Old Town
Our tour begins in Old Town Toronto, naturally, as it's been my neighbourhood for over two years now. Any good day starts with a good breakfast, so let's head to Le Petit Dejeuner on King Street East, a quaint Belgian diner. I highly recommend the Brussels waffles with strawberries, they're light as a cloud and taste just as heavenly. We'll walk through the Farmer's market if it's a Saturday, or the Antiques market if it's a Sunday, and across the road to the St Lawrence market. Let's take a look at the delicious selection of seafood, meats and cheeses, do some ice wine tasting, pick up a bunch of fresh flowers and a couple of butter tarts for later. If you're up for a coffee, we can head to The Black Canary where they make a mean Nutella latte. Time for a bit of light exercise - The Yoga Lounge on Church and Richmond offers a variety of classes and if you're lucky, the studio's resident cat might join you for a few poses. If you need to reward yourself after the effort, we can get a cupcake at Prairie Girl, or eat some gelato in the flower garden at St James park. Feeling in need of a new look? I get my hair cut at the nearby Aveda training salon, it offers cheap cuts by aspiring new stylists. Now that we're looking all pretty, we should head out for dinner at one of my favourite restaurants, Origin. They offer a shareable menu of modern fusion-style dishes. Special mentions go to the truffle popcorn, chinois duck wraps and the dulce de leche dessert. If you feel like a nightcap we can pay a visit to Pravda, a Russian themed vodka bar decorated in red velvet drapes and gold furniture. My favourite cocktail there is the Chocolate Siberian Martini, which comes garnished with white chocolate flakes and a strawberry.
Distillery District
The Distillery District is a great place to spend a lazy summer afternoon. It's made up of a number of old brick buildings that used to house the Gooderham & Worts Whiskey Distillery. In recent years the space has been revitalised into a series of beer gardens, restaurants and some very cool boutique shops that sell vintage and designer goods. The chocolate shop Soma is a must visit, I recommend that you have a shot of their 'Dark Side of the Mug' hot chocolate and pick up some interestingly flavoured chocolate bars to sample later. El Catrin is a relatively new addition, it's a funky Spanish tapas restaurant that pumps out tasty tacos and deceptively boozy margaritas on the colourful outdoor patio.
Nathan Phillips Square
Many festivals and events are held at Nathan Phillips Square, including Nuit Blanche, the Christmas Concert, New Years Eve fireworks and art shows. The square is cornered by New City Hall to the north and Old City Hall to the East. The fountain in the middle freezes over in winter and becomes a free public ice skating rink.
One of my favourite ways to spend a day in Toronto is to walk along Queen street west. From
Spadina to Bathurst is pretty cool, but the further west you go, it just keeps on getting cooler. This is hipster central, so the shops are very trendy, the coffee is decent and the people watching is incredible. Feel free to express yourself with your fashion and personal grooming choices here, but don't expect anyone else to bat an eyelid. It must be time for lunch! Let's pick up some gourmet fig and brie croissants and a couple of delicious macarons from Nadege. We can stretch out on the lawn at Trinity Bellwoods park for an impromptu picnic and admire the cherry blossoms in Spring, or the spectacular colour change of the Maple leaves in Fall. Afterwards we can browse in my favourite stationery shop across the road, where they stock cute greeting cards and an incredible range of Japanese washi paper.
This park is the largest green space downtown, which makes it the perfect spot to relax and get away from the noise of the city. In spring there are some lovely cherry blossoms and the fall colours are very pretty too. In winter we skated at an outdoor ice rink and I've also heard that there is a small zoo within the park. The south end of High Park meets up with the beautiful waterfront along Lake Ontario.
Yonge street is the middle of downtown Toronto and it divides the city between East and West. The Eaton Centre is a large shopping mall that dominates Yonge street between Queen and Dundas street. It is three levels tall and is long enough to have a subway stop at each end. Some of my favourite shops there are Jacob, Loft and Sephora. Across the road from the south end of the Eaton Centre, the shopping continues at the department store The Bay. The north end of the Eaton Centre is across the road from Yonge & Dundas Square, a public area that hosts festivals, music concerts and markets. There's usually something interesting going on there.
Harbourfront
Lace up your sneakers, we're going for a run! The waterfront is my favourite place to run in Toronto, as the greenery and view out across Lake Ontario make you feel like you're escaping the big city (even if it's only for half an hour). Sometimes I head east past Sugar Beach, a man-made patch of sand equipped with deck chairs and pink beach umbrellas. It gets its name from the nearby Redpath sugar refinery which often emits a burnt toffee aroma. If you keep heading east, you will pass Cherry Beach which has a nice leafy green bike path running alongside the water. If you feel like heading west instead, we can run past the Toronto Islands ferry terminal and continue along the boardwalk to the Harbourfront Centre. There is a pond that turns into an ice rink in winter, plus an international food court and weekend cultural markets and festivals. We'll look out across the lake and see many boats and canoes, plus the planes taking off and landing at the Toronto Islands airport.
King West
King street West is considered the Entertainment district as there are several theatres, plus it is close to sporting venues such as the Air Canada Centre (ice hockey, basketball) and the Rogers Stadium (baseball). It is also home to the TIFF Bell Lightbox theatre, ho,e to the Toronto International Film Festival. There are lots of restaurants in the area to have dinner before a show or game, and there is also one my favourite shops MEC, the Mountain Equipment Co-op which sells an incredible amount of outdoor, camping and sporting products that change from season to season.
