ne of the best things to do when you are in Toronto, is to take a day and just walk around the city. Start at Union Station (Front & Yonge) and walk east along Front Street to Jarvis. Here you will find the St. Lawrence Market (it is open Tues-Sat until 5pm) and all sorts of beautiful buildings and shops. From here you can either walk back the way you came, or you can walk north one block to King St and walk back west to Yonge St from there.
From here (Yonge & King or Front) you have a short but interesting walk up Yonge, north to the Queen Street. The Eaton Centre is located on Yonge between Queen and Dundas St. You can do a little shopping here and take advantage of the low Canadian dollar - but why bother? You can shop another day!
The Toronto Old City Hall is located at Queen and Bay, right beside the Eaton's Centre on the west side. And on the other side of Bay (just west of the Eaton's Centre) is the new City Hall. Many American and Canadian movies are filmed here.
At Queen St (one block north of Richmond and south of Dundas) you can take a streetcar west to a couple of stops past University St, and walk along Queen St West to Spadina and back. This is where you will find some of the coolest, most chic Toronto designer's stores, as well as the major labels like Replay, Diesel, Gap and Guess?. After you have satisfied yourself with seeing as much as possible of Queen St West, just take a streetcar back east (the way you came) to Yonge and continue walking north along Yonge St.
Yonge St from Queen up to Bloor St is a fun walk on a sunny day. There are plenty of street entertainers and portrait artists (mostly around the Eaton's Centre), shops, restaurants, and touristy boutiques to keep you entertained the entire way. If you feel that you would like to shorten the hike, or that you might get tired, then you should take the subway now (where you won't miss as much). Get on the subway at Queen or Dundas going North along the Yonge Subway Line (towards Bloor). It costs $2.25 (about $1.75 US) per person. Get off at Bloor Station (it's a major junction station.)
When you hit Bloor St, make a left (head West) and walk along Bloor St. Here you will find all the major design houses like Chanel, Gucci, Versace, Prada, Armani, Escada, Louis Vuitton, etc. Stop in at Holt Renfrew (50 Bloor St West on the north side of Bloor before Bay) to browse through designer clothes, makeup, sunglasses, etc. all in one building.
Make a right (north) on Cumberland St - the first street after Bay - to enter Yorkville. Yorkville is a ritzy and interesting area with many chic boutiques. It is located between Bay St on the east, Bloor St on the south and Avenue Rd on the west. It includes Yorkville Ave, Bellair St, Cumberland St, Scollard St, and part of Hazelton Ave. This is the place to go to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant or lunch on a patio in the sun. There is also a modern park in the middle of Yorkville with sculptures, a modern-looking water fountain and a rock hill for sitting on.
After exploring Yorkville, continue west on Bloor St to check out the Bloor West area, a great strip between Spadina and Ossington with many great cafés and cute little shops. You may want to check out Bloor Cinema (Bloor just before Bathurst St.) where you can see current, independent and classic movies on a big screen for just $4. a person.
If you have more time left (and you don't feel like catching a forign flick at Bloor Cinema), take a $10 cab down Bathurst to College Street (aka. 'Little Italy'). College St West between Bathurst and Ossington (with College & Clinton being the center) is a very happening area with plenty of patios, amazing Italian restaurants and hip bars.
Goldeneye Resort
