After a really early wake-up at 06:00 (because it was already 13:00 in Finland) we went down to the hotel breakfast room to plan the day. We have not been too well prepared but found out quickly that there is no lack of things to do in the 4th biggest city on the North American continent! We didn't know it was that bit but it became clear when we looked over it from the CN Tower.
Something we learnt on the first day and have to always remember is that the Canadians mark their prices excluding a 13% sales tax and they give 10-15% tips like the Americans. We have experienced only great service but even if it wasn't, it is still expected (not in self-service locations like Starbucks of Tim Horton's). We have to keep that in mind in addition to the currency conversion (one Canadian $ costs ~ 80 € cents).
We took a tour with public transportations a little to get to know the city like the locals. Getting around in Toronto is easy and safe. The Toronto Public transport (TTC) operates the third most heavily used urban mass transit system in North America, after New York City and Mexico City, which means more than 2,6 Mio. users daily (on average). Also, Toronto has one of few streetcar networks still operating on city streets in North America. And especially the line 501 which is ~25 km long was a great way to experience different sights! It's the longest streetcar routes in North America and goes along beaches in the east, through roughneighborhoods, trendy shopping streets (all on Queen St), one of the Chinatowns and along the water through resindetial areas in the west!
After having heard generally unexcited comments about public transportation in North America as a whole, this was a pleasant suprise.
We stayed at the Hotel Strathcona which is located in the heart of the city (see cirlce on the picture), on York Street near the intersection with Front Street.
This is a great location for sightseeing, connections at the Union station and near a downtown subway station. It was a really basic room and smelled a bit like the steakhouse next door (I guess the ventilation intake was somewhere there..). But overall we were very happy with the service, the great breakfast, the WiFi and the cleanliness.
Something we learnt on the first day and have to always remember is that the Canadians mark their prices excluding a 13% sales tax and they give 10-15% tips like the Americans. We have experienced only great service but even if it wasn't, it is still expected (not in self-service locations like Starbucks of Tim Horton's). We have to keep that in mind in addition to the currency conversion (one Canadian $ costs ~ 80 € cents).
We took a tour with public transportations a little to get to know the city like the locals. Getting around in Toronto is easy and safe. The Toronto Public transport (TTC) operates the third most heavily used urban mass transit system in North America, after New York City and Mexico City, which means more than 2,6 Mio. users daily (on average). Also, Toronto has one of few streetcar networks still operating on city streets in North America. And especially the line 501 which is ~25 km long was a great way to experience different sights! It's the longest streetcar routes in North America and goes along beaches in the east, through roughneighborhoods, trendy shopping streets (all on Queen St), one of the Chinatowns and along the water through resindetial areas in the west!After having heard generally unexcited comments about public transportation in North America as a whole, this was a pleasant suprise.
We stayed at the Hotel Strathcona which is located in the heart of the city (see cirlce on the picture), on York Street near the intersection with Front Street. This is a great location for sightseeing, connections at the Union station and near a downtown subway station. It was a really basic room and smelled a bit like the steakhouse next door (I guess the ventilation intake was somewhere there..). But overall we were very happy with the service, the great breakfast, the WiFi and the cleanliness.
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