Fall In Love With Toronto
By Marc Smith.
Whether you come to Toronto for business or pleasure one of my favourite times to visit the city is in the Fall. The weather is in my opinion perfect and there is so much happening in the city you’d be hard pressed to find a free minute for yourself.
Accommodations
My first destination upon arrival is checking into my hotel. The city has plenty of great hotels to choose but my personal favourite for plenty of reasons is the Chelsea Hotel Toronto located in the heart of the city.
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Perfect for families, business travellers and solo adult adventurers like myself. It is the largest hotel in Canada
If you are planning a visit this Fall act now! Book by October 27 for stays up to November 30 and save 20% off the best available rate of the day. There’s a minimum two night length of stay and one night deposit taken at time of booking.
Shopping
Two blocks from Dundas Square some of the city’s best shopping is only a five minute walk away at the Toronto Eaton Centre. If boutiques are more your style be sure to hop on a street car and check out Queen Street West. There are blocks upon blocks of huge brand name stores along with independent coffee shops and restaurants and even some cool funky designers and kitsch stores. I stopped into Duer to pick up my new favourite casual pants perfect for travelling.
Entertainment
Toronto never sleeps and there is always a rotating assortment of entertainment options when you re in the city. Hockey lovers will HAVE TO get tickets to catch a Maple Leafs games. Even if you don’t love hockey the experience is epic hanging out in a sea of blue and white jerseys.
For theatre lovers there is lots to experience including the award winning Come From Away playing at the Elgin Theatre until March 1, 2020.
Don’t forget the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Bata Show Museum all of which can keep you busy exploring for an entire day.
Culinary Adventure
It goes without saying that there are many amazing places to eat at while you are in Toronto but a unique foodie adventure you may want to consider signing up for is the Greektown Toronto Street-food Tour.
It is a 2.5 hour food tour that covers all of the Greek experience in Toronto. Not only do you get to sample some amazing Greek food you go behind the scenes and interact with the owners and chefs that make the food. At only $63 per person and a max group size of six people this is a must for foodies.
Fall Colours
My number one favourite reason for being in Toronto in the Fall is to see the awe inspiring Fall colours painting the city. High Park is absolutely stunning and is the largest park entirely within Toronto city limits. From the Chelsea Hotel just hop on the 501 street car that will take you along Queen Street ending at High Park in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood.
Another favourite Fall colour destination for me are the trails at Evergreen Brickworks in the Don Valley. Check out this stunning photo to give you a sense of what you could be walking through.
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My last favourite reason I love coming to Toronto in the Fall is that it is a great gateway city to exploring the rest of the Province. After a few days in the city I am picking up a rental car and heading East to explore Peterborough & the Kawarthas, Kingston and the 1000 Islands.
QUICK TIPS on visiting Toronto whether it is your first of 100th visit.
• Sign up for a Presto Card before your trip and have the card preloaded with funds and shipped to your home address. The Presto Card allows you to ride the street cars, subway and buses as well as the airport to Union Station UPExpress and inter city transit Go Transit
• Book a rental car with Quality Car & Truck Rentals. They are a boutique rental agency servicing some of Toronto’s best hotels (including the Chelsea). Reserve a vehicle with them and they will meet you at your hotel with the rental car ready for you to begin your adventure. You can also contact the hotel concierge and have them reserve it for you
• Ask your hotel if they have an adventure pass. The Chelsea Hotel Concierge Desk can help your source discounts at many of the cities top attractions and can even sell tickets directly to you for some of them allowing you to skip the line. Here is the full list of attraction discounts currently on offer at the Chelsea Hotel
