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Toronto Tourist Guide

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Canada's lake city

Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the capital of the province of Ontario, located on Lake Ontario. The city center has 2,755,481 inhabitants, while the metropolitan area has 6,312,974 inhabitants. The official languages of Canada are English and French, but the capital, Toronto, with the province of Ontario, claims only English as its official language in its home province. The capital city of Toronto is a union of six districts called Old Toronto, Etobicoke, Scarborough, York, East York and North York. The six-district city stretches 32 kilometers along the shores of Lake Ontario. This time, get to know the capital of Toronto with travel tips, what to see in the city and the TOP touristic attractions you simply must visit.

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The first inhabitants of what Toronto is today, were Native Americans called Iroquois. They settled on Lake Ontario between 1450 and 1660. North American Indian tribes were divided into several tribal groups that spoke the common language of the Native American Iroquois family. The Mohawk, Oneida, Senega, Onondaga, Cajuga and Tuscarora Native American tribes were united after 1722 from the Five Nations with the Tuscarora tribe to form the Iroquois Confederacy of the Six Nations of North America. The arrival of Europeans and the colonization of Ontario by the French as well as the British influenced the environment and the development of the civilization of the Canadian people there. In 1793, the Municipality of York was established, and in 1834 the city was renamed Toronto.

The Canadian city Toronto is the fourth largest city in North America, and the fifth largest city, combining suburban communities with the centre of the capital Toronto to form a spatial and functional whole. This leading touristic destination in Canada is visited by more than 27,500,000 visitors per year. Most of the city's tourist attractions can be found along the route from Jarvis Street in the east, to Dupont Street in the north, to Front Street in the south of the port city. The Southside, with its Harbourfront-CityPlace neighbourhood in the Greater Old Toronto Area, is a distinctive business district with landmarks such as the CN Tower, Rogers Centre Stadium and the Fort York Museum.

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What can I do in Toronto?

The city's tourist and cultural attractions are presented to the public throughout the Toronto area. With profane architecture, museums, galleries, parks and nature reserves, everyone can learn about the history of Toronto's origins as a Canadian city, or take time out for a culinary experience and relax in a restaurant or bar. Kensington Market is a neighbourhood with many cheese shops, bakeries, stores, restaurants and bars. The neighbourhood includes the Kensington Arts Community, with arts organisations and the FIKA bar, which is inspired by an old Scandinavian house. The diverse range of offerings attracts lovers of fine dining and the arts, with various art festivals and art exhibitions taking place in the Kensington Market neighbourhood throughout the year.

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Chinatown and the Little Italy neighbourhood have marked Toronto's cross-cultural tradition of diverse Asian and Canadian-Italian cuisine and nightlife. Chinatown was founded in 1878, but its development was established in the second half of the 20th century. It is located on the crossroads of Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue, where the El Mocambo music venue operates. Little Italy was created between 1914 and 1918 during the inter-war period, when about 40,000 Italians migrated to Canada. The district offers restaurants, bars and shops based not only in the Italian-Canadian style, but also in the Portuguese-Canadian style.

Visit Casa Loma Palace and visit the wax doll gallery, where you can see the portraits of film actors such as Vin Diesel, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Paul Walker. You can also see a documentary about Sir Henry Pellatt, a car exhibition and the Scottish Tower. A night out in Toronto can be experienced with a choice of night car rides, a sunset view from the top of the CN Tower or a cruise on Lake Ontario. Tasting Canadian food at the 1803 St. Lawrence Market with a curated selection of offerings provides a guided culinary experience with distinctive Canadian soft drinks and typical Canadian dishes.

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Experience a one-hour Toronto Harbor cruise and tour of the Toronto Islands with an offer that includes historical background, Hanlan's Point Beach, the Island Yacht Club, and the Bird Island Forests and Wildlife Sanctuary. Day trips by bus and boat to Niagara Falls, where you can enjoy scenic views along the Niagara Parkway, the Floral Clock and Whirlpool Rapids tourist attractions, and watch the action on the river from a viewing platform or vintage cable car. A Royal Ontario Museum ticket gives you access to the museum's collection of artworks, natural history specimens and world heritage exhibits. Canada's largest museum with 16 treasures of history from Egyptian, Chinese and Canadian cultures invites you to visit.

Explore tiny Canada and take a trail through Canada's cities and cultural attractions. Little Canada shows the area of Niagara Falls, Toronto, the Golden Horseshoe, Ottawa and Québec at a scale of 1 : 87. Take a look at Toronto through the Vox City app, where you can get to know Canada's natural and cultural attractions. Choose a 15 or 35 kilometers helicopter tour lasting 7 or 14 minutes. A helicopter flight is a unique opportunity to see the city 609.6 meters above the city and enjoy spectacular views of downtown Toronto.

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Toronto at your fingertips

Lonely Planet's 160-page Pocket Toronto booklet outlines everything you need to know before travelling to Toronto. The author Liza Prado gives travellers advice on how to save time and money, and experience Toronto like a local. Pocket Toronto is equipped with 18 maps of neighbourhoods, which are marked with icons. There you can choose the locations and activity providers, that you feel comfortable with. Read up on where to go for lunch, shopping, see cultural and natural attractions for every pocket in the November 2022 edition, where you get all the basic information from all the city's providers, such as phone numbers, websites, prices, etc. Get to know iconic neighbourhoods and districts of the city with the Pocket Toronto.

Hostelling International Slovenia can help prepare you for your trip. On our website, there is a collection of travel articles, which means the trip is at your fingertips. The travel article Travel tips for travelling in Toronto presents you what to see in Toronto, the top tourist attractions and where to find out all about hockey.

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