - west coast is totally different from the east coast (also lovely - our Maritime provinces are really nice to visit). Plus you don't have that long flight to Australia!

chocaholic

I think if you are in Toronto, you can take the train to Montreal. If your children are under 13 Via Rail has specials. Where kids travel for free with an adult paying full fare. Check it out. www.viarail.com Montreal is a great place to visit too. You will get the European feel in Montreal. It is definitely different than Toronto. I think the Delta Chelsea is a good hotel for a family of four 2 stay.

GaryA

Mucky, too bad you aern't including Vancouver in your trip. I've travelled over 70 countries and countless cities around the globe and Sydney is truly the only place in the world I think i could live in other than Vancouver. Sydney's better weather doesn't quite trump Vancouver's spectacular Mountains but otherwise the cities are a marvelous marraige of a city with the sea and a populace that truly appreciates the wonderful gift Nature has bestowed on them.

Enjoy T.O. but be warned that other than it's fantastic ethnic mix it's really not much different than Melbourne. For something really different you should take some time to visit Montreal and Quebec. There's nothing like those cities in Australia or the US.

GeoNit

I recommend that you try bidding on www.priceline.co.uk -- the UK affiliate of www.priceline.com -- for your Canadian hotel reservations.

First, however, go to www.BiddingForTravel.com (BFT) and review that website's Hotel --Frequently Asked Questions section, Bidding Tips section and winning bids that are posted in US dollars. (BFT is an independent website where members post their Priceline winning bids and strategies.)

If you review BFT Ontario postings for Toronto-Downtown Priceline winning bids, you will find members reporting 4* accommodation at about $65-$70 USD (35-37 Pounds), 3* accommodations at $35-$40 USD (19-21 Pounds) and 2* accommodations at $30-$35 USD (16-19 Pounds).

Be sure to read carefully BFT's information regarding "free" re-bids and Priceline counter-offers.

Currently, there are seven "free" re-bids available for Toronto/Downtown at both the 4* or 3* levels before you are subject to Priceline's 72-hour bidding freeze.

These extra "safe" re-bids are
possible by combining your Toronto Downtown Zone bids with three Priceline Zones (Brampton, Toronto East and Scarborough/Pickering) that have only 2* and 1* hotels. You can bid in the following sequence and be assured that your 4* or 3* accepting hotel will be located in Downtown Toronto:

Downtown
Downtown + Brampton
Downtown + Toronto East
Downtown + Scarborough/Pickering
Downtown + Brampton + Toronto East
Downtown + Brampton +
Scarborough/Pickering
Downtown + Toronto East +
Scarborough/Pickering
Downtown + Brampton + Toronto East +
Scarborough/Pickering

You can follow the above bidding schedule if you back out of the Priceline website after each rejected bid.

This procedure allows you to increase your bid one pound at a time.

If you receive a counter-offer from Priceline, back out of the PL website and then begin a new bid at the most recent rejected amount PLUS 1/2 of Priceline's counter-offer amount.

You can use the same "free" re-bidding strategy for other Toronto Priceline Zones that have 4*, 3* and 2.5* hotels. These would include: Toronto Airport, Markham, Mississauga, Don Valley, Vaughan/North York and Oakville/Burlington.

The information available on the BFT website can make anyone a prudent purchaser of Priceline hotel accommodations.

sharkdiver49

http://www.math.toronto.edu/toronto/

Here is a website that tells you everything that need to know about Toronto and more!

Mucky

Wow thanks for the great information, I will have a look at the sites mentioned, never done any hotel bidding before, It's certainly worth investigating.
Will report back to let you know how we get on !!
Thanks
Muck

GeoNit

Since the indents in my Priceline bidding schedule were wiped out, here's a less confusing version:

(1) Downtown

(2) Downtown + Brampton

(3) Downtown + Toronto East

(4) Downtown + Scarborough/Pickering

(5) Downtown + Brampton + Toronto East

(6) Downtown + Brampton + Scarborough/Pickering

(7) Downtown + Toronto East + Scarboro/Pickering

(8) Downtown + Brampton + Toronto East + Scarborough/Pickering

Here's an example of what one recent poster, using a similar "free" re-bid schedule, accomplished when bidding on Priceline (PL) at the 4* level for Toronto Downtown:

(1) Initial $50 bid rejected by PL.

(2) Re-bid at $52 rejected by PL with "add $15" counteroffer.

(3) Re-bid at $54 rejected by PL with "add $15" counteroffer.

(4) Re-bid at $56 rejected by PL with "add $17" counteroffer.

(5) Re-bid at $58 rejected by PL with an "add $17" counteroffer.

(6) Re-bid at $60 rejected by PL with an "add $17" counteroffer.

(7) Re-bid at $61 accepted by PL for the 4* Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.

Thus, by rejecting the counteroffers, the poster saved $6 per night compared with the original PL counteroffer of adding $15 to a $52 bid!