OT: Visiting Toronto-things to do?

[Westside Gunn]

I hear Brampton is nice in the summer.

Highly recommended.

Bumper cars and GTA 5 in real life.

[Jakay]

See if Jim Carrey is home. He's Canadian you know.

[Merit]

You don’t have much time and you’re likely to get caught in traffic. I missed this thread earlier so I’m curious what you actually did.

My suggestion would’ve been to do the hike on the American side, take a picture of the falls from the outside and head into the casino to the keg to eat lunch. IIRC you can get a table overlooking the falls.

From there I would’ve gone straight downtown. Since you only have the time before the game I’d stick to the area closest to the ACC. Park closer to the Skydome on Spadina and then walk to the CN tower. Do that at dusk to get some solid views of the city. Check the aquarium out - it’s worth it. Then on your way out after the game stop at one of the many amazing later night Chinatown spots for a meal and that’s the evening.

In terms of filming locations there are way too many. Some of the most interesting ones are those you don’t have time for. If you choose to skip the hike then maybe you’d have a chance. The Royal York hotel has been the set for a bunch of movies and series and old city hall and new city hall (where the Toronto sign is) have both had their fair share of exposure as well. My fave spot used to be the bar in good will hunting where the “how about them apples” scene takes place. It’s a restaurant now, iirc.

Anyway, I’m most curious - what did you end up choosing to do?

You aren’t late to responding. I just asked the question last night, and I have more than a month before I go (I’ll be there for February 25th).

The Keg at the casino sounded like a good idea, so I looked into it. Unfortunately, it looks like they closed in November and will reopen at a new location Spring of this year. I’ll have to look into if something else replaced it as the view should remain the same.

Based on all the comments about the traffic, I’m thinking I’ll drive to the stadium and see how much time and what all my options are on foot/public transportation before the game. I see CN Tower and St Lawrence Market are both nearby enough. I’ll have to figure out what other recommendations are also near it.

Based on your timings it sounds like best approach is to just park near Scotiabank Arena. I typically park at 1 York which is connected to the Scotiabank arena. Prices will be high fyi, but there’s plenty of parking around the arena. As other said, avoid driving as much as possible.

Food-wise it looks like a quick pickup may be better for you.

Good behaviour
Grandma Loves You
Black Camel
Lambos’s
When the Pig came home

Check these out for sandwiches - good to just order and pick up before parking for game. Honestly Toronto has some of the best food you’ll find anywhere and it comes in variety. You can just google things near you and find some really good food. Leslieville may be less traffic

Cynic has great food recommendations here myth! St. Lawrence Market is east of where I suggested but if you’re going to walk from near there then you can find parking for quite a bit less - especially if you find a green P spot. (Google GreenP lots and download the app before you arrive). The former upfront bar and grill is now a Cora’s and one of the locations in good will hunting that I mentioned earlier.

https://www.toronto.ca/business-economy/industry-sector-support/film/current-productions/ << that’s the list of the current productions

As for food, st. Lawrence market has plenty. The Italian sandwiches and pierogis in the basement food court are solid options too. Heck the food at the game itself isn’t bad, but cynic’s options are better than most of what st. Lawrence market offers and they’re what locals prefer so you know they’re on point. I’m biased in favour of good behaviour because the owners are acquaintances and they ice cream is amazing too.

[Merit]

Thanks for the info. I truly appreciate the thought out response of yours and others.

So my over night stays will be in Buffalo NY, so no hotel to keep my car at in Toronto. The reasons for this have more to do with need booking it home next morning due to wife schedule/childcare needs, so unfortunately not very flexible (my original plan was a weekend, but even that didn’t work at all time a Raptors game is going). I don’t know exactly what is realistic time wise, but I know Cave of the Winds opens at 9, so I’m hoping to do that, cross the border, see the Canadian side of Niagara Falls by noon if possible. The drive from Niagara, ON I see is roughly 1.5 hours, plus I’ll need to eat (whether that is eating fast to move on, or if eating at a particular place is an event itself. I figured that gives me roughly 5 hours (give or take in Toronto), so with the difficulties getting around, if that is only 1-2 things worth my time, that’s fine. Even though I will go back to Buffalo the same night, I’m night owl and don’t mind getting back at 2-3am if I must in order to do anything worth a visit after the game.

I’m not huge into traditional art museums (not completely against them but not my go to if I only have limited time), and I’m not a big fashion shopper. I’m more likely to spend money on an event to see than something to keep (as much as I hear it isn’t quite worth it, I’m more likely to go to CN Tower than buy a nice jacket). I’m also a big movie guy, so not sure if that helps with suggestions, like known filming locations I wouldn’t automatically think of (like going to Phili there were must see Rocky locations, and in DC one of my favorites was the Exorcist stairs). Just sightseeing seeing in general is something I get into, like must see landmarks.

You don’t have much time and you’re likely to get caught in traffic. I missed this thread earlier so I’m curious what you actually did.

My suggestion would’ve been to do the hike on the American side, take a picture of the falls from the outside and head into the casino to the keg to eat lunch. IIRC you can get a table overlooking the falls.

From there I would’ve gone straight downtown. Since you only have the time before the game I’d stick to the area closest to the ACC. Park closer to the Skydome on Spadina and then walk to the CN tower. Do that at dusk to get some solid views of the city. Check the aquarium out - it’s worth it. Then on your way out after the game stop at one of the many amazing later night Chinatown spots for a meal and that’s the evening.

In terms of filming locations there are way too many. Some of the most interesting ones are those you don’t have time for. If you choose to skip the hike then maybe you’d have a chance. The Royal York hotel has been the set for a bunch of movies and series and old city hall and new city hall (where the Toronto sign is) have both had their fair share of exposure as well. My fave spot used to be the bar in good will hunting where the “how about them apples” scene takes place. It’s a restaurant now, iirc.

Anyway, I’m most curious - what did you end up choosing to do?

You aren’t late to responding. I just asked the question last night, and I have more than a month before I go (I’ll be there for February 25th).

The Keg at the casino sounded like a good idea, so I looked into it. Unfortunately, it looks like they closed in November and will reopen at a new location Spring of this year. I’ll have to look into if something else replaced it as the view should remain the same.

Based on all the comments about the traffic, I’m thinking I’ll drive to the stadium and see how much time and what all my options are on foot/public transportation before the game. I see CN Tower and St Lawrence Market are both nearby enough. I’ll have to figure out what other recommendations are also near it.

It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to Niagara Falls as a tourist. My apologies that the Keg closed. I used to do tours when I worked at an international language school a while back. There’s another restaurant at the falls that I routinely take pictures at and I can’t remember its name. If you look for the giant spotlights that are on in the evening, it’s right there and there’s a parking lot nearby. Anyway, if you go up there you can get pictures of the entire U of the falls with your face and body in the picture. If you’re closer you only get a portion of the falls, unless you’re at the stairs where everyone takes pictures and that means you’re likely to have tons of other folks in your shot.

The plan I suggested here for parking closer to Spadina is the same idea as parking closer to st. Lawrence market. If you’re walking from st. Lawrence market you pass the hockey hall of fame and get a stunning view of old city hall and can walk past/through union station and the Royal York Hotel where plenty of films have been shot. I strongly suggest going to new city hall at some point. It’s easy enough to park nearby eg. Eaton centre and it has the Toronto sign. New City hall features prominently in the Resident Evil franchise and more recently in Handmaids Tale. It’s about a 15 minute walk from union station.

[Myth]

You don’t have much time and you’re likely to get caught in traffic. I missed this thread earlier so I’m curious what you actually did.

My suggestion would’ve been to do the hike on the American side, take a picture of the falls from the outside and head into the casino to the keg to eat lunch. IIRC you can get a table overlooking the falls.

From there I would’ve gone straight downtown. Since you only have the time before the game I’d stick to the area closest to the ACC. Park closer to the Skydome on Spadina and then walk to the CN tower. Do that at dusk to get some solid views of the city. Check the aquarium out - it’s worth it. Then on your way out after the game stop at one of the many amazing later night Chinatown spots for a meal and that’s the evening.

In terms of filming locations there are way too many. Some of the most interesting ones are those you don’t have time for. If you choose to skip the hike then maybe you’d have a chance. The Royal York hotel has been the set for a bunch of movies and series and old city hall and new city hall (where the Toronto sign is) have both had their fair share of exposure as well. My fave spot used to be the bar in good will hunting where the “how about them apples” scene takes place. It’s a restaurant now, iirc.

Anyway, I’m most curious - what did you end up choosing to do?

You aren’t late to responding. I just asked the question last night, and I have more than a month before I go (I’ll be there for February 25th).

The Keg at the casino sounded like a good idea, so I looked into it. Unfortunately, it looks like they closed in November and will reopen at a new location Spring of this year. I’ll have to look into if something else replaced it as the view should remain the same.

Based on all the comments about the traffic, I’m thinking I’ll drive to the stadium and see how much time and what all my options are on foot/public transportation before the game. I see CN Tower and St Lawrence Market are both nearby enough. I’ll have to figure out what other recommendations are also near it.

It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to Niagara Falls as a tourist. My apologies that the Keg closed. I used to do tours when I worked at an international language school a while back. There’s another restaurant at the falls that I routinely take pictures at and I can’t remember its name. If you look for the giant spotlights that are on in the evening, it’s right there and there’s a parking lot nearby. Anyway, if you go up there you can get pictures of the entire U of the falls with your face and body in the picture. If you’re closer you only get a portion of the falls, unless you’re at the stairs where everyone takes pictures and that means you’re likely to have tons of other folks in your shot.

The plan I suggested here for parking closer to Spadina is the same idea as parking closer to st. Lawrence market. If you’re walking from st. Lawrence market you pass the hockey hall of fame and get a stunning view of old city hall and can walk past/through union station and the Royal York Hotel where plenty of films have been shot. I strongly suggest going to new city hall at some point. It’s easy enough to park nearby eg. Eaton centre and it has the Toronto sign. New City hall features prominently in the Resident Evil franchise and more recently in Handmaids Tale. It’s about a 15 minute walk from union station.

Thanks for the info. I didn’t even think about the falls being visible in the evening. Are there lights on it that make it worth checking out from the NY side in the evening? I’ll arrive in Buffalo that Monday evening.

[Basketball_Jones]

It’s like -20 outside cancel the trip

[Merit]

You aren’t late to responding. I just asked the question last night, and I have more than a month before I go (I’ll be there for February 25th).

The Keg at the casino sounded like a good idea, so I looked into it. Unfortunately, it looks like they closed in November and will reopen at a new location Spring of this year. I’ll have to look into if something else replaced it as the view should remain the same.

Based on all the comments about the traffic, I’m thinking I’ll drive to the stadium and see how much time and what all my options are on foot/public transportation before the game. I see CN Tower and St Lawrence Market are both nearby enough. I’ll have to figure out what other recommendations are also near it.

It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to Niagara Falls as a tourist. My apologies that the Keg closed. I used to do tours when I worked at an international language school a while back. There’s another restaurant at the falls that I routinely take pictures at and I can’t remember its name. If you look for the giant spotlights that are on in the evening, it’s right there and there’s a parking lot nearby. Anyway, if you go up there you can get pictures of the entire U of the falls with your face and body in the picture. If you’re closer you only get a portion of the falls, unless you’re at the stairs where everyone takes pictures and that means you’re likely to have tons of other folks in your shot.

The plan I suggested here for parking closer to Spadina is the same idea as parking closer to st. Lawrence market. If you’re walking from st. Lawrence market you pass the hockey hall of fame and get a stunning view of old city hall and can walk past/through union station and the Royal York Hotel where plenty of films have been shot. I strongly suggest going to new city hall at some point. It’s easy enough to park nearby eg. Eaton centre and it has the Toronto sign. New City hall features prominently in the Resident Evil franchise and more recently in Handmaids Tale. It’s about a 15 minute walk from union station.

Thanks for the info. I didn’t even think about the falls being visible in the evening. Are there lights on it that make it worth checking out from the NY side in the evening? I’ll arrive in Buffalo that Monday evening.

The falls are beautiful in the evening. I have gone to see fireworks there and the occasional light show too. Check the falls website for more info and you may be pleasantly surprised. Walking the falls in the evening with a hot chocolate in hand and a human you love with you by your side is my idea of a good time.

[Myth]

Delayed post, but I wanted to thank all of those who gave me suggestions and share what I ended up doing.

I made great time to Niagara Falls, and was able to get all of that out of the way on the first day. On the US side I got some of the most otherworldly photos from doing the Cave of the Winds where you walk out on a deck and just surrounded by thick ice covering everything. The trip was timed well weather wise, where it was in the 40s (Fahrenheit) for the first time in quite a while it seems. So the beautiful frozen landscape without standing in freezing weather.

I popped over to the Canadian side the same evening. I made it before sundown, so I could take in the views during the day, then within 2 hours it was dark and I was able to see the lights on the Falls. I eventually made my way to the Casino on that side, but that wasn’t really my scene. I had some evening Tim Horton’s as I know it is a Canadian staple.

The next day I was able to spend pretty much all day in Toronto, which was more time than I expected. Started at St. Lawrence Market, which reminded me of Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, which was exactly what I hoped for. From there I did a lot of walking. I’d pretty much just put in a destination and check out everything I could on the way. Walked to Sankofa Square, got some gelato and a weed beverage. Then made my way to Nathan Phillips Square. Checked out the outside of Roy Thomson Hall knowing it is the base of Vought Tower in The Boys. Then I ate at the restaurant in CN Tower and watched the sunset from up there. Really glad I decided to go in as it was quite a highlight experience.

Caught the Celtics vs Raptors game. As a Blazers fan, I appreciated seeing Damon Stoudamire on some 30th anniversary posters. I’ve always seen on TV how Canadians tend to sing along with the National Anthem, so it was cool to witness that in person. The game itself was a bit disappointing. Celtics led by approximately 10 for much of the game and it never felt like Raptors would win, even when they’d randomly cut it to 6. Worse was I just happened to be sitting in a section of fans that were not really engaged in the game and didn’t seem interested in talking basketball in any way. I was pretty sure it was just where I was, as I saw a section to my left starting chants (that my section didn’t join) and a section to my right that just seemed enthusiastic in general. The most enthusiasm was when there was a near fight. Definitely a different argument than I’m use to seeing, as in the middle of the argument, one of them realized something they did overstepped and he genuinely apologized for that even though he was still heated overall. After the game, I just got some food and drove back to Niagara Falls NY for my Airbnb as I couldn’t identify anything I felt I needed to see at night and already saw much more during the day than expected.

Other thoughts: My short stay in Canada further enforced how broken I think the US is in terms of “me first” type attitudes. In about 3 hours of highway driving, I never saw any police cars, yet almost everybody drove a reasonable speed. Even the few people who clearly went faster than others weren’t nearly to the extreme of the individual aggressive and fast drivers just on the other side of the border. When we hit traffic, there wasn’t many cars changing lanes in hopes of getting to the faster lane. I like to assume that is because people have been taught in Canada that doing so creates more traffic for those behind you. This is a concept most Americans on a basic level know, but don’t gaf so they change lanes constantly anyway. Are Canadians just better rule followers in general? I ask because what I noticed this most was walking in the city. There were moments that I’d hit a cross walk and even with no cars coming, 10+ people would still wait for the walk signal. There is no way American would follow the rule to that level. Anyway, I just loved the vibe that people generally followed societal expectations rather than just looking for what’s fastest for them.

[Indeed]

Other thoughts: My short stay in Canada further enforced how broken I think the US is in terms of “me first” type attitudes. In about 3 hours of highway driving, I never saw any police cars, yet almost everybody drove a reasonable speed. Even the few people who clearly went faster than others weren’t nearly to the extreme of the individual aggressive and fast drivers just on the other side of the border. When we hit traffic, there wasn’t many cars changing lanes in hopes of getting to the faster lane. I like to assume that is because people have been taught in Canada that doing so creates more traffic for those behind you. This is a concept most Americans on a basic level know, but don’t gaf so they change lanes constantly anyway. Are Canadians just better rule followers in general? I ask because what I noticed this most was walking in the city. There were moments that I’d hit a cross walk and even with no cars coming, 10+ people would still wait for the walk signal. There is no way American would follow the rule to that level. Anyway, I just loved the vibe that people generally followed societal expectations rather than just looking for what’s fastest for them.

If you are to visit Toronto, you are not mainly about visiting the places, but more about the friendliness people here and learning different cultures. Fesitivals are usually the popular events to see more in here.

[tsherkin]

I made great time to Niagara Falls, and was able to get all of that out of the way on the first day. On the US side I got some of the most otherworldly photos from doing the Cave of the Winds where you walk out on a deck and just surrounded by thick ice covering everything. The trip was timed well weather wise, where it was in the 40s (Fahrenheit) for the first time in quite a while it seems. So the beautiful frozen landscape without standing in freezing weather.

Ooooh, very nice!

I had some evening Tim Horton’s as I know it is a Canadian staple.

I'm so sorry. It's dreadful coffee. You should have come like a dozen years ago, before they switched contracts xD

The next day I was able to spend pretty much all day in Toronto, which was more time than I expected. Started at St. Lawrence Market, which reminded me of Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, which was exactly what I hoped for. From there I did a lot of walking. I’d pretty much just put in a destination and check out everything I could on the way. Walked to Sankofa Square, got some gelato and a weed beverage. Then made my way to Nathan Phillips Square. Checked out the outside of Roy Thomson Hall knowing it is the base of Vought Tower in The Boys. Then I ate at the restaurant in CN Tower and watched the sunset from up there. Really glad I decided to go in as it was quite a highlight experience.

Very nice, man. Checking all the boxes. Sounds like a busy day!

I like to assume that is because people have been taught in Canada that doing so creates more traffic for those behind you.

Nah, you just got lucky. Statistically, Toronto is the 5th-worst city to drive in on the continent. People here drive like complete morons most of the time. I routinely have to deal with the aftermath of people being shmucks on the road, so I'm glad you got a chance to avoid that somehow!

[Potential]

**** that ungrateful garbage irrelevant scrub this bum is less memorable than Quincy Douby

[Quattro]

One thing I've wondered about Toronto/Canada...the Toronto Sun newspaper you guys have has this "Sunshine Girl" segment. Sometimes they'll post pretty risque pictures. Do these pictures also appear in the print version of the Toronto Sun? That is pretty ballsy if so...I don't think any mainstream newspaper would have the stones to do that here.

It's not a mainstream newspaper. It's a complete rag.