Toronto the base for discovering Canada and a city for a short stop
Canada, the second largest country in the world (right after Russia) and stretches between the 42 parallel and the north pole on the south north axis, and between the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean on the west east axis.
With its 35 million people, Canada, being much larger than China or India with over a billion of population, is rather lightly populated and offers very attractive nature, with thousands of lakes and creeks and snow white cover in the winter months.
Among all the cities (including the capital –
Ottawa)
Toronto is the largest.
It doesn’t matter if you choose Toronto as the final destination or just a stopover, it’s good to know where you will be able to spend your time safely, comfortably and budget friendly.
Youth Hostel Toronto offers a good variety of rooms, with prices from 17€ per a bed in a shared room, and up to 60€ for a private room with your own bathroom and breakfast. Youth Hostel Toronto, also HI Toronto, is located in the very center of the old city, less than a kilometre from the Union station and just a bit more from the biggest attraction of the city – the Canadian national tower – CN Tower Toronto.
CN Tower stands at 553 m and is open to tourists, offering many activities. The regular ticket takes you up to the 345m tall viewpoint in less than a minute. There’s also a revolving restaurant there, where you can get a snack with a view of the city and Lake Ontario. If that’s not tall enough, you can take the Sky Pod to the next level at 447 m, from where you can see the Niagra falls (if the weather permits) and the Canadian US border.
For those with a need for adrenalin rush we suggest the EDGE-WALK – it’s a walk on the outside of the tower (off course with secure ropes), but you can also just walk inside one the glass floor with a view of 350m straight down. The Edge-Walk made it into the Guinness book of records for being the tallest open walking area on a building.
All this and much more can be a part of the experience of the CN Tower. From there you can also plan a visit to other sights of the city. For more information visit
www.cntower.ca .
Among the sights you surely shouldn’t miss are the
Niagara falls, which are only a bit more than an hour away from the city. Since they are a worldwide known attraction, I guess I don’t have to describe them.
Ice hockey fans will love the Hockey Hall of Fame, where you get to see the most interesting replays, trophies and even a replica of the NHL locker room. Hockey fans can learn more about it at
www.hhof.com.
And then there’s the famous historical »Distillery District«, where today you will find many restaurants and bars. It’s one of the few areas closed off for traffic.
For the other sights like the Casa Loma, with its interesting architecture or the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and the always thriving with life »Chinatown« you ought to only make sure, you’ll have enough time.
But if you want to have a more peaceful retreat from the city crowd, there’s always the »Centre island«, just one of many islands that represent the largest urban area in North America, without any automobiles. It’s very easy to reach by fare, and the ride takes only 10 minutes.
And for all of you who were just waiting to ask me where to go to get in a bit of shopping, the answer is really simply – downtown Toronto, in the very centre, you’ll find the Eaton center, with over 230 different shops, restaurants and other offers.
Toronto is calling you to visit it and all you need to do is decide to go there.
For information about boarding in Toronto or in Canada generally, you can check out the
www.hihostels.ca, where you’ll get all the information about Youth Hostels as well as about Canada and its famous landmarks.
