Toronto Recs

[more adventurous]

We're traveling to Buffalo, NY, in April and wanted to spend a day or so in Toronto since it's so close.

We would like to stay in an area that has cool restaurants/pubs, and maybe even stuff to do within walking distance. We will have a rental car though, so that's not an absolute requirement.

Overall, we'd like to see Casa Loma, and the Hockey Hall of Fame for sure. Other than that, we're open to suggestions. So far, I found The Drake hotel which looks really unique, but I have no idea if it's in a great area (looks like it's part of West Queen West and it's a 10ish minute drive to the two sites that I mentioned).

Hotel recs, area recs, or activity recs are welcome! Thanks!

[valetgirl]

Haven't stayed in the Drake Hotel but have been to the bar/restaurant. It's a very cool building in a hip part of town with lots of bars, restaurants, cafes, boutiques and galleries. If you are looking for a lively neighborhood to stay in, West Queen West is perfect. It may be loud on a weekend, though. It's also in the west end and not on the subway line, so you'd have to travel a bit to get to Casa Loma and Hockey Hall of Fame. Ideally I'd prefer to stay closer to downtown. I've stayed at the downtown Hilton, Sheraton and Intercontinental. All are on the subway line and close to lots of sight seeing. Have fun!

[woowoo]

Ditto pp, West Queen West is a great fun area, with a ton of great bars/restaurants. I love Toronto! Oddly, my favorite oyster bar, Rodney's, is in Toronto. A fun lunch spot if you're an Oyster fan!

[Vespasia]

We stayed just north of downtown and found it easy to walk everywhere. While we didn't have the option of driving anyway I don't think I would have wanted to. Traffic was hectic and there seemed to be a lot of construction and confusing one way streets.

St Lawrence Market was one of the highlights of our trip for me. It was food heaven. I really wish we'd been staying somewhere with a fridge so I could buy all the cheese. Near there is also the Distillery District which had some neat shops that we enjoyed checking out.

If the weather is good and you have time I'd suggest taking the ferry over to Toronto Island. We loved just walking around and enjoying nature so close to the city. You also get some great views back at the city.

[protozoa]

If you like wine tasting, I'd recommend stopping at some wineries in the Niagara-On-The-Lake or St Catharine's area. It is not in Toronto, but between Buffalo and Toronto.

[more adventurous]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! Sounds like now I just have to narrow them down to a do-able in a day and a half amount.