Canada (part-1)

CANADAContents




Destination Canada

Getting Started

Itineraries

History

The Culture

Food & Drink

Environment

Canada Outdoors

Ontario

QuГ©bec

Nova Scotia

New Brunswick

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland & Labrador

Manitoba

Saskatchewan

Alberta

British Columbia

Yukon Territory

Northwest Territories

Nunavut

Directory

Transportation

Health

Language

Glossary

The Authors

Behind the Scenes

World Time Zones

Map Legend




Return to beginning of chapter





Destination Canada



Oh, it’s big all right. Damn big. And we’re not referring to Canada’s size (a whopping 10 million sq km, making it the world’s second-largest country). What we’re talking about here is the handle on a Canadian beer case – big enough to fit your hands, even with mittens on. If you think that’s impressive, consider Canada’s other mondo attributes. Its terrain is filled with them, from mammoth mountains to hulking glaciers to immense polychromatic skies. Then there are the creatures that roam the terrain and its waterways – grizzly bear, moose, polar bear, humpback whales – each one huger than the next.

Is it any wonder this nation is envied by so many? Small, liberal countries admire its grandness (So much land! A G8 member!). Large, conservative countries admire its tolerance (Gay marriage! Open immigration!).

Canada is impossible to dislike, but go ahead and give it a shot. You don’t like festival-packed cities that offer the world’s best quality of life? Motor to a wee Atlantic fishing village, accessible only by boat. You don’t like cloud-poking mountains to hike, ski or snowboard over? Try a slow ride through the wheat-waving prairies. You want a nosh lighter than Alberta beef or Arctic whale blubber? Pick up ripe peaches and cheeses from the local farmers’ markets.

See? That’s Canada – polite and accommodating to the nth degree. Though it’s a wonder everyone is so nice, given the weather. It’s cold, as in world’s-coldest-country cold (based on average temperatures nationwide), which explains the mitten-sized beer case handles. Snag, a town in the Yukon, recorded North America’s coldest temperature ever: minus 62.8°C.

Voltaire may have written off Canada as вЂ˜a few acres of snow’ back in the mid-18th century, but those вЂ˜few acres’ have yielded vast amounts of oil, timber and other natural resources, that in turn have propelled Canada to a very enviable standard of living.

Of course, the country has a few issues. The most pressing ones are shaping up to be immigration, provincial squabbling, and striking a balance between economic growth and protecting the environment.



* * *



FAST FACTS



Population: 33 million



Unemployment rate: 6%



Median family income: $67,600



Hours TV watched per week: 21.4



Life expectancy: women 83.7 years, men 76.9 years



Canadians who speak only French: 13.3%



Annual beer consumption: 77 L per person over age 15



Annual potato consumption: 15.8kg per person



Amount of world’s diamonds produced: 15%



Defense budget: $10.9 billion



* * *



Let’s look at immigration first. Canada takes in the world’s largest per capita annual immigration numbers – around 250,000 people a year, of whom 43% go to Toronto. While this is cool in multicultural terms – allowing you to shop for Buddha trinkets in Vancouver’s Chinatown, chow on curry in Toronto’s Little India, or sip a Vietnamese café au lait in Montréal – it also causes growing pains. Mainly, it’s becoming difficult for Canada to maintain its high-caliber social and physical infrastructures in the face of such relentless population growth.

Then there’s the issue of how to reconcile the divergent interests of Canada’s provinces and territories. The only shared sentiment seems to be that the federal government is insensitive to their particular needs. In the past, the tension was greatest in francophone Québec, which periodically has threatened to secede from confederation. But the grumbling is now getting loudest from the western provinces and territories, which desire more control over their crazy-huge amounts of natural resources.

For instance, Alberta’s oil wealth is gushing, and the province would like to keep all its nice new money to itself rather than float the faltering economy of Ontario, where manufacturing is down in the face of cheap imports from China and beyond. The Northwest Territories would like to have more of a say-so regarding its diamond, gold and natural gas profits, rather than just serve as low-hanging fruit to fill Ottawa’s baskets. Even the mild-mannered Atlantic provinces are bickering about federal claims to fishing and mineral rights off their shores.

Could these provinces be next to mount secession movements? There’s talk in the air. And the Clarity Act actually makes it possible. This law from 2000 states that the federal government has to enter into negotiations if there is вЂ˜a clear expression of the will of the population of a province…to cease to be a part of Canada and become an independent state.’ Sovereignty hopefuls can thank QuГ©bec for that opportunity.

Natural resources are also at the crux of our third issue. Yes, they’re helping the Canadian economy to kick ass. By late 2007, the loonie was practically on par with the US dollar and still on its way up – the first time this has happened in three decades. And oil and natural gas are driving the bus. But an economy reliant on natural resources is tricky, because the resources are bound to run out (memo to Canada: see past history of fur and codfish industries). And then what?



* * *



вЂ˜After 12 years of center-left Liberals running the show, the Conservatives won the majority in the 2006 elections’





* * *



Furthermore, the processes for extracting and developing the resources come at a high environmental price. The massive expansion of Alberta’s oil sands production has been tagged as the single biggest factor behind Canada’s wretched performance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The repercussions can be felt in the country already – just ask the local polar bear who are getting mighty pissed off (and hungry) as their icy habitat shrinks and their seal dinners drift away.

Right now it’s the federal government that has to figure all this out, led by the new group filling Ottawa’s halls – a Conservative group, oddly enough. After 12 years of center-left Liberals running the show, the Conservatives won the majority in the 2006 elections. They racked up 124 seats compared to 103 seats for the Liberals, with the separatist Bloc QuГ©becois getting 51 seats and the left-leaning New Democrats getting 29 seats. Corruption and a вЂ˜culture of entitlement’ finally did in the Liberals. Stephen Harper became the new prime minister, but he leads Canada’s smallest minority government since Confederation (if you go by proportion of seats). However, Canadian minority governments don’t usually survive long, so don’t be surprised if somebody else is at the helm by the time you read this.

What Canadians discuss around their dinner tables come election time – and what they discuss even when it’s not election time – is the nation’s much-cherished but ailing universal health care system. To be sure, the quality of care is high and getting treatment for minor ailments is easy. But try seeing a specialist or getting a hip replacement and you could be on a waiting list for months. Although no one will admit it, a two-tiered system is in place, and those with deep pockets can access additional – often quicker – care in private facilities.

Still, a free, portable health care system that’s available to everyone – rich and poor alike – is quite a feat. To many citizens, it’s at the very root of what makes Canada great. So are progressive views on same-sex marriage and marijuana use. The former is entirely legal; the latter is legal only for medicinal use, though broader decriminalization bills flutter through Ottawa from time to time. And don’t forget this is a country that has a card-carrying Marijuana Party that puts up a candidate for national elections. True, it’s not taking over the prairies any time soon (it received .06% of the popular vote in 2006), but its very existence says something about the local mindset.

In general, Canadians are also liberal about abortion (it’s legal). Issues they cast a critical eye toward include gun control (most prefer restrictions), child care issues (increased funding is appreciated) and taxes (too high). As you’d expect, the Liberals and Conservatives have different views on all these topics, but they don’t diverge as drastically as similar parties in other countries. Even after the Conservatives took the helm in Ottawa, they left most вЂ˜liberal’ concerns alone. Harper and his posse may not be the number-one fans of pot-smoking gays who want to get married, but heck, why bother changing now?

Canada likes to think of itself as peaceable, and it keeps its military involvement fairly low-key. The country has a total of 2900 troops overseas, with most of those in Afghanistan working for the NATO-led International Assistance Security Force. As of August 2007, 70 soldiers had died in the operation. When it comes to actual peacekeeping for the United Nations, the country contributes 126 military personnel to UN missions, ranking it 55th out of 108 troop-contributing countries.

Don’t take our word for this stuff, though. Ask the Vancouverite sitting next to you, or maybe it’s a Newfoundlander, or whomever you meet on the roads in between. Take a pull on your beer, dip into the poutine, draw your fleece up tighter and feel the warmth surround you. It’s nice here, eh?




Return to beginning of chapter





Getting Started



* * *





WHEN TO GO

COSTS & MONEY

TRAVEL LITERATURE

INTERNET RESOURCES



* * *



Canada’s tourism infrastructure has something for everyone. Backpackers, jet-setters and those in between will all find their needs and expectations met. One important thing to keep in mind is the country’s immense scale: distances can be deceivingly long and travel times slow due to single-lane highways and even a lack of highways (such as on the east and west coasts, when ferries take over for roads). Don’t try to pack too much into your itinerary and do consider limiting your explorations to one or two regions in depth.



* * *



See Climate and Holidays for more information.



* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

WHEN TO GO

You can visit Canada at any time of year, but most people arrive in summer when temperatures are pleasant and much of the action moves outdoors. Just what constitutes вЂ˜summer,’ though, varies by region. In southern Canada, it generally refers to the period between Victoria Day (late May) and Labour Day (early September). In the northern regions, however, summer starts as late as mid-June and ends, often abruptly, with the first snowfall in early to mid-September.

In most areas, March to May and September to October bring fewer tourists and often surprisingly pleasant weather. Fall, which finds forests cloaked in a spectacular mantle of color, is a great time to visit.

Canadian winters are long, cold and dark. With most outlying attractions closed, your explorations are pretty much limited to the ski resorts and cities. QuГ©bec City, Toronto and Winnipeg are among those cities hosting big winter carnivals.


Return to beginning of chapter

COSTS & MONEY

Accommodations are likely to be your biggest expense, but as fuel prices rise, transportation ranks up there too. Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia are more costly than other provinces, but not as bad as the three northern territories (Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories and Nunavut). Your dollar will stretch furthest in QuГ©bec, the Atlantic provinces, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

In most regions, single travelers who rent a car, stay in decent B&Bs and eat at least one daily meal out will spend $175 or so per day. The total cost is only a little bit more for a couple traveling together. For those on a tight budget, costs can be brought down by staying in hostels or camping, self-catering from local markets, taking public transportation when available and limiting entertainment options. This will reduce your daily costs to around $80 to $90.



* * *



HOW MUCH?



B&B double room: $80-140



Tim Hortons doughnut: 80Вў



Hockey game ticket: $25-90



Skiing day pass: $50-80



Pack of cigarettes: $6-7



See Quick Reference (inside front cover) for additional prices.



* * *



To break down the expenses you’ll incur: comfortable midrange accommodations start at $80 to $90 for a double room, usually including breakfast. A midrange restaurant meal with wine or beer costs between $15 and $25 plus tax and a tip. Rental cars cost from $35 to $65 a day for a compact-size vehicle, not including gas. Attraction admissions range from $5 to $15.



* * *



DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT…



Your passport Click here. Yes, border-crossing document requirements change from one day to the next, but you’ll need a passport to swat bugs if nothing else.

Bug spray Click here to prevent mosquitoes and blackflies from feasting on your flesh; especially useful in northern and woodsy regions.

Your driver’s license and vehicle registration papers, plus adequate liability insurance Click here.

Transportation and sleeping reservations, especially in July and August.

A camera to capture the moose, mountains and Mounties you’re bound to see.





* * *





* * *



TRAVELING RESPONSIBLY

Since our inception in 1973, Lonely Planet has encouraged our readers to tread lightly, travel responsibly and enjoy the serendipitous magic independent travel affords. International travel is growing at a jaw-dropping rate, and we still firmly believe in the benefits it can bring – but, as always, we encourage you to consider the impact your visit will have on both the global environment and the local economies, cultures and ecosystems.

Canada’s вЂ˜greenest’ locales include Vancouver and its surrounding islands in the west and Toronto in the east, but options are tucked in between, too. With a little research, you can certainly travel the country in a responsible way.

Getting There & Away

If you wish to avoid flying to Canada, you have options, especially if visiting from the US. Amtrak (www.amtrak.com) trains connect Toronto, Vancouver and MontrГ©al to neighboring US cities. Greyhound (www.greyhound.com) buses connect many additional Canadian and US towns. Flights from other countries are rather unavoidable. Though not a solution to the problem, you can offset your carbon emissions with Vancouver-based Offsetters Carbon Neutral Society (www.offsetters.ca).

Slow Travel

Try skipping the cross-Canada plane journey in favor of traveling slowly. VIA Rail (www.viarail.ca) has a continuous route between Toronto and Vancouver that takes three days and chugs through spectacular scenery. Greyhound Canada (www.greyhound.ca) makes the same trip, shaving a couple hours off the time. In QuГ©bec you can rideshare (Click here). Or focus your trip on a small region of Canada instead of dashing from one coast to the other.

Local transportation is taking the initiative in certain cities: for instance, Vancouver’s Yellow Cab taxis use low-emission vehicles, while Whistler’s public buses are switching to hydrogen fuel cell models.

Accommodations

If you see a hotel with a вЂ˜green key’ rating, it’s a property that has gone through the Hotel Association of Canada’s voluntary audit to assess sustainability practices. It’s a step in the right direction, though bear in mind it is based on self-reporting by the hotels. See www.hacgreenhotels.com for listings. Camp Green Canada (www.campgreencanada.ca) offers environmentally friendly camping products. As for cool eco-properties, a few of our favorites include:



Chanterelle Country Inn & Cottages, Cape Breton Island

Cree Village Ecolodge, northern Ontario

Falls Brook Centre, New Brunswick

South Lake Solar Cottages, Prince Edward Island

Strathcona Park Lodge, Victoria Island



Food

Naturally, the country that unleashed the 100 Mile Diet craze (a book that details a Vancouver couple’s attempt to eat only local ingredients for one year) is seething with restaurants serving locally grown, organic, in-season food. Farmers’ markets are also common and detailed throughout this book.

Seafood is a popular menu item in Canada, but make sure the species you’re ordering is one that’s sustainably harvested; check Seafood Watch (www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp) for details. In Vancouver, such fare is marked with an Ocean Wise (www.oceanwisecanada.org) symbol on menus.

Responsible Travel Organizations

Provincial groups that do a great job of promoting sustainable travel include:



Green Tourism Association (www.greentourism.ca) Offers ideas for environmentally sound lodging, eating and shopping in Toronto and across Ontario.

Saskatchewan Nature and Ecotourism Association (www.ecotourism.sk.ca) Accredits eco-tourism attractions and businesses that follow set guidelines.





* * *



Discounts are widely available to children, students and seniors throughout the country. Many attractions also offer a family admission price, which can save dough for two adults and their brood.

Taxes of 6% to 14% and up are added to nearly all goods and services.


Return to beginning of chapter

TRAVEL LITERATURE

Get stoked for your journey to Canada by reading the tales of those who’ve gone before you.

It’s minus 40°C and perpetually sun-less when Polly Evans arrives in the Yukon’s remote countryside to learn to drive sled dogs. Somehow, she makes the bruising business of mushing sound attractive in Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman, filling her pages with mischievous huskies, glistening hoar frost and northern lights that weave red and green across the sky.

Victoria Jason is another plucky female with a chilly Far North tale. The Inuit referred to her as Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak (kabloona means вЂ˜stranger’), which became the title of this grandmother’s compelling book about her 7500km paddling expedition from Churchill, Manitoba, to Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea from 1991 to ’94.

Love-him-or-hate-him author Farley Mowat spins a good yarn in The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float, about sailing his schooner Happy Adventure around Newfoundland. The boat’s eternal leak only enhances exploits involving rum-running, heavy drinking and hanging out with various coastal characters.

Humor, magic and sly literary conceits make David McFadden’s Great Lakes Suite, a collection of vignettes about trips he took around Lakes Erie, Huron and Ontario, hallucinogenically funny and poignantly insightful. He also regales readers with a chronicle of wanderings around The Rock in An Innocent in Newfoundland: Even More Curious Ramblings and Singular Encounters.

Walter Stewart first zipped across the Trans-Canada Hwy in 1964. Thirty-five years later he did it again, and this time he wrote a book about what he saw. In My Cross-Country Checkup: Across Canada By Minivan, Through Space and Time, Stewart moves beyond clichГ©s as he explores the Evangeline legend in Nova Scotia, the real Lucy Maud Montgomery of Green Gables and the Irving oil empire, among other Canadian touchstones.

Finally, Sacre Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through QuГ©bec, by Taras Grescoe, is an often laugh-out-loud book that introduces readers to the hilarious and maddening foibles of the QuГ©becois. Linguistics, unsavory lust for poutine and the province’s reputation as вЂ˜Canada’s smoking section’ are all artfully skewered by the author’s dry wit.


Return to beginning of chapter

INTERNET RESOURCES



Canadian Tourism Commission (www.canada.travel) From Alberta to the Yukon, this official tourist information site is packed with details on all aspects of travel to and within Canada.

Environment Canada (www.weatheroffice.gc.ca) Is it raining in Regina? Snowing in Whistler? Foggy in Halifax? Check here for the forecast.

Government of Canada (www.gc.ca) The mother of all Canada websites, with information both national (immigration rules, national anthem lyrics) and regional (ice conditions off Labrador, provincial tourism offices) in scope.

Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com) Fire up travel news and summaries about the Great White North.

Podcast Alley (www.podcastalley.com) Type in a Canadian city or province, and hear podcasts covering niches from weed in Vancouver to restaurants in Montréal to hockey in St John’s.

Sierra Club of Canada (www.sierraclub.ca) The environmental group’s website provides background on local concerns such as declining caribou populations in Manitoba and the tar ponds in Nova Scotia.





* * *



TOP 10



TOP TEN BASHES

Our favorite parties are listed below, but this is just a fraction of the rawkin’ good times that go on throughout the year. For a list of more events, Click here. For food fests, Click here.



Winter Carnival, QuГ©bec City (February)

Festival du Voyageur, Winnipeg (February)

Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (March)

Festival de la Chanson/Song Festival, Tadoussac (June)

Calgary Stampede (July)

Dawson City Music Festival (July)

Caribana, Toronto (July-August)

Festival Acadien, Caraquet (August)

Royal St John’s Regatta (August)

Celtic Colours, Cape Breton Island (October)



TOP TEN SCENIC DRIVES

Try to keep your eyes at least partially on the road as you ramble these highways and byways. More scenic drives are highlighted throughout the regional chapters.



Cabot Trail, Nova Scotia Snaking road past mountain vistas, sparkling seas and dramatic cliffs

Haines Hwy, Yukon Glaciers, snowy peaks, frothy rivers and eagles en route to the Far North

Hwy 17 along Lake Superior’s Northern Shore, Ontario Fjord-like passages, hidden beaches and primeval forests

Hwy 37A to Hyder/Stewart, British Columbia Vintage toasters and converted-school-bus restaurants along with the requisite glaciers

Icefields Pkwy, Alberta Sheets of the frozen stuff, plus sapphire-blue lakes

Niagara Peninsula Wine Country, Ontario Lush, juicy vineyards from Toronto to Niagara Falls

Old River Road (Rte 102), New Brunswick Farmhouses, hay barns and wildflowers alongside an island-filled river

Rte 132, Québec Rocky shores, glinting silver churches and wooded hills from Ste Flavie to Forillon National Park

Rte 199, QuГ©bec Wee coastal road past sand dunes and fishing villages on the ГЋles de la Madeleine

Sea to Sky Hwy, British Columbia Heart-leaping, humbling drive from Vancouver’s ocean to Whistler’s mountains



TOP TEN ROAD-TRIP ALBUMS

These artists – some old, some new, spanning genres and provinces – will provide the proper soundtrack for your trip. Load up the iPod, hit shuffle, and вЂ˜keep the car running,’ as the first group on our list sings. For more on local music, Click here.



Arcade Fire Neon Bible

Be Good Tanyas Hello Love

Feist The Reminder

Great Big Sea Road Rage

Neil Young Massey Hall 1971

Rush Moving Pictures

The New Pornographers Mass Romantic

The Tea Party Edges of Twilight

The Tragically Hip Fully Completely

United Steelworkers of MontrГ©al Broken Trucks and Bottles





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter





Itineraries



* * *





CLASSIC ROUTES

STRAIGHT TO THE HEART

BEST OF THE WEST

ROADS LESS TRAVELED

CABOT & VIKING TRAILS

PLAIN & SIMPLE

TAILORED TRIPS

FUEL FOR FOODIES

ADRENALINE SHOTS

BACK IN TIME

GOING GREEN



* * *




CLASSIC ROUTES

STRAIGHT TO THE HEART Two weeks/Toronto to QuГ©bec City





* * *



Travel through Canada’s Central Corridor, swooping up its largest cities, mightiest waterfalls and prettiest little islands. This 1450km journey can be вЂ˜done’ in 10 days, but add a few more and you’ll connect more deeply with the people and landscapes of Ontario and QuГ©bec.





* * *



Start in multicultural mecca Toronto, and wallow in the wealth of architecture, art and shoe museums, restaurants and nightclubs. Day-trip to pounding Niagara Falls, then begin your eastward haul. The Loyalist Parkway (Hwy 33) rambles shore-side in pastoral Prince Edward County and eventually pulls into colonial Kingston. From there, the misty, mansion-covered Thousand Islands dot the St Lawrence River; Gananoque makes a good break in their midst. Stop at Upper Canada Village, a re-created 1860s town, before heading to Ottawa, Canada’s capital, to get your culture fix at the national museums. Save room for next stop Montréal, where the blend of French joie de vivre and North American can-do spirit seduces via Euro-cool clubs and foodie-beloved restaurants. Had your fill? Swing over to the Laurentians to hike, cycle or ski yourself back into shape. Finish in Québec City. The charismatic old town, walled and dramatically poised on a bluff, will leave an impression long after you return home.


Return to beginning of chapter

BEST OF THE WEST Three to four weeks/British Columbia & Alberta





* * *



Vancouver, the Inside Passage and the Rocky Mountains: prepare to feast on a smorgasbord of scenic delights on this 3000km trek through British Columbia and Alberta. Allow at least three weeks for the route, which circles around via boat, car and train.





* * *



Start with a couple of days in mountain-meets-sea Vancouver, where you’ll be spoiled by urban hiking, biking and other activities, plus western Canada’s best cuisine scene. Hop on a ferry to Victoria, fill up with tea and crumpets, then rent a car and head up-island. Northern Vancouver Island delivers raw, remote BC in all its glory. Stop at Telegraph Cove to spot whales and bear, Alert Bay to absorb First Nations culture and Cape Scott Provincial Park to hike wind-bashed coastline. Pull up in Port Hardy when you’re ready to catch the ferry for an unforgettable journey through the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert. As you glide past ice-caked peaks and forest-draped islands you’ll see eagles, whales, porpoises and seals traveling alongside. Prince Rupert is the jump-off point to the mist-shrouded and mysterious Queen Charlotte Islands, with old-growth forests, ancient aboriginal villages and spooky totem poles – if you’ve got an extra five days, this is a must-do. Otherwise, it’s time to board VIA Rail’s Skeena, which chugs past rivers, lakes and mountains on its two-day journey from Prince Rupert to Jasper, where you should rent another car. The national parks of Jasper and Banff form the dramatic core of the Canadian Rockies. You’ll want to spend several days hiking, gawking at glaciers, kayaking and staying downwind from grizzly bear. From here, head west back into British Columbia for more вЂ˜ah’-inspiring mountain scenery in Yoho, Glacier and Mt Revelstoke national parks. Finally, work your way back to Vancouver via the lake-studded Okanagan Valley, famous for its fruit orchards and wineries.


Return to beginning of chapter


ROADS LESS TRAVELED

CABOT & VIKING TRAILS Two to Three Weeks/Halifax to L’Anse aux Meadows





* * *



Wild, windswept and whale-riddled, this 1400km route unfurls sea-and-cliff vistas you can see right from the car. But it also provides plenty of opportunities to pull over and get the blood flowing with hikes, kayak trips and art studio visits.





* * *



Spend a couple of days in Halifax enjoying the cosmopolitan life, then hit the road to Cape Breton Island. In between raft the tidal bore’s waves in Maitland and climb the 13 sand dunes at Pomquet. As you approach Baddeck (about halfway up the Cape Breton Island) hook up with the Cabot Trail, a well-marked 300km loop through the region, and head northwest to Chéticamp, a deeply Acadian town. Soon you’ll enter Cape Breton Highlands National Park; look for moose and nesting bald eagles throughout your drive here. When you reach Pleasant Bay, you can watch whales or chant with monks at the local Tibetan monastery. It’s always nice to stretch your legs with a hike at Meat Cove. And don’t forget to get your art fix at the studios along the St Ann’s Loop before arriving in industrial North Sydney for the ferry to Newfoundland.

It’s a six-hour sail over the sometimes-rough swell of the Cabot Strait to Port aux Basques. Alight and drive north to Gros Morne National Park, rich with mountain hikes, sea kayak tours, fjords and weird rock formations. Take the Viking Trail from here to its awe-inspiring endpoint: L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, North America’s first settlement. Leif Eriksson and his Viking pals homesteaded the place 1000 years ago, and it probably looked much the same then as it does now. After coming all this way, you too will feel like an Atlantic explorer.


Return to beginning of chapter

PLAIN & SIMPLE Two to Three Weeks/Thunder Bay to Calgary





* * *



Let’s be honest: there will be lots of driving, lots of wheat, and at times little else. But peace and quiet is what we’re after on this 2000km excursion. The Trans-Canada Hwy will be your main road, slicing through lake-pocked Ontario and prairie-coated Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.





* * *



After checking out the waterfalls and amethyst mines around Thunder Bay, take the slow route to Manitoba (via Hwys 11 and 71), stopping at Quetico Provincial Park and maybe renting a houseboat along the way. Once in Manitoba, pull off for a hearty meal in the Mennonite Heritage Village of Steinbach. Next stop: Winnipeg, which rockets up from the prairie flatlands and provides an enlivening patch of cafés and culture. To the east lie the odd sand dunes and lizards of Spruce Woods Provincial Park. And then you cross into The Land of the Living Skies – aka Saskatchewan. The lakeside capital Regina is the headquarters for the Canadian Mounties, so you’ll be canoeing and drinking next to those guys. Al Capone used to hide his bootlegged booze just east in Moose Jaw; a warren of smuggling tunnels zigzag underneath the town’s streets. If you need a tree fix, head into Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park before cruising over the border to Alberta. Things start to get Dr Seuss–like west of Medicine Hat when weird, mushroom-like columns of sandstone (called hoodoos) start appearing. Dinosaur junkies will salivate over the fossils at Dinosaur Provincial Park, and feel their knees buckle at the full-on dino-zeal (including the world’s largest concrete reptile) displayed at Drumheller. Pull on your cowboy boots before arriving in Calgary, a former cow town that’s now one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities. If time permits, you can head into the Rockies from here and hook up with our Best of the West tour Click here.


Return to beginning of chapter


TAILORED TRIPS

FUEL FOR FOODIES

Un-notch the belt before moseying out to eat in Canada’s three largest cities – each is a gourmet haven. Toronto describes its food as global, fusion and pan-everything; basically, it’s a wild mash-up of international flavors. Vancouver calls its chow West Coast cuisine, meaning seafood-based with local produce cradling it; sushi is also much-adored. And Montréal loves a good bottle of wine along with its inspired French fare.

Speaking of vino, Canada is flush with wine-making regions – enough to drive Bacchus batty trying to choose which to visit first. The Niagara Peninsula pours reds, whites and very fine ice wines. The Okanagan Valley is on par with all manner of wines, plus cherry, peach and apricot orchards. The Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island also joined the party recently, thanks to its small wineries and cheese-, cider- and brandy-makers.

The Atlantic provinces dish up their own treats, and it’s no surprise they come from the sea. Foodies around the globe salivate over giant scallops from Digby; moist, briny oysters from Malpeque Bay, and squirty lobsters from towns such as North Rustico on crustacean-crawling Prince Edward Island.

Finally, steak lovers should carve into a slab in Calgary; Alberta beef is the crГЁme de la crГЁme.




Return to beginning of chapter

ADRENALINE SHOTS

Sorry, there’s no excuse for sitting on your duff. Winter or summer, Canada is a land of action, with certain towns exceptionally well-geared year-round.

In the west, Whistler reigns supreme. If you want to ski or snowboard Canada’s best, this is it baby; ziplining and mountain biking take over in summer. Tofino amazes with its surfing, kayaking, whale spotting and storm-watching. And Banff does it all in the Rockies: skiing, snowboarding, hiking, canoeing, rafting, horseback riding, mountain biking – phew!

Out east, Québec’s Laurentians let you ski, luge, rock climb and refuel at maple syrup shacks. In Ontario, Blue Mountain offers a batch of activities similar to western cousin Whistler, along with caving and kayaking. Outfitters at Algonquin Provincial Park suit up visitors to canoe, moose-watch, even dogsled.

Further east, in the Atlantic provinces, Cape Breton Highlands National Park is ground zero for coastal hiking and bad-ass (meant literally) cycling. In Newfoundland, Gros Morne adrenalizes in summer (hiking and sea kayaking), while Marble Mountain) takes over in winter (skiing and snow-kiting).

And in the middle of the country there’s Churchill. Kayak with belugas, dogsled over the tundra and, of course, commune (carefully!) with polar bear.




Return to beginning of chapter

BACK IN TIME

Fierce Norsemen, fur traders, indigenous warriors, gold diggers…the early days of Canada were tumultuous, calamitous and waaay wild. Historic sites mark the spots.

The first Europeans to see Canada were Vikings who settled in what is now L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site in Newfoundland in around AD 1000. The French built their first settlement in 1608 at Québec City, the only North American town with intact fortifications. At the re-created 1744 fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, visitors can munch soldiers’ rations and bribe guards to get a feel for the good old days. Discussions held at Province House on Prince Edward Island paved the way to Canadian union. The fledgling country soon turned its attention to the vast west, where government forces clashed with the local Métis over land rights. A lopsided battled ensued at Batoche, and Métis leader Louis Riel was captured and hanged. Batoche National Historic Site tells the dark story. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, a precipice where bison herds leapt to their death, is another classic site.

In 1896, gold was found in the Klondike River. Those shiny, happy times are remembered in Dawson City, Yukon.




Return to beginning of chapter

GOING GREEN

Eco-friendly experiences for travelers are popping up like organically fertilized mushrooms.

Who can resist a bit of beekeeping, followed by a snooze in plush pine-wood cabins at Highland View Farm & Cottages? Or foraging for your dinner off a Vancouver Island beach with Outer Coast Seaweeds? Perhaps you’ll want to stay a month or six and apprentice on an organic farm at Falls Brook Centre. Those with less time, say just a few hours, can take a вЂ˜Sustainable Living Tour’ with Sundog Outfitters and learn about alternative energy sources and waste composting. Even the Yukon is getting in on the action, with the Yukon Conservation Society offering free nature hikes to help visitors appreciate the local environment.

It’s not green in the countryside only. Toronto has reclaimed a clutch of former industrial sites and turned them into parks and greenhouses. And Vancouver is lauded for local, sustainable eating habits. Many of its top restaurants, such as C Restaurant and Raincity Grill, source ingredients so they leave as small an eco-footprint as possible.





Return to beginning of chapter





History



* * *





FOLLOW THOSE CARIBOU!

SCATTERED NORTH, SOUTH, EAST & WEST

AGE OF DISCOVERY

THE BEAVER HAT CRAZE

FRENCH VS ENGLISH

PASS THE ASPIRIN

CRONIES TAKE POWER

RESENTMENT ISSUES

CANADA CONFEDERATES

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

CUTTING THE APRON STRINGS

LIL’ CANADA ALL GROWN UP

TIMELINE



* * *



FOLLOW THOSE CARIBOU!

Canada’s first inhabitants were most likely hunter-nomads who, in hungry pursuit of caribou, elk and bison, crossed over from Asia on the land bridge that once linked Siberia and Alaska. As the earth warmed and the glaciers retreated, these immigrants began to trickle all across the Americas.

About 4500 years ago, a second major wave of migration from Siberia brought the ancestors of the Inuit to Canada. The new arrivals took one look at the North, sized it up as a tasty icebox filled with fish-and-seal dinners, and decided to hang around. These early Inuit were members of the Dorset Culture, named after Cape Dorset on Baffin Island, where its remains were first unearthed. Around AD 1000 a separate Inuit culture, the whale-hunting Thule of northern Alaska, began making its way east through the Canadian Arctic. As these people spread, they overtook the Dorset Culture. The Thule are the direct ancestors of the modern Inuit.



* * *



In Canadian History for Dummies, best-selling author Will Ferguson uses his irreverent, opinionated and energetic style to take you on an entertaining cruise through his country’s wild and wacky past.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

SCATTERED NORTH, SOUTH, EAST & WEST

When the first Europeans arrived in Canada in the late 15th century, Aboriginal peoples had spread into five major geographic locations.

On the mild Pacific coast, the Haida, Nootka and other tribes lived in independent villages where they built cedar-plank houses and carved elaborate totem poles and canoes.

To the east, the Plains First Nations, which included the Sioux and the Blackfoot, occupied the prairies from Lake Winnipeg to the Rocky Mountain foothills. Primarily buffalo hunters, they cunningly killed their prey by driving them over cliffs, such as at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in southern Alberta. The buffalo provided sustenance and the hides were used for tipis and clothes.



* * *



For the whole enchilada, watch Canada: A People’s History (2000–01), a 17-episode CBC TV series. Don’t have an extra 32 hours in your schedule? Trawl the website (http://history.cbc.ca/histicons/) for bite-sized historical summaries.





* * *



Present-day southern Ontario and the area along the St Lawrence River were home to the Iroquoian-speaking peoples, who were divided into the Five Nations, the Huron, the Erie and the Neutral confederacies. Although often at war with each other, they were a sophisticated lot who lived in large farming communities, built sturdy longhouses and traded with other tribes.

In the chilly boreal forest stretching across northern Canada, the Northeast Woodlands peoples endured a much harsher life. These tribes include the Algonquin and Mi’kmaq in the Maritimes, the Innu in Québec and Labrador, and the Cree and Ojibwe in northern Ontario and Manitoba. The extinct Beothuk of Newfoundland also belonged to this group. Living in small nomadic bands, the various tribes hunted caribou, moose, hare and other animals, which they caught using snares and traps.

Survival was even more of a challenge for arctic tribes such as the Inuit and Dene. They migrated seasonally, hunting whales and big-game, and traveling by canoe or dogsled. They spent winters in igloos or simple wooden structures, and basically just tried to stay warm.


Return to beginning of chapter

AGE OF DISCOVERY

Viking celebrity Leif Eriksson was the first European to reach Canada’s shores. In fact, he and his tribe of Scandinavian seafarers were the first Europeans in all of North America. Around AD 1000 they poked around the eastern shores of Canada, establishing winter settlements and way stations for repairing ships and restocking supplies, such as at L’Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland. The local tribes didn’t exactly roll out the welcome mat for these intruders, who eventually tired of the hostilities and went home. There would be no more visits from the outside for another 300 to 400 years.



* * *



It was the Beothuk Aboriginals and their ceremonially ochre-coated faces who were dubbed вЂ˜red men’ by arriving Europeans, a name soon applied to all of North America’s indigenous groups.





* * *



The action heated up again in the late 15th century. In 1492, backed by the Spanish crown, Christopher Columbus went searching for a western sea route to Asia and instead stumbled upon some small islands in the Bahamas. Other European monarchs, excited by his вЂ˜discovery,’ quickly sponsored expeditions of their own. In 1497, Giovanni Caboto, better known as John Cabot, sailed under a British flag as far west as Newfoundland and Cape Breton.



* * *



The Viking Deception (2005) is a PBS documentary that examines a fabled scrap of parchment depicting North America’s eastern seaboard. Is it a true Viking map based on Leif Eriksson’s long-ago voyages, or a fake?





* * *



Cabot didn’t find a passage to China, but he did find cod, a much-coveted commodity in Europe at the time. In short order, hundreds of boats were shuttling between Europe and the fertile new fishing grounds. Basques whalers from northern Spain soon followed. Several were based at Red Bay in Labrador, which became the biggest whaling port in the world during the 16th century.

King François I of France looked over the fence at his neighbors, stroked his beard, then snapped his fingers and ordered Jacques Cartier to appear before him. By this time, the hunt was on not only for the Northwest Passage but also for gold, given the findings by Spanish conquistadors among the Aztec and Inca civilizations. François hoped for similar riches in the frosty North.



* * *



Explorer Jacques Cartier bestowed Canada with its name. Scholars say it comes from kanata, a Huron-Iroquois word for вЂ˜village’ or вЂ˜settlement,’ which was written in Cartier’s journal and later transformed by mapmakers to вЂ˜Canada.’





* * *



Upon arrival in Labrador, Cartier found only вЂ˜stones and horrible rugged rocks,’ as he wrote in his journal in 1534. He dutifully kept exploring and soon went ashore on QuГ©bec’s GaspГ© Peninsula to claim the land for France. The local Iroquois thought he was a good neighbor at first, until he kidnapped two of the chief’s sons and took them back to Europe. To his credit, Cartier returned them a year later when sailing up the St Lawrence River to Stadacona (present-day QuГ©bec City) and Hochelaga (today’s MontrГ©al). Here he got wind of a land called Saguenay that was full of gold and silver. The rumor prompted Cartier’s third voyage, in 1541, but alas, the mythical riches remained elusive.


Return to beginning of chapter

THE BEAVER HAT CRAZE

King François I got bored with his distant colony, since it wasn’t producing the bling. But his interest perked back up a few decades later when felt hats became all the rage. Everyone who was anyone was wearing a furry hat and, as the fashion mavens knew, there was no finer chapeau than one made from beaver pelts. With beavers pretty much extinct in the Old World, the demand for a fresh supply was strong.



* * *



The Private Capital: Ambition and Love in the Age of Macdonald and Laurier (1984), by writer Sandra Gwyn, serves up scandal and political intrigue via diary entries from Canada’s founding fathers.





* * *



In 1588, the French crown granted the first trading monopoly in Canada, only to have other merchants promptly challenge the claim. And so the race for control of the fur trade was officially on. The economic value of this enterprise and, by extension, its role in shaping Canadian history, cannot be underestimated. It was the main reason behind the country’s European settlement, at the root of the struggle for dominance between the French and the British, and the source of strife and division between Aboriginal groups. All because of a silly hat!

In order to gain control of the distant lands, the first order of business was to put European bodies on the ground. In the summer of 1604, a group of French pioneers established a tentative foothold on ГЋle Ste-Croix (a tiny islet in the river on the present US border with Maine). They moved to Port Royal (today’s Annapolis Royal) in Nova Scotia the following spring. Exposed and difficult to defend, neither site made a good base for controlling the inland fur trade. As the would-be colonists moved up the St Lawrence River, they finally came upon a spot their leader, Samuel de Champlain, considered prime real estate – where today’s QuГ©bec City stands. It was 1608 and вЂ˜New France’ had become a reality.



* * *



Searching for your Cajun roots? The Acadian Genealogy Homepage (www.acadian.org) has compiled census reports harking back to 1671, plus maps and histories of local Acadian communities.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

FRENCH VS ENGLISH

The French enjoyed their plush fur monopoly for several decades, but in 1670 the British mounted a formidable challenge. They caught a lucky break when a pair of disillusioned French explorers, Radisson and Des Groseilliers, confided that the best fur country actually lay to the north and west of Lake Superior, which was easily accessible via Hudson Bay. King Charles II quickly formed the Hudson’s Bay Company and granted it a trade monopoly over all the lands whose rivers and streams drained into the bay. This vast territory, called Rupert’s Land, encompassed about 40% of present-day Canada, including Labrador, western Québec, northwestern Ontario, Manitoba, most of Saskatchewan and Alberta, and part of the Northwest Territories.

The English infuriated the French with such moves, and so the French kept right on galling the English by settling further inland. Both countries had claims to the land, but each wanted regional dominance. They skirmished back and forth in hostilities that mirrored those in Europe, where wars raged throughout the first half of the 18th century.



* * *



To learn more about French explorers in the New World – including Cartier, Champlain, Radisson and Des Groseilliers – see www.civilisations.ca/vmnf/explor/explcd_e.html.





* * *



Things came to a head with the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended Queen Anne’s War (1701–13) overseas. Under its provisions, the French had to officially recognize British claims to Hudson Bay and Newfoundland, and give up all of Nova Scotia (then called Acadia) except for Cape Breton Island.

The conflict simmered for a few decades, then ramped up to a new level in 1754 when the two countries battled each other in the French and Indian Wars (also known as the Seven Years’ War). The tide soon turned in the Brit’s favor with the capture of the Louisbourg fortress Click here, giving them control of a strategically important entrance to the St Lawrence River.

In 1759 they besieged Québec, scaling the cliffs in a surprise attack and quickly defeating the stunned French; it was one of Canada’s bloodiest and most famous battles, and left both commanding generals dead. At the Treaty of Paris (1763), France handed Canada over to Britain.



* * *



Empire of the Bay: The Company of Adventurers That Seized a Continent (2000), by Peter C Newman, relays the blustering Hudson’s Bay Company story, from its fur-trading origins to today’s The Bay department stores.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

PASS THE ASPIRIN

Managing the newly acquired territory presented quite a challenge for the British. First, they had to quell uprisings by the Aboriginal tribes, such as the attack on Detroit by Ottawa Chief Pontiac. So the British government issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which prevented colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains and regulated purchases of aboriginal land. Though well-intentioned, the proclamation was largely ignored.

The French Canadians caused the next headache. Tensions rose when the new rulers imposed British law that heavily restricted the rights of Roman Catholics (the religion of the French), including the rights to vote and hold office. The British hoped their discriminatory policy would launch a mass exodus and make it easier to anglicize the remaining settlers. The plan didn’t work – the French just crossed their arms and dug in their heels further.

As if the tribes and French weren’t problems enough, the American colonies started making revolutionary rumbles to the south. The British governor, Guy Carleton, wisely reasoned that winning the French settlers’ political allegiance was more valuable than turning them into tea drinkers. This led to the passage of the Québec Act of 1774. The Act confirmed French Canadians’ right to their religion, allowed them to assume political office and restored the use of French civil law. Indeed, during the American Revolution (1775–83) most French Canadians refused to take up arms for the American cause, although not many willingly defended the British either.



* * *



France retains a token of its early exploits in Canada: St-Pierre and Miquelon, two small islands off Newfoundland’s coast, remain staunchly French to this day.





* * *



After the Revolution, the English-speaking population exploded when some 50,000 settlers from the newly independent America migrated northward. Called United Empire Loyalists due to their presumed allegiance to Britain, many settlers were motivated more by cheap land than by actual love of king and crown. The majority ended up in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, while a smaller group settled along the northern shore of Lake Ontario and in the Ottawa River Valley (forming the nucleus of what became Ontario). About 8000 people moved to QuГ©bec, creating the first sizeable anglophone community in the French-speaking bastion.


Return to beginning of chapter

CRONIES TAKE POWER

Partly in order to accommodate the interests of Loyalist settlers, the British government passed the Constitutional Act of 1791, which divided the colony into Upper Canada (today’s southern Ontario) and Lower Canada (now southern Québec). Lower Canada retained French civil laws, but both provinces were governed by the British criminal code.

The British crown installed a governor to direct each colony. The governor in turn appointed the members of his вЂ˜cabinet,’ then called the Executive Council. The legislative branch consisted of an appointed Legislative Council and an elected Assembly, which ostensibly represented the interests of the colonists. In reality, though, the Assembly held very little power, since the governor could veto its decisions. Not surprisingly, this was a recipe for friction and resentment. This was especially the case in Lower Canada, where an English governor and an English-dominated Council held sway over a French-dominated Assembly.



* * *



The USA has invaded Canada twice – in 1775 and 1812 – both times to no avail.





* * *



Rampant cronyism made matters even worse. Members of the conservative British merchant elite dominated the Executive and Legislative Councils and showed little interest in French-Canadian matters. Called the Family Compact in Upper Canada and the Château Clique in Lower Canada, their ranks included brewer John Molson and university founder James McGill. The groups’ influence grew especially strong after the War of 1812, an ultimately futile attempt by the USA to take over its northern neighbor.



* * *



The Canadian Military History Gateway (www.cmhg.gc.ca) provides access to digitized resources on Canada’s military history, including audio links to old CBC war broadcasts.





* * *



In 1837, frustration over these entrenched elites reached boiling point. Parti Canadien leader Louis-Joseph Papineau and his Upper Canadian counterpart, Reform Party leader William Lyon Mackenzie, launched open rebellions against the government. Although both uprisings were quickly crushed, the incident signaled to the British that the status quo wasn’t going to cut it any longer.


Return to beginning of chapter

RESENTMENT ISSUES

The British dispatched John Lambton, the Earl of Durham, to investigate the rebellions’ causes. He correctly identified ethnic tensions as the root of the problem, calling the French and British вЂ˜two nations warring in the bosom of a single state.’ He then earned the nickname вЂ˜Radical Jack’ by asserting that French culture and society were inferior and obstacles to expansion and greatness – only assimilation of British laws, language and institutions would quash French nationalism and bring long-lasting peace to the colonies. These ideas were adopted into the Union Act of 1840.

Upper and Lower Canada soon merged into the Province of Canada and became governed by a single legislature, the new Parliament of Canada. Each ex-colony had the same number of representatives, which wasn’t exactly fair to Lower Canada (ie Québec), where the population was much larger. On the plus side, the new system brought responsible government that restricted the governor’s powers and eliminated nepotism.

While most British Canadians welcomed the new system, the French were less than thrilled. If anything, the union’s underlying objective of destroying French culture, language and identity made Francophones cling together even more tenaciously. The provisions of the Act left deep wounds that still haven’t fully healed today (see the boxed text, opposite).

Thus the united province was built on slippery ground. The decade or so following unification was marked by political instability as one government replaced another in fairly rapid succession. Meanwhile, the USA had grown into a self-confident economic powerhouse, while British North America was still a loose patchwork of independent colonies. The American Civil War (1861–65) and the USA’s purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 raised fears of annexation. It became clear that only a less volatile political system would stave off these challenges, and the movement toward federal union gained momentum.



* * *



Delegates to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864 had to sleep on their steamships because the circus was in town and all of the inns were fully booked.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

CANADA CONFEDERATES

In 1864, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI), served as the birthing room for modern Canada. At the town’s Province House, the вЂ˜Fathers of Confederation’ – a group of representatives from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, Ontario and QuГ©bec – got together and hammered out the framework for a new nation. It took two more meetings before Parliament passed the British North America Act in 1867. And so began the modern, self-governing state of Canada, originally known as the Dominion of Canada. The day the act became official, July 1, is celebrated as Canada’s national holiday; it was called Dominion Day until it was renamed Canada Day in 1982.



* * *



Manual laborers from China built much of the railroad’s western stretch. They earned $0.75 to $1.25 per day, not including expenses, and often were given the most dangerous, explosive-laden jobs.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

Task one on the infant dominion’s to-do list was to bring the remaining land and colonies into the confederation. Under its first prime minister, John A Macdonald, the government acquired vast Rupert’s Land in 1869 for the paltry sum of £300,000 (about $11.5 million in today’s money) from the Hudson’s Bay Company. Now called the Northwest Territories (NWT), the land was only sparsely populated, mostly by Plains First Nations and several thousand Métis (may-tee), a racial blend of Cree, Ojibwe or Saulteaux and French-Canadian or Scottish fur traders, who spoke French as their main language. Their biggest settlement was the Red River Colony around Fort Garry (today’s Winnipeg).

The Canadian government immediately clashed with the Métis people over land-use rights, causing the latter to form a provisional government led by the charismatic Louis Riel. He sent the Ottawa-appointed governor packing and, in November 1869, seized control of Upper Fort Garry, thereby forcing Ottawa to the negotiating table. However, with his delegation already en route, Riel impulsively and for no good reason executed a Canadian prisoner he was holding at the fort. Although the murder caused widespread uproar in Canada, the government was so keen to bring the west into the fold it agreed to most of Riel’s demands, including special language and religious protections for the Métis. As a result, the then-pint-sized province of Manitoba was carved out of the NWT and entered the dominion in July 1870. Macdonald sent troops after Riel but he narrowly managed to escape to the USA. He was formally exiled for five years in 1875.



* * *



VIVE LE QUÉBEC LIBRE

QuГ©bec’s separatism movement began in earnest in the 1960s. Even French president Charles de Gaulle seemed to join the cause, (in)famously proclaiming вЂ˜Vive le QuГ©bec libre!’ at MontrГ©al’s Town Hall during a 1967 state visit to Canada. The federal government under Lester B Pearson was so incensed at de Gaulle’s remark that it officially admonished him, causing him to cut short his Canadian visit. The following year RenГ© LГ©vesque founded the sovereignist Parti QuГ©becois (PQ).



The situation got very tense during the October Crisis in 1970, when the most radical wing of the separatist movement, the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ; Québec Liberation Front), kidnapped Québec’s labor minister Pierre Laporte and a British trade official in an attempt to force the independence issue. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declared a state of emergency and called in the army to protect government officials. Two weeks later, Laporte’s body was found in the trunk of a car. The murder discredited the FLQ in the eyes of many erstwhile supporters and the movement quickly faded away.



Lévesque’s PQ won the 1976 Québec provincial election and quickly pushed through a bill that made French the province’s sole official language. His 1980 referendum on secession, however, was resoundingly defeated, with almost 60% voting non. The issue was put on the back burner for much of the 1980s.



LГ©vesque’s successor, Robert Bourassa, agreed to a constitution-led solution – but only if QuГ©bec was recognized as a вЂ˜distinct society’ with special rights. In 1987 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney unveiled an accord that met most of QuГ©bec’s demands. To take effect, the so-called Meech Lake Accord needed to be ratified by all 10 provinces and both houses of parliament by 1990. Dissenting premiers in three provinces eventually pledged their support but, incredibly, the accord collapsed when a single member of Manitoba’s legislature refused to sign. Mulroney and Bourassa drafted a new, expanded accord, but the separatists picked it apart and it too was trounced. The rejection sealed the fate of Mulroney, who resigned the following year, and of Bourassa, who left political life a broken man.



Relations between Anglos and Francophones hit new lows, and support for independence was rekindled. Only one year after returning to power in 1994, the PQ, under Premier Lucien Bouchard, launched a second referendum. This one was a real cliff-hanger: Québecois decided by 52,000 votes – a razor-thin majority of less than 1% – to remain within Canada.



The voices of separatism seemed silenced, especially after the PQ lost its decade-long grip on power to Jean Charest’s Liberals in the 2003 Québec elections. But the movement made a fairly strong showing once again in 2004’s national elections. The Bloc Québecois (the federal version of the Parti Québecois) received 48.8% of the vote, while the scandal-plagued Liberals received only 33.9%.



Separatism, it seems, is likely to stay on Québec’s – and by extension, Canada’s – agenda for some time to come.





* * *



British Columbia (BC), created in 1866 by merging the colonies of New Caledonia and Vancouver Island, was the next frontier. The discovery of gold along the Fraser River in 1858 and in the Cariboo region in 1862 had brought an enormous influx of settlers to such goldmine boomtowns as Williams Lake and Barkerville. Once the gold mines petered out, though, BC was plunged into poverty. In 1871 it joined the dominion in exchange for the Canadian government assuming all its debt and promising to link it with the east within 10 years via a transcontinental railroad.



* * *



It’s ethereal fiction about women in an Irish immigrant family, but Away (1993), a whopping bestseller by Jane Urquhart, makes you feel what it was like to homestead in northern Ontario in the mid-1800s.





* * *



The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway is one of the most impressive chapters in Canadian history. Macdonald rightly regarded the railroad as crucial in unifying the country, spurring immigration and stimulating business and manufacturing. It was a costly proposition, made even more challenging by the rough and rugged terrain the tracks had to traverse. To entice investors, the government offered major benefits, including vast land grants in western Canada. Workers drove the final spike into the track at Craigellachie, BC, on November 7, 1885.

To bring law and order to the вЂ˜wild west,’ the government created the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1873, which later became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Nicknamed вЂ˜Mounties,’ they still serve as Canada’s national police force today. Although they were effective, the NWMP couldn’t prevent trouble from brewing on the prairies, where the Plains First Nations had been forced to sign various treaties relegating them to reserves. It wasn’t long before these groups began to challenge their status.



* * *



The Long Exile (2007), by Melanie McGrath, follows three Inuit families who were forced to relocate to staggeringly bleak Ellesmere Island in the high Arctic, as Canada tried to stake its claim during the Cold War.





* * *



Meanwhile, many MГ©tis had moved to Saskatchewan and settled around Batoche. As in Manitoba, they quickly clashed with government surveyors over land issues. In 1884, after their repeated appeals to Ottawa had been ignored, they coaxed Louis Riel out of exile to represent their cause. Rebuffed, Riel responded the only way he knew: by forming a provisional government and leading the MГ©tis in revolt. Riel had the backing of the Cree, but times had changed: with the railroad nearly complete, government troops arrived within days. Riel surrendered in May and was hanged for treason later that year.


Return to beginning of chapter

CUTTING THE APRON STRINGS

Canada rang in the 20th century on a high note. Industrialization was in full swing, prospectors had discovered gold in the Yukon, and Canadian resources – from wheat to lumber – were increasingly in demand. In addition, the new railroad opened the floodgates to immigration.

Between 1885 and 1914 about 4.5 million people arrived in Canada. This included large groups of Americans and Eastern Europeans, especially Ukrainians, who went to work cultivating the prairies. Optimism reigned: a buoyant Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier said вЂ˜The 19th century was the century of the United States. I think we can claim that it is Canada that shall fill the 20th century.’ It was only natural that this new-found self-confidence would put the country on track to autonomy from Britain. The issue took on even greater urgency when WWI broke out in 1914.



* * *



EXTREME MAKEOVER: THE IMAGE OF LOUIS RIEL

Rebel, murderer, traitor – MГ©tis leader Louis Riel was called many things, and not many of them were compliments in 1885, when he was hanged for treason. But today, a growing number of Canadians see him as a hero who defended the rights of the oppressed against an unjust government. Statues of Riel now stand on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and outside the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg, where his boyhood home Click here and grave have become places of pilgrimage. The University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon has named its campus theater, student center and pub after Riel. The government’s 1998 Statement of Reconciliation to Canada’s Aboriginal peoples even included an apology for Riel’s execution. Most tellingly, in 2002 after broadcasting a re-enactment of Riel’s trial, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) conducted a straw poll among viewers: 87% of them returned a вЂ˜not guilty’ verdict for Riel.





* * *



Canada – as a member of the British Empire – found itself automatically drawn into the conflict. In the war’s first years, more than 300,000 volunteers went off to European battlefields. As the war dragged on and thousands of soldiers returned in coffins, recruitment ground to a halt. The government, intent on replenishing its depleted forces, introduced the draft in 1917. It proved to be a very unpopular move, to say the least, especially among French Canadians. Animosity toward Ottawa was already at an all-time high since the government had recently abolished bilingual schools in Manitoba and restricted the use of French in Ontario’s schools. The conscription issue fanned the flames of nationalism even more. Thousands of Québecois took to the streets in protest, and the issue left Canada divided and Canadians distrustful of their government.



* * *



More than one million Canadians served in the armed forces during WWII from a population of approximately 11.5 million; 42,000 died.





* * *





* * *



Newfoundland was the only place in North America directly attacked by German forces during WWII. A U-boat launched a torpedo at an offshore freighter; it missed and struck inland at Bell Island.





* * *



By the time the guns of WWI fell silent in 1918, most Canadians were fed up with sending their sons and husbands to fight in distant wars for Britain. Under the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King, an eccentric fellow who communicated with spirits and worshipped his dead mother, Canada began asserting its independence. Mackenzie King made it clear that Britain could no longer automatically draw upon the Canadian military, started signing treaties without British approval, and sent a Canadian ambassador to Washington. This forcefulness led to the Statute of Westminster, passed by the British Parliament in 1931. The statute formalized the independence of Canada and other Commonwealth nations, although Britain retained the right to pass amendments to those countries’ constitutions.

Oddly, that right remained on the books for another half century. It was removed only with the 1982 Canada Act, which Queen Elizabeth II signed into law on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 17. Today, Canada is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament consisting of an appointed upper house, or Senate, and an elected lower house, the House of Commons. The British monarch remains Canada’s head of state, although this is predominantly a ceremonial role and does not diminish the country’s sovereignty. Within Canada, the appointed governor general is the monarch’s representative.


Return to beginning of chapter

LIL’ CANADA ALL GROWN UP

The period after WWII brought another wave of economic expansion and immigration, especially from Europe.

Newfoundland finally joined Canada in 1949. Joey Smallwood, the politician who persuaded the island to sign up, claimed it would bring economic prosperity. Once he became Newfoundland’s premier, he helped this prosperity along by forcing a resettlement program upon citizens. People living in small, isolated fishing communities (aka outports) were strongly вЂ˜encouraged’ to pack it up and move inland where the government could deliver schools, health care and other services more economically. One method for вЂ˜encouraging’ villagers was to cut ferry services to their communities, thus making them inaccessible since there were no roads.



* * *



TAKING STEPS TOWARDS HEALING

Canada never experienced the all-out massacres that marred the European/Native American clashes in the USA. Nevertheless, Canada’s Aboriginal population still suffered discrimination, loss of territory and civil rights violations throughout the country’s history.



In 1990, Aboriginal frustration over these issues reached a boiling point with the Oka Crisis, a violent standoff between the government and a band of Mohawk activists near MontrГ©al. The conflict was sparked by a land claim: the town of Oka was planning to expand a golf course onto land that the Mohawk considered sacred. A 78-day clash ensued, and one policeman died of gunshot wounds. The event shook Canada, and focused national attention on Aboriginal human rights violations and outstanding land claims.



In the aftermath of Oka, a Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples issued a report recommending a complete overhaul of relations between the government and indigenous peoples. Slow to respond at first, in 1998 the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs issued an official Statement of Reconciliation that accepted responsibility for past injustices toward Aboriginal peoples. It specifically apologized for the policy of removing children from their families and educating them in underfunded government schools in the name of assimilation. Most importantly, though, it pledged to give indigenous peoples greater control over their land, resources, government and economy. You can read the entire Statement of Reconciliation at www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/gs/rec_e.html, or find out about Gathering Strength, the government’s вЂ˜aboriginal action plan,’ at www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/gs/index_e.html.



The highest-profile development that followed was the creation of Nunavut in 1999, which gave 28,000 people – mostly Inuit – control over about one-fifth of Canadian soil. To learn more about this and other land claims, Click here; for information on Aboriginal-owned businesses, Click here.





* * *



The only province truly left behind during the 1950s boom years was QuГ©bec. For a quarter century, it remained in the grip of ultra-conservative Maurice Duplessis and his Union Nationale party, with support from the Catholic Church and various business interests. Only after Duplessis’ death did the province finally start getting up to speed during the вЂ˜Quiet Revolution’ of the 1960s. Advances included expanding the public sector, investing in public education and nationalizing the provincial hydroelectric companies. Still, progress wasn’t swift enough for radical nationalists who claimed independence was the only way to ensure Francophone rights. QuГ©bec has spent the ensuing years flirting with separatism (see boxed text).



* * *



The documentary Rocks at Whiskey Trench (2000), by filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin, observes the events surrounding the 1990 Oka Crisis and its effects on the local Mohawk community.





* * *





* * *



In Octobre (1994), provocative Québecois filmmaker Pierre Falardeau looks at the terrorist abduction and murder of Pierre Laporte during the 1970 October Crisis from the kidnappers’ viewpoint.





* * *



In 1960, Canada’s Aboriginal peoples were finally granted Canadian citizenship. In 1985, Canada became the first country in the world to pass a national multicultural act and establish a federal department of multiculturalism. Today 40% of Canadians claim their origins are in places other than Britain or France.

The new millennium has been kind to Canada. The loonie took off around 2003, thanks to the oil, diamonds and other natural resources fueling the economy. Tolerance marches onward, with medical marijuana and gay marriage both legalized recently. Expect the country to continue getting all glammed up before the world spotlight shines on it for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.


Return to beginning of chapter

TIMELINE



* * *





Circa 70 million years ago Dinosaurs enjoy the warm, coastal climate that exists in southern Alberta at this time (the hefty creatures think of it like today’s Victoria).

Circa 25,000 BC Hot on the hoofs of juicy caribou and bison, the first humans arrive in Canada by crossing over the land bridge that once connected Siberia to North America.

1000 Viking Leif Eriksson and crew wash up at L’Anse Aux Meadows, where they smelt iron, build sod houses and grow long beards. They’re the first Europeans in North America, beating Columbus by 500 years.

1497 John Cabot sails over from Britain and finds Newfoundland instead of China. Actually, it’s not a bad trade-off because the waters are filled with fat codfish – lip-smacking noshes to folks back in Europe.

1528 St John’s, Newfoundland, bobs up as North America’s first town. It belongs to no nation; rather it serves fishing fleets from all over Europe. By 1583 the British claim it as the first colony of their Empire.

1534 Jacques Cartier sails into what is now QuГ©bec. He searches for gold and precious metals, but gets only chilled rocks. Still, he plunks down the tricolore to claim the land for France.

1603 After King James strands British naval officer Peter Easton in Newfoundland without pay, Easton becomes Canada’s first pirate. Soon he commands 40 ships and 5000 men. He eventually retires to France and becomes the Marquis of Savoy.

1608 After four years of real estate dissatisfaction (this place is too cold, that one is too difficult to defend), Samuel de Champlain puts down stakes at QuГ©bec City, giving New France its first permanent settlement.

1670 King Charles II creates the Hudson’s Bay Company, North America’s first corporation, to shore up the local fur trade for the Brits. Years later, the company morphs into The Bay department store chain.

1755 The English round up and deport thousands of French Acadians from the Bay of Fundy region. Some 14,000 men, women and children are forced onto ships during the Great Expulsion; many head to Louisiana in the USA.

1759 Canada’s most famous battle, a beauty between the French and English, happens on the Plains of Abraham at Québec City. It lasts less than an hour and kills both commanding generals. France takes it on the chin.

1763 The Treaty of Paris boots France out of Canada for good after France loses the Seven Years’ War. Thus, Canada ceases to ping-pong between power-mongering France and Britain and can start building its own résumé.

1818 The USA and Britain hash out the Treaty of 1818, covering issues such as fishing, boundaries and slavery. The upshot for Canada: its border is defined as the 49th Parallel from Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains.

1858 Yee-haw! Prospectors discover gold along the Fraser River in BC, spurring thousands of get-rich-quick dreamers to move north and start panning. Most remain poor.

1864 The Fathers of the Confederation meet in Charlottetown, PEI, and mould a new country called Canada from the group of loosely knit colonies that now comprise the land.

1867 It’s official: the British North America Act unites the colonies under the Dominion of Canada, a card-carrying member of the British Empire. Queen Victoria celebrates with Canadian bacon for breakfast.

1873 The Mounties are formed, showing the world that crime-fighting can happen politely (as Dudley Do-Right attests).

1885 Canada’s first national park opens in Banff, Alberta; meanwhile, in Craigellachie, BC, workers complete the Canadian Pacific Railway.

1893 The Montréal AAA hockey team accepts the first Stanley Cup ever awarded (donated by a gent named Lord Stanley of Preston). It’s now the oldest trophy that any North American pro sports team competes for.

1913 Immigration to Canada crests, with more than 400,000 people embracing the maple leaf this year. Most are Americans and Eastern Europeans, who can’t resist the call of the nation’s fertile prairies.

Early 1960s It’s a time of change: the вЂ˜Quiet Revolution’ modernizes, secularizes and liberalizes QuГ©bec, while Aboriginal peoples are finally granted citizenship nationwide.

1961 The kind and neighborly folks of Saskatchewan introduce the first universal healthcare plan, a brilliant idea that soon spreads to the rest of Canada.

1963 After smoothing a whole lot of concrete, workers lay the final touches on the Trans-Canada Hwy, spanning 7821km from St John’s, Newfoundland, to Victoria, BC.

1967 The Great Canadian Oil Sands plant opens at Fort McMurray, Alberta, and starts pumping out black gold. It’s reputed to hold more oil than all of Saudi Arabia.

1980 It’s a big year for music: 12-year-old CГ©line Dion ships off her first demo to producer (and future husband) Rene Angelil; Bryan Adams releases his first album; and вЂ˜O Canada’ becomes the national anthem.

1982 Queen Elizabeth II signs the Canada Act, giving Canada complete sovereignty. However, she retains the right to keep her mug on the money and appoint a governor general.

1992 The government imposes the cod moratorium in Atlantic waters, and thousands of Canadian fisherfolk lose their livelihoods. The ban was supposed to be lifted within a few years, but depleted cod stocks never rebounded.

1996 Rush band members Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart are dubbed members of the Order of Canada for lifetime achievement and service to the nation. Modern day warriors, indeed.

1998 The Canadian government apologizes to Aboriginal peoples, saying вЂ˜attitudes of racial and cultural superiority led to a suppression of Aboriginal culture and values.’ It vows not to repeat past mistakes.

1999 Nunavut, Canada’s newest province, is chiseled from the icy eastern Arctic, giving about one-fifth of Canadian soil to the 28,000 Inuit who live there.

2001 Canada decriminalizes marijuana for medical use, and subsequently adds the Marihuana Medical Access Division to its government payroll. Patients can buy ready-to-use buds, or seeds to grow their own.

2003 Canada becomes the world’s third-largest diamond producer (after Botswana and Russia), thanks to riches discovered in the NWT. The baubles spark a modern-day boom similar to BC’s gold rush.

2005 Canada legalizes gay marriage throughout the country. Most provinces and territories permitted it anyway, but now hold-outs Alberta, PEI, Nunavut and the NWT have to join the ranks.





* * *





Return to beginning of chapter





The Culture



* * *





THE NATIONAL PSYCHE

LIFESTYLE

ECONOMY

POPULATION

MULTICULTURALISM

MEDIA

RELIGION

SPORTS

THE ARTS



* * *



THE NATIONAL PSYCHE Margo Pfeiff

Canadians are often stereotyped as polite, unarmed Americans in winter clothes. Nice, but with no sense of humor. While it’s true that we are overtly civil, don’t pack pistols and wear tuques out of climatic necessity, we have actually produced a roll call of internationally acclaimed comedians from Jim Carrey and Howie Mandel to Mike Myers and Martin Short, as well as Montreal’s world-class Just for Laughs Festival.

How fitting to begin an exploration of our national psyche by comparing ourselves to Americans, since Canadians largely define themselves – sometimes to the point of being tiresome – by our differences with our next-door neighbors. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to having the world’s most influential nation on your doorstop, bombarding your airwaves and magazine racks with their values and popular culture like a teenager with his stereo cranked to the max. We can’t help but soak up and mimic it some, envying and resenting – just a little bit – their wealth, avenues of opportunity and entrepreneurial jam. It’s a culture we like to visit, but we wouldn’t want to live it. Our differences with Americans may be subtle, but they are significant.



* * *



Everything there is to know about Canadian culture can be found on a bilingual government/private sector website, www.culture.ca.





* * *



So, what are we when we’re not busy not being American? We are a nation proud of our semi-socialism whose holy grail is a universal health-care scheme (desperately in need of medicine itself, despite Michael Moore’s hurrahs in his 2007 documentary Sicko), with government-subsidized higher education and support for the arts even if it means high taxation. We are tolerant towards foreign cultures and celebrate their differences by encouraging multiculturalism. After all, we coined the term in 1964 and have it enshrined in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And we are open-minded when it comes to alternative lifestyles like same-sex marriage and lighting up a joint. According to almost every international institution, Canada rates in the top echelon in everything from public transit to freedom of the press to world business competitiveness. It is a compassionate and very pleasant country to live in, even if you are old, poor, ill or different. And that’s important to Canadians.

Yet listen to us! We carry on about issues like exerting our sovereignty over the Arctic in the face of international challenges, talking green while gobbling up an embarrassing volume of resources per capita and pretending we don’t already have a second tier of private medical care. We fret that multiculturalism might be leading to a splintered society with pockets of solitudes. And we are indignant about having to honor treaties we signed long ago with Aboriginals who refuse to simply fade into the sunset. Since we can’t agree on what to do about it all, we launch costly investigative commissions that drag on and glaze the eyeballs of even the most stalwart government wonk and ultimately achieve very little. Sometimes we care less about the issue itself – be it the abysmal state of aboriginal reserves or those darn baby seals – than how it makes us appear on the world stage. We whine and fume, but it’s rare for us to hit the streets for something we strongly believe in. We are more a nation of debaters than people of action.

Canadians would like to see themselves as urban and suave – and sometimes we are, but for the most part we are provincial. We are accused of being boring since we lack a sharp urban edge and we’re generally not confrontational. Canadians are like one small family living in a very big house in the suburbs. If something really irks, we can always retreat to another room until our anger dissipates. Peace at any cost is an integral part of our heritage and psyche, and we are lucky to have never experienced war on our home turf. Despite the reality that Canadians have fought in overseas conflicts for the better part of a century, we see ourselves as a nation of peacekeepers; it was former prime minister Lester B Pearson who received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for settling the Suez Crisis, an action that led to his being lauded as the father of peacekeeping. Canadians are accustomed to seeing their troops in baby blue berets bringing peace to the world’s hot spots, so the current stream of coffins returning from Afghanistan is fueling anguish and even more debate.

Canada was once called a вЂ˜clothesline nation,’ strung as it is along the US border with the occasional population cluster along the way. Each – from the homey Maritime provinces to the French and English bastions of QuГ©bec and Ontario, the modest prairie provinces, conservative Alberta, the Left Coast and the scattered, struggling Aboriginals – is a nation unto itself with distinct histories, cultures and languages. A favorite quip is that the only thing unifying Canada is a universal hatred of successful, corporate, American-leaning Toronto, although a recent documentary on the subject revealed that no-one could say exactly why. Perhaps just to unite us. Add to all that diversity a mushrooming population of multiethnic immigrants and the constant pressure – what Pierre Trudeau called the twitches and grunts – of the American elephant sleeping at our side, and it’s amazing there is a Canada at all.

But it all contributes to the national psyche, helping Canadians to see themselves as something like North America’s Kiwis: reserved, embarrassed by flag-waving nationalism, green and peace-loving with a social conscience. We may not have the sense of history of the UK, or the bravado and self-assuredness of the Aussies, but we do have our own quiet style that is the key to the miracle that has kept this complex, open society from falling apart or crashing into warring tribal factions. We have learned that flexibility, compromise, tolerance, dialogue, a sense of humor and being nice just might be the glue that keeps this unlikely country together.


Return to beginning of chapter

LIFESTYLE

With a strong economy, fuel pouring from Alberta oil fields and high employment, the mood in Canada is largely upbeat. While the present is rosy, Canadians are nervous about a graying future; one in every seven Canadians is a senior (over 65), and the number of children under 14 years is at an all-time low. That means that soon we won’t be fretting over day care anymore – we’ll be stressing about home care. By 2016 there will no longer be enough new workers to replace retiring baby boomers, the fastest-growing demographic. Concerns are growing about the impact this aging population will have on the country’s health-care system and pension plans. At the same time, many provinces have abolished mandatory retirement at 65. The upside for Canada is that it is still the second-youngest G8 country after the USA.

What does a typical Canadian family look like? Mum and dad are raising 1.5 kids on an average annual salary of $89,500 (if both parents are working, which they usually are – 75% of women with children under 16 are employed). The gap between rich and poor in Canada is increasing and income growth for the working classes has slowed. Canadians are borrowing more, especially to buy homes that have reached record prices in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Kids will attend postsecondary education in numbers unrivaled in any other country (with female students vastly outnumbering males), creating the most highly educated population per capita in the world. Inside an average Canadian home all the latest electronic gadgets are present along with a car or two in the garage. But living standards are more modest than in the USA due to a lower per-capita income and some of the world’s highest tax rates. These factors also contribute to a вЂ˜brain drain’ of skilled Canadians to the USA, where there is often more opportunity for career advancement and earnings.



* * *



The most common family name in Canada is Tremblay, of which there are 180,000. One in 50 Quebecers is a Tremblay.





* * *



вЂ˜Average’ families (mother, father and children living together) now represent only 44% of all families in Canada, a figure falling every year. The number of single-parent families has been growing, as it has for common-law relationships, especially in predominantly Roman Catholic QuГ©bec. There, 30% of couples live together unwed, a proportion comparable to Sweden. Nationally, twice as many Canadians live in common-law relationships as Americans. In 2005 Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage; so far same-sex divorce has not yet been sanctioned. Same-sex couples comprise only 0.7% of legal unions in Canada, and adoptions by same-sex parents are not uncommon.



* * *



Quirky Canadian factoids abound at www.canadacool.com!





* * *



Tolerance of alternative lifestyles extends to marijuana use, which has been legalized for medicinal purposes. Canada’s rate of pot use is the highest of any industrialized nation – four times the world average and double that of the Netherlands – with 17% of the population lighting up. But a federal bill to legalize possession of marijuana for personal use remains stalled.

Leisure-loving Canadians work about three weeks fewer per year than Americans, and fewer than Australians, too. During the July and August school break, many kids spend a week or two in camp learning outdoor skills, languages and sports. On weekends or for vacations, families head to lakes and beaches in campervans, or to cabins in the woods in вЂ˜cottage country’ outside major cities. Canadians are known for winter sports like skiing and especially hockey, the national pastime, which is played by 1.6 million Canadians on outdoor rinks and lakes during winter, and on suburban streets throughout the summer where goals are set up in the middle of the road.

But Canadians are much more likely to watch hockey than to play it. Almost 60% of all Canadians are overweight or obese, and in children the figure is 30% and rising. Canadian participation in organized sports and physical activity is 34%, ahead of both the USA and Australia, but even in the most active province, British Columbia (where Vancouver has the country’s highest life expectancy), only one in four adults does enough exercise to obtain cardiovascular benefit. Canadians living in rural areas are more likely to be overweight than those in urban areas, and although Canadians prefer beer over wine and are not excessive in their consumption of either, they do overindulge in doughnuts: Canadians consume three times as many doughnuts per capita as Americans – more than anyone else in the world, in fact – especially at the ubiquitous Tim Hortons franchises.



* * *



According to the 2001 Statistics Canada survey, almost 238,000 US-born citizens now call Canada home.





* * *



Gun ownership is restricted in Canada, and there is a push to bring in even tougher gun control in the wake of a 2006 вЂ˜summer of the gun’ in Toronto and a MontrГ©al college shooting spree in 2007. Still, the national crime rate is at its lowest point in 25 years, and the homicide rate dropped 10% in 2006. Major cities are not more dangerous than the countryside; Toronto’s crime rate, for example, is lower than Ontario’s. Crime remains higher in western Canada than in the east.

Canadians are world-savvy, avid travelers who often hop across one of the 125 US border crossings for a weekend or even a day trip to shop; 40% of all Canadians traveled to the USA in 2006. In winter, flocks of retired Canadians, nicknamed вЂ˜snowbirds,’ migrate south for months on end to warm destinations, particularly the southern USA. The USA accounts for 74% of Canadian travel. Keen globetrotters, 55% of Canadians own passports (versus 32% of Americans).


Return to beginning of chapter

ECONOMY

One of the world’s wealthiest nations with a per-capita income of $32,300 and a member of the G8, Canada’s free-market economy is currently riding a boom. Since the mid-1990s the government has steadily paid down the federal debt and now regularly posts budgetary surpluses. The Canadian dollar is at a 30-year high against the US buck, and unemployment rates are at a 30-year low.

The USA is Canada’s biggest trading partner. The strong Canadian dollar is affecting the export and manufacturing sectors, including a sizable automotive and aerospace industry, and tourism, as Americans’ northward shopping sprees were curbed by the unfavorable exchange rate. In the summer of 2007 visitor figures in some cities were down as much as 45%.

While the economy is dominated by the service industry, Canada is unusual among developed nations in the importance of natural resources such as logging, mining, wheat and oil. Oil in particular is a major factor in the current economic climate. Northern Alberta’s vast Athabasca Tar Sand Reserves are the world’s second-biggest oil reserves, after Saudi Arabia, estimated at 175 billion barrels. The booming oil fields’ labor demands are attracting workers from across the country and sending unemployment rates in Alberta, British Columbia and the Maritime provinces to the lowest levels in history. Even Québec, which has been in the economic doldrums for decades due to a volatile political climate, has been playing catch-up in recent years.


Return to beginning of chapter

POPULATION

Canada has an average of only 3.5 occupants per square kilometer. There are only nine countries less densely populated than Canada – Australia among them – yet it is one of the world’s most urbanized nations; nearly 80% of the population of 31.6 million lives in towns of 10,000 people or more. And, as if to keep warm, roughly 80% of Canadians are huddled in the south within 160km of the US border. More than half the population lives in the provinces of Ontario and Québec, and once you head north the number of people dwindles along with the number of trees.

Canadians have always been on the move within the country’s borders. Balmy weather in lower British Columbia attracts winter-weary Canadians from further east. In recent years the oil boom in northern Alberta has drawn workers from across the country, particularly Atlantic Canada, where it is almost a tradition for young people to leave their unemployment-plagued home provinces to find work in other parts of Canada (see boxed text).


Return to beginning of chapter

MULTICULTURALISM

Canada prides itself on its cultural diversity. After all, it was the first country in the world to establish a federal department of multiculturalism. Unlike the USA, whose вЂ˜melting pot’ of immigrants blends into the existing American fabric, nearly every major Canadian city has a Greektown, Little Italy, Chinatown or Little Punjab.



* * *



In Canada 53 aboriginal languages are spoken, with the three most prevalent being Cree, Inuktitut and Ojibwe.





* * *



Multiculturalism has been a defining characteristic of Canada since the arrival of the French – the first Europeans to settle here – with the English not far behind. Chinese immigrants were brought to the west to build the transcontinental railway in the 1800s, and by the time of the most recent census (2001), the country had become home to 200 different ethnic groups speaking 100 languages. Canada has one of the highest rates of immigration per capita in the world and accepts large numbers of refugees. With a growth rate of only 1.5%, most of the country’s recent population growth is due to immigration.

Canada’s original inhabitants – including First Nations (those of North American Indian descent), MГ©tis (those with вЂ˜mixed blood’ ancestry) and Inuit – make up just over 3% of the total population. These 1.3 million people who consider themselves Aboriginal are second in density only to New Zealand’s Maoris in terms of Aboriginal makeup of a national population. The majority of Aboriginal people live in the prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and in Canada’s north; one-half live in urban areas. Among the Aboriginal population the average age is 24.7, or 13 years younger than the median age of non-Aboriginal Canadians, and their birth rates are almost twice the national average. As in other nations such as Australia, the Aboriginal suicide rate, which is six times higher than for the rest of the population, is an alarming indicator of social crisis.



* * *



ABORIGINAL LAND CLAIMS

Most Aboriginal people have strong ties to their land, not only as a source of sustenance, but also as part of their culture and spirituality. They didn’t see land as an owned commodity when they signed treaties with early Europeans – they felt the land and its resources would be shared. But the colonists saw treaties as a trade of land for compensation.



More than 50 treaties were signed, first with the British and then the Canadian governments. Not all First Nations, Inuit or Métis signed treaties. Among those who did, many did not receive the land, money, food, medicine or housing they were promised. Since the 1970s Aboriginal people have made land claims against the federal and provincial governments, an issue that gained urgency as plans were made to develop northern resources. Where no treaties were signed, land claims now involve roughly half the total area of Canada. Treaties are important because they acknowledge that native people have certain rights as the nation’s original occupants, as recognized in the Constitution Act of 1982.



Resolution of land claims is complicated, as two levels of government are involved with all the ensuing debates surrounding land ownership and how treaties should be interpreted. Some cases remain unresolved after half a century and frustration has mounted. In the 1980s and ’90s the fight to settle land claims became increasingly vocal and sometimes violent. A 1985 blockade by the Haida of British Columbia against logging an old-growth forest finally resolved a 13-year land claims battle. There have been armed standoffs between Aboriginals and police like that at an Ontario reserve called Camp Ipperwash in 1995, where police shot and killed Chippewa protestor Anthony Dudley George.



In November 1975, after conflict with the Cree and Inuit of northern Québec over plans to construct a series of hydroelectric dams, the governments of Canada and Québec signed the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement, granting exclusive hunting and fishing rights to about 170,000 sq km of territory. It was the first modern-day land-claim settlement. But in 1988 Hydro-Québec signed a $17-billion contract with the New York Power Authority to export electricity from a second phase of dams called the Great Whale Project, which would flood Cree and Inuit treaty land. Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come launched a high-profile media battle in 1990 that included the support of Robert Kennedy Jr; Cree and Inuit paddled a traditional canoe from Hudson’s Bay to Manhattan. New York State cancelled the deal, and Québec cancelled the project.



In 1993 Canada’s biggest land claim was settled when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney signed into existence the new territory of Nunavut, which took effect in 1999, giving the Inuit self-government after more than 20 years of negotiations.



Settling land claims is an important step for Aboriginals to become stewards of their own future. Since the creation of Nunavut there has been widespread mineral exploration that gives a territory the potential for much-needed revenue. In 2002 most of the land claims had been settled with the Dene, Inuit and Métis of the Northwest Territories’ Mackenzie Valley, where there are plans for an oil and gas pipeline.



Aboriginal land claims continue to capture the front page of Canadian newspapers. To draw attention to their battles and to the abysmal condition of reserves, in 2007 First Nations blocked the main highway between Toronto and MontrГ©al on Canada Day weekend. But there is also hope; later that month, the QuГ©bec government signed an agreement with their northern Cree that would grant them the right to run their own justice and community affairs.



For the latest in aboriginal news, visit www.cbc.ca/aboriginal.





* * *



While nearly 60% of the country is English-speaking, over 20% of the population cites French as their mother tongue throughout most of QuГ©bec and much of New Brunswick. Dotted throughout are the remaining areas of Allophones, representing languages from Icelandic to Urdu.

Foreign-born Canadians comprise 18% of the population, the highest level in 70 years – only in Australia is the proportion higher. In the USA, only about 10% of citizens are foreign-born. Immigration patterns vary in different regions of the country. BC has a long history of welcoming Japanese, Chinese and South Asian immigrants, and more recently large numbers of people from Eastern Europe and Iran. The prairie provinces have traditionally been the destination of large numbers of Ukrainians, and Ontario, which has sizable Caribbean and Russian populations, is also home to 60% of Canada’s Muslims, who now make up 2% of the Canadian population. Québec, which has an immigration system separate from that of the rest of the country, encourages French-speaking immigrants from Tunisia, Morocco, Vietnam and Haiti. Although immigrants have moved into all regions of the country, nearly three-quarters migrate to the three biggest metropolitan areas: Vancouver, Montréal and Toronto. A whopping 43% of the country’s immigrants make the Greater Toronto area their final destination in Canada.



* * *



Across Canada, there are 612 aboriginal bands and 2600 reserves covering an area nearly the size of Vancouver Island. Living conditions on reserves are often far below the rest of the country.





* * *



Canada’s percentage of visible minorities continues to increase, with the largest group being more than one million Chinese. In March 2005 Statistics Canada projected that the number of visible minorities in Canada will double by 2017, and that by 2012 the majority of the populations of Toronto and Vancouver would be comprised of visible minorities. Increased immigration has changed the face of Canada’s schools, where nearly one in five students in Toronto and Vancouver are new arrivals and roughly half of them speak no English or French. In fact, according to the 2001 census, fewer than 20% of Canadians are actually bilingual in English and French.



* * *



Bon Cop, Bad Cop, a 2006 comedy/thriller cop film about an Anglophone and a Francophone who reluctantly join forces, became the biggest grossing Canadian movie in history.





* * *





* * *



ABORIGINAL TOURISM

From learning to paddle a traditional canoe in Port Alberni, BC Click here, to sampling bannock bread in a Mi’kmaq cafГ© on Prince Edward Island’s Lennox Island to trying your hand at driving a dog team in Nunavut, the growing popularity of aboriginal tourism is an indicator of native people’s determination to retain or regain their traditional cultural roots. In 2001, businesses owned or operated by Canada’s First Nations, MГ©tis and Inuit employed over 10,000 people and generated $862 million – an important source of income, especially in remote regions where вЂ˜town jobs’ are rare. Equally important, the cultural revival and sense of pride that an outside interest in aboriginal culture has generated gives young people a purpose to learn about their heritage.



The further north in Canada you head, the more your travel dollars benefit Aboriginals. First Air and Air Creebec are Aboriginal-owned, as are the Co-op hotel chain and Cruise North, an Inuit-owned leisure cruise operation. Increasingly, Aboriginals are opening their lives to visitors. Dine on maktaaq, smoked whitefish and caribou stew in the Tuktoyaktuk home of a traditional hunter or try a homestay with an Iqaluit family. The experience can be as varied as a walk in Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park in Iqaluit, an afternoon kayaking at Pond Inlet, the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik in the Northwest Territories, taking a moccasin-making workshop at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Alberta, or wine tasting and even a round of championship golf at Nk’Mip in Osoyoos, BC Click here.



A good website with links to aboriginal tourism opportunities nationwide is http://canada.travelall.com/promos/aboriginal.htm.





* * *



Considering the numbers and diversity, there is relatively little racial strife in Canada, but as in any multicultural country there are some ongoing problems with interracial conflicts. There has also been controversy about Canada’s refugee process. Many Canadians feel the system is too lenient on visitors who arrive in Canada and declare themselves refugees, which grants them a government-subsidized existence while they await a hearing on their status, which can take months or sometimes even years. Some refugees disappear into the system or illegally skip to the USA. International people-smuggling rackets often target Canada because the coastline is vast and penalties are less severe than in the USA. The racketeers coach their human cargo on how to declare refugee status, but often their ultimate destination is the USA, a quick (but illegal) trip over the border.


Return to beginning of chapter

MEDIA

Although often overshadowed by US airwaves and publications, Canada has a healthy media sector, with 130 television and 2000 radio stations in both English and French. There is a free press with very little censorship of editorial content apart from that which might discourage advertising or attract libel suits, both simmering issues. Most Canadian newspapers are owned by large chains, which have been known to gobble up city-based alternative weeklies that might threaten competition. There have been concerns in the past about concentration of newspaper ownership: Izzy Asper’s CanWest, which has 11 English-language major metropolitan dailies between Victoria and Montréal, has been criticized for pushing to churn out one-size-fits-all editorials from its Winnipeg headquarters.



* * *



www.canadianencyclopedia.ca is a comprehensive site about all things Canadian, including access to magazine features.





* * *



Most TV networks in Canada are private and range from CTV to the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. The public Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has a French counterpart, Radio-Canada, with television and radio stations in both languages; the formats for some CBC radio programs, such as the nightly As It Happens, have been adopted by National Public Radio in the USA. However, controversy regularly enshrouds the public broadcaster; some Canadians claim the CBC is too commercial, others complain it isn’t Canadian enough or that the whole enterprise is simply a waste of taxpayers’ money. Still others couldn’t imagine a day without tuning into CBC radio or an evening without watching Peter Mansbridge explain world affairs on The National.



* * *



The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s French-language news, culture and entertainment site is www.radio-canada.ca.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

RELIGION

Although seven out of 10 Canadians identify themselves as Christians, immigration has made Islam the country’s fastest-growing religion. In Canada, two-thirds of Muslims actively practice their faith, while only one-fifth of Christians regularly attend religious services. More Canadians are reporting no religion, and in modern Québec – once devoutly Catholic – vacant churches, monasteries and convents are being converted into condos and colleges. Buddhism is booming across the country, with one of the best-known retreats set in Nova Scotia, where New York City–born Tibetan Buddhist guru Ane Pema Chödrön has established a center Click here on Cape Breton Island.

Canada also has its share of obscure, fringe sects, from the radical Russian Doukhobors, who have a history of stripping naked and burning down their houses, to the Solar Temple sect that committed mass suicide in the Laurentian Mountains outside Montréal. Québec, home base for the flamboyant Raelians – who believe humans were created by aliens and made unsubstantiated claims in 2002 to have cloned a human baby – is also seeing a marked recent increase in conversions to Scientology.


Return to beginning of chapter

SPORTS Bruce Dowbiggin

There’s a famous Irish quip that perhaps best sums up hockey, Canada’s national sport: вЂ˜Is this a private fight or can anyone join in?’ вЂ˜Pleasure fighting’ had a long tradition in the Celtic cultures that moved in their millions to Canada, a tradition distinguished by willing participants, a sense of pleasure in fighting and an absence of real malice (if you disregard that some fighters were killed or maimed). The combatants left standing after a day’s fun would then repair to the local bar for a convivial drink or 12 with the same men who, moments before, had been trying to knock them senseless.



* * *



Money Players: The Amazing Rise and Fall of the NHL Players Association, by Bruce Dowbiggin, documents the disastrous one-year NHL labor lockout.





* * *



It was only a short leap from the rowdy Irish lad with a hurley in his hands to his descendant, the robust defenceman, wielding a hockey stick on the frozen ponds of the new country. Today’s National Hockey League (NHL) players are richer than any country boy ever dreamed, but they still carry the germ of those original warriors. Teeth are optional. No trip to Canada between October and April would be complete without taking in Canada’s game. While NHL tickets in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal are very pricey ($50 to $300), there are both minor pro teams and junior hockey clubs who play an acceptable brand of hockey at reasonable prices. And with the Canadian dollar now at par with the US buck, Canada’s six teams now contribute over a third of the revenues to the NHL. But it doesn’t buy a Stanley Cup (the NHL’s holy grail): no Canadian team has won since 1993.

Still, in a nation that can’t agree about anything, everyone agrees about hockey. Surprisingly for the national passion, fans tend to be tolerant of visiting fans in Canadian arenas, although it would be foolhardy to root loudly for Calgary in Edmonton’s rink or to flip the bird at Montréal fans while wearing a Toronto jersey.



* * *



Take a virtual tour of the Hockey Hall of Fame, complete with a 3-D experience of the immortal Stanley Cup, at www.hhof.com.





* * *



Hockey replaced lacrosse as Canada’s national sport decades ago. Developed by Canada’s First Nations and played on solid, not frozen, ground, lacrosse is no less ferocious or skillful a sport. It’s similar to soccer, but it’s played with a small rubber ball and sticks that have woven leather baskets for catching and carrying the ball. Until very recently lacrosse was in danger of disappearing from the public consciousness, but the sport seems to be experiencing a renaissance with a new pro league.

Canada has its own version of North American football, the Canadian Football League (CFL), with eight teams from Montréal to Vancouver. While the Canadian version is played by 12 men and on a bigger field than its American counterpart, it’s no less hard-hitting. November’s Grey Cup is the annual championship game and cause for a national drinking fest. The libations are easier to understand when you remember that game-time temperatures have dipped as low as minus 10°C.



* * *



Slap Shot (1977), directed by George Roy Hill, is a cult film for all Canadians and hockey fans, in which profane humor and bloody violence collide as Paul Newman stars as the coach of a minor-league hockey team.





* * *





* * *



2010 OLYMPICS

Canada hosts the Olympics for the third time in 2010 when Vancouver raffles off the family silver for the honor of staging the Winter Olympics (MontrГ©al in 1976 and Calgary in 1988 were previous hosts). As such, the city is digging up every second road and making plans to hustle its street people off to Seattle when the world visits in February of that year.



The biggest concern for Vancouver (and Whistler, which is hosting several events) is snow – as in, вЂ˜will there be any?’ Environment cultists are predicting global warming will melt the bobsleigh runs; the Chamber of Commerce says, вЂ˜No worries, we’ve got it covered – with a meter of fluffy white stuff.’ Only Al Gore knows for sure.



Tickets are distributed by lottery, and then you have to take whatever event they give you. Holy biathlon, Batman! Unless you know someone. And if planning to attend, be prepared for $15 coffee. The medals aren’t the only gold taken away from an Olympics.





* * *



Being the USA’s impertinent neighbors, Canada also has its taste of US pro sports, with the National Basketball Association’s Toronto Raptors, Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, and Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC all vying for championships in leagues based south of the border. With so many different cultures settling in Canada in the past generation, these sports are quickly emerging as alternatives to hockey for new communities. The origins of so many players on Canadian national and Olympic teams give a picture of the diversity and the challenges facing the country as it searches for its identity in the 21st century.

Finally, lest we forget curling, that unique brand of frozen shuffleboard that captivates large segments of the Canadian population each winter. It’s called the вЂ˜roaring’ game, but don’t expect MГ¶tley CrГјe decibels – just CrГјe drinking. A Canadian sport that actually eschews fighting, curling requires players to slide polished granite stones to a painted target at the other end of a long sheet of ice. Closest to the center wins a point in this sport that originated in Scotland. The name вЂ˜curling’ comes from the way the stones curl in or out as they spin due to the friction between ice and stone. Players use a broom to affect how much curl a stone will get. If you’re looking to assimilate, just say something like, вЂ˜That double-raise takeout at the four-foot was awesome.’ They’ll know exactly what you mean, even if you don’t.


Return to beginning of chapter

THE ARTS Jennie Punter

вЂ˜The medium is the massage.’ The famous phrase, replete with typo, coined by renowned communication theorist and Canadian Marshall McLuhan retains its provocative thrust 50 years on, when 32% of Canadian households’ cultural expenditure goes toward cable or satellite TV services. And when it’s minus 40В°C, who wouldn’t cuddle up with a good hockey game, a world-class documentary or a couple of hours of hilarious homespun comedy on the tube?

Lest that send the message that Canada is a nation of couch potatoes, consider where the other 68% goes. Canadians enthusiastically support the arts with their participation, pocketbooks ($1 billion on live performing arts annually) and, perhaps more begrudgingly, tax dollars.



* * *



In Book of Longing, versatile Canadian poet Leonard Cohen meditates about life and aging with a compilation of musings and ink drawings.





* * *



Government funding of emerging and established artists and an array of arts organizations blossomed in the 1960s and ’70s, firmly establishing a culture of professionalism that helped develop both domestic and international audiences for Canadian talent while keeping the big bad wolf (the USA) from blowing the house down.

While dominant 19th- and early-20th-century archetypes such as вЂ˜the wilderness,’ вЂ˜the idea of north’ and stories of rural life can still be found in Canada’s creative output, overall the arts in Canada are a true reflection of the вЂ˜global village.’

Literature

Storytelling in Canada began with its indigenous peoples, whose living oral traditions are a vibrant part of the country’s literary history (19th-century poet Pauline Johnson, daughter of a Mohawk chief) and contemporary writing (novelist and children’s author Richard Van Camp of the Dogrib Nation). Today, literature is the creative endeavor by which Canada has most effectively defined and distinguished itself, and revealed its multicultural diversity of voices. Canadian writers are an industrious bunch; read the jacket of a book by any established author – Douglas Coupland’s jPOD, Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin – and he or she will probably be described as a poet, visual artist, filmmaker or radio host. And Canadian readers are darn proud of them.



* * *



Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography (2003) by Chester Brown, an unusual graphic novel and powerful landmark work, tells the fascinating story of Manitoba’s charismatic 19th-century Métis leader.





* * *



CBC Radio One is book-crazy, sprinkling literary news, interviews, discussion and dramatizations of novels throughout its daytime programs. The International Festival of Authors, held in Toronto every October, is one of the world’s premier literary events. The festival website (www.readings.org) links to other festivals, including French-language events, across Canada. Word On The Street Book and Magazine Fair (www.thewordonthestreet.ca), held in late September, is a popular coast-to-coast festival during which city streets close to celebrate books.

In urban centers, chains like Chapters/Indigo and independent bookstores hold regular author readings, and display Canadian and local writers prominently. Browsers will find annual anthologies like The Journey Prize Stories or The Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology, great introductions to emerging or veteran talent. The Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada’s richest annual literary award, has been won by important writers Alice Munro, David Adams Richards and the late Mordecai Richler; Vincent Lam created a sensation when his first book, connected medically-themed stories entitled Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, won in 2006.



* * *



Words at Large (www.cbc.ca/wordsatlarge) is a web portal offering radio programming, podcasts, a blog, lists and information about the written word in Canada and around the world.





* * *



Strong regional literary scenes are reflected in Canada’s abundance of vital small presses, many founded in the 1960s such as Les Editions d’Acadie (New Brunswick), VLB éditeur (Montréal), Toronto’s House of Anansi and Coach House, and BC’s Arsenal Pulp and Theytus Books, the latter an aboriginal publishing company. In the 1960s, George Bowering led a progressive west coast poetry movement while concrete poet bpNichol led Toronto’s influential Four Horsemen sound poetry group; exciting voices in contemporary poetry include Toronto’s Ken Babstock, Saskatchewan’s Sylvia Legris and Nova Scotia’s Anne Simpson.

Translation is considered an art in Canada. The finest French-Canadian literature can be read in English. Roger Lemelin’s classic La Famille Plouffe (1948), the second in a trilogy about the evolution of Québecois society, was adapted for TV by Denys Arcand. Manitoba-born Gabrielle Roy’s The Tin Flute (1945) was the first Canadian novel to win a major literary prize in France. Monique Proulx and Gaétan Soucy are just two of Québec’s most beloved contemporary writers.

Popular Canadian sleuths include St Catherine’s PI Benny Cooperman (novels by Crime Writers of Canada founder Howard Engel), Ottawa’s Inspector Green (novels by Barbara Fradkin) and Saskatchewan sleuth Joanne Kilbourn (novels by Gail Bowen). Top science-fiction authors include BC’s William Gibson and Spider Robinson, and Toronto’s Robert Sawyer and hotshot Cory Doctorow.



* * *



Robert J Sawyer is the only Canadian to win all three of the world’s top science-fiction awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula and the John W Campbell Memorial Award.





* * *



Farley Mowat’s memoirs and novels about his war service and Canadian wilderness adventures – the best known is Never Cry Wolf – have been translated into 52 languages. Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 novel about a feisty red-haired orphan, remains an international classic and focal point of tourism on Prince Edward Island.

Cinema & Television

Established in 1939, the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada, with regional studios across the country, is an internationally respected institution for documentaries and animation. The NFB is the Canadian entity with the most Oscar nominations. Experimental animation pioneer Norman MacLaren made jazz-fueled shorts and the stop-motion Cold War classic Neighbours (1952), while Cordell Barker (The Cat Came Back; 1988), Chris Landreth (Ryan; 2005) and Torill Kove (The Danish Poet; 2007) are among the more recent Oscar nominees. Visitors to NFB Mediatheques in MontrГ©al and Toronto can program their own free private-viewing film festivals (see www.nfb.ca for more information).

Canada boasts some of the world’s finest documentary storytellers – pioneer Pierre Perrault, cinema verité master Allan King (Dying at Grace), counterculture chronicler Ron Mann (Grass), director-activist Alanis Obomsawin (Rocks at Whiskey Trench), and arts explorer Jennifer Baichwal (Manufactured Landscapes). Toronto’s Hot Docs (www.hotdocs.ca) is the largest international documentary film festival in North America. Mark Achbar’s Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) and The Corporation (2003), exploring the pathology of corporate evil, are Canada’s two most successful docs.



* * *



The most popular Canadian film exported to other countries is the 1980s sex comedy Porky’s.





* * *



Many Hollywood films, TV series and movies-of-the-week are shot in Canada, attractive to foreign filmmakers for its locations, studio facilities, top-notch crews and tax breaks. The X-Files and Smallville were shot in and around Vancouver, while the city plays itself in the TV series Da Vinci’s Inquest and the Douglas Coupland–penned film Everything’s Gone Green (2007), both Canadian productions. In Toronto, the corner of Dundas and Roncesvalles saw the fancy footwork of Hairspray, landmark Casa Loma is a busy location (the X-Men series) and popular Canadian TV exports the Degrassi series (1980s) and sequel Degrassi: The Next Generation (premiered 2001) use the Degrassi Street neighborhood. Both cities vie for the title of вЂ˜Hollywood North,’ but Old MontrГ©al frequently stands in for Paris, and Alberta provides settings for moderns westerns like Brokeback Mountain. Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie, the top two Canadian sitcoms, are both set in small-town Saskatchewan (although only the former is filmed there). City and regional film commissions regularly post information on their websites about what’s shooting in their areas.



* * *



Mary Pickford (silent-screen heroine and cofounder of United Artists) and Raymond Massey (WWI hero and an actor in East of Eden) were born in Toronto, as was contemporary comedian and film actor Jim Carrey.





* * *



Over 95% of Canada’s annual box-office returns are for Hollywood or foreign films, but the stats are different in QuГ©bec, where 20% of ticket sales are for Canadian-made films. Claude Jutra’s Mon Oncle Antoine (1971) often tops Best Canadian Films lists. QuГ©bГ©cois filmmakers of note include maverick Jean-Pierre Lefevre, Cannes darling Denys Arcand (Oscar-winning Les Invasions barbares) and Francois Girard, who also makes films in English, including Silk (2007) and the must-see Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993). Recent rental-worthy QuГ©bec box-office hits include Jean-Marc Vallee’s C.R.A.Z.Y., Eric Canuel’s bilingual Bon Cop, Bad Cop (its tagline: вЂ˜Shoot First, Translate Later’) and Philippe Falardeau’s Belgian-QuГ©bec comedy Congorama.



* * *



TOO BUSY PACKING TO READ?

Here are acclaimed Canadian literary works brought to the screen by Canadians:





A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche (English translation published 2003); A Sunday in Kigali directed by Robert Favreau (2006)

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels (1996); directed by Jeremy Podeswa, opened 2007 Toronto International Film Festival

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler (published 1959); directed by Ted Kotcheff (released 1974)

The Englishman’s Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe (1996); four-part TV miniseries directed by John N Smith (2007)

The Tracey Fragments by Maureen Medved (1998); directed by Bruce McDonald (2007)

Whale Music by Paul Quarrington (1989); directed by Richard J Lewis, original music by the Rheostatics (1994)





* * *



The Rowdyman (1972) was an early hit for beloved Newfoundland actor Gordon Pinsent, a busy veteran who starred in the popular TV series Due South (about Mounties) and was вЂ˜discovered’ by America at Sundance in 2007 for his performance in Away From Her, the acclaimed feature directorial debut of former child star Sarah Polley (TV’s Road to Avonlea). Directors Norman Jewison (The Hurricane) and David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises) are highly regarded cinema veterans; the films of Atom Egoyan (Oscar-nominated Sweet Hereafter), Deepa Mehta (Oscar-nominated Water), Jeremy Podeswa (The Fugitive Pieces), Jamaican-born Clement Virgo (Poor Boy’s Game), Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park) and Calgary’s Gary Burns (Radiant City) are worthy DVD rentals. Julia Kwan (the delightful Eve and The Firehorse), Ian Iqbal Rashid (the dance film How She Move) and Hubert Davis (Oscar-nominated short Hardwood) are just a few exciting emerging cinema talents.



* * *



Inuit people are the subject of Nanook of the North (1922), a classic silent filmed in Canada by American director Robert J Flaherty.





* * *



The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the world’s premier cinema events, where Hollywood, Canadian and foreign film industries do business and host screenings of films from around the world. Other excellent fall film festivals are hosted by Vancouver, Montréal (www.ffm-montreal.org) and Halifax; the Ottawa International Animation Festival (www.awn.com/ottawa) is another world-class event, held annually in September.

Music

Canadian fans are as loyal and adventurous as they come. It’s no surprise Canada’s sounds are as diverse as its people, from Six Nations hip-hop of Ontario’s Tru Rez Crew to United Steelworkers of Montréal’s rowdy urban bluegrass, and rising global music star Kiran Ahluwalia’s ghazals (South Asian poetic songs) to the high-octane folk-pop of Newfoundland’s Great Big Sea.

The breadth of Canadian pop music ambition and taste is illustrated by two relatively new вЂ˜prizes.’ Canadian Idol, the Canuck version of the ubiquitous talent-search franchise, has been Canada’s highest-rated TV program since its premiere as a summer series in 2003. The Polaris Music Prize (http://polarismusicprize.ca), started in 2006, is a cash award given to the best Canadian album judged solely on merit. Polaris’ annual compilation albums are must-have samplings of the coolest Canadian talent; previous nominees include Toronto’s sprawling rock supergroup Broken Social Scene, Somali-born hip-hop artist K’naan, singer-songwriter Feist, Edmonton rapper Cadence Weapon, BC indie heroes The New Pornographers and MontrГ©al’s acclaimed rock experimentalists (and David Bowie fave) Arcade Fire.



* * *



The Canadian Music Hall of Fame, established in 1978, still does not have a physical home but can be virtually visited at www.junoawards.ca/vhof/index.php.





* * *



Summer travelers will inevitably stumble upon musical celebrations or can plan trips around events like the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal; the Winnipeg Folk Festival; the country’s largest classical event, Festival Vancouver; or further-flung gems such as the Dawson City Music Festival. Toronto’s Harbourfront features free themed music festivals every summer weekend. CBC Radio 3 (Channel 24 on North America’s Sirius Satellite network) features new cutting-edge Canadian tunes, while CBC Radio 2 (various frequencies across Canada) broadcasts performances by Canadian orchestras, live concerts of various genres and quality arts programming.

Despite grappling with issues facing many countries (declining sales, illegal downloading), Canada’s music industry thrives, thanks in part to the enterprising spirit of an array of independent companies and the major labels’ commitment to Canadian rosters. Regulations stipulating more than a quarter of music-radio programming must feature Canadian content (CanCon) ensure that music written and/or performed by Canadians is constantly on all radio airwaves. CanCon has been the source of considerable cultural debate: pundits once charged it bred mediocrity, but now they’re asking вЂ˜Is it still needed?’

From the iconoclasm of classical pianist Glenn Gould to the turntable eccentricities of Montréal DJ Kid Koala, from the road map of country legend Stompin’ Tom Connors to the kick-ass chick country of Terri Clark, from the sublime choral works of composer Healy Willan to the dramatic Wagnerian tones of tenor Ben Heppner, Canada has produced its fair share of internationally acclaimed innovators and icons.



* * *



TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL CANADIAN NATIONAL ANTHEMS



вЂ˜Lovers in a Dangerous Time’ – performed by writer Bruce Cockburn or The Barenaked Ladies, take your pick)

вЂ˜Mon Pays’ – Gilles Vignault

вЂ˜Snowbird’ – Anne Murray

вЂ˜Takin’ Care of Business’ – Bachman-Turner Overdrive

вЂ˜The Hockey Song’ – Stompin’ Tom Connors





* * *



Canadians have been a hit south of the border for decades. Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played the famous New Year’s Eve broadcast (1931–62), Paul Anka made teeny-boppers swoon in the ’50s, and jazz giant Oscar Peterson painted an indelible portrait with his piano trio вЂ˜Canadiana Suite’ (1964).

Influential folk-oriented singer-songwriters and chansonniers emerged in French and English Canada in the 1960s and ’70s, many still making vital music: Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Gilles Vignault and Daniel Lavoie. The troubadour tradition is carried on today by Ron Sexsmith, Carolyn Mark, Justin Rutledge and Antoine Gratton.



* * *



To link to the latest Canadian sounds, try www.distributionselect.ca, a QuГ©bec distributor of francophone musicians, and www.maplemusic.com (self-explanatory, eh?).





* * *



Renowned for backing Bob Dylan in the late 1960s, The Band created its own rock вЂ˜n’ roll legacy. Winnipeg’s The Guess Who churned out hits around the same time, including its much-covered 1970 hit single, вЂ˜American Woman.’ Emerging in the mid-70s, Toronto’s virtuosic power trio Rush remains one of the best-selling rock bands ever, while rocker Bryan Adams was Canada’s most radio-friendly ’80s export. Roots-rock fueled Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies and The Tragically Hip boast two decades of musical evolution and devoted fandom. Vancouver’s DOA secured its place in the punk pantheon, while Dream Warriors put Canada on the hip-hop map.

In the late ’90s, Québec pop diva Céline Dion, country crossover queen Shania Twain and rock songstress Alanis Morissette ruled mainstream airwaves around the world, while the domestic celebrity of all-male popsmiths Barenaked Ladies grew international legs. Recently, the eclectic grooves of Nelly Furtado and rocker Avril Lavigne have made international splashes, while Nickelback, Billy Talent and Bedouin Soundclash represent the spectrum of today’s Canadian rock.

On the contemporary jazz front, pianist-singer Diana Krall had twins with hubby Elvis Costello and released her 12th album, From This Moment On, in 2006, while 30-something retro crooner-actor Michael Bublé’s career coasts smoothly upwards, subbing for none other than Tony Bennett during a 2007 episode of American Idol.



* * *



Guitar-playing, platinum-selling, Alberta-raised Terri Clark is the only Canadian female to be inducted into Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry.





* * *



Visual Arts

In Canada, painting, sculpture and other visual arts encompass an array of expression. Major galleries exhibit the strengths of their permanent collections and host traveling exhibitions from home and abroad. Visitors to Canada’s major cities will find artist-run centers, storefront gallery strips, such as Toronto’s West Queen West, collections of regionally-focused art, such as Regina’s MacKenzie Art Gallery, and specialized collections such as the Alex Colville collection in Ottawa’s National Gallery Click here. City visitors may also bump into outdoor sculpture or one of Canada’s annual photography festivals, such as Contact (www.contactphoto.com) in Toronto. Travelers taking the back roads will discover plenty of local creativity, too.

Influenced by landscape painter Tom Thomson (1877–1917), the Toronto-based Group of Seven created iconic images of the Canadian wilderness, which can be seen at the National Gallery in Ottawa, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the McMichael Collection of Canadian art in Kleinberg, just outside Toronto. The influence of abstract artist Paul-Émile Borduas (1905–60), a French-Canadian painter whose work can be seen at the Musée d’Art Contemporain, and the Automatiste movement (1941–54) still resounds, while Painters Eleven, Les Plasticiens and Regina Five are renowned groups that pushed artistic boundaries in the 1950s and ’60s. Jean-Paul Riopelle, Betty Goodwin and Michael Snow are contemporary Canadian artists of international renown. Winnipeg-born Jane Cardiff and George Bures Miller won a special jury prize at the Venice Biennale in 2003. Other international art stars include Jeff Wall, Stan Douglas, Rodney Graham and young Montréal installation sculptor David Altmedj whose The Index – the star attraction of the Canadian pavilion at the 2007 Venice Biennale – was purchased by the Art Gallery of Ontario.



* * *



Even if you bypass the nation’s capital, you can still examine more than 10,000 works from the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada online at http://cybermuse.beaux-arts.ca.





* * *



The shared history of aboriginal and nonaboriginal cultures in Canada is most immediately perceived through the visual arts. In the mid-19th century, Paul Kane and Cornelius Krieghoff both painted aboriginal subjects; works by them can be seen at the Royal Ontario Museum and the National Gallery. Emily Carr visited First Nations villages in northern BC and her vivid paintings of totem poles, architecture and nature, some of which are displayed at the Vancouver Art Gallery, are inspired by aboriginal art and spirituality – вЂ˜Indian art broadened my seeing,’ she wrote in her posthumously published 1946 autobiography. Since the mid-20th century there has been strong appreciation of and a market for aboriginal art, in particular Inuit sculpture. Some aboriginal artists work in a collective environment, while others pursue a more individualistic path – look for Norval Morriseau’s colorful paintings of Ojibwe legends; influential west-coast artist Bill Reid’s awe-inspiring sculptures, some of which are on display at the University of British Columbia’s Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver; works by Saskatchewan-born Edward Poitras; and younger artists such as Marianne Nicholson and Brian Jungen.

Theater & Dance

Ancient performance traditions inform the work of many companies in Canada’s vibrant aboriginal theatre scene – Native Earth Performing Arts (www.nativeearth.ca), in Toronto, is a key mover – but many plays focus on contemporary life in the context of sociopolitical issues. The international success of Manitoba-born Cree writer Tomson Highway (Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing) inspired a new generation of exciting playwrights, such as Drew Hayden Taylor (The Night Wanderer).



* * *



Canada currently produces more fringe theater festivals than any other country in the world, most held in June or July. Check out www.fringefestivals.com for links.





* * *



Professional theater in Canada first arose in the mid-20th century when novelist Robertson Davies (1913–95) became English-speaking Canada’s leading playwright/director, Gratien Gélinas’ Tit-Coq ushered in Québec’s modern theater era, and large-scale companies such as Montréal’s Theatre du Nouveau Monde and major festivals such as Ontario’s Stratford Festival were founded. By the 1960s, professional theaters existed in most cities, but Canadian talent remained under-utilized. During the ’70s, hundreds of small, artist-driven professional theaters focused on Canadian work and some of the country’s best-known playwrights, including Michel Tremblay, Sharon Pollock and George F Walker, first gained prominence.

Today Canada is a theater cornucopia, from the visual masterpieces of Québec-born innovator Robert Lepage to the sprawl of summertime fringe festivals and touristy stalwarts such as the Shaw Festival and the Charlottetown Festival. Toronto claims North America’s second-largest theater scene, offering Broadway-style musicals, repertory companies such as Soulpepper, and veterans such as the Canadian Stage Company. The Drowsy Chaperone began as a stag skit, moved to the fringe circuit, expanded to Toronto’s Theatre Passe Muraille and went on to become a Tony-winning Broadway hit in 2007. The increasingly adventurous Canadian Opera Company moved to new Toronto digs in 2006.

Canada’s dance culture is also diverse. The Toronto-based National Ballet of Canada (sharing the Canadian Opera Company’s new space), Montréal’s Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet are the country’s premier companies. Modern dance flowered late in the 1970s, particularly in Montréal, where the influence of solo pioneer Margie Gillis still reverberates. Montréal-based La La La Human Steps captured the international scene in the ’80s and continues its groundbreaking work today, while Toronto’s annual fFIDA International Dance Festival (www.ffida.org) presents the latest in contemporary moves.

Traditions brought to Canada by early settlers (Scots, French etc) and dance styles of more recent immigrant groups (eg Ukrainian, Afro-Caribbean and Indian), are represented by amateur and professional ensembles, many of whom perform during cultural festivals. Internationally recognized troupes that defy categorization are Toronto’s Red Sky Performance (www.redskyperformance.com), which produces original works that connect world indigenous cultures by fusing dance, music, masks and storytelling, and Cirque du Soleil.

Architecture

Travelers to Canada will spot distinct regional architecture, from Maritime wood-framed fishing cottages to Montréal triplexes, Toronto’s Victorian row-houses to prairie grain elevators (Click here). Québec City’s Old Town, Nova Scotia’s Lunenberg, Ontario’s Niagara-on-the-Lake and Vancouver’s Gastown are significant historical architecture areas. Canada’s 19th-century buildings, such as Montréal’s Basilique Notre Dame, Ottawa’s Parliament Buildings, whose gothic revival library reopened in 2006 after extensive restoration Click here and the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel Click here can be appreciated for more than their functions.



* * *



Founded in Scotland, Doors Open, the annual behind-the-scenes peek at cool buildings, made its North American debut in Toronto and now includes several cities. Check out www.doorsopencanada.ca.





* * *



Influential Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson’s works include the city’s Museum of Anthropology. Landscape-altering architecture for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver created much local controversy, including protests about the environmental footprint and the loss of low-income housing downtown. Expo ’67 introduced the world to Israel-born, Montréal-raised Moshe Safdie, who designed the National Gallery in Ottawa. Douglas Cardinal’s undulating Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau (Hull) draws inspiration from the architect’s Métis heritage. The new Canadian War Museum, designed by Moriyama & Teshima, is a soulful national monument. In Toronto, the hard-to-miss CN Tower is blocks away from Mies van der Rohe’s elegant Toronto-Dominion Centre. The city’s ongoing cultural renaissance includes building additions by celebrity architects Daniel Libeskind, whose controversial crystal design for Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum opened in 2007, and Frank Gehry, who is transforming the Art Gallery of Ontario, just a few blocks from his childhood home.



* * *



Up North: Where Canada’s Architecture Meets the Land (2005), by Globe and Mail architecture critic Lisa Rochon, is an original, lively exploration of Canadian architectural identity.





* * *





Return to beginning of chapter





Food & Drink John Lee



* * *





STAPLES & SPECIALTIES

DRINKS

CELEBRATIONS

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

VEGETARIANS & VEGANS

EATING WITH KIDS

HABITS & CUSTOMS

COOKING COURSES

EAT YOUR WORDS



* * *



Food-curious visitors to Canada used to begin and end their culinary adventures with a trip to national fast food franchise Tim Hortons (aka вЂ˜Timmies’), where they had the dubious pleasure of choosing between Maple Cream and Double Chocolate doughnuts (the former is always recommended) before drowning their sorrows in a bucket of truck-stop coffee.

But in recent years, the country that used to treat food as a way of fueling up for a hard winter of polar bear wrestling has undergone a two-course culinary renaissance. Big cities such as Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver have developed internationally influenced fine dining scenes rivalling any major world metropolis. At the same time, regions across the country have rediscovered the unique ingredients grown, foraged and produced on their doorsteps – bringing treats such as distinctive seafood, piquant cheeses and lip-smacking wines to the mouths of local diners.

For travelers, this means that eating and drinking in Canada can now be a highlight of a visit here, rather than a disappointing pit-stop necessity. Just remember that for every top-notch restaurant you discover and every off-the-beaten-path farmers’ market you stumble on, it’s still okay to drop into the doughnut store and suck up a cheap treat: Timmies will never be fine dining, but it’s still an ideal place to rub shoulders with the locals.


Return to beginning of chapter

STAPLES & SPECIALTIES

Colonized by the British and French, then by a myriad of nationalities from around the world, Canada has a cuisine founded on four centuries of international influence. With the Irish bringing potatoes to the table, the Germans rolling in with smoked sausages and the Chinese dropping by with dim sums, Canada has always been a finger-licking smorgasbord of food styles, making it the original home of fusion cooking.

This approach is still the cornerstone of dining here today: contemporary restaurants often add a dash of Japanese influence to their French cuisine or a pinch of East Indian Flair to their west coast seafood menu. But while tweaking traditional recipes is common in Canada, some dishes continue to define specific regions. These provincial soul foods directly reflect available local ingredients and the diverse influences of their cooks. For hungry visitors, it’s these foods that are the true tastes of the nation.



* * *



Showcasing Canada’s burgeoning 100-Mile Diet (www.100milediet.org) movement, this website tells you all you need to know about the value of eating local produce.





* * *



If you’re starting from the east, the main dish of the Maritime provinces is lobster – boiled in the pot and served with a little butter – and the best place to get stuck into it is a community hall supper on Prince Edward Island. Dip into some chunky potato salad and hearty seafood chowder while waiting for your kill to arrive, but don’t eat too much; you’ll need room for the mountainous fruit pie coming your way afterwards.

Next door, Nova Scotia visitors should save their appetites for butter-soft Digby scallops and rustic Lunenberg sausage, while the favored food of nearby Newfoundland and Labrador is cod: cod cheeks, cod tongues and cod-and-potato-blended fishcakes. If you’re feeling really adventurous, gnaw on a slice of seal flipper pie here.

Along with broiled Atlantic salmon, the French-influenced region of New Brunswick serves-up poutine râpée, potatoes stuffed with pork and boiled for a few hours. It’s been filling the bellies of locals here for decades and is highly recommended if you haven’t eaten for a week or two.

Over in the even more French-influenced province of QuГ©bec, fine food seems to be a lifeblood for the locals, who will happily sit down for four-hour joie de vivre dinners where accompanying wine and conversation flow in equal measures.

The province’s cosmopolitan Montréal has long claimed to be the nation’s fine-dining capital, but there’s an appreciation of food here at all levels that also includes hearty pea soups, exquisite cheeses and tasty pâtés sold at bustling markets. In addition, there’s poutine (gravy and cheese curds poured liberally over deep golden fries) and smoked meat sandwiches so large you’ll have to dislocate your jaw to fit them in your mouth.

Ontario – especially Toronto – is a microcosm of Canada’s melting pot of cuisines. Head south to the Niagara Peninsula and you’ll find some of Canada’s best wines cohabiting with restaurants fusing contemporary approaches and traditional local ingredients, such as fish from the Great Lakes. Like Québec, maple syrup is a super-sweet flavoring of choice here, and it’s found in decadent desserts such as beavertails (sugary pastries with rich toppings) and on breakfast pancakes the size of Frisbees.



* * *



A lip-smacking double whammy, The Definitive Canadian Wine and Cheese Book (2007) by Gurth Pretty and Tony Aspler pairs regional artisan cheeses with great local wines.





* * *



Far north from here, Nunavut in the Arctic Circle is Canada’s newest territory but it has a long history of Inuit food, offering a real culinary adventure for travelers. Served in some restaurants (but more often in family homes – make friends with locals and they may invite you in for a feast), regional specialties include boiled seal, frozen raw char and maktaaq (whale skin cut into small pieces and swallowed whole).



* * *



Québec is the world’s largest maple syrup producer, processing around 6.5 million gallons of the sweet pancake accompaniment every year.





* * *



In fact, Canada’s Aboriginal people have many fascinating and accessible culinary traditions. Reliant on meat and seafood – try a juicy halibut stew with a Haida host on Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia – there’s also a First Nations tradition of bannock bread, imported by the Scots and appropriated by Canada’s original locals. And if you think you’re an expert on desserts, try some вЂ˜Indian ice-cream.’ Made from whipped soapberries, it’s sweetened with sugar to assuage its bitter edge.



* * *



Celebrating the adventurous restaurants and culinary heroes of Vancouver Island and beyond, Elizabeth Levinson’s An Edible Journey (2005) is stuffed with great foodie pit stops.





* * *



In contrast, the prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta have their own deep-seated culinary ways. The latter, Canada’s cowboy country, is the nation’s beef capital – you’ll find fine Alberta steak on menus at top restaurants across the country.

There’s an old Eastern European influence over the border in Manitoba, where immigrant Ukrainians have made comfort food staples of pierogies and spicy sausages. Head next door to Saskatchewan for dessert, though. The province’s fruit pies are its most striking culinary asset, especially when prepared with tart Saskatoon berries.



* * *



TRAVEL YOUR TASTEBUDS

Unique foods for traveling taste-trippers include Prince Edward Island’s Solomon Gundy, a marinated herring and chopped-meat combo, and geoduck (pronounced вЂ˜gooey duck’), a giant saltwater clam that’s a popular west coast Chinese dish. If you’re in Alberta, search out some вЂ˜prairie oysters’ for your unsuspecting fellow travelers, then sit back and watch them tuck into a plate of bull’s testicles – they have a faint liver-like taste. If you make it up to Nunavut, frozen raw char served like a Popsicle with soy dipping sauce is a local favorite you’ll likely never forget. Backcountry foraging is also a big tradition in Canada: BC is a popular spot for mushroom pickers, New Brunswick is ideal for fiddleheads and almost everywhere else offers some kind of wild-growing seasonal fruit, including blackberries or blueberries.





* * *



In the far west, British Columbians have traditionally fed themselves from the sea and the fertile farmlands of the interior. The Okanagan Valley’s peaches, apples and berries – best purchased from roadside stands throughout the region – are the staple of many summer diets. But it’s the seafood that attracts the foodies, who tuck into succulent wild salmon, juicy Fanny Bay oysters and mouth-melting scallops as if their lives depended on it.


Return to beginning of chapter

DRINKS

While you’ll soon come across the innocuous, mass-produced beer processed by Canada’s two brewing behemoths Labatt and Molson, a little digging uncovers a thriving regional and local microbrewing scene dripping with fantastic ales, bitters and lagers.

Midsized breweries such as Moosehead in New Brunswick, Alexander Keith’s in Nova Scotia, Sleemans in Ontario, Big Rock in Alberta and Okanagan Springs in BC produce some easy-to-find, highly quaffable tipples. It’s worth noting that several of these have been taken over by the two big boys in recent years, although they have resisted changing much about these successful operations.



* * *



Founded on the banks of Montréal’s St Lawrence River in 1786, Molson is Canada’s oldest brewery.





* * *



At the local level, Canada is suffused with a foamy head of excellent small-batch brewers to keep visiting beer geeks happy. Nowhere is that more evident than in BC, where the craft-brewing scene is one of North America’s best. Here you should hunt around for the dark, chocolaty or downright earthy tastes of beer from local producers such as Storm, Phillips, Dead Frog or Russell Brewing. It’s a similar story in Québec, whose popular bottled microbrews are generally stronger than their BC counterparts – which might explain the colorful satanic imagery on labels such as Unibroue’s Maudite.

Canada’s wines are gaining even greater kudos, with Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula and BC’s Okanagan Valley region developing some excellent wineries, many of which are worth visiting if you fancy some languid sampling coupled with a picnic lunch. If you time your visit well, you might catch a regional wine festival, enabling you to sample a few unfamiliar tipples as you rub shoulders with bleary-eyed local imbibers.



* * *



Hundreds of Canadian wineries are sampled at the Wines of Canada website (www.winesofcanada.com), exploring tipple heritage and regional varietals.





* * *



Canada’s cool growing conditions generally favor chardonnay, pinot noir and Riesling and it’s also the world’s leading producer of icewine, a sweet dessert drink made from frozen grapes. Among the country’s prominent wine labels are Inniskillin, Stoney Ridge and Jackson-Triggs Niagara from Ontario, and Mission Hill, Quails Gate and Sumac Ridge in BC. There are also many boutique wineries worth checking out in Nova Scotia and southern Québec, as well as Vancouver Island, which additionally has a couple of intriguing cideries.


Return to beginning of chapter

CELEBRATIONS

Food and drink is the foundation of having a good time in Canada. Languid summer barbecues, fall’s feast-like Thanksgiving Day and winter family get-togethers at Christmastime traditionally center on tables groaning with giant meat dishes, heaping salad bowls, diet-avoiding desserts and plenty of wine and beer. If you’re invited to someone’s celebration, ask what you can bring along: it may be a fruit plate or a bottle of wine.



* * *



Lobster, an eastern Canada specialty, contains less cholesterol and saturated fat than beef or pork…until you dip it in butter, of course.





* * *



Several Canadian regions showcase their cuisines with annual festivals dedicated to their signature dishes and restaurant scenes. Recommended events include the Prince Edward Island International Shellfish Festival (www.peishellfish.com/sf) in September, the 11-day Wine and Dine component of the Montréal High Lights Festival (www.montrealenlumiere.com) in February and the bacchanalian November weekend of wining and dining in Whistler that’s otherwise known as Cornucopia (www.whistlercornucopia.com). Many cities – including Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto – also host annual dine-around events where restaurants offer discounted tasting menus during the off-season.

Wine lovers are spoilt for choice when it comes to festivals. Among the many held each year, few grape fans will want to miss September’s Niagara Wine Festival (www.niagarawinefestival.com) in Ontario, while others include March’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (www.playhousewinefest.com) and January’s Sun Peaks Icewine Festival (www.owfs.com).



* * *



For restaurant listings, locator maps and customer reviews for eateries across the country, check www.restaurant.ca.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

Canada bulges like an over-stuffed Fraser Valley chicken with dining options – even small towns serve up everything from cheap-and-cheerful diners to international ethnic cuisines and a couple of upmarket gourmet choices. There are also many family-oriented, midpriced eateries for those traveling with kids, and bars are usually just as interested in serving food as they are beer.

While there are many variations, breakfast spots often open from 8am to 11am, lunch is usually offered between 11:30am and 2:30pm on weekdays and dinner is frequently on the menu from 5pm to 9:30pm daily. Midrange and family restaurants usually stay open all day. Closing times vary greatly and often depend on how busy the restaurant is on the day: hours are especially liquid in larger, tourist-friendly towns.

Service is generally excellent at Canadian restaurants and bars. Solo travelers are welcomed at most eateries, although family-oriented restaurants may baulk at sacrificing a large table to a lone nosher. See opposite for information on tipping.



* * *



Try to resist licking the tempting photos of seafood dishes in Maritime Flavours (2005) by Elaine Elliot and Virginia Lee, a recipe book and guide to great east coast eatin’.





* * *



Quick Eats

The best value meals on the run are found at street-side hot dogs stands, covered or outdoor markets and shopping mall food courts. Especially in Toronto and Vancouver, these mall smorgasbords often have excellent multiethnic vendors serving fast, heaping, fresh-cooked dishes for just a few dollars – and, if you’re on a budget, there’s no tipping required.



* * *



LOCAL VOICE Rob Clark, Executive chef at C Restaurant in Vancouver

Fish was always on the table when Rob Clark was growing up in Québec’s salmon-abundant York River region. These homespun dinners sparked an early love affair with seafood that was to become the foundation of his pioneering career as executive chef at Vancouver’s C Restaurant.



Arriving in BC in 1992, the young chef planned to dive headfirst into the region’s marine smorgasbord. вЂ˜I came here thinking I’d have access to great seafood but that wasn’t the case. The industry was more about quantity than quality at that time,’ says Clark.



Committed to unlocking this aquatic larder, he opened the city’s most adventurous fish and shellfish eatery. вЂ˜The mandate was to serve real seafood – basically, if it came from the ocean, I cooked it,’ says Clark. вЂ˜We were very experimental, sourcing previously unavailable local products like whelks, sea cucumber and gooseneck barnacles.’



Regional suppliers gradually came on board and dedicated diners began arriving for a unique culinary experience. Today’s menu, although not quite as experimental as the early days, remains creative and contemporary. вЂ˜My philosophy has always been that great food is about the products not about the chef,’ says Clark, who remains dedicated to sourcing from the wild rather than from farm suppliers.



It’s this wild supply chain that has become his biggest challenge in recent years. вЂ˜Sustainable harvesting, rather than simply depleting our seafood resources, is a major issue for all of us. Partnering with Vancouver’s Ocean Wise initiative (www.oceanwisecanada.org) and dozens of other local restaurants, we are now beginning to change the way the industry works.’





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

VEGETARIANS & VEGANS

While two of Canada’s biggest dine-out cities – Toronto and Vancouver – feature vegetarian options on most menus and have dozens of dedicated eateries for noncarnivores, the rest of the country is a little hazy in understanding the concept. BC is the nation’s most vegetarian-friendly province, but you will almost certainly be met with blank stares in some Québec restaurants when you ask if a menu item is vegetarian.

Expect similar responses in the Maritimes and on the prairies, where the carnivorous approach is a way of life. In these regions, strict adherents should limit themselves to any vegetarian-only eateries they can find, since вЂ˜vegetarian’ menu items in mainstream restaurants are often prepared with meat stock or cooked alongside meat. Not surprisingly, vegans can expect an even rougher ride. The handy VegeDining website (www.vegdining.com) has listings of vegetarian restaurants across the country.



* * *



Canadian farmers’ markets are blossoming like never before. Check locations in BC (www.bcfarmersmarket.org), Alberta (www.albertamarkets.com), Ontario (www.farmersmarketsontario.com) and Nova Scotia (www.nsfarmersmarkets.ca).





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

EATING WITH KIDS

Most Canadian restaurants are adept at dealing with families, offering booster seats and child-adept servers as soon as you steer your progeny through the door. Kids menus often rely heavily on breaded chicken and brightly colored mini pizzas. As an alternative, ask for a half-order of something more nutritious from the adult menu. Servers often work extra hard to keep kids happy, so consider adding a few dollars to your tip to reward exemplary service in the face of adversity. Families with even the most well-behaved children will not feel comfortable at fine-dining establishments, where menu options may be limited and fellow diners might look at you as if you’ve brought an animal to the table.


Return to beginning of chapter

HABITS & CUSTOMS

Canadians usually follow the North American tradition of eating morning breakfast, midday lunch and early evening dinner, although late dinners (from 8pm) are common in Québec. On weekends, many restaurants serve brunch from as early as 8am, sometimes until as late as 4pm. Canadians are sociable eaters, so it’s common for restaurants to be noisier than their European counterparts. And following the US style, eating fries or pizza with one’s fingers is common – in fact, other diners will know you are from overseas if you eat your pizza with cutlery.



* * *



Icewine is a sweet dessert tipple made from grapes frozen and harvested on the vine. BC and Ontario are the main regional producers.





* * *



Tipping is expected at around 15% of the pre-tax bill total: do not tip if you are unhappy with the service and also check that a gratuity has not been automatically added to your bill. If you’re planning to dine at a busy or high-end restaurant, call ahead for reservations. If you’re in a hurry, it’s worth mentioning this when you order because it will usually expedite your meal.

Table service is common in most pubs, although you can still order at the bar. Don’t forget to tip your table server, and consider dropping some change in the bar-server’s pot if you stick around for a few beers.



* * *



Julian Armstrong’s Taste of Quebec (2001) is a gastronomic celebration of the foodie side of la belle province.





* * *



Almost all areas of Canada have now introduced some form of smoking ban in public places including bars and restaurants, with occasional regional variations. A small number of areas still allow separate smoking rooms and patio smoking but this is also being slowly stubbed out.


Return to beginning of chapter

COOKING COURSES

Culinary tourism has spread like a fresh red wine stain here in recent years. Contact provincial tourism offices Click here to see what’s on offer.

One of Toronto’s best options, the two-hour hands-on courses offered by Great Cooks (416-861-4727; www.greatcooks.ca; classes $110) feature loquacious visiting chefs and gregarious foodies talking you through sauce-making, French-Canadian bistro skills or Japanese sushi rolling, among others.



* * *



BEACH BUFFET

If you’re not accustomed to picking your food off the ground, a visit with Diane Bernard (Vancouver Island’s вЂ˜Seaweed Lady’) can be a real eye-opener. Twinkle-eyed Bernard leads gumbooted groups across the muddy beach at Whiffen Spit, extolling enthusiastically on the culinary properties of the many seaweed varieties growing in the ocean garden around her. Within minutes, you’ll be popping shiny green nuggets and rippled bottle-green fronds in your mouth as if you’d been eating off the beach all your life. After you’ve had your fill, you can enjoy the vista of gambolling sea otters and swooping eagles. Running for a couple of hours, the Outer Coast Seaweeds tours (250-642-5328, 877-713-7464; www.outercoastseaweeds.com; $35) operate from May to mid-September only.





* * *



Vancouver’s Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks (604-688-6755; www.bookstocooks.com; classes from $45) does a similar job on the west coast, serving up an ever-changing roster of short cooking classes, culinary skills events and recipe showcases from local and visiting chefs. Call ahead for reservations.

You can learn all about Canada’s traditions of seafood preparation, cheese making and meat smoking on an immersive weekend residential course at Nova Scotia’s Trout Point Cooking and Wine School (902-482-8360; www.acadianfarm.com/masterclasses.html). Rates – including accommodations, meals and plenty of hands-on training – are typically around $675 per person.

Those interested in Vancouver Island’s produce cornucopia should consider an educational tour of the verdant Cowichan Valley region, offered by Travel With Taste (250-385-1527; www.travelwithtaste.com; tours $195). You’ll meet and sample with artisan cheese makers and boutique vintners before tucking into a gourmet lunch of wild BC salmon. Who says learning can’t also be fun?


Return to beginning of chapter

EAT YOUR WORDS

Want to know your poutine from your patates? A tourtiГЁre from a tarte au sucre? Get behind the cuisine of French Canada by getting to know the language. For pronunciation guidelines, Click here.

Useful Phrases



Food Glossary

BASICS





Meats



FRUIT & VEGETABLES



DESSERTS



DRINKS





Return to beginning of chapter





Environment



* * *





THE LAND

WILDLIFE

NATIONAL, PROVINCIAL & TERRITORIAL PARKS

THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES



* * *



We’ve got polar bear, grizzly bear, big-ass whales and moose – what more do you want? Diamonds, oil, gold and timber? Sheesh, now you’re being greedy – but Canada can deliver those, too.

From the get-go, when the first explorers came looking for gold but instead found waters thick with cod and forests dense with beaver, the country’s environment has yielded bountifully. The fur trade became the backbone of the country’s early economy; the question of who would control it was at the heart of the conflict between the French and the British. Later generations, moving westward, found fertile soil in the prairies and gold in the Klondike. Today, it’s oil in Alberta, natural gas in the Arctic and diamonds in the Northwest Territories that help fatten the gross national product.

Centuries of exploitation have left some scars, but there’s no question that Canada is still one darn purty country. Its many different landscapes – rainforest to alpine glaciers, prairies to the Arctic, and even a tiny pocket of desert – support a wild array of plants and animals. And vast stretches of pristine wilderness mean it’s possible to experience areas not much different from when the first humans shuffled across the Bering Strait thousands of years ago.



* * *



The entire population of Canada is less than that of Tokyo and its ’burbs – but Canadians get 9,970,610 sq km to sprawl out in versus Tokyo’s 13,500 sq km.





* * *



All in all, Nature did a bang-up job with this place.


Return to beginning of chapter

THE LAND

A quick glance at a map of the world is all you need in order to know that Canada is one behemoth of a country. In fact, at nearly 10 million sq km, it’s the second-largest country after Russia. But unlike its massive neighbor across the North Pole, Canada’s shape has the delicacy of an intricately fashioned piece of lacework due, largely, to water. It’s surrounded by oceans on three sides; its coastline, if stretched out, would reach halfway to the moon.



* * *



BC and Vancouver take the earthquake threat seriously. They’ve spent millions of dollars to reinforce bridges, tunnels and buildings and to set up an Emergency Operations Center.





* * *



In fact, Canada’s coastline is the world’s longest, at over 202,000km. Islands larger than many European countries – Baffin, Vancouver and Newfoundland among them – hem in the vast mainland, and the world’s largest freshwater lake island, Manitouline Island in Lake Huron, is also here. And thanks to a couple of million rivers and lakes, Canada is the repository of 20% of the world’s fresh water.

Much of this water fills the dips and dents of the massive Canadian Shield, a vast horseshoe-shaped region of Precambrian rock chiseled and gouged by glaciers and erosion over hundreds of millions of years. This vast mosaic of forests, lakes, bogs and tundra occupies nearly half the country’s landmass south of the tree line, stretching all the way from Labrador to Ontario, then to Saskatchewan and the Arctic Ocean. It’s a rugged, cool and remote land that’s more popular with birds and beaver than with people. In addition to Aboriginals, many of those living here are miners and loggers who exploit the enormous wealth of natural treasures, including nickel, copper, silver, gold and diamonds.



* * *



Break out the parka: Canada is the world’s coldest country, with a frosty average temperature of -5.6°C. Ottawa is the second-chilliest national capital, after Ulan Bator, Mongolia.





* * *



About 90% of Canada’s population is squished into a more hospitable 300km-wide ribbon running parallel to the 6500km-long border with the USA. In the Pacific region, coastal British Columbia has the most temperate climate, but is often drenched by rains. The Yukon, to the north, has 20 of the country’s highest mountains, including the highest, Mt Logan (5959m). Along with Alberta, the Yukon is part of the Cordillera region, which is also defined by other mountain ranges, most famously the Canadian Rockies. Going east, the land soon flattens into the prairies, which take you into skies as wide as Jim Carrey’s smile. The great plains of southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and parts of lower Alberta are among the world’s great breadbaskets.



* * *



CANADIAN WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Unesco has cited the following 14 places as global standouts for their natural and/or cultural heritage. For more information on World Heritage sites, visit http://whc.unesco.org.





Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks (Alberta/British Columbia, 1984, 1990) Magic mountain scenery includes Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho National Parks and several provincial parks.

Dinosaur Provincial Park (Alberta, 1979; Click here) A fossil site with bones from 35 species of dinosaurs, some 75 million years old.

Gros Morne National Park (Newfoundland, 1987; Click here) Superb mosaic of coastal lowland, alpine plateau, fjords, glacial valleys, sheer cliffs, waterfalls and pristine lakes.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (Alberta, 1981; Click here) A precipice where herds of bison leapt to their deaths when chased by Aboriginal hunters.

Historic District of Québec City (Québec, 1985; Click here) Québec’s Old Upper Town is a fine example of a fortified colonial city with perfectly intact ramparts.

Kluane National Park & Reserve (Yukon, 1979; Click here) Untamed land with the world’s largest nonpolar icefields and Canada’s highest peak, Mt Logan (5959m).

L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (Newfoundland, 1978; Click here) Vestiges of an 11th-century Viking village, the continent’s oldest European settlement.

Nahanni National Park Reserve (Northwest Territories, 1978; Click here) Deep canyons, pristine forest, huge waterfalls and the fierce South Nahanni River, tops for white-water journeys.

Old Town Lunenburg (Nova Scotia, 1995; Click here) The best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America.

Parc de Miguasha (Québec, 1999; Click here) The world’s most outstanding fossil site for lobe-finned fish, an important evolutionary link.

Rideau Canal (Ontario, 2007; Click here) A masterful, early-19th-century waterway stretching from Ottawa to Lake Ontario using 47 locks.

SGaang Gwaii (Anthony Island; Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, British Columbia, 1981; Click here) Totem poles stare eerily out to sea on this island off the Queen Charlotte Islands.

Waterton Lakes National Park (Alberta, 1995; Click here) An exceptional variety of plants and mammals in prairies and forests, and alpine and glacial features.

Wood Buffalo National Park (Alberta, 1983; Click here) North America’s largest population of wild bison and a whooping crane nesting place.





* * *



The Canadian Shield puts an abrupt end to the fertile ranges of the prairies. Across the shield, in southern Ontario and Québec, is an area defined as the Great Lakes–St Lawrence Lowlands. It is home to about half the country’s population, most living in Toronto, Montréal and Ottawa.



* * *



Geologic Journey (2007), a five-part CBC TV series, tells the story of Canada’s landscape from the Rocky Mountains to the Canadian Shield, and actually makes ancient rocks interesting.





* * *



Eastern Canada culminates in the Appalachian region, which embraces hilly and wooded New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, all with deeply indented coastlines that provide for some fine fishing.

Finally, capping it all off like froth on a cappuccino, is the Arctic region, the country’s final frontier of perpetually frozen, primordial beauty.



* * *



WHEN THE BIG ONE COMES A KNOCKIN’

Every year, about 300 earthquakes strike the city of Vancouver and the southwest region of BC. Granted, they’re minor rumbles and most go unnoticed, but every 20 to 50 years a bigger tremor makes its presence known, such as the one that shook the area around Courtenay on Vancouver Island in 1946. That baby measured 7.3 on the Richter scale and knocked down chimneys up and down the coast.



Then there’s the Big One. Scientists say every 300 to 600 years the region gets hit by a major quake, ie one measuring 8.5 or more. The last one occurred in 1700, which means Canada is due for another spanking, oh, any day now?





* * *



WILDLIFE

Animals

Visitors are guaranteed to see some mighty creatures when they head out from the cities. Whales, polar bear and the goofy, twig-eating moose are wildlife-watching favorites.

LAND MAMMALS

No other animal has shaped the history of Canada more than the beaver, whose coveted pelt brought the first permanent European settlers to these shores. North America’s largest rodent has a beefy body, webbed hind feet and a long, muscular tail that serves as a rudder when swimming. The axiom вЂ˜busy as a beaver’ is well justified: skilled loggers and engineers, they each cut down up to 200 trees per year and build elaborate вЂ˜lodges,’ dams and canals. They live in forests throughout the country and are most active between dusk and dawn. If you’re lucky, you might spot one paddling across a stream or lake with its head just above the water.



* * *



It’s out there – Bigfoot, that is. If you see the legendary fur-ball, submit a report to the Sasquatch Research Initiative (www.sasquatchonline.com/core/pubreportsubmit.php).





* * *



The porcupine is Canada’s second-largest rodent. This curious, slow-moving animal is covered in up to 30,000 quills, which form a formidable defense mechanism. When under threat, the porcupine vigorously lashes its tail, thereby dislodging loose quills as if throwing them. It feeds mainly on bark and tree buds, and used to be a staple of the Aboriginal diet. The quills are sometimes used in aboriginal decorative work.

The white-tailed deer can be found anywhere from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia to the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. Its bigger relative, the caribou, is unusual in that both males and females sport enormous antlers. Barren-ground caribou, which feed on lichen and spend most of the year on the tundra from Baffin Island to Alaska, are the most common. Some Inuit hunt caribou for hides and food, and it occasionally shows up on menus as far south as MontrГ©al, Toronto and Vancouver.



* * *



The moose’s name comes from the Algonquian word moz, which means вЂ˜twig eater.’





* * *



One of the biggest deer species is the elk (wapiti), a formidable creature whose вЂ˜bugling’ roars can scare the bejeezus out of you. Their relatively small herds roam around western Canada, especially the Kootenays and Vancouver Island in BC, although quite a few also hang out in the national parks of Banff and Jasper, and Waterton Lakes, Riding Mountain and Prince Albert.

Still more humungous is the moose, whose skinny, ballerina-like legs support a hulking body with a distinctive shovel-like snout. Males grow a spectacular rack of antlers every summer, only to discard it in November. You’ll spot moose foraging near lakes, muskegs and streams as well as in the forests of the western mountain ranges in the Rockies and the Yukon. Newfoundland has grown a huge moose population since they were first introduced there in the early 1900s (Click here).

Neither moose nor elk are generally aggressive, and they will often generously pose for photographs. They can be unpredictable, though, so don’t startle them. During mating season (September), the males can become belligerent, so stay in your car.

The huge, heavy-shouldered, shaggy bison (buffalo) that once roamed the prairies in vast herds now exists only in parks. It is said that there were once as many as 70 million bison in North America. Their herds would often take days to pass by a single point. Their 19th-century slaughter – often by chartered trainloads of вЂ˜sportsmen’ who left the carcasses to rot – is one of the great tragedies of the North American west, affecting the very survival of Aboriginal peoples. To check out the largest herd of bison, take a trip to Wood Buffalo National Park, close to the Alberta–Northwest Territories border. Smaller herds roam the national parks of Waterton Lakes and Elk Island in Alberta, Prince Albert in Saskatchewan and Riding Mountain in Manitoba.



* * *



The film Grizzly Man (2005) documents Timothy Treadwell sharing the wilderness with his furry buddies. Yes, it’s set in Alaska, but take note of what happens to humans who get too close to hungry animals.





* * *



If you’re lucky enough to spot a bear in the wild, it’ll most likely be a black bear. (Keep your distance, though; for more, see the boxed text below.) About half a million of these furry critters patrol the forests and bushland just about everywhere except Prince Edward Island, southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan.



* * *



TO PLAY DEAD OR NOT TO PLAY DEAD: THE BEAR FACTS

First off, know the likelihood of being attacked by a bear is extremely small (unless, of course, you slather yourself in salmon oil and Cheetos). But it never hurts to be prepared, as the old boy scout saying goes.



The endangered grizzly bear and the smaller black bear both hang out in Canada, mostly in the Canadian Rockies. Just to confuse you, black bear are sometimes brown and some grizzlies are almost black. The way to tell them apart is to look for certain distinguishing characteristics: the grizzly has a dish-shaped face, small and rounded ears and a prominent shoulder hump.



Both grizzlies and black bear are intelligent opportunists who quickly learn that humans come equipped with tasty packages of food. Unfortunately, this is a bad lesson to learn, because it usually spells trouble for the bear in the form of a park warden’s gun. Never feed these majestic animals. Always use bear-proof bins (provided at campgrounds) to store your food properly, and keep your campground tidy by picking up all scraps. Parks Canada’s You’re in Bear Country pamphlet provides information on these and other matters.



Bear basically only attack if their cubs are around or if they feel surprised or threatened. Your best defenses against surprising a bear are to remain alert, avoid hiking at night (when bear feed) and be careful traveling in places where visibility is obscured.



If you do encounter a bear and it doesn’t see you, move a safe distance downwind and make noise to alert it to your presence. If the bear sees you, slowly back out of its path, avoid eye contact, speak softly and wave your hands above your head slowly. Never turn your back to the bear and never kneel down. If a bear charges, do not run or scream (which may frighten the bear and make it more aggressive), because the bear may only be charging as a bluff. Drop to the ground, crouch face down in a ball and play dead, covering the back of your neck with your hands and your chest and stomach with your knees. Do not resist the bear’s inquisitive pawing – true, this is much easier said than done, but the bear may get bored and go away.



On the other hand, if a bear attacks you in your tent at night, you’re likely dealing with a predatory bear that perceives you as a food source, and you should fight back aggressively with anything you can find; don’t play dead.



As we said before, bear attacks are really quite rare. It’s more useful to think about the impact your visit has on disrupting these creatures’ natural habitat. Give the bear, and other animals, the respect they deserve and the space they need. If you see one on the side of the road, consider not stopping. If you do decide to pull over, move on after a few minutes. If simple steps are taken to minimize human encounters, it will help ensure future generations of visitors have the chance to see wildlife that is still truly wild.





* * *



Ursus arctos horribilis, better known as the grizzly bear, makes its home on the higher slopes of the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Alberta and the Yukon. It stands up to a fearsome 3m tall and has a distinctive hump between its shoulders. Grizzlies are solitary animals with no natural enemies except humans. Although they enjoy an occasional snack of elk, moose or caribou, they usually fill their bellies with berries and other vegetation.



* * *



The white hairs on a polar bear are hollow and trap sunlight to help keep the animal warm in frigid temperatures.





* * *



The fiercest member of the bear family, the polar bear, weighs less than 1kg at birth but grows to be as heavy as a Volkswagen (up to 800kg). Pretty much the only place to observe them is from late September to early November in Churchill, Manitoba, one of their major maternity denning grounds. For more information about these fascinating creatures, Click here.

Another formidable predator is the wolf, which can be every bit as fierce and cunning as is portrayed in fairy tales, although it rarely attack humans. Wolves hunt in packs and aren’t afraid to take on animals much larger than themselves, including moose and bison. They’re still fairly common in sparsely populated areas between Labrador and the Yukon. If you’re out in the bush, you may hear them howling at the moon (Click here for information about organized wolf howling sessions in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario).

SEA MAMMALS

There is only one creature in the water that fears no enemy other than humans: the killer whale (orca), so named because its diet includes seals, belugas and other whales. Their aerodynamic bodies, signature black-and-white coloration and incredible speed (up to 40km/h) make them the Ferraris of the aquatic world. They’re most commonly seen around Vancouver Island and along the Inside Passage to Alaska.

Other whale species frolic in eastern waters, such as around the Fundy Isles in New Brunswick, the tip of Digby Neck and the north shore of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and in Witless Bay in Newfoundland. Belugas are the smallest, typically measuring no more than 4.5m and weighing about one ton. They are chatty fellows who squeak, groan and peep while traveling in closely knit family pods. Blue whales are the planet’s largest animals, reaching up to 27m in length and weighing as much as 30 elephants. Each one chows down about 40 tons of krill per day. Finbacks aren’t much smaller; they’re easily identified by the asymmetrical coloring of the lower jaw – white or yellowish on the right side and black on the left side. Humpbacks average 15m and typically weigh 30 tons – some serious heft to be launching up and out of the water for their playful breaching. Minkes can grow to 10m and are likely to approach boats, delighting passengers with acrobatics as they, too, hurl themselves out of the water (a bit more easily than the lumbering humpback).



* * *



Visiting Atlantic Canada? Get the Pocketguide to Whale Watching on Canada’s East Coast (2003), by Jeffrey C Domm. Its illustrations identify the creatures you’ll see rising from the water.





* * *



BIRDS

Canadian skies are home to 462 bird species, with BC and Ontario boasting the greatest diversity. The most famous feathered resident is the common loon, Canada’s national bird. It’s a waterbird whose mournful yet beautiful call often rings out across quiet backcountry lakes early or late in the day. The great blue heron, one of the country’s largest birds, is a timid fellow that’s an amazing sight on take-off.

What’s all the flap about? Well, if you’re a Canada goose, it can be up to 1000km a day. Flying in their distinctive V formation, some of these geese have made the trip from northern Québec to the USA in a single day! Now that’s something to crow about…



* * *



Serious birders can put their efforts to good use by logging their counts and helping science at www.ebird.org.





* * *



If Canada’s seabirds ever got together and held a popularity contest, the puffin would win hands (wings?) down. Everyone loves these cute little guys, a sort of waddling penguin-meets-parrot cross, with black-and-white feathers and an orange beak. They hang out in the Atlantic provinces, especially Newfoundland.

The true ruler of the sky, though, is the bald eagle, whose wingspan can reach more than 2m. It was Canadian banker Charles Broley who first connected the dots between DDT and the plummeting population of these regal birds. That was in the late 1940s, and things have been looking way up since then.



* * *



To hear west coast orcas doing their heavy-breathing thing, go to www.orca-live.net. To hear east coast whales singing songs, go to http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/whales/avi.html.





* * *



Plants

Canada is a forest nation. Trees cover nearly half of the country, providing living space to roughly two-thirds of the estimated 140,000 species of plants, animals and micro-organisms living in Canada. Stretching from coast to coast and from the US border to the Arctic tree line, they are highly diversified and have adapted to the soil, climate and weather conditions.

In the far north are the frost-molded landscapes of the Arctic tundra, a word derived from the Finnish tunturia and, quite appropriately, meaning вЂ˜treeless plain.’ It may look barren, but there’s actually plenty of growing going on, with more than 1700 types of plants thriving during the short summer season, most of them lichen, mosses and low shrubs; even some wildflowers take root.

Further south, tundra transitions to taiga, better known as boreal forest, named after Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind. This giant green belt dappled with bogs, fens, marshes, lakes, rivers and wetlands is the country’s largest forest ecosystem, stretching for about 5000km from the Yukon to Labrador. Cold-tolerant conifers such as pine, fir and spruce thrive in this harsh climate of long winters and short but warm summers. On the southern edge of the boreal forest you’ll sometimes see a few deciduous trees – mostly white birch and poplar.

In eastern Canada, the Acadian forest in the Maritime provinces and the Laurentian forest in Québec both support eclectic flora. Pines, including the majestic wine pine, and spruces tickle the leaves of maples, oaks, birches and other hardwoods that supply Canada’s famous fall colors.

Ontario hosts the parkland zone, which marks the transition between the eastern forests and the prairies. Trembling aspen is the dominant tree.

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are best known for their flat prairie grasslands, now mostly covered in cultivated grains. Short, mixed and tall grasses once blanketed this region but, except for a few protected pockets, these are a thing of the past.

BC has the most diverse vegetation in the country. The Rocky Mountain forests consist of sub-alpine species such as Engelmann spruce, alpine fir and larches, with lodgepole pine and aspen at higher elevations. In the rainforest-like climate of the Pacific coast, the trees soar skyward. There are ancient, gigantic western red cedar, Douglas fir, western hemlock and Sitka spruce species. Some are more than 1000 years old, making them veritable Methuselahs of the tree world.



* * *



Canada has humaneating plants. Actually, the pitcher plant chows down mostly on insects, captured via its water-filled trap. Keep an eye out next time you walk through a bog.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

NATIONAL, PROVINCIAL & TERRITORIAL PARKS

Canada has vast national and provincial park systems that protect places where Nature has offered up some of her most creative work. The national parks are so freakin’ sublime we have written an entire chapter about them. Flip to it for the lowdown on activities, itineraries, costs and history. Whether it’s a park, a conservation area, reserve, historic site or landmark, if it has the word вЂ˜national,’ it’s managed by Parks Canada (for an explanation of all entities under the group’s umbrella).

Each province also runs its own system of parks and reserves. There are literally hundreds of them, mostly used for recreation but also, to a certain extent, to protect wildlife and historic sites. Many are just as spectacular as the national parks. The best-organized provincial parks offer similar infrastructure to their national cousins, including interpretive centers, equipment rental and campgrounds. There’s usually a small admission charge, although many parks are free. Parks in the territories tend to be small, simple and inexpensive to visit; they are often used for overnight camping, although facilities may be basic.



* * *



Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland is known as the вЂ˜Galapagos of Geology’ for its bizarre rock formations that supply evidence for plate tectonic theories.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT

Canada practically started the modern environmental movement. It birthed Greenpeace, for crissake! The group launched from a Vancouver living room in 1969.

Vancouver is also the home of environmental pioneer David Suzuki, a retired professor from the University of British Columbia (UBC) who has been writing about sustainable ecology for more than 30 years. David Suzuki’s eponymous foundation (www.davidsuzuki.org) and large body of work (43 books and several TV series, of which the CBC’s The Nature of Things is most widely known) are long-time, respected sources of conservationism. Vancouver continues to be the country’s hotbed for eco-activism, led by Suzuki and UBC’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability.



* * *



The Green Lane (www.ec.gc.ca) is the gateway to a gazillion pages maintained by the government’s Environment Canada department.





* * *



Environmentalism seeped into Canadian politics 25 years ago and now commands a fair-sized chunk of support. The Green Party (www.greenparty.ca) scored 4.3% of the popular vote in the 2004 national elections, almost quintupling its 2000 showing. Alberta and British Columbia offered the strongest support, Manitoba the least. (Compare this with the USA’s Green Party, which had its most successful year in 2000, when it got 2.7% of the vote – a feat unmatched before or since.)


Return to beginning of chapter

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

So much for Kyoto. It was a nice idea, but as unmet goals came and went, everyone sort of coughed and ahem’ed and then kept right on pumping crap into the environment.

Hey, those weren’t realistic targets, the current government says. Apparently not. Canada was supposed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 6% below 1990 levels beginning in 2008. Yet the country’s last report to the United Nations showed it to be 35% above that amount. Ooops.

Meanwhile, the clock ticks. And the ice melts…

Climate Change

Because of Canada’s wealth of arctic terrain, it gets to witness the effects of climate change firsthand. The average annual temperature has increased by 0.9°C over the past 50 years. And while that might go unnoticed by someone in Ottawa – other than prompting a few less days of toque-wearing in winter – residents of northern Canada are seeing some strange sights indeed.

Take the Yukon. As the permafrost thaws around Herschel Island, long-buried coffins are floating to the melting earth’s surface (for more on this spooky topic, Click here). In Churchill, Manitoba, on Hudson Bay’s frigid coast, polar bear now arrive sooner, stay later and sniff closer to town. Shorter winters have dissolved their ice-based seal-hunting habitat, and all of a sudden, nearby humans are starting to look like juicy T-bones (Click here for more).

Climate change also has bizarre economic ramifications. In the Northwest Territories, the ice roads that carry trucks to the diamond mines are melting, which means supplies have to be flown in – a much costlier (and more polluting) method of transport. And the Olympics are headed to Vancouver in 2010, but will there be enough snow for the slopes and bobsleigh runs?

Then there’s the issue of warmer waters changing fish migration patterns (sockeye salmon have been spotted in the Arctic), warmer weather allowing insects to hatch and infest BC’s forests, and the list goes on.



* * *



You think you know some crazy drivers? Check out the dudes who drive rigs over frozen-water вЂ˜highways’ in Canada’s far north in Ice Road Truckers (2007).





* * *



Resource Depletion

From those first furry beaver pelts, Canada’s resources have always been abundant and ripe for the picking. For years it was easy to have the attitude, вЂ˜Wow! We’re rolling in fur, fish, timber and all that other jazz. Take as much as you want!’

Then reality struck. In the early 1990s, Atlantic Canada faced the horrifying fact that the cod were fished out. The greatest fishery in the world, in business for more than 400 years, was now kaput. Cod were even listed as endangered in 2003. For additional information, Click here.



* * *



Walrus, meet Polar Bear. Polar Bear, meet Walrus. They used to be strangers, until global warming brought their habitats together. Arctic Tale (2007), filmed over 10 years, shows what’s happening now.





* * *





* * *



LEAVE ONLY (GREEN) FOOTPRINTS

If you’re planning an adventure in Canada’s wilderness, remember to do so responsibly. One thoughtless gesture – hiking off-trail through fragile soil or building an illegal fire – can take years for nature to repair.



Most hiking and camping advice is common sense. First, know what you are getting into. Know what weather to expect and pack accordingly, even if you’re just going for a few hours. Get trail maps and take a few minutes to talk to a ranger about trail conditions, dangers and closures. Rangers can also confirm if your abilities and equipment match the needs of your trip.



Once in the wild, do everything possible to minimize your impact. Stick to established trails and campgrounds. Be particularly sensitive to areas around lakes, rivers and the like: don’t wash yourself or your dishes in streams or rivers, and camp at least 80m from them. Use a gas stove for cooking or make fires in established fire pits only. When you leave, take out everything you brought in and remove every trace of your visit.



If you come into contact with animals, observe them from a distance, but don’t approach or feed them. Doing so is not only dangerous for you, but it interferes with animals’ natural diet and instincts. If you come across cultural or historic artifacts, look but don’t touch.



Try to learn about local conservation, environmental and cultural issues before your trip and during your visit. Ask questions and listen to what locals have to say. And finally, support tourism companies and environmental groups that promote conservation initiatives and long-term management plans.



For more advice, check out Traveling Responsibly on Click here and the Leave No Trace website (www.lnt.org).





* * *



Logging is a tricky issue, especially in BC and New Brunswick, where it’s a big part of the provincial economies yet has ugly consequences for the environment. Along the same lines, companies strip huge areas of forest and soil cover to access coal, iron, nickel and other mineral resources. These ore deposits are developed all the time, particularly in seldom-visited northern regions such as Labrador and the Northwest Territories, where there is little public scrutiny or attention. Recently there has been a spate of oil and natural gas development in the Atlantic provinces, much of it on the ocean floor, with untold consequences for marine life (for an example of such actions, Click here).

Pollution

And then there’s good old-fashioned pollution. In northern Alberta, oil is coaxed from oil sands, a messy process that requires huge amounts of energy and poisons the atmosphere with greenhouse gases (Click here for more). Nearby, plans are underway for a controversial 1220km-long pipeline, the Mackenzie Gas Project, to be tunneled beneath the wilderness of the Northwest Territories. In eastern Canada, acid rain kills trees and pollutes rivers and lakes because the soil there lacks the alkalinity needed to neutralize the acids raining down from the industrial corridors along the US–Canadian border. It’s not a pretty sight.



* * *



Several scientists are dogsledding around Baffin Island and Canada’s north to interview Inuit families and document personal accounts of climate change. Their website (www.globalwarming101.com) has photos, podcasts and even Inuktitut language lessons.





* * *



Getting Serious About Using Less

Finally, everyone agrees something has to be done. The government’s current plan is set to reduce greenhouse gases by 20% by 2020 compared with 2006 levels. By 2050, it will cut emissions by 70%. Is that good enough? Are government and big businesses really doing all they can to вЂ˜use less and live better,’ as their saying goes? Stay tuned.




Return to beginning of chapter





Canada Outdoors Raymond Schmidt



* * *





SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

MOUNTAIN BIKING & CYCLING

PADDLESPORTS

HIKING & BACKPACKING

ROCK CLIMBING, ICE CLIMBING & MOUNTAINEERING

WILDLIFE-WATCHING

FISHING

SCUBA DIVING

SURFING, WINDSURFING & KITEBOARDING

HORSEBACK RIDING



* * *



I’ve ridden my bicycle halfway around the world. But I haven’t seen Mt Fuji, tasted authentic pad Thai or sipped local tequila. I haven’t seen the Great Wall of China or snapped photos of the Pyramids. In fact, I haven’t even left Canada. That’s how big this place is; you can cycle the equivalent of half the globe without leaving the political boundaries. Not even close. I did see three oceans – the Arctic, the Pacific and the Atlantic – and traversed all of Canada’s mountain ranges and its vast prairie region. And I can explain it all in two simple words: endless and staggering.



* * *



Learn endless amounts about being in the outdoors at www.outdooradventurecanada.com, a dynamic site that caters to all outdoor sports.





* * *



Within the grand tour lie many of the best outdoor opportunities in the world. In every corner of Canada there lurks some superlative landscape, some epic adventure like rafting the Yukon’s Firth River or surfing a dreamy swell in Nova Scotia. No matter what your ability, no matter what your taste, there is something here for you. And you don’t always have to drive for days to find it (unless you’re looking for seaside surf in Saskatchewan!).

Adventures for the rank beginner or the seasoned veteran are all over the place, even just on the edge of, and sometimes within, city limits. Whatever outdoor activity you can imagine, it exists in the highest of quality, right here in Canada.

вЂ˜Welcome to the Great White North, eh?’ That’s how television’s belching, beer-drinking fictional hosers (aka, stereotypical Canadian males) Bob and Doug McKenzie referred to Canada in their film Strange Brew. Playing up a pervasive stereotype – that we dress like lumberjacks and talk in half-stupor – is a legacy of that comedic duo. But, for nearly half the year, much of Canada really is snow-covered, and hockey and beer-drinking really are favorite pastimes.

But there is so much more here than that oversimplified pictorial and those stereotypical flannels. Welcome to the most abundant, most breathtaking, least busy playground on the planet. Welcome to half the world. Eh!


Return to beginning of chapter

SKIING & SNOWBOARDING

Skiing and snowboarding are what make the вЂ˜Great White North’ great.You’ll find lift-serviced hills near nearly every city. Hills in the flatlands, like Saskatchewan and southern Ontario, are built on available or creatively used geography (river hills or garbage dumps). They’re not huge, but they serve as perfect starting points for the bigger hills. So if the timing of your trip is right – and winters are long, so you’ve got a 50-50 chance! – you really can slip right into Canadian (skiing) culture.

Downhill Skiing & Snowboarding

The big hills are the real reason to go skiing, and they’re found in two main regions: the west (the Canadian Rockies, Columbia Mountains and Coast Mountains) and Québec’s eastern mountains. Québec boasts big hills – Le Massif, near Québec City, has a vertical drop of 770m (2526ft) – that are close to cities. Most of these non-alpine hills, like Mont Tremblant, are a day’s drive from Toronto and less than an hour from Québec City and Montréal. Ski areas in Québec’s Eastern Townships, such as Sutton and Owl’s Head, offer renowned gladed runs – runs that weave through a thinned forest.



* * *



Visit www.biglines.com, a Canadian-based snowriding site, to find out where to go and how to get there, and to meet the people to do it with.





* * *



Out west, it’s all about big mountains and a lot of alpine terrain. You’ll slip down gargantuan slopes at Whistler-Blackcomb, which has the highest vertical drop (and cost), and the most impressive terrain variation in North America. You’ll also ride into stunning postcard landscapes in the Canadian Rockies (eg Sunshine, Lake Louise, Marmot). Between the 2500m peaks of Whistler and the Rockies, you’ll find an abundance of lift-serviced ski/snowboard areas.



* * *



TOP (OTHER) COLD-WEATHER ACTIVITIES

It’s cold here in the winter. Damn cold. But instead of complaining about it, Canadians are apt to do something in it. Sure there’s skiing, snowboarding and ice skating, but here are five unique ways you can play in the snow:





Dog sledding – Guided trips will let you mush your own team for a day or on overnight trips. The more love you give the dogs, the more they’ll run for you.

Tobogganing – This popular extreme sport mixes plastic sleds with gravity. Find a snow-covered hill (not too big) and slide uncontrollably downhill. You’ll wipe out, you’ll get snow in your boots, and you’ll love it.

Snowmobiling – Many provinces, like Ontario, are blessed with a superb network of trails – some even groomed. Combine this motorized activity with backcountry skiing to access tons of powder.

Ice fishing – You can tell how obsessed a culture is by how much they’re willing to suffer for it. Canadians have a chronic fishing problem. Fish from inside an ice shack, drill into the ice, turn on the space heater and drop your line. You’ll be hooked in no time.

Snowshoeing – Tennis rackets – well, these days, fancier aluminium things – on your feet can get you into the wildest places in winter. If you’re road-tripping around Canada in winter, always have a pair in the car – you never know when and where wilderness will call.





* * *



There’s no such thing as Alps-style droughts or dismal snow years here – even the dry-summer Okanagan Valley resorts like Big White and Apex boast good snow year after year. Snowpack ranges from 2m to 6m-plus, depending on how close the resort is to the Pacific Ocean.



* * *



Canada’s snowiest city is Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, with an average of 422cm per year. Canada’s driest? Medicine Hat, Alberta, with 271 days sans rain.





* * *



Travelers in search of the deepest, driest snow in the world should check out Nelson’s Whitewater, Rossland’s Red Mountain or Fernie’s Alpine Resort for the best snow in lift-serviced skiing and snowboarding. As an alternative, powder-seekers can pay a little extra for guaranteed and untouched deeps with British Columbia’s world-renowned helicopter and cat-ski operators (pioneered by www.canadianmountainholidays.com), which offer a range of experiences for intermediate and expert riders.

Cross-Country (Nordic) Skiing

Instead of swishing through the snow, go straight on a set of Nordic skis. Most ski resorts in Canada offer a groomed network of cross-country ski trails (which are much cheaper than a downhill lift ticket). Try out the Sovereign Lakes Trails next to Silver Star mountain Click here in Vernon, BC. Compare lung capacity with Canadian national team members at the 1988 Olympic site in Canmore, Alberta. Or mix some culture with your diagonal-stride atop track-set battlegrounds on Québec City’s historic Plains of Abraham. Urban areas that get lots of winter snow – like Montréal, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa – convert their park’s walking trails into ski routes, and many bike shops convert their stock into Nordic skis and often offer rental equipment.

Ski Touring

Ski touring, downhill skiing with a backpack instead of a lift, is the cheapest way to tap into the deep and dry snow that is world-renowned in BC. Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park has the most beautiful glacier tours and tree skiing within a single-day tour. Or fly into a backcountry lodge like Blanket Glacier Chalet (www.blanketglacierchalet.com), near Revelstoke, for your own piece of paradise. Make sure you’re equipped and educated (or hire a guide), and check the local avalanche forecast (www.avalanche.ca). BC towns like Revelstoke, Nelson and Golden are touring hubs and have a number of shops that can provide gear, maps and information on snow conditions, where to park etc.

For the hut-to-hut ski pilgrimage dubbed вЂ˜The Canadian Haute Route,’ Banff and Yoho National Parks have four Alpine Club huts (www.alpineclubofcanada.ca) on the breathtaking Wapta ice cap. QuГ©bec’s Parc de la GaspГ©sie, with over 800 sq km of rare eastern alpine highlands and glacial cirques in the Chic Choc Mountains, has a system of 14 ski-in huts.


Return to beginning of chapter

MOUNTAIN BIKING & CYCLING

Cold winters and long distances have shaped cycling in Canada: it’s less lifestyle-oriented (like riding to work) and more for recreation. That said, Canada has revolutionized mountain biking and provides an expansive landscape for two-wheeled exploration.



* * *



Canadian Cyclist and Pedal are cycling magazines available at many newsagents.





* * *



To start gently, BC’s Kettle Valley Rail (KVR) Trail has no more than a 2% grade. Well, at least try not to go off course when you’re cruising across one of the towering wooden trestle bridges or rolling through a dark tunnel in Myra Canyon. This dramatic segment of the 600km converted railbed is one piece of a growing rail-to-trail system that offers cyclists the perfect chance to explore quiet areas without the worry of traffic – or steep hills.

And the KVR is just a tiny section of something much, much bigger: the Trans Canada Trail. The trail – one of the most ambitious trail projects ever undertaken – is not complete, but many thousands of kilometers of this future record-breaking trail, like the KVR, have been incorporated into it. The entire 18,000km trail (some of it river routes) will link 600 communities from coast to coast to coast and provide for multi-use access to cyclists, snowmobilers, horseback riders and hikers.



* * *



Looking for a dirtriding partner, a used full squish, trail tales or some radical footage? Check www.pinkbike.com, a virtual clearinghouse for everything mountain bike.





* * *



Prefer the verticals? On Vancouver’s North Shore, you’ll be riding on much narrower and steeper вЂ˜trestles.’ Birthplace of вЂ˜freeride’ mountain biking (which combines downhill and dirt jumping), this area offers some of the most unique innovations: elevated bridges, log rides and skinny planks that loft over the wet undergrowth. Since the explosive rise in popularity of this kind of riding, BC ski areas have taken on mountain biking and now offer lift-serviced, North Shore–inspired trails. Most popular ski areas like Panorama (www.panoramaresort.com), Apex and Sun Peaks offer well-built trails for a reasonable fee.



* * *



Freeride mountain biking was invented on Vancouver’s North Shore by rogue trailbuilders looking for a steeper, more technical ride.





* * *



If you like mixing ups with your downs, try Ontario’s Hardwood Hills (www.hardwoodhills.ca), located an hour north of Toronto. With six different trail systems totalling 80km, there’s something for everybody, from the Fun Trail to the Radical Trail for experts. Or try one of the Canadian Epic rides from IMBA (International Mountain Biking Association), such as Rossland, BC’s 30km Seven Summits ridge-top trail Click here. For an exotic ride in a surprising part of Canada, plunge into the Badlands of Drumheller, Alberta, where you’ll be riding next to dinosaur fossils in a lunar landscape. Or stick with classic Alberta Rocky Mountain cross-country riding in Kananaskis Country, the Calgary area’s giant recreational marvel.



* * *



Song of the Paddle: An Illustrated Guide to Wilderness Camping, by Canadian canoeing icon Bill Mason, offers an enchanting glimpse into the energy and brilliance of wilderness paddling.





* * *



If you love road touring, take the big tour – an 8000km-plus trek from Halifax to Vancouver – or challenge the north by riding to the Arctic Ocean on the remote Dempster Hwy. Or you could choose shorter regional rides. The east coast, with more small towns and less emptiness, is a fantastic place to pedal, either as a single-day road ride or a multi-day trip. Link together some of New Brunswick’s covered bridges (www.coveredbridges.ca); circle Québec’s Lac St Jean, or try any part of the 4000km Route Verte (www.routeverte.com), the longest network of bicycle paths in the Americas; conquer Nova Scotia’s hilly Cabot Trail; or follow Anne of Green Gables on the red Heritage Roads (www.freewheeling.ca) of Prince Edward Island.

For around-town cruising, Canada’s urban centers, like Toronto, Montréal, Edmonton and Vancouver, have excellent bike paths that crisscross the city and weave through its natural areas.


Return to beginning of chapter

PADDLESPORTS

There are few modern recreational activities that haven’t gone through some great transformation since they were invented. But for sea kayaking, things aren’t much different than they were 4000 years ago, when the Inuit stretched animal skins over a wooden frame and paddled to hunt whales. Sure, we use plastic and fiberglass today, but boat design and techniques have hardly changed.

No longer used for hunting, this double-bladed, covered-deck paddlesport is still the most efficient human-powered way to move across lakes and along coastlines. The Canadian Arctic, kayaking’s motherland, still remains one of the special places: cruise the polar fjords of Ellesmere Island and watch narwhals and walruses during the fuse-short summer. Further south, slide silently along BC’s Johnstone Strait and watch orcas breaching, or meander through the 30,000 polished granite islands of Ontario’s Georgian Bay, where you don’t have to think about tides, saltwater or currents.



* * *



There are five ratings for moving water. Class II is a ripple in the water, and Class V indicates a river feature – often vertical – with serious consequences for a mistaken move.





* * *



Unlike sea kayaks, white-water kayaks have changed dramatically. Playboats – tiny plastic kayaks with flat hulls like surfboards – are designed to surf on a river’s stationary and recirculating waves. The world’s playboating mecca, serving up some of the biggest waves and hundreds of beginner-friendly, warm-water bumps, is just upstream of the nation’s capital, near Beachburg on the Ottawa River. Other hot playspots (single locations you can session all day) include BC’s Skookumchuck Narrows tidal rapid, near Sechelt; Sturgeon Falls, near Winnipeg; Montréal’s Lachine Rapids; and Reversing Falls tidal rapid in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Playboating’s gnarly brother, creekboating, uses rounder boats with more flotation to help paddlers career down steep, narrow, waterfall-riddled rivers. Make sure you have a solid Eskimo Roll for righting yourself when you flip. Go with a team of safety-conscious boaters as you try BC creeks like Callaghan Creek (near Whistler;), Kuskanax Creek (in Nakusp, Click here) and the Kicking Horse River (in Golden, Click here). Or take a shot at the Taureau, near QuГ©bec City on the Jacques-Cartier River, dubbed the вЂ˜toughest run in the east.’



* * *



It’s hard to get up-to-date guidebooks for white-water rivers – they’re either out of print or out of date. Luckily www.kayakwest.com has many descriptions for rivers in western Canada.





* * *



For a similar thrill without the years of practice, take a trip on one of Canada’s rivers in a guided raft. You can test the Ottawa’s big rapids, rage down Golden BC’s Kicking Horse or spend a week on the Yukon’s glacial Tatshenshini River (near Whitehorse).

As old as kayaking, and equally Canadian, is the canoe. Because of Canada’s water-soaked landscape, it’s still possible to travel throughout Canada like the natives or the fur traders on the most primitive routes. Start by canoeing in flatwater in Ontario’s Algonquin or Quetico Provincial Parks, or under the mountains on BC’s Bowron Lakes chain Click here.



* * *



Canada was made for river travel: it’s possible to paddle, by canoe, from one side to the other with only two major portages: Methye and Grand Portage.





* * *



Once you’ve gathered moving-water skills, paddle one of 33 Canadian Heritage Rivers (www.chrs.ca). Some of the best include the Northwest Territories’ Nahanni River (near Fort Simpson, Click here) and Ontario’s French River (near Sudbury, Click here).

Canoeing is so deeply entrenched in the Canadian culture that even Canada’s former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, spent many summers traveling within Canada by canoe. вЂ˜What sets a canoeing expedition apart,’ he wrote, вЂ˜is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other travel. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; pedal five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically a bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you are already a child of nature.’



* * *



TOP HIKING TRAILS OF CANADA

There’s an overabundance of choice on Canada’s trails. Here are some of our favorites, to help you decide which way to turn your toes. Also, k.com, with listings of hundreds of rated trails across Canada, might help narrow the field. Also visit the Parks Canada site (www.pc.gc.ca) for outlines of their superior hikes.





Juan de Fuca Marine Trail (Vancouver Island, BC;) – A little-known extension of the West Coast Trail, this lush route has various access points and can be broken up into easy day-hikes or tackled in a week.

Orphan Lake (Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario;) – Along this moderate 8km-return route, eat lunch at the smaller Orphan Lake before setting foot in the grand-daddy of lagoons: Lake Superior.

Skyline Trail (Jasper National Park, Alberta;) – Four days above the tree line on this intermediate crest trail is one of Canada’s classic mountain treks.

Canol Heritage Trail (Northwest Territories;) – This super-challenging 372km portion of the Trans Canada Trail is one of the most remote in the world, running from the Yukon/Northwest Territories border to Norman Wells. Watch wild animals, cross unbridged rivers and see not a soul. Access is via Whitehorse.

Long Range Traverse (Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland;) – Start this challenging four-day walk from the edge of a magical freshwater fjord. Take a compass and GPS; the alpine plateau is crisscrossed by a web of caribou trails.

The Donjek Route (Kluane National Park, Yukon;) – Take this super-challenging weeklong 100km vision quest into the wildest alpine and glacier landscape in Canada.

Crypt Lake Trail (Waterton National Park, Alberta;) – Climb through a tunnel and up to an eerie crystal lake. This challenging 18km don’t-miss day-hike is accessible by ferryboat.

Silhouette Trail (Killarney Provincial Park, Ontario;) – Trek 100km through the challenging white La Cloche hills, then climb Silver Peak and witness the mirror-like waters of the park.

Wilcox Ridge/Parker Ridge (Banff & Jasper National Parks, Alberta;) – These two short (4km and 2.4km, respectively), moderate/easy ridgewalks within five minutes of each other offer unbelievable glacier views.





* * *





* * *



Trans Canada Trail

Try to imagine a single trail almost half as long as the earth is round and connecting three of the world’s four major oceans. That stretching path would be the Trans Canada Trail (TCT; www.tctrail.ca), an 18,078km-long ribbon winding from Cape Spear in Newfoundland across to Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. An offshoot will head northwards from Calgary through the Yukon to Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories, with a branch extending east through Nunavut to Chesterfield Inlet on Hudson Bay.



The TCT will be the longest such trail in the world, linking millions of travelers, hundreds of communities and dozens of landscapes. Its entire length will take about 300 days to cycle, 500 days to ride on horseback or 1000 days to walk.



It was the country’s 125th birthday in 1992 that inspired this ambitious idea. The now-disbanded organization in charge of the celebrations wanted to leave a lasting legacy, and provided enough seed money to launch the project in 1994. Everyone was asked to pitch in, including ordinary people who can вЂ˜buy’ 1m of trail for a $50 donation. This entitles them to have their name inscribed on one of dozens of Trail Pavilions along the route. So far approximately 200,000 people have immortalized themselves in this fashion.



The TCT is knitted together from existing and new trails. Much of it, including all of the Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island sections, will run along former railway tracks. It’s designed to be used year-round; by hikers, cyclists and horseback riders in summer and by cross-country skiers and snowmobile enthusiasts when temperatures drop. For now, the TCT remains a work in progress. More than half of it is currently unstable; it is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2010.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

HIKING & BACKPACKING

Canada has lots of land and few people. Three-quarters of Canadians live in cities close to the US border, and above them is a behemoth of a nation, with an almost endless wilderness that’s crisscrossed with hiking trails of every level.

Start in Canada’s hiking capital: Lake Louise in Alberta’s Banff National Park. From here you can march through dense spruce and pine forests that burst into a stunning bright-yellow canopy in the fall. Then ascend into alpine meadows that are carpeted with wildflowers and surrounded by crumbling glaciers and azure lakes.



* * *



Check for progress on the world’s longest trails at www.tctrail.ca as the Trans Canada Trail becomes closer to a connected system every day.





* * *



In BC’s Yoho National Park you’ll find the extension of this hiking wonderland at Lake O’Hara (accessible by bus reservation). This trail network weaves together pristine lakes with some of the largest peaks in the Rockies.

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve offers up the rugged and salty West Coast Trail, a six- to eight-day trek on Vancouver Island’s wild side, where a raging ocean meets a Paul Bunyan wilderness. And the BC Parks system (www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks) contains over 100 parks that offer short several-hour walks to multi-day hikes, like Garibaldi Park’s landscape of ancient volcanoes Click here, Mt Robson Park’s popular Berg Lake alpine trail Click here and Valhalla Park’s manicured nirvana of high-elevation trails Click here.



* * *



Want to meet other backcountry enthusiasts? www.alpineclubofcanada.ca has 19 local вЂ˜sections,’ from Vancouver Island to MontrГ©al, that offer outdoor trips and courses for all levels.





* * *



Head north so as to not miss the Chilkoot Trail, where you follow the ghosts of the men and women on their way to seek their fortune in the Yukon goldfields. Or explore the all-alpine wonderland of Tombstone Park, north of Dawson City’s goldfields Click here.

There are sizable mountains out east, too. Peaks in Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park punch out of the ocean at over 800m. And check out the beautiful day-hikes (and moose) in the undulating hills of Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

For the serious backpacker looking for the least beaten path and the biggest mountains east of the Canadian Rockies, plan on visiting Torngat Mountain National Park in Labrador. вЂ˜I believe,’ wrote explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534 about Labrador, вЂ˜that this was the land God allotted to Caine.’ This savagely unforgiving land is dramatic with unpredictable weather. But the payoff comes at the top of the 1652m summit of Mont D’Iberville.



* * *



Out There (www.out-there.com/htl_bpk.htm) provides loads of links to provincial trails and hiking clubs.





* * *



Little – or a lot – more civilized trails exist in southern Ontario, especially on the Bruce Trail, which tracks from Niagara Falls to Tobermory. It’s the oldest and longest continuous footpath in Canada and spans more than 850km. Though portions are near cities like Hamilton and Toronto, it is surprisingly serene.

In fact, while many wild places and parks exist across Canada, you needn’t go far from its urban centers for a good walk in the woods. There are many good trails within Montréal’s Parc du Mont-Royal or in the 361 sq km of wooded hills in Gatineau Park, just outside Ottawa. Edmonton is known as the greenest city in Canada and is bisected by the North Saskatchewan River’s steep-sided river bank, a perfect place for escaping the city under a comforting canopy of trees. Most famous of all is Vancouver’s Stanley Park: right next to corporate towers, an idyllic peninsula of gigantic trees surrounded on three sides by the lapping ocean.



* * *



Want to get off the beaten path? Backroad Mapbooks will show you the way. Outdoor recreation and camping overviews accompany each book, but make sure you cross-reference with the locals.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

ROCK CLIMBING, ICE CLIMBING & MOUNTAINEERING

Mountaineering in Canada began in the late 1800s when CP Rail, which owned a couple of swanky hotels in Banff National Park, hired Swiss mountain guides to make sure adventure-seeking guests would return to pay their bar tabs. Mountains such as Lake Louise’s Mt Victoria remain prized peaks in one of the world’s most impressive climbing regions.

Rock Climbing

You can access climbs of a different sort in Mt Victoria’s shadow: quartzite sport climbs (bolted single-pitch climbs) at the вЂ˜Back of the Lake’. Canmore, just outside Banff, is the ideal place for beginners and beyond. Climbing shops, a climbing school (www.yamnuska.com) and thousands of limestone sport climbs within a 30-minute radius of town make this a one-stop vacation that’s sure to rock.

But in April, the endlessly wintry Rockies are no match for the Skaha Bluffs in BC’s semi-arid Okanagan Valley. All levels of climbers bask in the spring sun while climbing the 700-plus gneiss (and nice, too!) sport climbs. The variety of single-pitch climbs won’t make you feel woozy, but the tastings you’ll do afterwards at the valley’s renowned wineries just might.



* * *



Chic Scott’s two-volume Summits & Icefields will have you salivating for deep powder. It features hundreds of tours, from day trips to summit missions to epic traverses.





* * *



Slicing northwest from Canada’s other wine region in Niagara, Ontario is a limestone escarpment that is littered with sport climbs for all levels that satisfy the nation’s bulging population center. Climb Rattlesnake Point, Kelso Park, or above the azure waters overhanging Georgian Bay in Lion’s Head on the Bruce Peninsula.

Once you’re ready – really ready – to expose yourself, try climbing the granite monolith deemed вЂ˜the Big Chief.’ The Chief pops out of the Pacific Ocean like a gladiator’s furious fist in Squamish, BC Click here, Canada’s climbing capital. If you can manage the Chief’s Apron, you’ll reach the Grand Wall of this вЂ˜Yosemite North.’ But don’t fret if the Chief has you quaking – there are plenty of surrounding cliffs with a variety of opportunities. Check for detailed information at one of Squamish’s climbing shops.



* * *



ICE SKATING

From obsessing over hockey – the national sport – to flooding neighborhood ice rinks, ice skating allows Canadians to thrive in winter. While Canadians are practically born on skates, it might take you a couple of hours to get the hang of it. But persevere, and soon you’ll be joining the ranks of nearly every Canadian alive.



Skating has spawned many a Canadian pastime and takes regional forms. Grassroots hockey, aka pond hockey, takes place in communities across Canada every night on a frozen surface. All you need is a puck, a hockey stick and a few friends to live the hockey dream. Plaster Rock hosts the annual World Pond Hockey Tournament, played on more than 20 separate rinks on one lake in New Brunswick.



When weather conditions are just right, which happens on Banff’s Vermillion Lakes every few years, lakes will freeze solid before snow arrives. Skate over the top of fish swimming under ice so clear it’s hard to believe (and trust) there’s any there.



For long-distance skating, skate forever on Ottawa’s 7km-long Rideau Canal – and enjoy a beavertail pastry afterwards. Winnipeg, Manitoba, notorious for chilly winters, has 3km of cleared ice on the Assiniboine and Red rivers. In Alberta, you can race in the Sylvan Lake 50km Marathon on a 10km track, the longest in the world.



Canada’s many winter ice roads that connect remote northern communities offer a chance for ice travel and adventure skating. Creeks and rivers – frozen just right – double as ice highways to new places.



Keep in mind that ice can be a dangerous place to be – especially early and late season. Check out www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/activ/activ26_E.asp for important safety tips.





* * *



For similar big walls in the alpine style, brave the granite Bugaboo Spires in the Purcell range, near Golden, BC Click here. The Cirque of Unclimbables’ Lotus Flower Tower (near Watson Lake, Yukon;) and the big walls on Baffin Island are the pinnacle of many climbers’ careers. So save your money for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Far North – just be patient with the weather.



* * *



Sean Daugherty’s Selected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies provides crisp route photos and accurate beta to some of Canada’s legendary mountaineering objectives.





* * *



Ice Climbing

When the summer rock-climbing season ends, Canadians don’t stop climbing. They just don a pair of warm mitts, a down jacket, crampons and an ice axe, and are pretty well ready to take on the most abundant and consistent ice climbing in the world.

Northern Ontario’s Orient Bay (near Thunder Bay, Click here) is a spectacular ice-laced escarpment with more than 100 single-pitch climbs for all levels. Québec’s Pont-Rouge, northwest of Québec City, produces some of the best ice climbers in the world. Rouge’s annual Festiglace (www.festiglace.com) highlights this region’s delights.

But the world’s ice palace is the Canadian Rockies. Banff, Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper national parks remain frozen for six months a year, and by early November notorious routes like Polar Circus and Curtain Call are in full form. If those are a little out of your league, step into Louise Falls (Lake Louise, Click here) or Professor Falls (Banff, Click here). As in summer, Canmore is the place to get started and take a lesson.



* * *



Just what mountain is that? With www.peakfinder.com, search through a database with over 1500 mountains of the Canadian Rockies. Great for climbers, hikers and sightseers.





* * *



Mountaineering

Up – way, way up – you’ll start to gain on the 11,000ft (3350m) peaks, like Mt Forbes, in the Canadian Rockies. If you prefer the European approach, climb the Matterhorn of Canada, BC’s Mt Assiniboine – from a full-service lodge and an alpine hut. Other western classics include Alberta’s Mt Edith Cavell, in Jasper; BC’s Mt Robson; Glacier’s Sir Donald and Garibaldi Peak, in Garibaldi Provincial Park, near Whistler.

Perhaps a nation’s most legendary climb is its highest. The Yukon’s Mt Logan (the second-highest in North America;) is no exception. Give yourself a couple of weeks to work your way up (19551ft or 5959m) this ice-riddled Kluane National Park massif. While there aren’t as many Swiss guides left, you’ll still find Canadian guides (www.alpineclubofcanada.ca) to be the best in the business as they follow in the foosteps of their forebears.


Return to beginning of chapter

WILDLIFE-WATCHING

If you’re lucky, you might just catch a glimpse of Bigfoot in the forests of BC. But if you’re really lucky, you’ll see a wolverine – though you’re more likely to see Bigfoot than this wary and wild member of the badger family. For better odds all around, watch out for the more common and visible Canadian critters.



* * *



Canadians are so fixated with wildlife, they even put it on their money: loon, polar bear, caribou and beaver are all pictured on its coins.





* * *



For a spectacular wildlife-viewing experience, go whale-watching. You’ve got about a 98% chance of seeing gray whales, humpback whales or orcas on a tour along Vancouver Island’s west coast Click here. The Arctic has tusked narwhals and belugas, while Nova Scotia has humpbacks, minkes and the rare North Atlantic right whale.

Polar bear can be spotted in Churchill, Manitoba on the shores of Hudson Bay. Operators will tour you around the Polar Bear Capital of the World in elevated tundra buggies. Just don’t step out – these 1000-pound-plus carnivorous predators look at you as if you’re a walking filet mignon.

At one time 60 million bison roamed the North American plains. But European settlement and вЂ˜open-season’ hunting brought the species to the brink. Today these half-ton grazers roam free in Elk Island and Wood Buffalo National Parks.

With 35 million birds, it’s no wonder Newfoundland is the Seabird Capital of the World. About 95% of the world’s puffin population make their home here, and Cape St Mary houses nearly 70,000 nesting seabirds. Migratory birds stop at Ontario’s Point Pelee National Park while large raptors float the thermals near Saskatchewan/Alberta’s Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. For bald eagles, see up to 4000 in winter at Brackendale near Squamish, BC Click here.

Every fall, you’ll see chum salmon fight the current for egg laying – and their inevitable death – in Vancouver Island’s Goldstream Provincial Park. Every four years, some of the 15 million sockeye salmon reach the Adams River near Chase, BC Click here. You’ll see red if you’re around in the fall of 2010, 2014, 2018…

In 1994, coastal BC’s Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary (near Prince Rupert, Click here) was protected. Over 50 grizzlies live on this 45,000-hectare refuge. A few eco-tour operators have permits for viewing this at-risk species. The mountain national parks (Banff, Jasper, Kooteany, Yoho) also offer a chance to see these rare omnivores.



* * *



Get intimate with Canada’s North and its wildlife with Being Caribou. This film – at times political – showcases the annual caribou migration and many other wild Canadian creatures in a spectacular portrait of the north.





* * *



As for other critters like wolves, black bear, moose, deer, beaver, muskrat and otter, 35% of the Canadian landscape is covered by the boreal forest, home to all of them. You can spot these animals anywhere between Newfoundland’s Terra Nova National Park, Saskatchewan’s Prince Albert National Park and the Yukon’s Kluane National Park. But driving, hiking or cycling in Algonquin Provincial Park is a golden opportunity to see each and every one.


Return to beginning of chapter

FISHING

It should probably come as no surprise that some of the best fishing in the world can be found in a country that harbors more freshwater than any other. Elaborate native societies based their entire nutritional structure around fish, and fishing has since become a sacred recreation.



* * *



TOP FIVE SPECTATOR SPORTS

When you need a day off from your own outdoor pursuits, keep your adrenaline pumping by watching others pump their own.





Calgary Stampede (www.calgarystampede.com) Bucking broncos, raging bulls and the toughest cowboys on earth converge on вЂ˜The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,’ which highlights western rodeo events and chuck-wagon racing.

Canot Г  Glace (www.carnaval.qc.ca) Crossing the half-frozen St Lawrence River in a canoe was once a necessary means of transport. Today extreme canoe-racers at the Carnaval de QuГ©bec risk dangerous currents and ice floes in an insane there-and-back race.

Logger Sports (www.squamishdays.org) Canada’s trees are its principal natural resource. So it’s no wonder there’s a competition to see who can climb them the fastest. See pros carve chairs, hand-saw at lightning speeds and cut trees with pinpoint precision in this heritage event held in Squamish, BC, in the first week of August.

Yukon Quest (www.yukonquest.com) Follow the most grueling long-distance dogsled race in the world. With fewer checkpoints than Alaska’s Iditarod, this 1000-mile (1600km) race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska, every February is the ultimate test of musher and dog – an homage to traditional transport.

Survivor Kananaskis (www.calgarykayakclub.com) Competitors in this portion of the Kananaskis Whitewater Festival stand in a dry riverbed as the glacial waters from this dammed river rise. Last one standing wins. Held the last weekend in May on the Kananaskis River, one hour west of Calgary.





* * *



Fishing is one of two Canadian sports where fighting is allowed; hockey is the other. Less controversial than a hockey scrum, fights at the end of a fishing line are equally exciting. The fiercer, the longer and the more unpredictable the fish fight, the better. And on just about any Canadian freshwater lake, you could get yourself into a serious brouhaha.



* * *



If you want to catch fish but know little about the sport, check out www.freshwater-fishing-canada.com to learn about catching and cooking Canadian-style.





* * *



Canada is swimming with an abundance of walleye, pike, rainbow and lake trout, and muskie. Northern Saskatchewan contains some of the most productive lakes, and many are serviced by fishing lodges. North of 60 degrees latitude – the Canadian North – is also a pretty sure bet to catching your supper, albeit a little pricier to access. But you’d be surprised how lucky you can get by just fishing in the lake at the side of the road.

Check local, provincial and federal fishing regulations wherever you are; most hardware or fishing shops can tell you everything there is to know.

Canada also has the longest coastline in the world and over 52,000 islands, so it’s no wonder that saltwater fishing is also top-shelf. West-coast salmon are the usual draw on the Pacific, while it’s not uncommon to catch a dozen mackerel or flounder in the Atlantic’s many bays and inlets in places like Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. It’s always a good idea to hire a guide; weather and seas can change dramatically over a short period of time, and local experts can help you find what you came looking for: a big fight.


Return to beginning of chapter

SCUBA DIVING

Imagine a crystal-clear ocean teeming with so much life that it isn’t blue anymore – a body of water so alive that the very life in it affects its color. Welcome to BC’s Emerald Sea! Scuba divers can become one with one of the most abundant and diverse marine areas on earth from the perfectly-placed ocean cities of Vancouver and Victoria. Plunge into world-class dive sites like Race Rocks in Victoria or Porteau Cove Provincial Park near Vancouver. Water quality, visibility and access to dive sites is superb, and you’ll see whales, wolf eel, sea lions, octopus, harbor seals, dolphins and much more in an aquarium of life.

Atlantic Canada contains many fine dive sites, too – pretty much anywhere you go underwater, you’ll find something. Ocean life here also benefits from the cold, nutrient-rich water. With its great trans-Atlantic shipping history, there’s an opportunity to check out 4500 documented shipwrecks such as the Empress of Ireland, which sank off the Québec coast, near Rimouski, in 1914.

To keep your lips from chapping in the saltwater, try freshwater diving at Ontario’s Fathom Five National Marine Park, which boasts crystal-clear water, underwater cliffs and caves, and more than 20 wrecks.

Water temperature throughout Canada is by no means tropical – it’s chilly even in summer. So forego the bikini (unless you’re hitting beaches like those on Prince Edward Island in the peak of summer) and slip into a drysuit: it can make the cold feel like a comfortable bathtub.


Return to beginning of chapter

SURFING, WINDSURFING & KITEBOARDING

Wind and wave sports in Canada have one thing in common – chilly water. But with the abundance of high-quality gear, you won’t notice temperatures while you’re ripping up world-class wind and waves on unpopulated beaches and lakes.

Surfing

In Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, on Vancouver Island’s вЂ˜Wild Side’ (the west coast), you don’t have to deal with any attitude or any line-up fisticuffs. Locals here are pretty laissez-faire, because when the fog rises there’s an endless sand beach, and behind the last footprints the landscape becomes enveloped by a gigantic, dark jungle of soothing old-growth cedars. June and September are best for mere mortals, but if you want to test some of the fiercest storms the Pacific can dish out, try surfing in winter.



* * *



Head to www.wavewatch.com for wave forecasts.





* * *



Eight thousand kilometers east along the Trans-Canada Hwy, Nova Scotia can also dish out some serious surf. The US south coast’s hurricane season (August to November) brings Canadians steep fast breaks, snappy right and left point breaks, and offshore reef and shoal breaks in areas like Lawrencetown, just outside Halifax, as well as the entire south shore region. First-timers will enjoy the challenge with many great surf schools both east and west. Tofino, outside Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, has a superb choice of surf schools and offers the most variety for learning.



* * *



Thanks to 15m tides, it’s possible to surf – upstream! – on New Brunswick’s Shubenacadie tidal bore, where wave heights can reach 3m.





* * *



Windsurfing & Kiteboarding

While the surfers hang ten around the outer fringes of the country, wind rolling inland makes for perfect windsurfing and kiteboarding conditions on Vancouver Island’s freshwater Nitinat Lake. Not far from the Wild Side’s surf, this is one of the most consistent wind locations on the planet, with daily thermal flows coming in off the ocean. Squamish, BC Click here, benefits greatly from a wind-funneling venturi effect, which gets wild in Howe Sound.

Alberta’s Oldman River Reservoir – far from anything wild – is a guaranteed hot spot for wind. No trees hold back the wind; only power-generating wind farms compete for a chunk of the gust. In the center of Canada, surfers have four Great Lakes and the gigantic Georgian Bay (try access through Midland, Ontario, Click here) to choose from.

It would seem that Québec’s Magdalen Islands – a small chain of sand dunes in the middle of the Gulf of St Lawrence, accessible by ferry from Québec or Prince Edward Island – were made for wind sports. It’s the kind of place so blessed that if the wind is blowing the wrong way, you can drive a few minutes down to another beach where it’s just perfect. Sheltered lagoons offer safe learning locations for testing kiteboards or seeking shelter during heavy days.


Return to beginning of chapter

HORSEBACK RIDING

Riding a cayuse (that’s cowboy-speak for a range-bred horse) in the western mountains takes you back 100 years, when cowboys and First Nations peoples moved across the rugged land almost solely on horseback. From Alberta’s mountains to the edge of the Coast Mountains all the way into the Yukon Territory, horses played a significant role in opening up the land.

Today, horses help all kinds of people, from couch potatoes to the uberactive, get out to enjoy the landscape. Take a weeklong pack trip from Banff, Jasper or into the Willmore Wilderness Reserve (near Hinton, Alberta;) with real cowboy outfitters: sleep in canvas, stove-warmed tents; cross swift creeks; tie the diamond hitch; hear old-time music; and eat some of the best home-cooked meals outside Mom’s house. Or saddle up in Alberta’s sacred Porcupine Hills (south of Calgary) for a genuine ranch experience of cattle drives and roundups. Be ready to get down and dirty.




Return to beginning of chapter





Ontario





* * *



TORONTO

HISTORY

ORIENTATION

INFORMATION

DANGERS & ANNOYANCES

SIGHTS

ACTIVITIES

WALKING TOUR: SUBTERRANEAN TORONTO BLUES

TORONTO FOR CHILDREN

OFFBEAT TORONTO

TOURS

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

SLEEPING

EATING

DRINKING

ENTERTAINMENT

SHOPPING

GETTING THERE & AWAY

GETTING AROUND

AROUND TORONTO

NIAGARA PENINSULA

NIAGARA PENINSULA WINE COUNTRY

WELLAND CANAL AREA

NIAGARA FALLS

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE

SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

HAMILTON

BRANTFORD & AROUND

GUELPH

KITCHENER-WATERLOO

ST JACOBS & AROUND

CENTRE WELLINGTON: ELORA & FERGUS

STRATFORD

LONDON

ST THOMAS

LAKE ERIE SHORELINE

WINDSOR

LAKE HURON SHORELINE

GEORGIAN BAY & LAKELANDS

BARRIE

SOUTHAMPTON & AROUND

BRUCE PENINSULA

OWEN SOUND

COLLINGWOOD & BLUE MOUNTAIN

WASAGA BEACH

MIDLAND

PENETANGUISHENE

ORILLIA

GRAVENHURST

BRACEBRIDGE

HUNTSVILLE

PARRY SOUND

KILLARNEY PROVINCIAL PARK

MANITOULIN ISLAND

NORTHERN ONTARIO

SUDBURY

ELLIOT LAKE

MISSISSAGI PROVINCIAL PARK

ST JOSEPH ISLAND

SAULT STE MARIE

LAKE SUPERIOR PROVINCIAL PARK

WAWA

CHAPLEAU

PUKASKWA NATIONAL PARK

MARATHON TO NIPIGON

OUIMET CANYON PROVINCIAL PARK

SLEEPING GIANT PROVINCIAL PARK

THUNDER BAY

THUNDER BAY TO MANITOBA

NIPIGON TO COCHRANE

COCHRANE

MOOSE FACTORY & MOOSONEE

TIMMINS

TEMAGAMI

NORTH BAY

EASTERN ONTARIO

ALGONQUIN PROVINCIAL PARK

HALIBURTON HIGHLANDS

PETERBOROUGH & THE KAWARTHAS

LAND O’LAKES

BRIGHTON & PRESQU’ILE PROVINCIAL PARK

PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY

KINGSTON

WOLFE ISLAND

GANANOQUE

THOUSAND ISLANDS

BROCKVILLE

PRESCOTT

MERRICKVILLE

MORRISBURG

CORNWALL

OTTAWA

HISTORY

ORIENTATION

INFORMATION

DANGERS & ANNOYANCES

SIGHTS

ACTIVITIES

OTTAWA FOR CHILDREN

OFFBEAT OTTAWA

TOURS

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

SLEEPING

EATING

DRINKING

ENTERTAINMENT

SHOPPING

GETTING THERE & AWAY

GETTING AROUND

AROUND OTTAWA



* * *



Québec may be bigger, British Columbia may have more mountains, and Alberta is certainly flexing its economic biceps at the moment, but when it comes to culture, cuisine and sophistication, Ontario wins hands down. Sure, there are just as many empty, cold acres here as anywhere else, but when you’re in Ontario, you can’t help but feel a palpable connection with the rest of the planet. Forget ice fishing, conifers and bear for a minute – this is global Canada, big-city Canada, sexy, progressive, urbane Canada.

Most Ontarians live in the south within a few hundred kilometers of the US border, where winters are bearable and steamy summers lure folks outside. Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is here – a blazing metropolis overflowing with multicultural arts, entertainment and eating opportunities. Ottawa, Canada’s capital, is changing too. No longer a steadfast political filing cabinet, contemporary Ottawa is as hip as you want it to be.

Year-round, Ontario celebrates its diversity with a cavalcade of festivals. Thespians rejoice over Stratford’s Shakespeare Festival and the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Connoisseurs of a more hedonistic activity – beer drinking – immerse themselves in Kitchener’s Oktoberfest and the London Beer Festival, while a festival-free weekend in Toronto is an event unto itself.

Cities and festivities don’t float your boat? Not far from the madding crowds, low-key agricultural towns and historic settlements define Ontario’s country civility. And if you must seek out wildlife, there are some excellent national parks here too. From arctic Hudson Bay in the north to the temperate Great Lakes in the south you’ll find more than enough boreal forests, undulating hills and vineyards to keep you feeling green. And don’t forget Niagara Falls – if you’ve found a natural wonder more deserving of the adjective вЂ˜spectacular,’ drop us a line.



* * *



HIGHLIGHTS



Eat, drink and groove your way through Toronto – a truly global city – or emerging Ottawa

Stare wide-eyed at the thunderous impact of Niagara Falls

Spend a quiet evening along the picturesque Thousand Islands

Set sail for chilled-out Pelee Island, Canada’s southernmost land

Head for Manitoulin Island for a dose of aboriginal culture

Paddle through the quiet waters of Lake Superior Provincial Park and Pukaskwa National Park, pondering the meaning of life as the blazing sunset dips into the Great Lakes





* * *



History

When Europeans first stumbled through the snow into Ontario, several aboriginal nations already called the region home. The Algonquin and Huron tribes had long occupied the southern portion of the province, but by the time European colonization took hold in the early 18th century, the Iroquois Confederacy (aka the Five Nations) held sway in the lands south of Georgian Bay and east to Québec. The Ojibwe occupied the lands north of the Great Lakes and west to Cree territory on the prairies (today’s Alberta and Saskatchewan).

The first Europeans on the scene were 17th-century French fur traders, who established basic forts to facilitate trade links with the Mississippi River. With the arrival of the British Loyalists around 1775, large-scale settlement began. After the War of 1812, British immigrants arrived in larger numbers, and by the end of the 19th century, Ontario’s farms, industries and cities were rapidly developing. In the aftermath of both world wars, immigration from Europe boomed – Toronto has since evolved into one of the world’s most multicultural cities.

An industrial and manufacturing powerhouse, Ontario is home to around 39% of Canada’s population. Despite boom times in Alberta, Ontario remains the first choice of immigrants from across the globe, with solid employment prospects and Toronto’s well-established immigrant support services proving a powerful draw.

Local Culture

Ontario sees itself as a civilized place – the pinnacle of multicultural Canada, detached from the rednecks out west and infinitely more sensible than the Francophiles in QuГ©bec. The good citizens of Toronto work hard and play hard, and are fond of making myopic comments like, вЂ˜This place is so awesome – why would we want to go anywhere else?’ The rest of the country finds this highly irritating, a reaction celebrated in the 2007 film Let’s All Hate Toronto.

Outside of Toronto, however, you’ll find most Ontarians to be rather mild-mannered folk – they know they have a high standard of living and access to all the world’s bounty, but they don’t feel the need to boast about it. Rural Ontarian towns are generally unassuming (and often unspectacular), but usually have some good pubs, B&Bs and farmers’ markets selling high-quality local organic produce.



* * *



ONTARIO FACTS



Population 12,753,700

Area 1,076,395 sq km

Capital Toronto

Nickname The Iroquoian name for Ontario is Skanadario, meaning вЂ˜sparkling water’

Birthplace of Wayne вЂ˜The Great One’ Gretzky (1961); prima ballerina Karen Kain (1951); co-discoverer of insulin Sir Frederick Banting (1891); Blues Brother Dan Aykroyd (1955)

Home to Canadian Rock: Bryan Adams, The Tea Party, Neil Young, Alanis Morissette, Jeff Healey, Rush, The Cowboy Junkies, Barenaked Ladies, The Tragically Hip etc…

Number of times the car stereo will play Bryan Adams’ вЂ˜Cuts Like A Knife’ on any given Ontarian road trip Seven





* * *



More than any other province, Ontario is hockey-mad. This is the home of Wayne вЂ˜The Great One’ Gretzky, and right through the year, huge slabs of prime-time radio are given over to Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators talk-back shows, spotlighting the failings of new recruits, dissecting Leafs’ coach Paul Maurice’s post-match interviews and debating whether or not this could be the year. The вЂ˜Sens’ fell just short of Stanley Cup glory in 2007, but Toronto’s 1967 Stanley Cup victory looks set to remain unreprised for some time yet.

Land & Climate

From north to south, Ontario spans a whopping 1730km. It’s mostly flat country (this ain’t the place for downhill skiing), but is peppered with lakes and forests. The northern continental climate sees bitterly cold winters and mild summers. In southern Ontario there’s a collision between cold air from the arctic north and warm maritime air from the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. This creates steady precipitation throughout the year, heavy summer humidity and much milder winters than in the north.

That said, the entire province is blanketed with heavy snowfalls during winter. January averages are around -4°C on the Niagara Peninsula and -18°C in Ontario’s northern zones. In the south, where most of the population lives, winter snow melts rapidly in spring. As summer draws closer, the strip of land bordering the USA gets increasingly hot and sticky, particularly the Niagara Peninsula. July averages are around 23°C in southwestern Ontario, 19°C in eastern Ontario and 15°C in the north.





Parks & Wildlife

Ontario contains six of Canada’s national parks: in the south, Georgian Bay Islands National Park, Bruce Peninsula National Park, Fathom Five National Marine Park and Point Pelee National Park, the southernmost point of the Canadian mainland. In the north are Pukaskwa National Park and St Lawrence Islands National Park – more than 20 islands adrift in the St Lawrence River.

There are also 104 provincial parks here, offering hiking and camping facilities. Campsites for up to six people cost between $23 and $36 per night (plus $12 booking fee), ranging from basic sites sans showers and electricity to well-located plots with showers and plug-in power. Make reservations with Ontario Parks (888-668-7275; www.ontarioparks.com).

Charismatic megafauna has largely been evicted from southern Ontario due to development and agriculture, but the further north you travel, the more likely you are to spot hairy roadside individuals (no, not lumberjacks).



* * *



ONTARIO ITINERARIES

Four Days

Prime yourself for some high times in the neighborhoods of Toronto, scanning the scene from atop the CN Tower. Two days of museums, bars, clubs, shops and world-class eateries is barely enough…



On day three, bow down before the power and grace of Niagara Falls then trundle up the Niagara Parkway to Niagara-on-the-Lake to find out what the definition of вЂ˜quaint’ really is.



On day four, roam northeast to Ottawa and sample the cultural offerings of вЂ˜Our Nation’s Capital.’ Don’t miss stately Kingston and the picturesque Thousand Islands en route.



Two Weeks

Feel like a road trip? Heading northwest, take a paddle through the expansive Algonquin Provincial Park, visit Manitoulin Island for a dose of aboriginal culture, and try Sudbury and Sault Ste Marie for a history lesson on shipping and mining in northern Ontario.



Continue westward and base yourself in Wawa for a few days. Explore the primeval topography of Pukaskwa National Park and Lake Superior Provincial Park. Greater expanses of unexplored nature lie ahead as you roll on toward Thunder Bay and beyond.



If you’re heading back to Toronto, rest your road-weary bones in Elora in Wellington County.



Wine, Wine, Wine…

Ontario’s wines take huge leaps forward with every vintage. If you’ve got a spare day, wobble your way around the vineyards in the Niagara Peninsula Wine Country and see what all the fuss is about.





* * *



Getting There & Around

AIR

Most Canadian airlines and major international carriers arrive at Toronto’s Lester B Pearson International Airport. Air Canada (www.aircanada.com) and WestJet (www.westjet.com) service the province thoroughly. CanJet (www.canjet.com) offers budget airfares, albeit to fewer destinations. First Air (www.firstair.ca) and Canadian North (www.canadiannorth.ca) connect Ottawa with Iqaluit in Nunavut daily.

BUS

Greyhound Canada (www.greyhound.ca) covers southern Ontario, while Ontario Northland (www.ontarionorthland.ca) services northern Ontario from Toronto. Booking bus tickets at least seven days in advance can sometimes halve the fare. Long-haul Greyhound routes from Toronto include MontrГ©al ($94, eight to 10 hours, frequently), Winnipeg ($194, 31 hours, four daily) and Vancouver ($371, 65 to 70 hours, four daily).

CAR & MOTORCYCLE

When driving in Ontario, you can turn right on a red light after first having made a full stop. The big car-hire companies have offices in larger towns. Click here for key highways.

Regional driving distances:



Toronto to Niagara Falls: 125km

Toronto to Windsor: 380km

Toronto to Ottawa: 440km

Toronto to Thunder Bay: 1470km



TRAIN

VIA Rail (www.viarail.ca) trains service the Ontario–Québec corridor, from Windsor all the way through to Montréal ($198, 10 to 11 hours, four daily). VIA Rail also services northern Ontario into Manitoba.

Ontario Northland (www.ontarionorthland.ca) operates train routes throughout northern Ontario. Its Northlander service connects Toronto with Cochrane, from where buses go to Hearst and Kapuskasing. The Polar Bear Express runs from Cochrane to Moosonee in northern Ontario.


Return to beginning of chapter


TORONTO

pop 4.5 million

Toronto is a city driven by the seasons. Dramatic shifts in weather elicit almost schizophrenic behavior from the locals. Washed-out by winter, reticent residents scuttle between doorways to stay out of the April wind – spring here is far from frivolous. Come back in July and it’s a whole new ball game: patios overflow with laughing crowds, pubs heave and sway, people play in the parks and along the lakeshore till late. Humidity clogs the avenues and the streetlife hum approaches a roar. In October, Torontonians have a haunted look – reddening maples bring a tight-lipped, melancholy realization that winter isn’t far away. Spanked across the face by bitter February, locals head underground into the PATH network of subterranean walkways. Snowy streets are no place to be – instead it’s galleries, coffee shops and cozy pubs. And of course, winter is hockey season!

Toronto’s many immigrants play along with this well-weathered performance, their relocated cultures transforming the city into a hyperactive human stew of ethnic, subcultural and historic districts. Far from ghettos, this patchwork of neighborhoods shapes the city’s social agenda and fuels its progress. Overlayed by typically laconic Canadian attitude, Toronto is as unpretentious and tolerant as it is complex.

Food, shopping, festivals, clubs, concerts and bars – you can spend weeks pinballing between Toronto’s urban virtues, but this is a green city too. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is a deep, loamy plain furrowed by leafy ravines – refuges for raccoons, eagles and more sweaty joggers than seems plausible. Tommy Thompson Park, an artificial wildlife oasis, juts abstractly into Lake Ontario; the Toronto Islands rustle their leafy boughs at the city skyline.


Return to beginning of chapter

HISTORY

In the 17th century, present-day Toronto was Seneca aboriginal land. Frenchman Étienne BrÛlé was the first European here in 1615. The locals didn’t relish the visit; the chilly reception they issued temporarily impeding further French development. It wasn’t until around 1720 that the French established a fur-trading post in what’s now the city’s west end.

In 1793 the British took over and John Simcoe, lieutenant governor of the new Upper Canada, chose the site as the capital (formerly at Niagara-on-the-Lake) and founded the town of York. On April 27, 1813, during the War of 1812, American forces reached Fort York and overcame British and Ojibwe troops. The Americans looted and razed York, but held sway for only six days before Canadian troops booted them out and hounded them back to Washington.

In 1834, with William Lyon Mackenzie as mayor, York was renamed Toronto, an aboriginal name meaning вЂ˜gathering place.’ The Victorian city, controlled by conservative politicians, became known as вЂ˜Toronto the Good,’ a tag that only faded in the 1970s. Religious restraints and strong anti-vice laws were to blame: on Sundays it was illegal to hire a horse, curtains were drawn in department-store windows (window-shopping was considered sinful), and movies couldn’t be screened.

Like many big cities, Toronto had a great fire; in 1904 about five hectares of the inner city burned, leveling 122 buildings. Amazingly, no one was killed. By the 1920s Bay Street (Toronto’s Wall Street) was booming, in part due to gold, silver and uranium discoveries in northern Ontario.

In 1941, 80% of the population was Anglo-Celtic, but the city’s cultural face changed after WWII. Well over one million immigrants have arrived since: Italian, Portuguese, Chilean, Greek, Southeast Asian, Chinese and West Indian immigrants have rolled into the city in waves. New tongues, customs and cuisines have livened the place up, curing the city’s chronic case of one-eyed Anglo reserve.

In 1998 five sprawling Toronto suburbs – York, East York, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough – fused to become the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). As the fifth-largest city in North America, contemporary Toronto is booming – a million miles from its beginnings as вЂ˜Muddy York,’ Ontario’s second-choice town.


Return to beginning of chapter

ORIENTATION

Downtown Toronto is an easy-to-navigate grid, bounded by a hodgepodge of bohemian, ethnic and historic neighborhoods. The city’s southern edge is crisply defined by Lake Ontario. Just offshore are the Toronto Islands. The Harbourfront district sits between the lake and Union Station (Toronto’s main train station), forming the gateway to the skyscraping Financial District and historic Old York. The Theatre Block congregates around King St W, butting up next to the nocturnal Entertainment District (aka Clubland). Further north, Queen St parades east past City Hall toward the Eaton Centre and Dundas Sq.

Toronto’s main east–west streets are labeled вЂ˜East’ or вЂ˜West’ on either side of Yonge St (pronounced вЂ˜Young’), the main north–south artery, which rolls north from the lake into chichi Bloor-Yorkville and beyond (it’s the longest street in the world!). The Church-Wellesley Village is a gay parallel universe a few blocks to the east. East Toronto extends from here through Cabbagetown, Greektown (The Danforth) and The Beaches community.

Over on the west side, low-key Baldwin Village and frenetic Chinatown bump into multicultural Kensington Market and the main University of Toronto (U of T) campus. The Annex is a student-dominated вЂ˜hood northwest of U of T, adhering to Bloor St W. A short stroll along College St from Kensington Market is Little Italy, paralleling the artsy Queen West and West Queen West strips further south.

Lester B Pearson International Airport is 27km west of downtown.

Maps

Lonely Planet’s color, fold-out Toronto City Map has a handy street index and a laminated write-on, wipe-off surface. Stop by the Ontario Travel Information Centre or Tourism Toronto for free city and provincial maps. MapArt (www.mapart.com) publishes an excellent series of affordable maps covering central Toronto, the GTA and southwestern Ontario, sold at bookstores and newsstands.



* * *



TORONTO ITINERARIES

Two Days

A flying visit? Take a rocket-ride up the CN Tower – as high as Torontonians get without wings or drugs. Shuffle over to St Lawrence Market for lunch then head up to Bloor-Yorkville to splash some cash in the shops. Compensate with a thrifty dinner in Chinatown.



On day two check out the amazing Royal Ontario Museum, Hockey Hall of Fame or Art Gallery of Ontario – then take a long lunch in Baldwin Village. Afterwards, ride the ferry to the Toronto Islands; hire a bike and wheel away the afternoon. Back on the mainland, nibble on late-night mezes (Greek tapas) and drinks in Greektown.



Four Days

With four days to burn, rummage through the boutiques at Kensington Market and eat in Little Italy. Explore Toronto’s underbelly on our Walking Tour, or take the streetcar east to explore The Beaches, with dinner and drinks in the Distillery District.



Peruse the shops, bars and eateries along Queen West and West Queen West. If you’re feeling more hot-dogs-and-beer, catch a baseball game at the Rogers Centre or hockey at the Air Canada Centre. A trashy night club-hopping through the Entertainment District is a mandatory T.O. experience.



One Week

Explore some highlights beyond the downtown area: the Scarborough Bluffs, Tommy Thompson Park or the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Further afield, Niagara Falls awaits, while the Niagara Peninsula Wine Country makes a worthy/woozy excursion.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

INFORMATION



Bookstores



Indigo (Map; 416-925-3536; www.chapters.indgo.ca; Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor St W; 9am-9pm; subway Bloor-Yonge) Impressive multi-tiered megastore.

Open Air Books & Maps (Map; 416-363-0719; openairbooks@yahoo.ca; 25 Toronto St; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 5:30pm Sat; subway King) Ramshackle basement full of travel guides and maps plus books on nature, camping, history and outdoor activities.

Pages Books & Magazines (Map; 416-598-1447; www.pagesbooks.ca; 256 Queen St W; 9:30am-10pm Mon-Fri, 10am-10pm Sat, 11am-8pm Sun; streetcar 501) Toronto’s finest independent bookstore with magazines, small-press editions, nonfiction and new literature.

TheatreBooks (Map; 416-922-7175; www.theatrebooks.com; 11 St Thomas St; 10am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun; subway Bay) Original scripts, music, film, dance, drama theory, plus screenwriting software and DVDs.

This Ain’t the Rosedale Library (Map; 416-929-9912; tatrl@bellnet.ca; 483 Church St; 11am-10pm Sun-Thu, to 11pm Fri & Sat; subway Wellesley) A gay community institution selling novels, first editions, nonfiction and magazines.

Toronto Women’s Bookstore (Map; 416-922-8744; www.womensbookstore.com; 73 Harbord St; 10:30am-6pm Mon-Wed & Sat, to 8pm Thu & Fri, noon-5pm Sun; streetcar 510) Nonprofit bookstore selling titles by female authors from diverse backgrounds.



Cultural Centers



Alliance Française (Map; 416-922-2014; www.alliance-francaise.ca; 24 Spadina Rd; 8am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 3:30pm Fri & Sat; subway Spadina)

Italian Cultural Institute (Map; 416-921-3802; www.iicto-ca.org; 496 Huron St; 9am-1pm & 2-5pm Mon-Fri; subway Spadina)

Japan Foundation (Map; 416-966-1600; www.japanfoundationcanada.org; 2nd fl, 131 Bloor St W; 11:30am-4:30pm Mon-Wed & Fri, 2-7pm Thu, 1-5pm 1st Sat of month; subway Bay)

Spanish Centre (Map; 416-925-4652; www.spanishcentre.com; 46 Hayden St; 10am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 8pm Fri, to 4pm Sat; subway Bloor-Yonge)



Emergency



Police, non-emergency (416-808-2222, TDD 416-467-0493)

SOS Femmes (416-759-0138, 800-287-8603) French-language crisis line for women

Toronto Rape Crisis Centre (416-597-8808, TTY 416-597-1214)



Internet Access

Toronto’s cheapest internet cafés congregate along the Yonge St Strip; Bloor St W in The Annex and Koreatown; and Chinatown’s Spadina Ave. Rates start around $3 per hour.



Enternet (Map; 416-260-0100; 250 Queen St W; 9am-7pm; streetcar 501)

Grey Region Comics (Map; 416-975-1718; 550 Yonge St; per hr $6; 9am-midnight; subway Wellesley)

Kinko’s Queen St & Dundas Sq (Map; 416-979-8447; 505 University Ave; 24hr; subway St Patrick); The Annex (Map; 416-928-0110; 459 Bloor St W; 24hr; subway Spadina)



Media

MAGAZINES & NEWSPAPERS



Eye Weekly (www.eye.net) Free alternative street press, with an arts and entertainment bent.

Globe & Mail (www.globeandmail.ca) Elder statesman of the national daily newspapers.

Metro (www.metronews.ca) Free daily rag with bite-sized news, sports and entertainment (often left on subway seats).

Now Toronto (www.nowtoronto.com) Alternative weekly (good for events and concerts) free every Thursday.

Toronto Life (www.torontolife.com) Upscale monthly mag: lifestyle, dining, arts and entertainment.

Toronto Star (www.thestar.com) Canada’s largest newspaper; a comprehensive left-leaning daily.

Toronto Sun (www.torontosun.com) Sensational tabloid with predictably good sports coverage.

Where Toronto (www.where.ca/toronto) The most informative of the free glossy tourist magazines.

Xtra! (www.xtra.ca) Free biweekly alternative gay & lesbian street press.



RADIO



CILQ (107FM; www.q107.com) Classic rock broadcast from Dundas Sq.

CIUT (89.5FM; www.ciut.fm) Music and spoken-word from the U of T campus.

Edge (102.1FM; www.edge102.com) Toronto’s premier new-rock station.



Medical Services



Dental Emergency Clinic (Map; 416-485-7121; www.dentalemergency.com; 1650 Yonge St; 8am-midnight; subway St Clair)

Hassle-Free Clinic (Map; www.hasslefreeclinic.org; 2nd fl, 66 Gerrard St E; subway College) women (416-922-0566; 10am-3pm Mon, Wed & Fri, 4-8pm Tue & Thu) men (416-922-0603; 4-8pm Mon & Wed, 10am-3pm Tue & Thu, 4-7pm Fri, 10am-2pm Sat) STD/HIV testing and reproductive health.

Hospital for Sick Children (Map; 416-813-1500; www.sickkids.on.ca; 170 Elizabeth St, emergency on Gerrard St W; 24hr; subway Queens Park)

Mount Sinai Hospital (Map; 416-596-4200, emergency 416-586-5054; www.mtsinai.on.ca; 600 University Ave; 24hr; subway Queens Park)

Shoppers Drug Mart (www.shoppersdrugmart.ca) The Annex (Map; 416-961-2042; 360A Bloor St W; 8am-midnight Mon-Sat, from 10am Sun; subway Spadina) Yonge St Strip (Map; 416-920-0098; 728 Yonge St; 8am-midnight Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat, from 10am Sun; subway Bloor-Yonge)





Toronto General Hospital (Map; 416-340-3111, emergency 416-340-3946; www.uhn.ca; 200 Elizabeth St; 24hr; subway Queens Park)

Women’s College Hospital (Map; 416-323-6400; www.womenscollegehospital.ca; 76 Grenville St; 24hr; subway College) Non-emergency women’s and family health.



Money

American Express (905-474-0870, 800-869-3016; www.americanexpress.com/canada) branches in Toronto only function as travel agencies and don’t handle financial transactions. Instead, tackle the banks, or try Money Mart (Map; 416-920-4146; www.moneymart.ca; 617 Yonge St; 24hr; subway Wellesley).



Thomas Cook (www.thomascook.ca) Bloor-Yorkville (Map; 416-975-9940, 800-267-8891; 1168 Bay St; 9am-5:30pm Mon-Fri; subway Bloor-Yonge) Financial District (Map; 416-366-1961; 10 King St E; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri; subway King)

Travelex (www.travelex.com/ca/) Financial District (Map; 416-304-6130; First Canadian Place, Bank of MontrГ©al, 100 King St W; 8am-5pm Mon-Fri; subway Union) Pearson International Airport Terminal 3 Arrivals (Map; 905-673-7042; 8:30am-midnight) Pearson International Airport Terminal 3 Departures (Map; 905-673-7461; 3:30am-10pm)



Post

Toronto no longer has a main post office, but branch post offices and outlets in drugstores are dotted throughout the city. The most central is probably the Adelaide St Post Office (Map; 800-267-1177; www.canadapost.ca; 31 Adelaide St E; 8am-5:45pm Mon-Fri; subway Queen).

Tourist Information



Ontario Travel Information Centre (Map; English 800-668-2746, French 800-268-3736; www.ontariotravel.net; 20 Dundas St W; 10am-7pm, to 9pm in summer Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun; subway Dundas) Knowledgeable, multilingual staff and overflowing racks of brochures.

Tourism Toronto (Map; 416-203-2500, 800-363-1990; www.seetorontonow.com; Suite 405, 207 Queens Quay; 8:30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sat, 10am-6pm Sun; subway Union) Swing by the office for info, or contact one of the telephone agents; after hours use the automated touch-tone information menu.




Return to beginning of chapter

DANGERS & ANNOYANCES

By North American standards, Toronto is extremely safe, but it’s not a brilliant idea for women to walk alone after dark east of Yonge St from the Gardiner Expwy north to Carlton St. The southern section of Jarvis St, between Carlton and Queen Sts, especially around Allan Gardens and George St, should also be avoided at night (it’s not so great during the day either).



* * *



TORONTO BY NUMBERS



Canadian immigrants who settle in Toronto: 1 in 4

Estimated number of visitors during Pride Week: 1 million

Pint of local brew: $5

Unemployment rate: 6.5%

TTC subway ride: $2.75

Percentage of the US population within a day’s drive of Toronto: 50%

Height of the CN Tower: 553m

Cheap ticket to a Blue Jays game: $9

Parkland as a percentage of Toronto’s area: 18%

Last time the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup: 1967





* * *



Many social service agencies have recently closed, creating a tide of homeless (often mentally ill) people on the streets – a real problem for Toronto. Most homeless people are more likely to be assaulted or harassed than to do so to you.


Return to beginning of chapter

SIGHTS

A plethora of Toronto sights – breweries, water parks, sports stadiums, gardens, historic sites – huddle around the Harbourfront and Financial District at the southern end of downtown. Toronto’s oldest and best-preserved buildings sit just east of here in the Old York neighborhood. The Toronto Islands are where locals retreat for a bit of peace and quiet.

North from the lake, modernity and history collide at Dundas Sq: shopping centers, office blocks, museums and majestic theatres all stake their claim. The mixed-bag continues along Yonge St into Bloor-Yorkville and The Annex, where you’ll find gracious old mansions, museums, eccentric markets and even a faux castle.

Kensington Market, Little Italy, Queen West and West Queen West are attractions in their own right – multicultural enclaves bubbling with human activity. Suburban East Toronto and The Beaches are less edgy but are still interesting to explore.

Car-parking in Toronto is expensive and traffic congestion is an issue; public transportation is usually the best option.

Harbourfront

At the foot of Yonge and York Sts on Lake Ontario is the redeveloped Harbourfront area. Once a run-down district of warehouses, factories and docklands, the area now teems with folk milling about the restaurants, theaters, galleries, artists’ workshops, stores, condominiums and parklands along Queens Quay. Ferries for the Toronto Islands dock here.

CN TOWER

Having recently turned 30, the funky CN Tower (Canadian National Tower, La Tour CN; Map; 416-868-6937; www.cntower.ca; 301 Front St W; Observation Deck adult/child $22/15; 10am-10pm, later in summer; subway Union) still warrants вЂ˜icon’ status. Its primary function is as a radio and TV communications tower, but relieving tourists of as much cash as possible seems to be the second order of business. It’s expensive, but riding the great glass elevators up the highest freestanding structure in the world (553m) is one of those things in life you just have to do. On a clear day, the views from the Observation Deck are astounding; if it’s hazy, you won’t be able to see a thing. Beware: two million visitors every year means summer queues for the elevator can be up to two hours long – going up and coming back down. For those with reservations and sacks full of cash, the award-winning revolving restaurant 360В° (416-362-5411; mains $32-65; 11am-10pm) awaits (elevator price waived for diners).

ROGERS CENTRE

Technically awe-inspiring, the Rogers Centre (Map; 416-341-2770; www.rogerscentre.com; 1 Blue Jays Way; 1hr tour adult/concession/child $13.50/9.50/8; tour schedules vary; subway Union) sports stadium opened in 1989 with the world’s first fully retractable dome roof. Tours include a brain-scrambling video wall screening footage of past sporting glories, concerts and events, a sprint through a box suite, a locker-room detour (sans athletes) and a memorabilia museum.

A budget seat at a Blue Jays baseball Click here or Argonauts football game Click here is the cheapest way to see the Rogers Centre. In between times the facility hosts everything from wedding expos to Wiggles concerts. Alternatively, go for a beer and a burger at the Hard Rock CafГ© (416-341-2388; mains $9-18; 11am-11pm) upstairs and check out the playing field through huge windows. Rooms overlooking the field can also be rented at the Renaissance Toronto.

HARBOURFRONT CENTRE

Throughout the summer, especially during the weekends, the Harbourfront Centre (Map; 416-973-4000; www.harbourfrontcentre.com; York Quay, 235 Queens Quay W; events free-$10; box office Tue-Sat 1-6pm; streetcar 509, 510; ) puts on a kaleidoscopic variety of performing arts events at the York Quay Centre; many are kid-focused, some are free. Performances sometimes take place on the covered outdoor concert stage by the lake. Also outside are a lakeside ice-skating rink where you can slice up the winter ice, and the ramshackle Artists’ Gardens – seasonally-rotating raised planter beds constructed by local artists in a spirit of вЂ˜guerilla gardening.’ Parking costs $12 to $15.

Don’t miss the free galleries, including the Photo Passage, the functioning Craft Studio, the Toronto Music Garden (right) and the Power Plant (416-973-4949; www.thepowerplant.org; adult/concession/child $4/2/free, admission free 5-8pm Wed; noon-6pm Tue-Sun, to 8pm Wed), a big-reputation gallery celebrating contemporary Canadian art.

FORT YORK

Established by the British in 1793 to defend the town of York (as Toronto was then known), Fort York (Map; 416-392-6907; www.toronto.ca/culture/fort_york.htm; Garrison Rd, off Fleet St W east of Strachan Ave; admission & tour adult/concession/child $6/3.25/3; 10am-5pm Jun-Aug, to 4pm Sep-May, closed mid-Dec–early Jan; streetcar 509, 511; ) was almost entirely destroyed during the War of 1812 when a small band of Ojibwe warriors and British troops couldn’t stop US troops.

Today, a handful of the original log, stone and brick buildings have been restored. In summer, men decked out in 19th-century British military uniforms carry out preposterous marches and drills, firing musket volleys into the sky. Kids feign interest or run around the fort’s embankments with wooden rifles. Tours run hourly from May to September.

STEAM WHISTLE BREWING

Bubbling away in a 1929 train depot, Steam Whistle Brewing (Map; 416-362-2337, 866-240-2337; www.steamwhistle.ca; 255 Bremner Blvd; 45min tour $8; noon-6pm Mon-Sat, to 5pm Sun; subway Union, streetcar 509, 510; ) is a microbrewery specializing in a crisp European-style pilsner. During snappy, punny tours of the premises, guides explain the brewing process in great detail and let you blow the railway roundhouse’s historic steam whistle. Tours depart hourly from 1pm and include tastings at the brewery’s retail store.

SPADINA QUAY WETLANDS

A former lakeside parking lot has been transformed into the 2800-sq-meter Spadina Quay Wetlands (Map; 416-392-1111; www.toronto.ca/harbourfront/spadina_quay_wet.htm; 479 Queens Quay W; admission free; dawn-dusk; streetcar 509, 510), a thriving, sustainable ecosystem full of frogs, birds and fish. When lakeside fishers noticed that northern pike were spawning here each spring, the city took it upon itself to create this new habitat. Complete with flowering heath plants, poplar trees and a birdhouse, it’s a little gem leading the way in Harbourfront redevelopment. Aside from the pike, look for monarch butterflies, mallard ducks, goldfinches, dragonflies and red-winged blackbirds.

TORONTO MUSIC GARDEN

Delicately strung along the western harbourfront, the Toronto Music Garden (Map; www.harbourfrontcentre.com; 475 Queens Quay W; admission free; dawn-dusk; streetcar 509, 510) was designed in collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. It expresses Bach’s Suite No 1 for Unaccompanied Cello through landscape, with an arc-shaped grove of conifers, a swirling path through a wildflower meadow and a grass-stepped amphitheater where free concerts are held. Contact the Harbourfront Centre box office (left) for performance schedules and guided tour details.

ONTARIO PLACE

A 40-hectare fun park, Ontario Place (Map; 416-314-9900, 866-663-4386; www.ontarioplace.com; 955 Lake Shore Blvd W; day pass adult/child $22/12, grounds-only admission $13/7, Cinesphere per person $8; 10am-8pm late Jun–early Aug, Sat & Sun only May & Sep; streetcar 511; ) is built on three artificial islands. A вЂ˜Play All Day’ pass gets you into most of the thrill rides and attractions, including Soak City water park, and walk-up seating at the Cinesphere, a spiky, space-age gooseberry screening IMAX films. Kids go berserk at soft-play areas like the H2O Generation Station and the Atom Blaster.





Additional attractions like the human-sized MegaMaze and House of Blues concerts at the Molson Amphitheatre (416-260-5600; www.hob.com/venues/cncerts/molsonamp) cost extra. Discounted passes may be available after 5pm and for grounds-only admission. On rainy days, many of the rides, activities and restaurants close.

You can catch a streetcar to Exhibition Place then trudge over the Lakeshore Bridge to Ontario Place, or take the free shuttle bus from Union Station. The shuttle runs daily from June to August, and on weekends in May and September, departing every half-hour between 9am and 7pm. Parking costs $12 to $20.

EXHIBITION PLACE

Each year historic Exhibition Place (Map; 416-263-3600; www.explace.on.ca; off Lake Shore Blvd W, btwn Strachan Ave & Dufferin St; admission varies; hours vary; streetcar 511; ) is revived for its original purpose, the Canadian National Exhibition. During вЂ˜The Ex’ millions of visitors flood the midway for carnival rides, lumberjack competitions and more good, honest, homegrown fun than a Sunday-school picnic in June. The beaux arts Victory statue over Princes’ Gate has stood proud since 1927, when Canada celebrated its 60th birthday.

Other events held at Exhibition Place throughout the year include the Grand Prix of Toronto and a slew of spectator sports and indie design shows. At other times the grounds are often spookily bereft of visitors. Parking costs $11.

Financial District

The area around Union Station is busy night and day with hot-dog vendors, shivering office workers smoking in doorways and fans heading to hockey games at the Air Canada Centre. Bay St is Toronto’s Wall St – the вЂ˜Bay St Boys’ do their darndest to convince themselves this is actually New York.

HOCKEY HALL OF FAME

Inside an ornate, gray stone rococo Bank of Montreal building (c 1885), the Hockey Hall of Fame (Map; 416-360-7765; www.hhof.com; BCE Pl, 30 Yonge St, lower concourse; adult/concession/child $10/9/9; 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9:30am-6pm Sat, 10:30am-5pm Sun, to 6pm Jun-Aug; subway Union) gives hockey fans ev- erything they could possibly want. Check out the collection of Texas Chainsaw Massacre-esque goalkeeping masks, attempt to stop Wayne Gretzky’s virtual shot or have your photo taken with hockey’s biggest prize – the hefty Stanley Cup (no trifling shield or pint-sized urn for these boys, oh no, no, no…). Even visitors unfamiliar with this super-fast, ultraviolent sport will be impressed with the interactive multimedia exhibits and hockey nostalgia.

CLOUD FOREST CONSERVATORY

An unexpected sanctuary, the steamy Cloud Forest Conservatory (Map; 416-392-7288; btwn Richmond & Temperance Sts, west of Yonge St; admission free; 10am-3pm Mon-Fri; subway Queen) is crowded with enormous jungle leaves, vines and palms. Information plaques answer the question вЂ˜What Are Rainforests?’ for temperate Torontonians, distracting accountants from their spreadsheets for a few minutes. It’s a great place to warm up during winter, but avoid the area after dark – the adjacent park attracts some pretty lewd types.



TORONTO DOMINION GALLERY OF INUIT ART

Housed inside a Toronto-Dominion Centre tower, the Toronto Dominion Gallery of Inuit Art (Map; 416-982-8473; ground fl & mezzanine, Maritime Life Tower, 79 Wellington St W; admission free; 8am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun; subway St Andrew) provides an exceptional insight into Inuit culture. A succession of glass cases displays otter, bear, eagles and carved Inuit figures in day-to-day scenes.

Old York

Historically speaking, the old town of York comprises just 10 square blocks. But today the neighborhood extends east of Yonge St all the way to the Don River, and from Queen St south to the waterfront esplanade. The ghosts of Toronto’s past are around every corner.

ST LAWRENCE MARKET & HALL

Old York’s sensational St Lawrence Market (Map; 416-392-7120; www.stlawrencemarket.com; South Market, 95 Front St E; admission free; 8am-6pm Tue-Thu, 8am-7pm Fri, 5am-5pm Sat; streetcar 503, 504; ) has been a neighborhood meeting place for over two centuries. The restored, high-trussed 1845 South Market houses more than 50 specialty food stalls: cheese vendors, fishmongers, butchers, bakers and pasta makers. Inside the old council chambers upstairs, the St Lawrence Market Gallery (416-392-7604; admission free; 10am-4pm Wed-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, noon-4pm Sun) has rotating displays of paintings, photographs, documents and historical relics.



On the opposite side of Front St, the dull-looking North Market is redeemed by a Saturday farmers’ market and a Sunday antique market. Neglected for decades, it was rebuilt around the time of Canada’s centenary in 1967. A few steps further north, the glorious St Lawrence Hall (1849) is topped by a mansard roof and a copper-clad clock tower that can be seen for blocks.

Parking at the market costs $8.



* * *



LAKE ONTARIO

It’s a bit like ignoring the elephant in the corner of the room, but Torontonians consistently fail to appreciate their lake. It’s not really their fault – lousy urban planning means it’s usually impossible to see the water from the city, and lakeshore access has only opened up in recent decades. Chemicals, sewage and fertilizer runoff have traditionally fouled the waters, and, although the situation is improving, only the brave and stupid dare to swim at city beaches. For most citizens, Lake Ontario is simply a big, gray, cold thing that stops the Americans from driving up Yonge St.



For the record, Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world and the smallest and most easterly of the five Great Lakes: 311km long, 85km wide and 244m deep. The name вЂ˜Ontario’ derives from Skanadario, an Iroquois word meaning вЂ˜sparkling water,’ and, despite the lousy planning and pollution, it still sparkles. Visit the Toronto Islands or Tommy Thompson Park and you’ll soon see the lake for what it really is – stoic, powerful and very beautiful. Be sure to tell the locals all about it.





* * *



DISTILLERY DISTRICT

The slick, 13-acre Distillery District (Map; 416-866-1177; www.thedistillerydistrict.com; 55 Mill St; admission free; 10am-6pm, later Jun-Aug; streetcar 503, 504) emerges phoenix-like from the 1832 Gooderham and Worts distillery – once the British Empire’s largest distillery. Victorian industrial warehouses have been converted into soaring galleries, artists’ studios, pricey design shops, coffeehouses, restaurants, the Young Centre for Performing Arts and the Mill Street Brewery. Wedding parties shoot photos against a backdrop of redbrick and cobblestone; clean-cut couples shop for leather lounge suites beneath charmingly decrepit gables and gantries. In summer expect live jazz, exhibitions and food-focused events.

Theatre Block & Entertainment District

West of the Financial District, occupying two blocks of King St W between John St and Simcoe St, is Toronto’s Entertainment District (aka Clubland). The Theatre Block is just south of here – an area crowded with much ado.

CANADIAN BROADCASTING CENTRE

Toronto’s enormous Canadian Broadcasting Centre (Map; CBC; 416-205-3311; ww.cbc.ca; 250 Front St W; admission free; museum & theatre 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, noon-4pm Sat; subway Union, streetcar 504) is the headquarters for English-language radio and TV across Canada. French-language production is in Montréal, which leaves the president (in a truly Canadian spirit of compromise) stranded in Ottawa.

You can peek at the radio newsrooms anytime or attend a free noontime concert in the world-class Glenn Gould Studio. Don’t miss the miniature-sized CBC Museum with its amazing collection of antique microphones (the 1949 RCA 74DX is a doozy!), sound-effects machines, tape recorders and puppets from kids’ TV shows. Next door the Graham Spry Theatre screens TV classics.

401 RICHMOND

Inside an early-20th-century lithographer’s warehouse, restored in 1994, the 18,500-sq-meter 401 Richmond (Map; 416-595-5900; www.401richmond.net; 401 Richmond St W; admission free; most galleries Tue-Sat; streetcar 510) bursts forth with 130 diverse contemporary art and design galleries displaying the heartfelt works of painters, architects, photographers, printmakers, sculptors and publishers. The original floorboards creak between the glass elevator, ground-floor café, leafy courtyard and rooftop garden.

Queen Street & Dundas Square

Heading north on Yonge St, Dundas Sq is a makeshift public space that’s never really convinced the locals. It’s better known for the nearby landmark, the Eaton Centre, which sprawls between Queen and Dundas Sts. Both are east of the Queen St shopping district.

CITY HALL

Much-maligned City Hall (Map; 416-338-0338; www.toronto.ca; 100 Queen St W; admission free; 8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri; subway Queen; ) was Toronto’s bold leap of faith into architectural modernity. Its twin clamshell towers, flying-saucer-like central structure, sexy ramps and funky ’60s mosaics were completed in 1965 to Finnish architect Viljo Revell’s award-winning design. An irritable Frank Lloyd Wright called it a вЂ˜headmarker for a grave’; in a macabre twist, Revell died before construction was finished. Collect a self-guided tour pamphlet at the info desk; don’t miss the geeky 1:1250 Toronto scale model in the lobby. Parking here costs $13.

Out the front is Nathan Phillips Square, a meeting place for skaters, demonstrators and office workers on their lunch breaks. In summer, look for the Fresh Wednesdays farmers’ market (10am to 2:30pm), free concerts and special events. The fountain pool becomes an ice-skating rink in winter Click here.

Across Bay St is the 1899-built Old City Hall (Map; 416-327-5614; www.toronto.ca/old_cityhall; 60 Queen St W; admission free; 8am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 5pm Fri, 8:30am-3pm Sat), the definitive work of Toronto architect EJ Lennox, the same fellow who built Casa Loma. Now housing legal courtrooms, the hall has an off-center bell tower, interesting murals and grimacing gargoyles.

ELGIN & WINTER GARDEN THEATRE

A restored masterpiece, the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre (Map; 416-314-2871; www.heritagefdn.on.ca; 189 Yonge St; tours adult/child $7/6; tours 5pm Thu & 11am Sat; subway Dundas) is the world’s last operating double-decker theater. Constructed in 1913, the stunning Winter Garden was built as the flagship for a vaudeville chain that never really took off, while the downstairs Elgin theater was converted into a movie house in the 1920s.

Saved from demolition in 1981, the theaters then received a $29-million face-lift: bread dough was used to uncover original rose-garden frescoes, the Belgian company that made the original carpet was contacted for fresh rugs, and the floral Winter Garden ceiling was replaced, leaf by painstaking leaf. Public tours are worth every cent. Click here.

CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY

On the west side of the Eaton Centre is the oasis-like Trinity Sq, named after the welcoming Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity (Map; 416-598-4521; www.holytrinitytoronto.org; 10 Trinity Sq; admission free; 11am-3pm Mon-Fri, services 9am & 10:30am Sun, 12:15pm Wed; subway Dundas). When it opened in 1847, it was the first church in Toronto not to charge parishioners for pews. Today it’s a cross between a house of worship, small concert venue and a community drop-in center – everything a downtown church should be!

TEXTILE MUSEUM OF CANADA

Obscurely located at the bottom of a condo tower in a cultureless corner of town, the small Textile Museum of Canada (Map; 416-599-5321; www.textilemuseum.ca; 55 Centre Ave; adult/concession/child/family $10/6/6/22, admission free 5-8pm Wed; 11am-5pm Thu-Tue, to 8pm Wed, tours 2pm Sun; subway St Patrick) has exhibits drawing upon a permanent collection of 10,000 items from Latin America, Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia and India, as well as contemporary Canada. Workshops teach batik making, weaving, knitting and all manner of needle-stuff.

Chinatown & Baldwin Village

Toronto’s vibrant Chinatown occupies a chunk of Spadina Ave between College and Queen Sts; a vermilion twin dragon gate marks the epicenter. West of here, occupying a block of Baldwin St between Beverley and McCaul Sts, is shady Baldwin Village. The village has Jewish roots, but today’s bohemian air stems from counterculture US exiles who decamped here during the Vietnam War.

ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO

The AGO (Map; Art Gallery of Ontario; 416-979-6648; www.ago.net; 317 Dundas St W; adult/concession/child/family $18/10/10/45, admission free 6-8.30pm, 10am-5.30pm Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun; 10am-8.30pm Wed. Special exhibit surcharge; 10am-9pm Wed-Fri, to 5:30pm Sat & Sun; streetcar 505) houses art collections both excellent and extensive (bring your stamina). Tired feet might be saved, however, by the gallery’s ongoing renovations, overseen by famed architect Frank Gehry, which continue to require the temporary closure of various wings and exhibits. When work finishes in late 2008, the AGO’s exhibited collection will grow from 33,000 to 43,000 pieces – a hefty expansion indeed. Existing highlights include rare Québecois religious statuary, First Nations and Inuit carvings, major Canadian works by the Group of Seven, the Henry Moore sculpture pavilion, and a restored Georgian house called The Grange. Prices will rise once renovations are complete and opening hours are subject to change; check the website for updates.

While you’re in the вЂ˜hood, note that Cinematheque Ontario screens movies at the AGO’s Jackman Hall, which may escape renovation closures.

Yonge Street Strip & Church-Wellesley Village

North of Dundas Sq, the Yonge St Strip falls between College and Bloor Sts, peppered with sex shops, cheap eateries and strip clubs. One block east is Church St, Toronto’s gay quarter. The rainbow flag-festooned Church-Wellesley Village centers on the intersection of Church and Wellesley Sts.

MAPLE LEAF GARDENS

This hallowed hockey arena (Map; 60 Carlton St; subway College) was built in an astoundingly quick five months during the Great Depression, and was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs Click here for over 50 years. The Leafs lost their first game to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1931, but went on to win 13 Stanley Cups before relocating to the Air Canada Centre in 1999. Over the years, Elvis, Sinatra and the Beatles have all belted out tunes at the Gardens.

Rumors that this much-loved piece of city history was going to be demolished were only partly true. The Gardens were bought by grocery chain Loblaws in 2004, with a shopping complex redevelopment slated to begin in early 2008 (we hope the chunky art-deco facade survives).

Bloor-Yorkville

Once Toronto’s version of New York’s Greenwich Village or San Fran’s Haight-Ashbury, the old countercultural bastion of Yorkville has become the city’s très glamorous shopping district, done up with galleries, condos, exclusive nightspots, restaurants and cafés. Bloor-Yorkville stretches from Yonge St west to Avenue Rd, south to fashionable Bloor St, and north to Davenport Rd.

ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM

The multidisciplinary ROM (Map; Royal Ontario Museum; 416-586-8000; www.rom.on.ca; 100 Queen’s Park; adult/concession/child $20/17/14, special exhibit surcharge; 10am-6pm Sat-Thu, to 9:30pm Fri; subway Museum) was already Canada’s biggest natural history museum, even before embarking upon the вЂ˜Renaissance ROM’ building project, which should be complete by the time you read this. The new work involves a magnificent explosion of architectural crystals on Bloor St, housing an array of new galleries.



* * *



TOP FIVE PLACES TO ESCAPE THE CROWDS



Church of the Holy Trinity, Queen St & Dundas Sq

Roof Garden at 401 Richmond, Theatre Block & Entertainment District

Scarborough Bluffs, Greater Toronto Area (GTA;)

Toronto Dominion Gallery of Inuit Art, Financial District

Toronto Music Garden, Harbourfront





* * *



ROM’s collections bounce between natural science, ancient civilization and art exhibits. The Chinese temple sculptures, Gallery of Korean Art and costumery and textile collections are some of the best in the world. Kids file out of yellow school buses chugging by the sidewalk and rush to the dinosaur rooms, Egyptian mummies and Jamaican bat-cave replica. Don’t miss the cedar crest poles carved by First Nations tribes in British Columbia. The on-site Institute of Contemporary Culture explores current issues through art, architecture, lectures and moving image. There are free museum tours daily – call or check the website for times.

BATA SHOE MUSEUM

It’s important in life to be well shod, a stance the Bata Shoe Museum (Map; 416-979-7799; www.batashoemuseum.ca; 327 Bloor St W; adult/concession/child/family $8/6/4/20, admission free 5-8pm Thu; 10am-5pm Tue, Wed, Fri & Sat, to 8pm Thu, noon-5pm Sun; subway St George) takes seriously. Designed by architect Raymond Moriyama to resemble a stylized shoebox, the museum displays over 10,000 вЂ˜pedi-artifacts’ from around the globe. Peruse some 19th-century French chestnut-crushing clogs, aboriginal Canadian polar boots or famous modern pairs worn by Elton John, Indira Gandhi and Pablo Picasso. Permanent and rotating exhibits cover the evolution of shoemaking, with a focus on how shoes have signified social status throughout human history.

GARDINER MUSEUM OF CERAMIC ART

Opposite the Royal Ontario Museum, the compact Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (Map; 416-586-8080; www.gardinermuseum.on.ca; 111 Queen’s Park; adult/concession/child $12/8/free, admission free 4-9pm Fri & all day 1st Fri of month; 10am-6pm, to 9pm Fri; subway Museum) was founded by philanthropists. Spread over three floors, collections cover several millennia; various rooms focus on 17th- and 18th-century English tavern ware, Italian Renaissance majolica, ancient American earthenware and blue-and-white Chinese porcelain. Special exhibits rotate regularly, and there’s a rigorous program of activities, talks, tours, demonstrations and screenings.

University of Toronto & The Annex

Founded in 1827, the prestigious University of Toronto (U of T) is Canada’s largest university, with almost 40,000 full-time students and over 10,000 faculty and staff. The central St George campus is venerable indeed.

West and north of U of T lies The Annex, a residential neighborhood populated primarily by students and professors. It overflows with pubs, organic grocery stores, global-minded eateries and spiritual venues.

CASA LOMA

The mock medieval Casa Loma (Map; 416-923-1171; www.casaloma.org; 1 Austin Tce; adult/concession/child $16/10/8.75; 9:30am-5pm, last entry 4pm; subway Dupont; ) lords over The Annex on a cliff that was once the shoreline of the glacial Lake Iroquois, from which Lake Ontario derived. Climb the 27m Baldwin Steps up the slope from Spadina Ave, north of Davenport Rd.

The eccentric 98-room mansion – a crass architectural orgasm of castellations, chimneys, flagpoles, turrets and Rapunzel balconies – was built between 1911 and 1914 for Sir Henry Pellat, a wealthy financier who made bags of cash from his exclusive contract to provide Toronto with electricity. He later lost everything in land speculation, the resultant foreclosure forcing Hank and his wife to move out. The castle briefly reopened as a luxury hotel, but its big-band nightclub attracted more patrons than the hotel ever did, and it too failed. Parking costs $8.25.

SPADINA MUSEUM

This gracious museum (Map; 416-392-6910; www.toronto.ca/culture/spadina; 285 Spadina Rd; tours adult/concession/child $6/5/4, grounds admission free; noon-4pm Tue-Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun, grounds 9am-4pm Mon-Fri, noon-5pm Sat & Sun; subway Dupont; ) was built in 1866 as a country estate for financier James Austin and his family. Lit by Victorian gaslights, the interior contains three generations of furnishings, art and fabrics. The working kitchen hosts seasonal cooking demonstrations by costumed workers, while Edwardian Teas ($20 per person; most Sundays; call for bookings), strawberry festivals and summer concerts happen in the apple orchard. Parking costs $8.25.

PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE

The seat of Ontario’s Provincial Legislature (Map; 416-325-7500; www.ontla.on.ca; Queen’s Park, north of College St; admission free; tours 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, also 9am-4pm Sat & Sun Jun-Aug, legislature in session Mon-Thu Mar-Jun & Sep-Dec; subway Queen’s Park) resides is in a fabulously ornate 1893 sandstone building in Queen’s Park. For some homegrown entertainment, head for the visitors’ gallery when the adversarial legislative assembly is in session. Viewing is free, but security regulations are in full force. You can’t write, read or applaud as the honorable members heatedly debate such pressing issues as skidoo safety. Free tours depart from the information desk – call or check the website for exact times.

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO – ST GEORGE CAMPUS

Life at the University of Toronto (Map; 416-978-5000; www.utoronto.ca; Nona Macdonald Visitors Centre, 25 King’s College Circle; admission & tours free; 1hr campus tours 11am & 2pm Mon-Fri, 11am Sat & Sun; subway Queens Park, Museum; streetcar 506, 510; ) rotates around the grassy/muddy expanse of King’s College Circle, where students study on blankets, kick soccer balls around and dream of graduation day in domed Convocation Hall.

Dating from 1919, sociable Hart House (416-978-2452; www.harthouse.utoronto.ca; 7 Hart House Circle; admission free; 6:45am-midnight) is an all-purpose art gallery, music performance space, theater, student lounge and café. Soldiers’ Tower next door is a memorial to students who lost their lives during WWI and WWII. A nearby mid-19th-century Romanesque Revival building houses the U of T Art Centre (416-978-1838; www.utoronto.ca/artcentre; 15 King’s College Circle; adult/student $5/3; noon-5pm Tue-Fri, to 4pm Sat), a contemporary art gallery for Canadian and world cultures.

If you’re architecturally bent or have an inclination for urban planning, check out the Eric Arthur Gallery (416-978-5038; www.ald.utoronto.ca; 2nd fl, 230 College St; admission free; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, noon-5pm Sat), curated by the Faculty of Landscape, Architecture and Design.

On free campus walking tours, student guides shed light on the haunted stonemasons love triangle at the University College, and point out how the campus’ old cannons aim toward the Provincial Legislature (Click here), a stone’s throw (or one good shot) away.

Parking costs $14.

NATIVE CANADIAN CENTRE OF TORONTO

This community center (Map; 416-964-9087; www.ncct.on.ca, www.firststory.ca; 16 Spadina Rd; admission free; 9am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri, noon-4pm Sat; subway Spadina) hosts Thursday-night drum socials, seasonal powwows and elders’ cultural events that promote harmony and conversation between tribal members and non-First Nations peoples. Ask about the occasional вЂ˜Great Indian Bus Tours,’ which give you some understanding of Toronto’s aboriginal history.

Kensington Market & Little Italy

Tattered around the edges, elegantly wasted Kensington Market is multicultural Toronto at its most authentic. Eating here is an absolute joy, and shopping is a blast. The streets are full of artists, dreadlocked urban hippies, tattooed punks, potheads, junkies, dealers, bikers, goths, musicians and anarchists. Shady characters on bicycles whisper their drug menus as they glide by; hooch and Hendrix tinge the air.

Further along College St, Little Italy is an established trendsetting strip of outdoor cafés, hip bars and stylish restaurants that are almost always changing hands – the affluent clientele is notoriously fickle. The further west you go, the more traditional things become, with aromatic bakeries, sidewalk gelaterias and rootsy ristoranti.

Queen West & West Queen West

Although Queen West and its extension, West Queen West, may not have many dedicated sights to speak of, they effect a siren’s call nonetheless. This is where the wild things are; Toronto’s funkiest вЂ˜hoods, where locals shop avariciously, dine deliciously and rock into the night.

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN ART

The new MOCCA (Map; Museum of Contmeporary Art; 416-395-0067; www.mocca.toronto.on.ca; 952 Queen St W; admission free; 11-6pm Tue-Sun; streetcar 501; ), recently relocated from Yonge St, is the city’s only museum mandated to collect works by living Canadian visual artists. West Queen West has consolidated as an arts and design precinct – the perfect location for this new facility. Permanent holdings only number about 400 works, curated since 1985, but award-winning temporary exhibitions promote new artists from Nova Scotia to BC.



* * *



THE BLOOR STREET VIADUCT

In his 1987 novel In the Skin of a Lion, Toronto author Michael Ondaatje describes the torturous man-versus-steel construction of the Bloor Street Viaduct (Map). Completed in 1918, the 490m bridge arcs 40m above the Don River, linking east and west Toronto. Structural engineer Edmund Burke cunningly included a lower deck for future rail transport in his design. When the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) opened the Bloor–Danforth subway line in 1966, they rolled their trains straight across Burke’s bridge without any structural modifications at all.



Farsighted, yes, but what Eddie-baby didn’t plan on was the hundreds of miserable Torontonians who would use his bridge to hurl themselves into oblivion. At a peak rate of one every 22 days, around 500 folks decided to call it quits here. The solution? A very expensive barrier of closely-spaced steel rods called the вЂ˜Luminous Veil,’ installed in 2003.





* * *



East Toronto

The district east of Parliament St to the Don River was settled by Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine of 1841. It became known as Cabbagetown because the area’s sandy soil proved cabbage-conducive. Cabbagetown has possibly the richest concentration of fine Victorian architecture in North America – well worth a stroll.

Further North is Greektown (aka The Danforth, on Danforth Ave), and further east Little India (on Gerrard St E) – two versions of heaven for the food-focused.



* * *



TOP FIVE GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE SITES



Community Vehicular Reclamation Project (Map) – Kensington Market’s car-becomes-greenhouse street installation on Augusta Ave.

High Park – Natural scrub, stands of oaks and Grenadier Pond – what Toronto looked like before Europeans.

Spadina Quay Wetlands – A former parking lot transformed into a sustainable ecosystem.

Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve – Nine hectares of wildflowers, reclaimed from industrial wasteland.

Tommy Thompson Park (below) – A man-made refuge for snakes, turtles, fox and coyote.





* * *



TOMMY THOMPSON PARK

A 5km-long artificial peninsula between the Harbourfront and The Beaches, Tommy Thompson Park (Map; 416-661-6600; www.trca.on.ca; Leslie St, off Lake Shore Blvd E; admission free; 9am-4:30pm Sat & Sun Nov-Mar, 9am-6pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct; streetcar 501, 502, 503) reaches further into Lake Ontario than the Toronto Islands. This вЂ˜accidental wilderness’ – constructed from Outer Harbour dredgings and fill from downtown building sites – has become a phenomenal wildlife success. It’s one of the world’s largest nesting places for ring-billed gulls, and is a haven for terns, black-crowned night heron, turtles, owls, fox, even coyote!

The park is open to the public on weekends and holidays; cars and pets are prohibited. Summer schedules offer interpretive programs and guided walks, usually with an ecological theme. At the end of the park there’s a lighthouse and some awesome city views.

To get here on public transportation, take any streetcar east along Queen St to Leslie St, then walk 800m south to the gates. Call the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority (TRCA; 416-667-6295) for information on shuttles from the gates into the park (May to mid-October). Alternatively, hire a bike or some in-line skates and follow the Martin Goodman Trail all the way here.

RIVERDALE FARM

This Farm (Map; 416-392-6794; www.friendsofriverdalefarm.com; 201 Winchester St; admission free; 9am-5pm, farmers’ market 3-7pm Tue May-Oct; streetcar 506; ) was once the Toronto Zoo, where prairie wolves howled at night and spooked the Cabbagetown kids. It’s now run as a working farm museum, with two barns, a summer wading pool and pens of sundry fowl and animals (geese, goats, pigs, rabbits, turkeys etc). Kids follow the farmer around as he does his daily chores, including milking the cows at 10:30am. The farmers’ market features hippies selling organic goods and buskers playing Appalachian mountain dobros.

The Beaches

To residents, вЂ˜The Beach’ is a rather wealthy, mainly professional neighborhood down by the lakeshore. To everyone else, it’s part of The Beaches – meaning the suburb, the beaches themselves and the parklands along Lake Ontario.

BEACHES & PARKS

Of all the beaches (Map; 416-392-8186; www.toronto.ca/parks; admission free; dawn-dusk; streetcar 501), Kew Beach is the most popular stretch of sand, the boardwalk running east to Balmy Beach and west to Woodbine Beach. Adjacent Kew Gardens offers restrooms, snack bars, a skating rink, lawn bowls and tennis courts; at the western end there’s an Olympic-sized public swimming pool. The Martin Goodman Trail leads past Ashbridge’s Bay Park. Off Queen St, the sunken Ivan Forrest Gardens leads to Glen Stewart Ravine, a wilder patch of green running north to Kingston Rd.

RC HARRIS FILTRATION PLANT

Commanding heavenly views of the lakefront on a priceless slab of real estate, the elegantly proportioned RC Harris Filtration Plant (Map; 416-392-2934; www.beachestoronto.com/tour/harris.html; 2701 Queen St E; streetcar 501; ) is a modern art-deco masterpiece that has appeared in countless movies and TV shows, as well as in Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion. Originally residents disparagingly dubbed it the вЂ˜Palace of Purification,’ due to hefty construction costs during the Great Depression. It’s currently closed to the public, but hard-core Ondaatje fans should call to see if tours are back on the agenda.

Toronto Islands

Once upon a time there were no Toronto Islands, just an immense sandbar stretching 9km into the lake. On April 13, 1858, a hurricane blasted through the sandbar and created the gap now known as the Eastern Channel. Toronto’s jewel-like islands were born – nearly two-dozen isles covering 600 acres. When you visit the close-knit, 800-strong artistic communities on gorgeous Algonquin Island (Map) and Ward’s Island (Map), expect pangs of jealousy. The islands are only accessible by a 15-minute ferry ride (Click here).

CENTREVILLE AMUSEMENT PARK

From Centre Island ferry terminal, wander past the information booth to quaint Centreville Amusement Park (Map; 416-203-0405; www.centreisland.ca; day pass adult/child/family $28/19/80, grounds admission free; 10:30am-8pm daily Jul-Aug, 10:30am-5pm Mon-Fri & 10:30am-8pm Sat & Sun Jun, 10:30am-6pm Sat & Sun May & Sep; ferry Centre Island). Squeezed together on a few hundred acres are an antique carousel, goofy golf course, miniature train rides and a sky gondola. Far Enough Farm zoo presents kids with plenty of opportunities to cuddle something furry and step in something sticky.

South over the Centreville bridge is a well-over-head-high hedge maze and ticket booths for Toronto Islands tram tours (416-392-8192; 35min ride adult/concession/child $5/4/2; 1-5pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri-Sun). Further south are changing rooms, snack bars, bicycle rentals (opposite) and a pier striking out into the lake. Just to the east is a boathouse (416-392-8192; rentals per hr $15-25; 11am-5:45pm Mon-Thu, to 6:45pm Fri-Sun) where you can rent canoes, kayaks or paddleboats and explore the Islands’ lagoons.

HANLAN’S POINT

At the west end of Centre Island by the Toronto City Centre Airport is Hanlan’s Point (Map; ferry Hanlan’s Point), named after world-champion sculler вЂ˜Ned’ Hanlan (1855–1904), a member of the first family to permanently settle here. Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run here in 1914 while playing minor-league baseball – the ball drowned in Lake Ontario, the ultimate souvenir lost forever… The sport of iceboating atop the frozen lake was at its peak until the 1940s. Thanks to climate change, winters nowadays are too mild for it.

Beyond the free tennis courts and a fragile ecosystem of low-lying dunes sustaining rare species, the not-so-rare nekkid humanus roams free on the gray sand of Hanlan’s Point Beach. Popular with gay men, the beach’s вЂ˜clothing optional’ status was legalized in 1999.

WARD’S ISLAND

At the western end of Ward’s Island (Map; ferry Ward’s Island) is an 18-hole Frisbee Golf Course (416-203-0807; www.discgolfontario.com; admission free; dawn-dusk). An old-fashioned boardwalk runs the length of the south shore of the island, passing the back gate of the Rectory café Click here.

Greater Toronto Area (GTA)

Many of the towns surrounding Toronto have been incorporated into the monstrous GTA. Exploring these areas can be rewarding, but it’ll take a fat chunk of your day if you don’t have a car.

HIGH PARK

Toronto’s biggest park is the delightfully unkempt High Park (Map; 416-392-1111; www.highpark.org; 1873 Bloor St W; admission free; dawn-dusk; subway High Park, streetcar 501, 506, 508; ) – unfurl a picnic blanket, swim, play tennis, cycle around, ice-skate or just sit amongst great stands of oaks and watch the sunset. Also here are the stage for Dream in High Park, Grenadier Pond where people ice-skate in winter, the animal paddocks (a small children’s zoo) and Colborne Lodge (416-392-6916; www.toronto.ca/culture/colborne.htm; Colborne Lodge Dr; adult/concession/child $5.50/4/3.50; noon-4pm Tue-Sun Oct-Dec, noon-5pm May-Sep, Sat & Sun only Jan-Apr; ), a Regency-style cottage built in 1836 by the Howard family, who donated much of High Park to the city in 1873.

High Park’s north entrance is off Bloor St W at High Park Ave. Bus 30B picks up at High Park subway station, then loops through the park on weekends and holidays from mid-June to early September. Otherwise it’s a 200m walk to the north gates. The 506 High Park streetcar drops off on the east side of the park. If you exit the park by Colborne Lodge at the south gates, walk down to Lake Shore Blvd W and catch any streetcar back east to downtown.

SCARBOROUGH BLUFFS

The Scarborough Bluffs (Map; 416-392-1111; www.toronto.ca/waterfront/tour/scarborough_bluffs.htm; off Kingston Rd (Hwy 2), Scarborough; admission free; dawn-dusk; subway Victoria Park then bus 12; ) are a gnarly 14km stretch of glacial lakeshore cliffs. Elizabeth Simcoe named the spot in 1793 after Scarborough in Yorkshire, England. Several parks provide access to clifftops, from where views shoot across Lake Ontario.

From Kingston Rd (Hwy 2), turn south at Cathedral Bluffs Dr to reach the highest section of the bluffs, Cathedral Bluffs Park (65m). Erosion has created cathedral spire–like formations, exposing evidence of five different glacial periods. You can also access the shore at Galloway Rd further east. Below this section of bluffs off Brimley Rd, landfill has been used to form Bluffer’s Park, a private marina and recreational area.

Unless you have wheels, getting to the bluffs can be a drag, and if you do have a car, parking is limited. One option is to take the subway to Victoria Park, then bus 12 along Kingston Rd. Ask the driver to let you off near Cathedral Bluffs Dr, east of the St Clair Ave E intersection.

TODMORDEN MILLS

Quietly settled by the Don River, Todmorden Mills (Map; 416-396-2819; www.toronto.ca/todmorden; 67 Pottery Rd; adult/concession/child $3.50/2.25/1.50; 11am-4pm Tue-Fri, from noon Sat & Sun May-Dec; subway Broadview then bus 8, 62, 87, 100; ) is an industrial relic housed in a late-18th-century gristmill turned sawmill, then brewery and distillery, then paper mill. Historical exhibits loiter inside the Brewery Gallery, where eager guides show visitors around old millers’ houses and the petite Don train station. Nature paths start near the bridge and wind back to the secluded Todmorden Mills Wildflower Preserve (www.hopscotch.ca/tmwpl), 9.2 hectares of wildflowers growing on former industrial wasteland, complete with boardwalks and viewing platforms.


Return to beginning of chapter

ACTIVITIES

They’re often mummified in winter layers, but Torontonians still like to stay in shape. Outdoor activities abound, with folks cycling, blading and running along the lakeshore, hiking up the city’s ravines and paddling on Lake Ontario during summer. Ice-skating and hockey are winter faves, but don’t be surprised if you see hard-core cyclists on icy streets, or hockey players skating on artificial ice in mid-July.

Cycling & In-Line Skating

For cyclists and in-line skaters, the Martin Goodman Trail is the place to go. This paved recreational trail stretches from The Beaches through Harbourfront to the Humber River in the west – head for the lake and you’ll find it. Along the way you can connect to the Don Valley mountain-bike trails at Cherry St. On the Toronto Islands (opposite) the south-shore boardwalk and the interconnecting paved paths are car-free zones. You can also cycle or skate around hilly High Park (opposite). If you fancy a longer trek, the Martin Goodman Trail is part of the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail (www.waterfronttrail.org), stretching 450km from east of Toronto to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where you pick up the paved recreational trail alongside the Niagara Parkway.

Recommended maps for cyclists include MapArt’s Toronto with Bicycle Routes ($3.95) and the Official Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail Mapbook ($9.95). A recreational cycling club, the Toronto Bicycling Network (416-760-4191; www.tbn.on.ca) is an excellent resource, with organized rides open to nonmembers for a small fee.

Rental operators include:



Community Bicycling Network (Map; 416-504-2918; www.communitybicyclenetwork.org, www.bikeshare.org; 761 Queen St W; adult/student per year $50/30; noon-6pm Mon-Fri; streetcar 501) Members can borrow single-speed yellow bikes from 16 central hubs for up to three days.

Europe Bound Outfitters (Map; 416-601-1990; 47 Front St; 10am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat, 11am-5pm Sun; streetcar 503) Mountain bikes and tandems with helmets from $30 per day.

High Park Cycle & Sports (Map; 416-614-6689; 2878 Dundas St W; bike hire per day $30; varies; subway Keele)

Toronto Islands Bicycle Rental (Map; 416-203-0009; near Centre Island; bicycles/tandems per hr $6/13, 2/4-seat quadricycles $16/28; 11am-5pm daily Jun-Aug, Sat & Sun only May & Sep; ferry Centre Island)

Wheel Excitement (Map; 416-260-9000; www.wheelexcitement.ca; 249 Queens Quay W; bicycles & in-line skates per hr/day $12/27; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri year-round, 10am-7pm Sat & Sun late Apr–Oct; streetcar 509, 510)



Hiking

Feel like stretching your legs? Delve into Toronto’s city parks, nature reserves or ravines. Alternatively, hook up with one of the following groups for hardy day hikes:



Hike Ontario (416-426-7362; www.hikeontario.com)

Toronto Bicycling Network

Toronto Bruce Trail Club (416-763-9061; www.torontobrucetrailclub.org)



Ice-Skating

In winter there are some cool (literally) places to ice-skate downtown, including Nathan Phillips Square outside City Hall and at the Harbourfront Centre. These artificial rinks are open daily (weather permitting) from 10am to 10pm, mid-November to March. Admission is free; skate rental costs $7. Contact Toronto Parks & Recreation (416-397-2628; www.toronto.ca/parks) for information on other rinks around town, including those at Kew Gardens and Trinity Bellwoods Park (Map). If it’s been really cold, you can skate on Grenadier Pond in High Park.

Swimming

Torontonians don’t like swimming in Lake Ontario, despite the presence of a dozen city beaches tended by lifeguards from July to August. Water quality can be lousy, especially after rain; check with Toronto’s Beach Water Quality Hotline (416-392-7161; www.city.toronto.on.ca/beach).

Dive into Toronto’s Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pools, open dawn-to-dusk during summer:



Christie Pitts Park Pool (Map; 416-392-0745; 750 Bloor St W; adult/child $2.50/free; subway Christie; ) The Annex.

DD Summerville Pool (Map; 416-392-0740; Woodbine Park, 1675 Lake Shore Blvd E; adult/child $4/2; streetcar 501; ) The Beaches.

High Park Municipal Pool (Map; 416-392-0695; 1873 Bloor St W; adult/child $2.50/free; subway High Park; ) Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Sunnyside Gus Ryder Pool (Map; 416-392-1111; 1755 Lake Shore Blvd W, adult/child $2.50/free; subway Keele then bus 80; ) Greater Toronto Area (GTA).



Water Sports

Sailboat, kayak, canoe and windsurfer rentals and lessons:



Harbourfront Canoe & Kayak Centre (Map; 416-203-2277, 800-960-8886; www.paddletoronto.com; 283a Queen’s Quay W; canoes per hr/day $20/40, kayaks $20/50, tandem kayaks $30/65; 9am-6pm; streetcar 509, 510; ) Pond or lake paddles and lessons. Parking costs $5.

Queens Quay Sailing & Powerboating (Map; 416-203-3000; www.qqy.ca; 275 Queens Quay W; sailboats per 3hr from $99, power boats per hr from $60; 9am-9pm daily May-Sep, 10am-6pm Mon-Fri Oct-Apr; streetcar 509, 510; ) Sail and power boats rentals and lessons. Parking costs $5 to $8.

Toronto Windsurfing Club (Map; 416-461-7078; www.torontowindsurfingclub.com; 2 Regatta Rd; rental per hr $20, 3hr lesson $80; varies; subway Union then bus 172; ) Windsurfing rental and lessons at Cherry Beach. Get off the bus at Commissioners St and walk 10 minutes south.




Return to beginning of chapter

WALKING TOUR: SUBTERRANEAN TORONTO BLUES

When the weather outside freezes your nose off (or gets too hot!), sink into Toronto’s underground PATH (www.city.toronto.on.ca/path) system, an accidental 27km labyrinth of subterranean corridors connecting downtown sights, skyscrapers and shops.

From the coffered brick void of Union Station (1), follow the tubular SkyWalk over the railroad tracks to the giddying heights of the CN Tower (2; Click here), next to the Rogers Centre (3; Click here). Retrace your steps to Union Station, cross beneath Front St and spiral up the staircase into the salubrious Fairmont Royal York (4; Click here). Back inside the basement concourse of Union Station, follow the signs to the Air Canada Centre (5; Click here) – home of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors – and check out the architectural conservation displays near the Bay St doors.

Retrace your steps to Union Station, dashing through the outside air into Union Station’s TTC section below Front St W. Turn sharply right just inside the doors and follow the color-coded arrows to BCE Place (6) and the Hockey Hall of Fame (7; Click here). Wander through Commerce Court en route to the Toronto-Dominion Centre (8). Beyond the digital stock-market displays, turn left and take the stairs up to the Design Exchange (9; 416-363-6121; www.dx.org; 234 Bay St; admission free, special exhibit surcharge; 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, noon-5pm Sat & Sun), the original Toronto Stock Exchange that now houses eye-catching industrial design exhibits.

Back below the TD Centre, follow the signs for the TD Waterhouse Tower to visit the Toronto Dominion Gallery of Inuit Art (10; Click here). Backtrack to the TD Centre and chase the signs toward the Standard Life Centre, the Exchange Tower then the Richmond-Adelaide Complex, which seems to be one enormous foodcourt. The Sheraton Centre Hotel is next, before City Hall (11; Click here) – pop your head above ground to see the ice-skaters in Nathan Phillips Sq and the Old City Hall clock tower further east.

Back underground on the PATH, follow the signs for The Bay (12) department store. Shuffle through the basement, diverting right through a zany striped corridor and up some stairs to be spat out onto Temperance St. It’s a quick sprint from here to the Cloud Forest Conservatory (13; Click here). Warm up (or sweat it out) inside, then cross the street and enter The Bay again, reconnecting with the PATH downstairs. Pursue the signs to the Eaton Centre (14; Click here), window-shop your way to the north end of the mall then take the escalators up two levels. Outside is Trinity Sq, in the welcoming shadows of the Church of the Holy Trinity (15; Click here).



* * *



WALK FACTS

Start Union Station



Finish Trinity Sq



Distance 5km



Duration three hours





* * *





Return to beginning of chapter

TORONTO FOR CHILDREN

Special events for children take place throughout the year; two of the best are the Milk International Children’s Festival of the Arts and the Canadian National Exhibition.

In any season, the interactive exhibits at the Ontario Science Centre (below) and Royal Ontario Museum are fabulous. The Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art runs regular children’s clay classes. During summer keep вЂ˜em occupied at Ontario Place or Paramount Canada’s Wonderland (905-832-8131; www.canadas-wonderland.com; 9580 Jane St, Vaughan; day pass adult/concession/child $52/30/30; 10am-10pm Jun-Aug, Sat & Sun only late Apr–late May & early Sep–early Oct; ), a state-of-the-art amusement park with over 60 rides. Highlights include some lunch-losing rollercoasters, an exploding volcano, a 20-hectare Splash Works water park, and the Fantastic World of Hanna-Barbera for the young вЂ˜uns. Queues can be lengthy; most rides operate rain or shine.

Wonderland is a 45-minute drive northwest of downtown Toronto on Hwy 400. Exit at Rutherford Rd, 10 minutes north of Hwy 401. Alternatively, from Yorkdale or York Mills subway stations catch GOTransit’s Wonderland Express Bus (416-869-3200; www.gotransit.com; per person $4.25; hourly 9am-5:30pm). Parking costs $10.

Climb a rock wall, catch a criminal with DNA fingerprinting and race an Olympic bobsled at the excellent, interactive Ontario Science Centre (Map; 416-696-1000; www.ontariosciencecentre.ca; 770 Don Mills Rd; Science Centre adult/concession/child $17/12.50/10, Omnimax $12/9/8, combined ticket $25/19/15; 10am-5pm; subway Eglinton then bus 34, or subway Pape then bus 25; ). Over 800 high-tech exhibits and live demonstrations wow the kids (and the adults at the back, pretending not to be interested). Also here is the giant domed Omnimax Cinema. Check the website for family events, including theme-night sleepovers ($49, reservations required). The science center is on the corner of Eglinton Ave E and Don Mills Rd. Parking is $8.

Black Creek Pioneer Village (416-736-1733; www.blackcreek.ca; 1000 Murray Ross Pkwy, Downsview; adult/concession/child $12/11/8; 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun May-Dec; subway Finch then bus 60; ) re-creates rural life in 19th-century Ontario. Workers in period costume attend farm animals, play fiddlin’ folk music and demonstrate country crafts using authentic tools and methods. Shops sell the artisans’ handiwork – everything from tin lanterns to fresh bread to woven rugs. The village is on the southeast corner of Steeles Ave and Jane St, a 40-minute drive northwest of downtown. Parking costs $6.

Drop by story-time at the Toronto Public Library – Lillian H Smith Branch (Map; 416-393-7746; www.torontopubliclibrary.ca; 239 College St; admission free; 10am-8:30pm Mon-Thu, 10am-6pm Fri, 9am-5pm Sat, also 1:30-5pm Sun Sep-Jun; streetcar 506, 510), or catch a show at the innovative Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People (Map; 416-363-5131; www.lktyp.ca; 165 Front St E; tickets $15-20; box office 9am-6pm, show times vary; streetcar 503, 504), delivering enlightening children’s plays.

A handy online resource for parents is www.helpwevegotkids.com, which lists everything child-related in Toronto, including babysitters and day-care options.


Return to beginning of chapter

OFFBEAT TORONTO

In a city the size of Toronto, if you’re into something weird, obsessive or perverse, you can bet there’s someone else out there doing it too.

An off-the-wall experience (or perhaps on-the-wall) awaits at Cineforum (Map; 416-603-6643; http://thecineforum.tripod.com; 463 Bathurst St; over/under 24 $20/10; screenings 7pm & 9pm Sat-Thu; streetcar 506, 511). Irascible Torontonian character Reg Hartt wraps posters around telephone poles advertising his cinema – the front room of his scuzzy Victorian row house where he showcases classic and avant-garde films. Animation retrospectives are his specialty, as are rare Salvador DalГ­ prints. Come prepared for idiosyncratic lectures designed to expand your consciousness (like вЂ˜What I Learned From LSD’), sometimes delivered right while the movies are playing. Seats 20; bring your own food and drink.

Theatre Passe Muraille (Map; Theater Beyond Walls; 416-504-7529; www.passemuraille.on.ca; 16 Ryerson Ave; tickets $20-35, previews $16; shows 8pm Tue-Sat; streetcar 501) is an alternative theater in the old Nasmith’s Bakery & Stables. Since the 1960s, its cutting-edge productions have focused on radical new plays with contemporary Canadian themes. Post-performance chats with cast and producers happen regularly. Sunday matinees are вЂ˜Pay What You Can.’

Raise your pulse a beat or two at Come As You Are (Map; 416-504-7934, 877-858-3160; www.comeasyouare.com; 701 Queen St W; 11am-7pm Mon-Wed, to 9pm Thu & Fri, to 6pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun; streetcar 501). Catering to both sexes and all kinds of orientations, Canada’s pioneering co-op sex shop sells books, toys, videos and DVDs. Sign up for a workshop on erotic photography or Bondage 101!

Need a comic book fix? Beguiling (Map; 416-533-9168; www.beguiling.com; 601 Markham St; 11am-7pm Mon-Thu & Sat, to 9pm Fri, noon-6pm Sun; subway Bathurst) is the kind of crowded, mixed-up place that Robert Crumb would drop by (in fact, he once did). Be mesmerized by original вЂ˜zines, indie comics, pop culture books, limited edition artworks and posters. Check the website for events. While you’re in the вЂ˜hood, duck into Suspect Video & Culture (www.suspectvideo.com) The Annex (Map; 416-588-6674; 605 Markham St; noon-midnight; subway Bathurst) Queen West (Map; 416-504-7135; 619 Queen St W; noon-midnight; streetcar 501), the place for eclectic, independent and rare videos and DVDs, alternative books, mags, comics and bizarre toys. It’s also in Queen West.

A visit to a quirky Toronto institution, Honest Ed’s (Map; 416-537-1574; 581 Bloor St W; 10am-9pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, 11am-6pm Sun; subway Bathurst) is always a laugh. Plastered across this gaudy, light-bulb-encrusted discount emporium are signs saying вЂ˜Don’t just stand there, buy something!’ and, вЂ˜Come this way you lucky people!’ It’s quite a spectacle, and the queues before opening time are insane. The recently deceased owner Ed Mirvish also earned kudos as Toronto’s most beloved theater impresario.

Matador (Map; 416-533-9311; 466 Dovercourt Rd, west of Ossington Ave; 2am-5:30am Fri & Sat; streetcar 506) is a hard-to-believe club just west of Little Italy, where there’s been late-night dance-floor chaos for more than 40 years. Shuffle in under the rusty ballroom sign for live bands playing honky-tonk and classic rock. It’s alcohol-free, but if you’re up this late, chances are you won’t need any more.

Some of the weirder city festivals include Caribana, with its booty-licious carnival parade; Nuit Blanche a sleepless night of kooky urban art experiences; and the always in-your-face Toronto Buskerfest.

Body-art in Toronto is almost mainstream – you’d run out of body parts before running through the city’s tattoo and piercing shops. Favorites include:



New Tribe (Map; 416-977-2786; www.newtribe.ca; 2nd fl, 232 Queen St W; 11am-8pm Mon-Thu, 11am-10pm Fri & Sat, noon-6pm Sun; streetcar 501) Queen St & Dundas Sq.

Tat-a-Rama (Map; 416-693-2331; www.tat-a-rama.com; 2219 Queen St E; noon-7pm Mon-Wed & Sat, to 8pm Thu & Fri, to 6pm Sun; streetcar 501) The Beaches.

Way Cool Tattoos (Map; 416-603-0145; www.waycool-queen.com; 675 Queen St W; noon-midnight Mon-Sat, noon-8pm Sun; streetcar 501, 511) Queen West.




Return to beginning of chapter

TOURS

Boat

Several companies run harbor and Toronto Islands boat tours between May and September. Most sail from the Harbourfront beside Queen’s Quay Terminal or York Quay Centre. For shorter excursions, just show up and buy a ticket at the quay; reservations are recommended for brunch and dinner cruises. Keep in mind that ferries to the Toronto Islands offer spectacular city views for half the price!

Recommended operators:



Great Lakes Schooner Company (Map; 416-203-2322; www.tallshipcruisestoronto.com; 90min cruise adult/concession/child $20/18/11; 1-3 departures/day Jun-Aug; streetcar 509, 510) The dashing, black three-master Kajama, a 1930 German trading schooner, sails from the foot of Lower Simcoe St, but there’s usually a ticket kiosk beside Queen’s Quay Terminal.

Mariposa Cruise Lines (Map; 416-203-0178, 866-627-7672; www.mariposacruises.com; Queen’s Quay Terminal, 207 Queens Quay W; 1hr tour adult/concession/child $18/16.50/13; 5 departures daily May-Sep; streetcar 509, 510) Narrated harbor and two-hour buffet lunch tours (adult/child $40/20). Sunday brunch and dinner-and-dance cruises, too.

Toronto Tours (Map; 416-868-0400; www.torontotours.com; Pier 6, Queens Quay W; 1hr cruise adult/concession/child $18/16.50/13; 11am-5pm Apr-May, 10am-6pm Jun-Aug, 10am-5pm Sep-Oct; streetcar 509, 510) Narrated tour departures every half-hour. Also offers evening cruises and various city/harbor tour combos (some including the CN Tower).



Bus

Toronto bus tours are convenient, but with TTC day passes Click here being so cheap, a do-it-yourself tour makes perfect sense. For tours of Niagara Peninsula Wine Country, Click here. If you’re looking for something organized, or you want to get to Niagara Falls, try:



Chariots of Fire (905-693-8761, 866-833-0460; www.chariots-of-fire.com; day tours $60; May-Oct) Budget Niagara Falls tours including a Maid of the Mist boat ride and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Gray Line Tours (Map; 416-594-3310, 800-594-3310; www.grayline.ca; departs Metro Toronto Coach Terminal, 610 Bay St; 3-day pass adult/concession/child/family $34/30/18/95; hourly 9am-4pm; subway Dundas) Two-hour, double-decker bus tours of central Toronto – hop-on, hop-off. Buy tickets on board. Niagara Falls tours also available (from adult/concession/child $127/118/81).

JoJo Tours (416-201-6465, 888-202-3513; http://home.interlog.com/~jojotour/; day tours $50; May-Oct) Budget Niagara Falls tours including a stop at a winery and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Moose Travel (416-504-7514, 888-816-6673; www.moosenetwork.com; day tours from $60; May-Oct) Niagara Falls tours.

ROMBus (Map; 416-586-5797; www.rom.on.ca; 100 Queen’s Park; full-day tours $85-95; subway Museum) Monthly tours arranged around historical, cultural and architectural themes organized by the Royal Ontario Museum.

Toronto Hippo Tours (Map; 416-703-4476, 877-635-5510; www.torontohippotours.com; 151 Front St W; 90min tour adult/concession/child/family $38/33/25/110; hourly departures 11am-6pm May-Nov; subway Union) Amphibious buses take passengers on goofily-narrated tours of downtown before splashing into the lake.



Walking & Cycling

The easiest way to experience Toronto is on foot – you’ll see more, meet more people and get fit too! Cycling tours allow you to cover a bit more territory. Try the following companies:



A Taste of the World (416-923-6813; www.torontowalksbikes.com; 2-3½hr tours $20-39; year-round) Quirky, well-qualified guides lead offbeat walking and cycling tours of Toronto’s nooks and crannies, usually with a foodie focus. Reservations recommended.

Civitas City Walks (416-966-1550; city.walks@sympatico.ca; 1½-2hr walks $15; May-Oct) Walks focusing on the people, places and events that dapple Toronto’s history, taking in the architecture and conjuring up the atmosphere of Old York.

Heritage Toronto (416-338-0684; www.heritagetoronto.org; 1ВЅ-3hr tours free-$5; weekends May-Sep) Excellent historical, cultural and nature walks led by museum experts and neighborhood historical society members. Reservations not required.

ROMWalks (416-586-8097; www.rom.on.ca; tours free; usually Wed & Sun afternoons May–mid-Sep) Volunteers from the Royal Ontario Museum lead one- to two-hour historical and architectural walking tours, rain or shine.

Sights On Bikes (416-274-8784; www.sightsonbikes.com; 2-4hr tours incl helmet & bike $30-50; 10am & 3pm daily May-Oct) Bike tours of the city, Toronto Islands, The Beaches and lakeshore for all fitness levels.




Return to beginning of chapter

FESTIVALS & EVENTS

JANUARY-FEBRUARY



WinterCity Festival (416-338-0338; www.toronto.ca/special_events) Toronto breaks the late-January winter shackles with this city-wide celebration of culture, cuisine and the arts. Many events are free.



APRIL



Hot Docs (416-203-2155; www.hotdocs.ca) North America’s largest documentary film festival screens more than 100 docos from around the globe.



MAY



Doors Open Toronto (416-205-2670; www.doorsopencanada.ca) Architectural treasures creak open their doors and let the public sneak a peek.

Milk International Children’s Festival of the Arts (416-973-4000; www.harbourfront.on.ca/milk) Around Victoria Day weekend, hundreds of kiddies storm the Harbourfront Centre for puppetry, theater, dance and musical performances, messy art workshops, games and storytelling.



JUNE



North by Northeast (NXNE; 416-863-6963; www.nxne.com) An affordable wristband gets you into 400 new music and film shows at over 30 clubs, all squeezed into one long, boozy weekend in mid-June.

Pride Toronto (416-927-7433; www.pridetoronto.com) Toronto’s most flamboyant event celebrates all kinds of sexuality, climaxing with an out-of-the-closet Dyke March and the outrageous Pride Parade. Pride’s G-spot is in the Church-Wellesley Village; most events are free. Late June.

National Aboriginal Day (416-392-5583; www.toronto.ca/diversity/events.htm#aboriginal) Canada’s heritage of First Nations, Inuit and Métis cultures is celebrated on the summer solstice (21 June), including a cultural arts fair outside City Hall.

Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival (416-928-2033; www.tojazz.com) For 10 days in late June/early July, jazz, blues and world beats blaze in the city’s streets, nightclubs and concert halls, with musical workshops, film screenings and harbor cruises.



JULY



Toronto Fringe Festival (416-966-1062; www.fringetoronto.com) Over two weeks in early July, dozens of stages host dozens of plays ranging from utterly offbeat to deadly serious, plus a program of kids’ plays too.

Grand Prix of Toronto (416-922-7477; www.grandprixtoronto.com) T.O.’s Grand Prix in mid-July sees drivers from the international circuit competing in front of massive crowds. Engine noise abounds as cars top 300km/h along Lakeshore Blvd.

Beaches International Jazz Festival (416-698-2152; www.beachesjazz.com) Going strong for almost 20 years, this high-caliber, free, three-day jazz fest in late July fills stages along Queen St E, at Kew Gardens and in the Distillery District.



AUGUST



Canadian National Exhibition (CNE; 416-393-6300; www.theex.com) Dating from 1879, вЂ˜The Ex’ features over 700 exhibitors, agricultural shows, lumberjack competitions, outdoor concerts and carnivalia at Exhibition Place. The air show and Labour Day fireworks take the cake.

Caribana (905-799-1630; www.caribana.com) North America’s largest Caribbean festival, from late July into early August. The carnival parade, featuring florid and almost-not-there costumes, takes five hours to gyrate past – damn, that’s some party!

Toronto Buskerfest (416-964-9095; www.torontobuskerfest.com) For three days in late August, a ragtag troupe of Canadian and international buskers descends on St Lawrence Market: sword-swallowers, jugglers and musicians of unpredictable merit.



SEPTEMBER



Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF; 416-968-3456; www.bell.ca/filmfest) Toronto’s prestigious 10-day celebration is one of the world’s best film festivals and a major cinematic event. Films of all lengths and styles are screened in late September, as celebs shimmy between gala events and the shiny new film-fest HQ. Buy tickets well in advance.

Virgin Music Festival (888-999-2321; www.virginfestival.ca) Thirty-six bands (The Flaming Lips, Sam Roberts, Muse etc) and 15 DJs over two mid-September days on the Toronto Islands.

Nuit Blanche (416-338-0338; www.livewithculture.ca) Over 140 overnight urban art experiences – from Three Stooges film marathons to nocturnal pool parties and ballroom dancing with 10-year-old DJs. Late September.



OCTOBER



International Festival of Authors (416-973-4000; www.readings.org) Bookish, mid-October festival corralling over 100 acclaimed authors from Canada and abroad at the Harbourfront Centre. Readings, discussions, lectures, awards and book signings.



NOVEMBER



Canadian Aboriginal Festival (519-751-0040; www.canab.com) A multiday, late-November celebration at the Rogers Centre involving dancing, drumming, crafts, films and traditional teachings, and a lacrosse competition. Canada’s biggest aboriginal festival.




Return to beginning of chapter

SLEEPING

Hold onto your wallets, this is gonna get ugly… Finding good-value accommodations in Toronto will be the most difficult and expensive part of your trip. Reservations outside of winter are mandatory – decent options are full every night from Victoria Day (around mid-May) through to the last vestiges of summer. Booking ahead also limits the sting of wildly fluctuating hotel tariffs – many places charge double or triple the off-peak rates during summer and major festivals. Some hostels, guesthouses and B&Bs don’t charge tax, but hotels always do. Check hotel websites for internet discounts and package deals.

Downtown Toronto offers historic hotels, boutique digs and lakefront properties. It can be pricey here, but you don’t have to spend all your dough to be close to the action. Guesthouses and B&Bs are prolific in eastern Toronto, the Church-Wellesley Village, and The Annex. Budget beds are harder to find, but there are some top-quality youth hostels around town.

Toronto’s thriving B&B industry caters to most budgets. Many B&Bs require a two-night minimum stay. A handy online resource is www.bbcanada.com, with around 100 city listings. Booking agencies are another way to save time and money. Reliable agencies include:



Bed & Breakfast Homes of Toronto (416-363-6362; www.bbcanada.com/associations/toronto2) Anything from modest family homes to deluxe suites.

Downtown Toronto Association of Bed and Breakfast Guest Houses (416-410-3938; www.bnbinfo.com) Rooms in various neighborhoods, mostly in renovated Victorian houses.

Toronto Bed & Breakfast Reservation Service (705-738-9449, 877-922-6522; www.torontobandb.com) The oldest agency in town with a dozen central listings.





* * *



GAY & LESBIAN TORONTO

To say Toronto is G&L-friendly is understating things just a tad. вЂ˜Gay is the new straight’ is closer to the mark! During Pride Toronto (opposite), about a million visitors descend on the city. The focus of the action is the Church-Wellesley Village, or simply the вЂ˜Gay Village.’ Spread along Church St north and south of Wellesley St E is a busy commercial strip which draws mustachioed crowds, promenading and people-watching. Other gay-focused neighborhoods include The Annex, Kensington Market, Queen West and Cabbagetown.



Gay nightlife venues are abundant and although men’s bars and clubs vastly outnumber lesbian venues, Toronto is also home to drag kings, women-only bathhouse nights and lesbian reading series. Click here for drinking and entertainment options.



In 2003 Toronto became the first city in North America to legalize same-sex marriage; apply at City Hall (Map; 416-392-7036; www.toronto.ca/registry-services; 100 Queen St W; license $110; 8:30am-4:15pm Mon-Fri; subway Queen). In September 2004, an Ontario Court also recognized the first legal same-sex divorce.



Click here for Canada-wide G&L resources. Helpful Toronto resources include:





519 Community Centre (Map; 416-392-6874; www.the519.org; 519 Church St; 9am-10pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat, 10am-5pm Sun; subway Wellesley)

Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives (Map; 416-777-2755; www.clga.ca; 202 Wellesley Street E; 7:30-10pm Tue-Thu, closed Aug; subway Wellesley)

Toronto Pronto (www.gaytorontotourism.com)

This Ain’t the Rosedale Library

Toronto Women’s Bookstore

Xtra! Free G&L alternative weekly.





* * *



Harbourfront

Renaissance Toronto (Map; 416-341-7100, 800-468-3571; www.renaissancehotels.com; 1 Blue Jays Way; d/ste from $290/325; subway Union; wi-fi) Seventy of the impressive rooms here overlook the Rogers Centre playing field Click here – if you book one, be prepared for floodlights and hollering sports fans! If you’d rather use your room for sleeping, the restaurant and bar also overlook the field. Parking costs $20 to $25.



* * *



DOUBLE PLAY

The Renaissance Toronto at the Rogers Centre gained infamy when, during an early Blue Jays baseball game, a couple in one of the field-view rooms – either forgetfully or pornographically – became involved in some sporting activity of their own with the lights on, much to the crowd’s amusement. These days the hotel insists that guests sign a waiver stipulating there will be no such free double-plays.





* * *



Financial District

Hotel Victoria (Map; 416-363-1666, 800-363-8228; www.hotelvictoria-toronto.com; 56 Yonge St; d incl breakfast $105-150; subway King; wi-fi) The early-20th-century Hotel Victoria is one of Toronto’s best small downtown hotels. Refurbished throughout, it maintains a few old-fashioned features, including a fine lobby and a warm welcome at the 24-hour reception desk. Rates include health club privileges.

Strathcona Hotel (Map; 416-363-3321, 800-268-8304; www.thestrathconahotel.com; 60 York St; d from $115; subway St Andrew; wi-fi) вЂ˜Think of us as a launch pad’ is the marketing ploy at this unpretentious, familiar hotel. The usual amenities won’t launch you into the stratosphere, but for the downtown area it’s reasonably priced. Tour desk and on-site pub, too.

Fairmont Royal York (Map; 416-368-2511, 800-441-1414; www.fairmont.com/royalyork; 100 Front St W; d from $190; subway Union; ) Since 1929 the eminent Royal York has accommodated everyone from Tina Turner to Henry Kissinger. Built by the Canadian Pacific Railway, its mock-chateau design adds character to Toronto’s modern skyline. Rates rise with demand. The Epic tearooms and the Library Bar are both worth a look. Parking costs $14 to $33.

Old York

Hostelling International Toronto (Map; 416-971-4440, 877-848-8737; www.hostellingtoronto.ca; 76 Church St; dm/d $27/65; streetcar 504; ) This award-winning hostel gets votes for renovations that include a rooftop deck and electronic locks. Beds in quad rooms may not cost any more than those in larger dormitories, so ask when making reservations. Pub crawls and quiz nights keep things lighthearted.

Cosmopolitan (Map; 416-350-2000, 800-958-3488; www.cosmotoronto.com; 8 Colborne St; ste from $228; subway King; wi-fi) Swanky international business bods and celebs roam the corridors of this boutique bolt-hole. Suites have lake views, bedroom-sized showers and sexy design. Staff are serene and courteous, directing you to the Asian fusion restaurant, gym and spa. Absolute opulence. Parking is $29.

Theatre Block & Entertainment District

Canadiana Guesthouse & Backpackers (Map; 416-598-9090, 877-215-1225; www.canadianalodging.com; 42 Widmer St; dm $25-30, s/d $65/75; streetcar 504; wi-fi) Sociable without being debauched, Toronto’s largest hostel is a surefire winner. Filling an appealing Victorian townhouse row, Canadiana’s pluses include free internet and pancake breakfasts, movie theater, barbecue nights, gas cooking and a crop of immaculate private rooms. Parking is $15.

Holiday Inn on King (Map; 416-599-4000, 800-263-6364; www.hiok.com; 370 King St W; d from $160; streetcar 504; ) Book yourself a Theatre Block holiday at this conspicuous white hotel, seemingly airlifted from Waikiki Beach. Standard rooms have lake or city views, while the seasonal rooftop pool gazes onto the CN Tower. Children under 12 stay and eat free; service is stern but efficient. Parking is $18.

HГґtel Le Germain (Map; 416-345-9500, 866-345-9501; www.germaintoronto.com; 30 Mercer St; d $240-500, ste $475-900; streetcar 504; wi-fi) Hip and harmonious, Le Germain resides in a quiet Entertainment District side street. Clean lines, soothing spaces and Zen-inspired materials deliver the promised вЂ˜ocean of well-being.’ Aveda bath amenities, in-room Bose stereos and a rooftop terrace are bonuses. Parking costs $28.

Queen Street & Dundas Square

Residence College Hotel (Map; 416-351-1010; residencecollegehotel@uhn.on.ca; 90 Gerrard St W; s & d with shared bathroom from $50; subway College; ) Unlike most college accommodations, this one’s open to the public year-round – follow the college kids around and crash their parties. Design and location are unremarkable, but it’s a solid option if all you need is a cheap, safe room. Parking costs $10.

Days Inn Toronto Downtown (Map; 416-977-6655, 800-329-7466; www.daysinn.com; 30 Carlton St; d $80-160; subway College; wi-fi) You always know what to expect at the Days Inn – affordable, no-frills accommodations, and in this case, a central location. Reception at times seems dramatically understaffed, but staff are bubbly with their apologies. Parking is $18.

Les Amis Bed & Breakfast (Map; 416-591-0635; www.bbtoronto.com; 31 Granby St; s/d/tr with shared bathroom incl breakfast from $85/100/130; subway College; wi-fi) Run by a multilingual Parisian couple, this cheery B&B offers full, gourmet vegetarian (or vegan) breakfasts. Cozy rooms have futon beds and вЂ˜That’s-just-how-I-would-have-done-it!’ appeal. It’s a short walk from the Eaton Centre, but the location can be a bit sketchy. Gay and lesbian travelers welcome. Parking costs $9.

Delta Chelsea Toronto Downtown (Map; 416-595-1975, 800-268-1133; www.deltahotels.com; 33 Gerrard St W; d/ste from $100/250; subway College; ) Who says one hotel can’t be all things to all people? With nearly 1600 rooms, Toronto’s largest and arguably best-value hotel is very вЂ˜all people.’ If you’re traveling with kids, you’ll appreciate the apartment-style family suites and indoor waterslide. Prices vary with season, day of the week and occupancy. Parking costs $23 to $29.

Chinatown & Baldwin Village

Baldwin Village Inn (Map; 416-591-5359; www.baldwininn.com; 9 Baldwin St; d with shared bathroom $85-105; streetcar 505, 506; wi-fi) Squished between a Kowloon dim sum restaurant and an art gallery (how вЂ˜Baldwin Village’ is that?), this yellow-painted B&B plugs a gap in the local market. The courtyard is perfect for lounging about.

Yonge Street Strip & Church-Wellesley Village

Victoria’s Mansion Inn & Guesthouse (Map; 416-921-4625; www.victoriasmansion.com; 68 Gloucester St; s $79-96, d $105-120, studio $145-160; subway Wellesley; ) Festooned with international flags, gay-friendly Victoria’s Mansion accommodates travelers in a renovated 1880s redbrick heritage building. Studios have kitchenettes; management can be a little standoffish. Parking is $10.

Gloucester Square Inns (Map; 416-966-0013; www.gloucestersquare.com; 512 Jarvis St, 514 Jarvis St & 10 Cawthra Sq; d incl breakfast $110-180, ste $200-550; subway Wellesley; wi-fi) Gloucester Square has 30 gorgeous rooms in three historic buildings, where guests enjoy unabashed opulence. Ceiling fans revolve above Persian rugs, McCausland stained glass and Chinese urns. Samantha Fox once bounced around in the attic suite. Free parking.

Comfort Hotel (Map; 416-924-1222, 800-424-6423; www.choicehotels.ca/cn228; 15 Charles St E; d from $125; subway Bloor-Yonge; ) The embodiment of nameless, faceless hotel anonymity, this is the place to stay if you’re on the run from the law – risk-free accommodations where you won’t arouse suspicion (least of all from the receptionists). Renegades under 18 stay free. Parking is $10.

Bloor-Yorkville

Howard Johnson Inn (Map; 416-964-1220, 877-967-5845; www.hojo.com; 89 Avenue Rd; d incl breakfast from $120; subway Bay; wi-fi) To say HoJos is nothing flash could be the understatement of the decade, but it’s the cheapest accommodations you’ll find in ritzy Yorkville. Down-to-earth wood-and-brick decor; kids stay free! Parking costs $15.

Holiday Inn Toronto Midtown (Map; 416-968-0010; www.holiday-inn.com/torontomidtown; 280 Bloor St W; d from $150; subway St George; wi-fi) The familiar green banners outside this high-rise, brown-brick monolith do little to improve the aesthetics, but inside the rooms are better than average. The location is also prime, near U of T and the big T.O. museums. Parking costs $15.

Windsor Arms (Map; 416-971-9666; www.windsorarmshotel.com; 18 St Thomas St; ste from $300; subway Bay; wi-fi) The Windsor Arms is an exquisite piece of Toronto history – stay the night or drop in for afternoon tea. It’s a 1927 neo-gothic mansion boasting a grand entryway, stained-glass windows, polished service and its own coat of arms. The distinguished atmosphere makes you want to whisper! Parking is $25.

University of Toronto & The Annex

Havinn (Map; 416-922-5220, 888-922-5220; www.havinn.com; 118 Spadina Rd; s/d with shared bathroom incl breakfast $54/69; subway Dupont; ) Havinn is a haven on busy Spadina Rd, with six tidy rooms, immaculate shared bathrooms and a communal kitchen. Breakfast includes croissants, bagels, yogurt, fruit and fresh muffins. The vibe is chilled and cheery – hard to beat!

Global Guesthouse (Map; 416-923-4004; singer@inforamp.net; 9 Spadina Rd; s/d with shared bathroom $58/68, s/d with bathroom $68/78; subway Spadina; wi-fi) Chaotic, well-worn and lovable, this old-fashioned redbrick Victorian with beautiful carved gables sits just north of Bloor St. There’s a shared kitchen and spacious rooms featuring cable TV, hippie wall hangings, wooden floors and murals. It fills up quickly, so book well in advance.

Castlegate Inn (Map; 416-323-1657; www.castlegateinn.com; 219 Spadina Rd; s & d incl breakfast $60-100, weekly from $315; subway Dupont; wi-fi) One of the best budget-to-midrange bargains in Toronto, this casual B&B is owned by avid travelers who know how to run a business. Their three houses (37 rooms) are all within striking distance of U of T and Yorkville.

Beverley Place (Map; 416-977-0077; fax 416-599-2242; 235 Beverley St; r incl breakfast $65-125; subway Queen’s Park; wi-fi) This three-story Victorian dates from 1877, with typically high ceilings. The whole place is furnished and decorated with interesting antiques and collectibles. The cheaper rooms share a bathroom. Check-in across the road at No 226. Parking is $10.

Annex Guest House (Map; 416-922-1934; www.annexguesthouse.com; 83 Spadina Rd; d from $90; subway Spadina; ) Engaging the principles of vastu, an Indian architectural science promoting tranquillity through natural materials and asymmetrical layouts (similar to feng shui), this place has some lovely rooms. Wooden floors, handmade bedspreads and crafted copper bowls highlight the spaces.

Casa Loma Inn (Map; 416-924-4540; www.casalomainn.com; 21 Walmer Rd; s/d from $85/95; subway Spadina; ) When it’s all lit up at night, this breathtaking turn-of-the-20th-century Victorian inn seems like a pint-sized version of its namesake Click here. Each of the 26 rooms has a TV, fridge, microwave and immaculate bathroom. No breakfast, but Bloor St is just minutes away. Parking costs $10 to $15.

Madison Manor (Map; 416-922-5579, 877-561-7048; www.madisonavenuepub.com; 20 Madison Ave; d incl breakfast $100-180; subway Spadina; ) Guests at this boutique B&B with natty white woodwork enjoy daytime billiard-parlor privileges at the nearby Madison Avenue Pub. All rooms have a bathroom; a few have a fireplace or balcony. Continental breakfast included; kids excluded. Parking costs $10 to $15.

Kensington Market & Little Italy

Planet Travelers Hostel (Map; 416-599-6789; www.theplanettraveler.com; 175 Augusta Ave; dm/d incl breakfast from $22/52; streetcar 506, 510; ) Readers have been raving about this place, which has an awesome Kensington Market location and goes out of its way to make you feel at home. You could wallow around on the shady patio or watch movies in the lounge, but hey, snap out of it! Kensington Market is right outside! Free breakfast, linen, internet, lockers and Saturday night barbecue.

Queen West & West Queen West

Global Village Backpackers (Map; 416-703-8540, 888-844-7875; www.globalbackpackers.com; 460 King St W; dm $27-29, d from $73; streetcar 504, 511; wi-fi) This kaleidoscopically colored independent hostel was once the Spadina Hotel, where Jack Nicholson, the Rolling Stones and Leonard Cohen dreamed dreams of fame and glory. The vibe is relaxed but not lax, with good security and helpful staff. There’s a party-centric bar, outdoor patio and regular Niagara trips, too.

Beaconsfield (Map; 416-535-3338; www.bbcanada.com/771.html; 38 Beaconsfield Ave; d with shared bathroom incl breakfast $95, ste $150-170; streetcar 501; ) Good-time Beaconsfield is a Victorian boutique B&B owned by an artist-actor couple who have filled the house with murals and distractions. Eclectic suites have a bathroom and either one or two bedrooms. Full breakfasts are served at a table of toys (Rubik’s Cubes, Russian dolls) for kids big and small.

Drake Hotel (Map; 416-531-5042; www.thedrakehotel.ca; 1150 Queen St W; d $179-289; streetcar 501; wi-fi) Revamped to the tune of a cool $5 million, this century-old hotel beckons to bohemians, artists and indie musicians (with a little cash). Artful rooms come with vintage furnishings, throw rugs, flat-screen TVs and wi-fi internet access. There’s a café, restaurant, bar and live music room on-site to keep you entertained.

East Toronto

Neill-Wycik College Hotel (Map; 416-977-2320; www.neill-wycik.com; 96 Gerrard St E; s/d/tr/f with shared bathroom $45/65/70/85; subway College; wi-fi) Pronounced вЂ˜Why-zik,’ this budget traveler’s favorite operates from early May to late August. Private bedrooms with telephones are inside apartment-style suites that share a kitchen/lounge and bathroom. There are laundry facilities, lockers, TV lounges, a student-run cafeteria and incredible sundeck views. No air-con = hot August nights. Parking costs $10.

Amsterdam Guesthouse (Map; 416-921-9797; www.amsterdamguesthouse.com; 209 Carlton St; s/d with shared bathroom from $65/85; streetcar 506; wi-fi) Bedecked with flags above a grand front porch, Amsterdam is a polished Victorian house that’s far from stuffy. The occasional shirtless stoner wanders through the lobby, trying to recall which of the simple, clean and comfy rooms (with cable TV) is theirs.

1871 Historic House (Map; 416-923-6950; www.1871bnb.com; 65 Huntley St; s/d with shared bathroom incl breakfast from $70/80; subway Sherbourne; wi-fi) What other property can claim both Buffalo Bill Cody and John Lennon as one-time guests? In this historic Victorian home, which displays its art and antiques in sunny common areas, all rooms are without a bathroom, but the coach-house suite has its own hot tub.

Pimblett’s Downtown Toronto B&B (Map; 416-921-6898; www.pimblett.ca; 242 Gerrard St E; s/d from $85/105; streetcar 506; wi-fi) Run by a quirky Englishman with John Cleese pretensions, Pimblett’s 10 rooms have names like the Prince Charles Bedroom and Queen Elizabeth’s Bedroom, enabling you to вЂ˜sleep with the entire royal family’ (ha-ha-ha…). Lashings of Monty Python-esque humor and full English breakfasts.

Clarion Hotel & Suites Selby (Map; 416-921-3142, 800-387-4788; www.choicehotels/cn534; 592 Sherbourne St; d/ste from $85/200; subway Sherbourne; wi-fi) Ernest Hemingway stayed in this turreted Victorian mansion while he worked as a reporter for the Toronto Star in the 1920s. The modern extension out the back is no architectural dreamboat, but contains family-sized suites. Parking costs $13.

Au Petit Paris (Map; 416-928-1348; www.bbtoronto.com/aupetitparis; 3 Selby St; s/d incl breakfast from $100/130; subway Sherbourne; wi-fi) Hardwood floors blend with modern decor inside this exquisite bay-and-gable Victorian. The pick of the four en-suite rooms are the skylit Nomad’s Suite and the Artist’s Suite, with garden views and extra-large bathtub. The roof patio is a winner.

Toronto Townhouse B&B (Map; 416-323-8898, 877-500-0466; www.torontotownhouse.com; 213 Carlton St; d $100-170; streetcar 506; wi-fi) Basking in the fact that they’ve survived the cull of Cabbagetown B&Bs that’s happened over the past few years, the six quaint rooms inside this typically noble row house are beautifully restored. Breakfast includes homemade cereal, baked goodies, hot pancakes and omelets.

The Beaches

Accommodating the Soul (Map; 416-686-0619; www.bbcanada.com/atsoul; 114 Waverley Rd; d incl breakfast $120-145; streetcar 501; wi-fi) An early-20th-century home boasting antiques and fabulous gardens, these soulful accommodations are a short walk from the lake. One room has an en suite, the other two share a bathroom. Full, hot breakfasts are served regardless of which room you’re in.

Toronto Islands

Barb’s Island Loft (Map; 416-203-0866; 9 Third St, Ward’s Island; apt per night/week $125/600; ferry Ward’s Island; ) Stock up on groceries, jump on the ferry then disappear here for a week. Cook your own meals, read, go for long walks and generally chill out – ain’t life grand? The no-frills apartment sleeps three. Don’t miss Barb’s rhubarb jam and eggplant chutney!

Smiley’s B&B (Map; 416-203-8599; www.erelda.ca; 4 Dacotah Ave, Algonquin Island; r with shared bathroom $70, apt per night/week $160/800; ferry Ward’s Island; ) Sleep the night away in вЂ˜Belvedere’ – a sunny B&B room and dining with the hosts – or hole-up in the studio apartment with its own kitchen and bathroom. Either way, relaxation is guaranteed.

Greater Toronto Area (GTA)

Bonnevue Manor (Map; 416-536-1455; www.bonnevuemanor.com; 33 Beaty Ave, west of Jameson Ave; d incl breakfast $100-170; streetcar 501, 504, 508; ) Voted amongst the city’s best B&Bs, this cozy place occupies a restored 1890s redbrick mansion with divine handcrafted architectural details. Six guestrooms exhibit warm-colored interiors; all have bathrooms. Enjoy your cooked breakfast out on the grapevine-covered deck.

Toadhall Bed & Breakfast (905-773-4028; www.225toadhall.ca; 225 Lakeland Cres, Richmond Hill; s/d/tr incl breakfast $95/125/175; wi-fi) It’s worth trekking north of downtown Toronto to stay in this solar-powered home on picturesque Lake Wilcox, with swimming, canoeing and windsurfing right outside the door. There’s no air-con, but cool lake breezes blow through. Salubrious gourmet breakfasts emphasize organic fare (vegetarian by request). Rather than talking to you, abrupt management refers you to their website – see the website for driving directions.


Return to beginning of chapter

EATING

Nowhere is Toronto’s multiculturalism more potent and thrilling than on the plates of its restaurants. Eating here is a delight – you’ll find everything from Korean walnut cakes to sweat-inducing Thai curries, New York steaks and good ol’ Canuck pancakes with peameal bacon and maple syrup. Fusion food is the future: traditional Western recipes invaded with handfuls of zingy Eastern ingredients and cooked with pan-Asian flare. British influences also linger – fizzy lunchtime pints and formal afternoon high teas are much-loved traditions.

Executive diners file into classy restaurants in the Financial District and Old York, while eclectic, affordable eateries fill Baldwin Village, Kensington Market, Queen West and the Yonge St Strip. More ethnically consistent are Little Italy, Greektown (The Danforth), Little India and Chinatown. Ponder your profoundest cravings, identify your neighborhood of choice then dive right in!

Harbourfront

Harbour Sixty Steakhouse (Map; 416-777-2111; 60 Harbour St; mains $29-52; 11:30am-1am Mon-Fri, 5pm-1am Sat & Sun; streetcar 509, 510) Inside the gothically isolated 1917 Toronto Harbour Commission building, this opulent baroque dining room glows with brass lamps and plush booths. Indulge yourself in an eminent variety of steaks, sterling salmon or seasonal Florida stone-crab claws and broiled Caribbean lobster tail. Side dishes seem pricey but are big enough for two. Superb wine list; reservations essential.

Financial District

Mercatto (Map; 416-306-0467; 330 Bay St; meals $8-14; 7am-8pm Mon-Fri; subway King) One of an effervescent string of Italian deli-cafés, Mercatto serves up creative panini, pasta, risotto, frittata and pizza dishes at a central dining bench beneath entirely out-of-place chandeliers. No one notices what’s above them though – faces are focused on the plates.

Bymark (Map; 416-777-1144; Toronto-Dominion Centre, 66 Wellington St W, street level; mains $34-50; 11:30am-11pm Mon-Fri, 5-11pm Sat; subway St Andrew) Celebrity chef Mark McEwan of North 44В° Click here brings his sophisticated menu of continentally-hewn cuisine to this hip, bi-level downtowner. His creative kitchen crew whips seasonal regional ingredients (wild truffles, Niagara quail, soft-shell crab) into sensational combinations, each with suggested wine or beer pairings.

Old York

St Lawrence Market (Map; 416-392-7120; South Market, 2 Front St E; items $2-10; 8am-6pm Tue-Thu, 8am-7pm Fri, 5am-5pm Sat; streetcar 503, 504) Buskers and classical trios provide an acoustic backdrop at the city’s beloved market, offering a mouthwatering range of quality produce, baked goods and imported foodstuffs. Crowds pack lunch counters outside Everyday Gourmet, Quik Sushi (вЂ˜Free meal for primadonna!’), St Urbain for MontrГ©al-style bagels, and Mustachio’s chicken sandwiches (вЂ˜About as big as your head’). The farmers’ market livens up the dull-looking North Market from 5am every Saturday.

Spring Rolls (Map; 416-365-7655; 85 Front St E; mains $8-16; 11am-11pm; streetcar 503, 504) One of five Spring Rolls around town, the Old York version is a cool, mod room casting a culinary net from Vietnam to China. Bowls of Vietnamese pho (noodle soup) mingle with spicy Szechuan wok dishes, classic pad thai (stir-fried noodles), curries and banana fritters. Energetic after-workers unwind at sidewalk tables.

Sultan’s Tent & Café Maroc (Map; 416-961-0601; 49 Front St E; mains $12-25; noon-3pm Mon-Fri, 5-10:30pm Mon-Sat; streetcar 503, 504) Arabic, Spanish, French, English and Berber influences have swept through Morocco over the centuries, the culinary fallout from which can be sampled at this atmospheric room, replete with stained-glass lanterns, candles, fringed cushions, and a bar to rival Rick’s Café. The Couscous Royale ($22) is splendiferous. Belly dancers may or may not help you digest.

Theatre Block & Entertainment District

Burrito Boyz (Map; 416-593-9191; 120 Peter St; mains $4-8; 11:30am-11pm Mon-Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat, noon-9pm Sun; streetcar 501, 502) Club-hounds who haven’t got lucky pile into this basement booth to assuage their disappointment with a hefty injection of chili, sour cream and salsa. There’s not enough room in here for both you and your burrito – grab one to go.

Spoon (Map; 416-599-7000; 391 King St W; mains lunch $11-19, dinner $17-35; 11:30am-2:30pm Tue-Fri, 4:30-10pm Tue & Wed, to 11pm Thu-Sat; streetcar 504, 510) Impressive Spoon ladles out a dose of style amongst an otherwise dated row of restaurants. It’s a long, thin room with voluminous wine glasses, spoon-shaped chairs, lulling jazz and picture-perfect clientele. Start with some PEI mussels in green tea, lemongrass, lime leaf and coconut broth, before moving on to the braised lamb shank with sweet-potato mash, sprouts and pomegranate reduction. Wines by the glass or bottle.

Autogrill (Map; 416-599-0961; 345 Adelaide St W; mains $17-23; 11am-11pm Mon-Fri, 5pm-midnight Sat; streetcar 510, 504) Wow, this sub-street room is soooo sexy! Leave the uncool you at the door, slink down the stairs and order a martini at the bar. Cream leather dining booths await, from which friendly staff receive orders for 10-inch stone-baked pizzas, rigorously re-interpreted pasta favorites and magical risottos.

Sen5es (Map; 416-935-0400; 318 Wellington St W; breakfast & lunch $5-17, dinner $32-45; 7am-2pm daily, 6-11pm Tue-Sat, lounge 5pm-1am daily; streetcar 510) Sen5es’ sun-drenched, airy café serves breakfast (try an impeccable cappuccino and chocolate croissant), while the sleek modern dining room harbors a chef’s table and nocturnal offerings like goat cheese and beef ravioli and seared scallops with citrus salad and curry yoghurt. Alternatively, dine in the lounge to sample from the same amazing menu for under $25 per plate.

Queen Street & Dundas Square

CafГ© Crepe (Map; 416-260-1611; 246 Queen St W; crepes $4-7; 9am-10pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri & Sat, 10am-10pm Sun; streetcar 501) Watch white-clad chefs deftly spoon crepe mixture onto smoking hotplates then swirl it into delicious browned discs using a nifty wooden spatula. Sweet and savory fillings taste as good as they smell. There are booths at the back, or crepe-escape onto the streets.

Queen Mother CafГ© (Map; 416-598-4719; 208 Queen St W; mains $9-17; 11:30am-1am Mon-Sat, to 11pm Sun; subway Osgoode) A Queen St institution, the Queen Mother is beloved for its cozy, dark wooden booths and excellent pan-Asian dim sum (not a regal cream tea in sight!). Canadian comfort food is also on the menu, and check out the display of old stuff they found in the walls the last time they renovated.

Commensal (Map; 416-596-9364; 655 Bay St; lunch $10, dinner $15; 11:30am-9:30pm Mon & Tue, to 10pm Wed-Fri, noon-10pm Sat & Sun; subway Dundas) Cafeteria-style Commensal sells 100-plus buffet dishes, including fresh salads, hot mains with international flavors, and naturally-sweetened desserts. Most dietary restrictions can be accommodated; only a few dishes approach blandness (which the interior design approached years ago).

Terroni (Map; 416-203-3093; 57a Adelaide St; meals $11-16; 9am-11pm Mon-Sat; subway Queen) Queen West (Map; 416-504-0320; 720 Queen St W; streetcar 501) Terroni is a traditional southern Italian grocer and deli. Off-duty Toronto chefs shamble through the doors for wood oven–fired pizzas, wines by the glass and fresh panini, all approaching perfection. Walls are lined with jars of pasta, olives and preserved peppers. Fresh cut flowers sit on the counter, and razzmatazz big-band jazz keeps the mood вЂ˜up.’

Chinatown & Baldwin Village

Dumpling House Restaurant (Map; 416-596-8898; 328 Spadina Ave; 12 dumplings $4-6; 11am-11pm; streetcar 510) You can’t go wrong here – walk right in, sit right down and order a steaming mass of pork, chicken, beef, seafood or vegetarian dumplings (pan-fried or steamed), impale them on your chopsticks, dunk them in soy sauce and dispense with them forthwith.

Goldstone Noodle Restaurant (Map; 416-596-9053; 266 Spadina Ave; mains $5-10; 8am-2am Sun-Thu, to 4am Fri & Sat; streetcar 505, 510) The chefs at this mirror-walled restaurant put on a real show, plating up humongous mounds of noodles mixed with chunks of glazed duck and orange-stained squid. Other dismembered beasts hang on hooks above, while diners leave decimated piles of bowls, scoured clean of contents. Apocalyptic dining!

Phõ’ Hu’ng (Map; 416-593-4274; 350 Spadina Ave; mains $6-13; 10am-10pm; streetcar 510) Bloor-Yorkville (Map; 416-963-5080; 2nd fl, 200 Bloor St W; subway Museum) Clipped service and infernally busy tables are the price you pay for Phõ’ Hu’ng’s awesome Vietnamese soups. A few dishes may be a touch too authentic for some (what, don’t you like pork intestines and blood?). A fair-weather bonus is the patio.

Swatow (Map; 416-977-0601; 309 Spadina Ave; mains $8-14; 11am-2am; streetcar 505, 510) The menu here covers cuisine from Swatow (a city now known as Shantou, on the coast of China’s Guangdong province), nicknamed вЂ˜red cooking’ for its potent splashings of fermented rice wine. The house noodles are fiery. Cash only; be prepared to queue.

John’s Italian Café (Map; 416-537-0598; 27 Baldwin St; mains $10-20; 11am-11pm Sun-Thu, 11am-1am Fri & Sat; streetcar 505, 506) John’s classic joint wouldn’t look out of place in New York’s Little Italy, or even New Jersey. The tree-shaded patio is the perfect summer-night stage for a bottle of Chianti and a fresh cornmeal-crust pizza piled high with toppings. The coffee’s good too.

Matahari Grill (Map; 416-596-2832; 39 Baldwin St; mains $13-20; 11:45am-3pm Tue-Fri, 5-10pm Tue-Sun; streetcar 505, 506) An urbane hideaway with a peace-and-love vibe, Matahari’s walls feature happy inscriptions like вЂ˜Good things are being said about you.’ Sage words to ponder as you wait for your scented prawns in sweet and spicy tamarind, chicken curry or Singaporean stir-fry. Desserts are inspired; so is the list of ice wines and imported beers.

Yonge Street Strip & Church-Wellesley Village

Saigon Sister (Map; 416-967-0808; 774 Yonge St; mains $7-18; 11am-11pm Mon-Sat, from noon Sun; subway Bloor-Yonge) A stylish retreat from Yonge St’s subwoofer chaos. Head straight for the gorgeous garden patio, or position yourself amongst potted cacti to dine on soups, salads and stir-fries, memorable fruit drinks, teas and cocktails.

7 West CafГ© (Map; 416-928-9041; 7 Charles St W; mains $9-15; 24hr; subway Bloor-Yonge) Three floors of moody lighting, textured jade paint, framed nudes, wooden church pews and jaunty ceiling angles set the scene for a dazzling selection of pizzas, pastas and sandwiches and 24-hour breakfasts. Make like a vampire sipping blood-red wine (by the glass or bottle) as the moon dapples shadows across the street.

Zelda’s (Map; 416-922-2526; 542 Church St; mains $10-15; 11am-1am Mon-Wed, 11am-2am Thu-Sat, 10am-1am Sun; subway Wellesley) Zany Zelda’s has a winning combination of familiar food, crazy cocktails, wailing ’70s disco and a spacious patio. An equally zany Church-Wellesley crowd adores the brash, colorful atmosphere, especially on drag and leather nights.

Fire on the East Side (Map; 416-960-3473; 6 Gloucester St; mains $10-24; noon-1am Mon-Fri, 10am-midnight Sat & Sun; subway Wellesley) This ultrachic neighborhood dining room feels just like someone’s living room. A fusion kitchen works haywire variations on African, Caribbean, Acadian French and Cajun themes, from spicy crab cakes to вЂ˜kitchen sink’ omelets (containing everything but). Desserts are chef-made, and the chili vodka will make your day.

Ethiopian House (Map; 416-923-5438; 4 Irwin Ave; mains $12-28; noon-1am; subway Wellesley) It’s a packed and popular place with African-inspired murals on the walls, but there’s no silverware in sight as sherro wot (seasoned chickpeas) and gored-gored (spiced beef) are slathered onto moist injera (bread). The aroma of frankincense fills the air during traditional coffee-roasting ceremonies.

Bloor-Yorkville

Okonomi House (Map; 416-925-6176; 23 Charles St W; mains $6-12; 11:30am-10pm Mon-Fri, noon-10pm Sat, noon-8pm Sun; subway Bloor-Yonge) Okonomi House is one of the only places in Toronto (and perhaps North America) dishing up okonomiyaki, savory Japanese cabbage pancakes filled with meat, seafood or vegetables. Perfect cold-weather comfort food (just ask Toronto’s police force).

Indochine (Map; 416-922-5840; 4 Collier St; mains $10-19; 11:30am-3pm & 5-11pm Mon-Sat, 5-10pm Sun; subway Bloor-Yonge) Simple and unpretentious, this discreet food room is a gem. Signature dishes include the likes of Vancouver crab sautГ©ed in lemon, garlic and wine. Plenty of vegetarian, fried rice and stir-fry noodle options too. Finish with a Vietnamese coffee or a disconcerting-looking purple rice dessert.

Bloor Street Diner (Map; 416-928-3105; Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor St W; mains $12-19; noon-1am; subway Bloor-Yonge) Humbly named but actually pretty swanky, the Bloor Street Diner impresses with banquettes, starched tablecloths, formal table service and a Parisian-style patio. Steaks and rotisserie fare are as distinguished as the wine list; the buffet brunch is indulgent. Hit the cafГ© section out the front for speedy take-out sandwiches.

Sassafraz (Map; 416-964-2222; 100 Cumberland St; mains $30-45; 11am-2am; subway Bay) With a red-carpet parade of celebs filing through (Jude Law, Matthew McConaughey, Joan Collins etc), Sassafraz feels more like LA than T.O. Jazz combos serenade weekend brunchers; sassy receptionists distribute clientele between the sun-drenched patio and indoor courtyard. The food? Predictably good.

University of Toronto & The Annex

Papa Ceo (Map; 416-961-2222; 654 Spadina Ave; slices $3-4; 9am-4am; streetcar 510) Papa Ceo seems to be winning its age-old pizza war with Cora Pizza two doors away. Gourmet slices here are enormous – grab a chunky slab of вЂ˜Marlon Brando’ (mozzarella, pesto, ground beef, onions and mushrooms) and retreat to the back tables where Italian Serie A soccer dances across TV screens beneath air-con vents.

By the Way (Map; 416-967-4295; 400 Bloor St W; mains $8-15; 9am-9:30pm Sun-Tue, to 10:30pm Wed, to 11:30pm Thu-Sat; subway Bathurst, Spadina) An Annex fixture, this faded corner bistro has a daily-changing fusion menu including plenty of creative choices for vegetarians. Service is A+ and the wine list features Niagara ice varietals and labels from far-flung Oregon and Australia.

Mel’s Montréal Delicatessen (Map; 416-966-8881; 440 Bloor St W; mains $9-19; 24hr; subway Spadina) You’re here for one thing and one thing only: Mel’s famous Jumbo Smoked Meat Sandwich. A cardiac arrest on a plate, this 8oz spectacular struggles to contain layers of Mel’s old-fashioned meat, shipped in from Québec twice weekly and cut against the grain to retain the juices. If you survive, one feed will last you a week.

Latitude (Map; 416-928-0926; 89 Harbord St; mains $10-20; 11:30am-3pm daily, 5:30-10pm Mon-Sat; streetcar 510) An Uruguayan chef takes care with pan–Latin American fare, and although the menu occasionally hints at Asia, there’s always fried yucca or plantains on the side. Looking for a romantic tree-draped patio? Head past the intimate wine bar, where the mojitos and margaritas kick like a mule.

Kensington Market & Little Italy

Global Cheese (Map; 416-593-9251; 76 Kensington Ave; cheeses from $3/lb; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 9am-5pm Sun; streetcar 510) WOW, have you ever seen such an amazing cheese shop? Crowds elbow for a spot near the counter where staff, hidden behind teetering stacks of cheese, distribute slivers of Greek feta, Canadian gouda, Argentine parmesan and Swiss emmenthal. Taste a few, order a wedge then hit the streets.

Jumbo Empanadas (Map; 416-977-0056; 245 Augusta Ave; items $3-6; 9am-8pm Mon-Sat, 11am-6pm Sun; streetcar 510) They’re not kidding – chunky Chilean empanadas (toasted delights stuffed with beef, chicken, cheese or vegetables) and savory corn pie with beef, olives and eggs always sell out early. Bread and salsas are also homemade.

Rice Bar (Map; 416-922-7423; 319 Augusta Ave; mains $6-10; 11am-10pm Tue-Sun; streetcar 506) Create your own rice bowl: choose your rice (basmati, jasmine, rice noodles or a daily infused-rice special), add protein (tofu, chicken, beef or shrimp), sauces (everything from coriander to miso barbecue), garnish to taste then hurl your chopsticks into the bowl. Salads, sandwiches, vegan stew and organic tea and coffee too.

Utopia (Map; 416-534-7751; 586 College St; mains $10-16; 11am-10pm; streetcar 506) This local fave is bang in the middle of Little Italy, but Utopia’s menu stretches beyond pizza and pasta. Moroccan chickpea soup, baked chicken and French brie sandwiches, Tex-Mex burritos, a worldy wine list and dozens of types of mayonnaise – think local, eat global.

Bar Italia (Map; 416-535-3621; 582 College St; mains $10-17; 11am-1am Mon-Thu, to 2am Fri, 10:30am-2am Sat, 10:30am-1am Sun; streetcar 506) Trendsetters come and go, but Bar Italia remains the place to see and be seen. Grab a sandwich or lightly-done pasta, with a lemon gelato and a rich coffee afterward – and while away the entire afternoon or evening. You might need to pay the mob for a seat on the street-front patio.

Queen West & West Queen West

Fressen (Map; 416-504-5127; 478 Queen St W; mains $10-14; 5:30-10pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat & Sun; streetcar 501) The zenith of vegetarian and vegan dining in Toronto, Fressen’s brilliant service and sumptuous brick-and-wood dining room make for an enjoyable night out (even for carnivores). A stylish organic menu picks through world cuisines, depending on season. Weekend vegan brunch is a hit.

Gypsy Co-op (Map; 416-703-5069; 817 Queen St W; pastas $9-16, mains $14-22; 6-10pm Mon-Fri, 11am-2am Sat & Sun; streetcar 501) Trendy Queen West eateries come and go, but this bohemian food room – with its quirky decoupage tabletops, retro lighting and abused floorboards – is an enduring favorite. Contemporary cuisine with international twists – try the red snapper fillet with curried Jamaican pumpkin. Hooch club Click here is upstairs.



* * *



LOCAL VOICE

Linda Araki, 31, was born and raised in North York, Toronto, and, apart from four years at medical school in Kingston, she’s lived in T.O. her whole life. Of Japanese and Russian-Polish Jewish heritage, she’s a вЂ˜Jewpanese’ original – a classic multicultural Torontonian!



Toronto seems to be a multicultural success story. Do you agree? Absolutely. Even in a city like New York, different cultural areas can feel segregated. But in Toronto, no matter where I am – Little Italy, Chinatown, Little Korea – I never feel like an outsider. And even in areas like Greektown, where it’s mostly Greek restaurants, there might be one Italian restaurant in there, or French, or El Salvadoran in Koreatown. It really works!



What do you love about Toronto? It’s a really exciting city – there’s always something going on. I love the diversity here – different kinds of people, music, art, and the variety of restaurants is incredible. Walking this city is such a pleasure – every neighborhood has a unique feel. And the shopping is great too!



Favorite restaurants? Utopia is cool – a great place in Little Italy with a small patio. They do salads, burgers and awesome grilled tuna burritos. Terroni is a place that everyone talks about – it’s good, but it’s getting a little вЂ˜attitudey’ and the wait can be lengthy. Fire on the East Side makes the best Caesar I’ve ever had! They make their own jalapeГ±o vodka too, and they’re super-friendly.



What are your thoughts on a controversial Toronto issue? Toronto’s waterfront is always controversial! Take the Toronto City Centre Airport for example – you either love it or hate it. People make analogies between Toronto and Chicago, which are both big вЂ˜lake’ cities, but Chicago has an amazing, usable waterfront with a pier and ferries, and people can actually swim in the water. I would never suggest that anyone swim in Lake Ontario! I think that’s something for Toronto to aim for in the future.





* * *



Julie’s (Map; 416-532-7397; 202 Dovercourt Rd; mains $15-19; 5:30-11pm Tue-Sun; streetcar 501) This West Queen West neighborhood secret (not so secret now, eh?) has customers driving from as far away as Buffalo to enjoy trad Cuban dishes like ropa vieja (shredded beef in spicy tomato sauce with ripe plantains, white rice and black beans). The restaurant was once a grocery store, and every effort has been made (or rather, not made) to preserve the vibe.

Madeline’s (Map; 416-603-2205; 601 King St W; mains $40-45; 6-11pm Mon-Sat; streetcar 504, 511) Order à la carte, or let superstar chef Susur Lee take you on a whimsical journey through his elaborate tasting menus (six courses $120; vegetarian $75). From Europe to Asia and back again, each plate is a magical study in contrasts, complemented by an imaginative wine list. Book weeks in advance.

East Toronto

Real Jerk (Map; 416-463-6055; 709 Queen St E; mains $5-15; 11:30am-10pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri, 1pm-midnight Sat, 2-10pm Sun; streetcar 501, 502, 503) You’d have to be a real jerk not to like this sunny Caribbean kitchen, serving classic jerk chicken, oxtail and goat curries, вЂ˜rasta pasta’ and Red Stripe beer. The vibe is beachy, with reggae beats, tropical decor and Jamaican flags everywhere.

Siddhartha (Map; 416-465-4095; 1450 Gerrard St E; mains $9-15; 11:30am-2:30pm & 4:30-10:30pm; streetcar 506) Queen West (Map; 416-703-6684; 647A King St W; 11:30am-2:30pm & 4:30-10:30pm; streetcar 504) Siddhartha’s special chicken korma (vegetables cooked with Indian spices and garnished with dried fruit) may sound a little weird, but it’s utterly delicious. So too are the classic curries, served with Siddhartha-like humility. Also in Queen West – same hours, slightly pricier.

Toast (Map; 416-469-8222; 993 Queen St E; mains $11-25; 11:30am-3pm Tue-Fri, 6-10pm Thu-Sat; streetcar 501, 502, 503) Beyond velvet curtains is an artsy, old-fangled bistro that’s best for weekend brunch: $11 for eggs Benedict or French toast stuffed with cranberries and cream cheese. If there’s a wait, the ’50s decor and celebrity-signed toasters (Clive Owen, Colin Farrell) should keep you amused.

Ouzeri (Map; 416-778-0500; 500A Danforth Ave; mezes $5-10, mains $12-20; 11:30am-11pm Sun-Thu, 11:30am-midnight Fri & Sat; subway Chester) Try some sensibly priced mezes (Greek tapas) and sophisticated seafood at family-friendly Ouzeri. Roast eggplant with a Greek salad and a cold beer will set you back around $15. There’s live traditional Greek music on some nights (avoid if escalating bouzouki tunes aren’t your bag).

Joy Bistro (Map; 416-465-8855; 884 Queen St E; mains $14-25; 7am-10pm; streetcar 501, 502, 503) Joy has a joyous park-side patio or stripy bench seats inside. Order from a menu emphasizing traditional meat dishes with French overtones: duck confit, Manitoba pork belly, slow-roasted lamb shank. The wine list is global, the service impeccable. Jeff Buckley tunes play downstairs; upstairs is a bar called Over Joy (ha-ha).

Pan on the Danforth (Map; 416-466-8158; 516 Danforth Ave; mezes $6-12, mains $15-25; noon-11pm Sun-Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat; subway Chester) Colorful, casual Pan serves unpretentious fare with traditional Greek flavors, like Santorini chicken stuffed with spinach and feta, with new potatoes and seared veggies. Finish with a sticky chocolate baklava. The owner sets up shop in his well-loved singlet (don’t arrive too early…).

The Beaches

King’s Table (Map; 416-694-3474; 2248 Queen St E; meals $6-12; noon-9pm Tue-Sat, to 8pm Sun; streetcar 501) A fraternal, back-slapping feeling suffuses this storefront, which we’ll crown King of The Beaches’ fish-and-chip shops. Cheery tables fill up fast with diners ordering hearty halibut or salmon grills and basic salads.

Beacher Café (Map; 416-699-3874; 2162 Queen St E; mains $8-17; 10am-11pm Mon-Fri, 9am-11pm Sat, 9am-10pm Sun; streetcar 501) Looking like a seaside cottage from a Virginia Woolf novel, this long-standing café has a narrow but eternally sought-after sidewalk patio. Particularly good are the egg and pancake brunches. As the afternoon loses momentum, Beaches wives discuss their husbands’ indiscretions over merlot. Local artwork changes monthly.

Toronto Islands

The Rectory (Map; 416-203-2152; 102 Lakeshore Ave, Ward’s Island; mains $7-15; 11am-5pm Wed-Sun Oct-May, 10am-10pm daily Jun-Sep; ferry Ward’s Island) Propped up next to the boardwalk, this cozy gallery-café serves light meals, apple cider and weekend brunch with views of Tommy Thompson Park. Reservations recommended for brunch and dinner; quick snacks and drinks are more casual. Try the tuna melt.

Greater Toronto Area (GTA)

Vanipha Lanna (Map; 416-654-8068; 863 St Clair Ave W; mains $10-15; 4-10pm Tue & Sat, noon-10pm Wed-Fri; streetcar 512) Vanipha Lanna emerges from the night like some kind of Asian carwash crossed with a birthday cake. Thai-Laotian food ranges from fiery seafood creations to familiar noodles. plus unusual dishes like khao moak ga (spiced chicken in banana leaves). Fake orchids and portraits of Thai royals adorn the room.

North 44° (Map; 416-487-4897; 2537 Yonge St; mains $32-45; 5-11pm Mon-Sat; bus 97) TV-chef Mark McEwan’s sleek North 44° is still one of North America’s top tables (Toronto sits at a latitude of 44° north, if you were wondering…). Solid mains such as seared BC halibut baked in banana leaves with leek, onion, coconut and coriander, are paired with selections from a mind-boggling international wine list. Magnificent.


Return to beginning of chapter





DRINKING

Toronto usually tries to distance itself from its British heritage, but everywhere you look, perfectly decent Canadian bars are selling out to Anglo-Celtic pub chains and subjecting themselves to horrible faux-Yorkshire makeovers: plastic bookshelves, twiddle-dee-dee soundtracks, stodgy ales. Genuine Canuck watering holes are still out there though – you just need to know where to look.

The T.O. bar scene embraces everything from sticky-carpet beer holes to slick martini bars, downtown money-waster wine rooms and an effervescent smattering of gay and lesbian bars Click here. Thirsty work! Strict anti-smoking bylaws prohibit nicotine-fixing in indoor public spaces – you can enjoy your martini without your favorite shirt smelling like an ashtray in the morning.

The pubs listed below open at 11am and stay open until 2am. Bars keep serving until 2am too, but don’t generally open their doors until around 4pm.

Red Room (Map; 416-929-9964; 444 Spadina Ave; streetcar 506, 510) The Red Room rules. Part pub, part diner, part funky lounge – this arty Kensington Market room is the place to drag your hungover bones for a recuperative pint of microbrew, an all-day breakfast (burgers, curries, pasta) and an earful of Stones, The Who and Led Zepp. Sink into a booth and forget your misdemeanors.

Czehoski (Map; 416-366-6787; 678 Queen St W; streetcar 501) Everyone raves about Czehoski, a timber-faced shopfront bar that manages to be bohemian, classy and understated all at once. The beer and wine lists are extensive, the bar food first-rate, cocktails potent, service friendly, music вЂ˜schmoove’ and interior design magazine-worthy. The only thing worth arguing about is how to pronounce the name.

Gladstone Hotel (Map; 416-531-4635; 1214 Queen St W; streetcar 501) This formerly down-at-heel historic hotel revels in Toronto’s avant-garde arts scene. In the Melody Bar there’s karaoke from 9pm Thursday to Saturday, while the Art Bar and Gladstone Ballroom sustain offbeat DJs, poetry slams, jazz, book readings, alt-country and blues. Cover varies, usually $10 or less.

C’est What (Map; 416-867-9499; 67 Front St E; streetcar 503, 504) Over 30 whiskeys and six dozen Canadian microbrews are on hand at this underground pub near the St Lawrence Market. An in-house brewmaster tightly edits the all-natural, preservative-free beers on tap – drink your way across the nation with confidence. There’s live music most nights at their Music Showbar next door.

Smokeless Joe (Map; 416-728-4503; 125 John St; streetcar 501) Buried below street level in Clubland, this narrow where-everybody-knows-your-name bar sells over 250 different types of beer (the menu is a book). Some of the rarest brews aren’t sold in stores, so stop by for a pint or two. Or three. It was one of the first places in T.O. to ban smoking. Thanks Joe.

Underground Garage (Map; 416-340-0365; 365 King St W; streetcar 504, 510) Trying valiantly to keep it real in the otherwise skin-deep Entertainment District, this urban rock bar is down a steep staircase lined with Led Zeppelin, Willie Nelson and John Lennon posters. Wailing guitars, cold beer and good times – just as it should be. Doesn’t usually get going until 9pm; cover under $5.

Castro’s Lounge (Map; 416-699-8272; 2116 Queen St E; streetcar 501) An unexpected attitude-free zone in The Beaches, this renegade bar has 120-plus Canadian microbrews and import beers, vintage movie posters and hardwood tables, around which cluster local literati, conspiracy theorists, political activists and slacker hangers-on. Keep an ear to the ground for beer tastings, spoken-word events and live music.

Mill Street Brewery (Map; 416-681-0338; Distillery District, 55 Mill St, bldg 63; streetcar 503, 504) With eight specialty beers brewed on-site (and what a site the Distillery District is!) these guys are a leading light in local microbrewing. An arty crowd of locals and tourists quaffs swirling pints of wheat beer, seasonal fruit beers, Cobblestone Stout and the famous Coffee Porter. On a sunny afternoon, their courtyard is the place to be.

Village Idiot (Map; 416-597-1175; 126 McCaul St; streetcar 505) The Idiot is a cherry-red, black and brass boozer on the southern fringe of Baldwin Village. Management aims for an Olde English interior, but (thankfully) comes up a bit short, the irrepressible student crowd helping to keep things local. Belgian beers on tap, great pub food and afternoon rays streaming in.

Madison Avenue Pub (Map; 416-927-1722; 14-18 Madison Ave; subway Spadina) Consuming three Victorian houses in The Annex, the Madison is positively elephantine. A 25-to-35 crowd is lured through the doors – billiards, darts, a sports bar, polished brass, antique-looking lamps lighting the curtained upper floors at night, five patios and plenty of hot babes. Strictly no rollerblades; hot babes on rollerblades OK.


Return to beginning of chapter

ENTERTAINMENT

There’s no dearth of entertainment to be had in Toronto. In fact, it’s a very entertaining place! Whether you’re craving a jazzy quartet, an indie film, some offbeat theater or a punk-rock gig, you’ll have no trouble finding it here. Toronto’s incendiary club scene is thriving, as is gay and lesbian nightlife. There are free outdoor festivals and concerts going on nearly every weekend, especially in summer (Click here). In a spirit of goodwill and artistic openheartedness, many Toronto events adopt a вЂ˜Pay What You Can’ (PWYC) policy. In essence, this means they’re free, but artists still appreciate your pocket change.

To stay attuned to club, alt-culture and live-music options, scan the city’s free street press: Now, Xtra! and Eye Weekly. The daily newspapers also provide weekly entertainment listings. Glossy Toronto Life magazine publishes a monthly вЂ˜What’s On’ guide.

Ticketmaster (416-870-8000; www.ticketmaster.ca) sells tickets for major concerts, sports games, theater and performing arts events. Buy tickets online or at various city outlets, including the Rogers Centre and Hummingbird Centre for Performing Arts. TO Tix (Map; 416-536-6468 ext 40; www.totix.ca; Dundas Sq, 1 Dundas St E; noon-6:30pm Tue-Sat; subway Dundas) sells half-price and discount same-day вЂ˜rush’ tickets.



* * *



TOP FIVE COFFEE SHOPS

Too early for beer? Sidestep the awful coffee chains for some real caffeine:





B Espresso Bar (Map; 416-866-2111; 111 Queen St E; 7:30am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat; streetcar 501) East Toronto.

Jet Fuel (Map; 416-968-9982; 519 Parliament St; 7am-8pm; streetcar 506) Cabbagetown.

Kalendar (Map; 416-923-4138; 546 College St; 11:30am-10pm Mon-Wed, to 11pm Thu, to midnight Fri, 10:30am-midnight Sat, 10:30am-10pm Sun; streetcar 506) Little Italy.

Moonbean Coffee Company (Map; 416-595-0327; 30 St Andrews St; 7am-9pm; streetcar 510) Kensington Market.

Remarkable Bean (Map; 416-690-2420; 2242 Queen St E; 7am-10pm; streetcar 501) The Beaches.





* * *



Cinema

Perhaps more than any other pastime, Torontonians cherish going to the movies (something to do with the weather?). Tickets cost around $14 for adults. Tuesday is discount day – expect to pay around $8.

Cinematheque Ontario (Map; 416-968-3456; www.cinemathequeontario.ca; box office Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor St W; box office 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, closed late Aug & Sep; subway Bloor-Yonge) Popular Cinematheque Ontario screens world cinema, independent films and retrospectives of famous directors. About 400 films are shown annually at Jackman Hall at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Nonmembers can purchase tickets at the Manulife Centre box office 30 minutes before the day’s first screening.

Bloor Cinema (Map; 416-516-2330; www.bloorcinema.com; 506 Bloor St W; noon-midnight; subway Bathurst) This art-deco theatre with a two-tiered balcony screens a wonderfully varied schedule of new releases, art-house flicks, shorts, documentaries and vintage films. Buy an annual membership card ($3) and pay just $4 per movie.

Alliance Atlantis Cumberland 4 (www.allianceatlantiscinemas.com) Bloor-Yorkville (Map; 416-646-0444; 159 Cumberland St; noon-midnight; subway Bay) The Beaches (Map; 416-646-0444; 1651 Queen St E; noon-midnight; streetcar 501) The pint-sized Cumberland 4 multiplex screens a mix of independent films and hand-picked, left-of-centre Hollywood releases. There is a slightly more mainstream branch at The Beaches.

Cineplex Odeon Varsity (Map; 416-961-6303; www.cineplex.com; Manulife Centre, 55 Bloor St W; noon-midnight; subway Bloor-Yonge) Screening a range of movies, from Hollywood blockbusters to small-budget indie releases, this state-of-the-art multiplex has VIP theaters and smaller screens.

Cineplex Odeon Carlton (Map; 416-598-2309; 18-20 Carlton St; 12:45pm-midnight; subway College) Cineplex’s downtown branch attracts a diverse crowd for major independent films and some truly bizarre offerings.

Famous Players Paramount (Map; 416-368-5600, IMAX 416-368-6089; www.famousplayers.com; 259 Richmond St W; noon-midnight; subway Osgoode) This gargantuan multiplex features new releases and the latest in IMAX technology, including 3-D. It’s always screening a dozen movies or more, with some offbeat picks found among bigger mainstream releases. Think twice about tackling the improbably long escalators after a few beers at the bar.

Docks Drive-In Theatre (Map; 416-461-3625; www.thedocks.com; 11 Polson St; from 8:30pm Fri-Sun Apr-Oct) A drive-in in downtown Toronto? Cool! Double bills of first-run blockbusters start around dusk at this lakeside yard; the usual fast-food suspects are on hand.

Live Music

Dust off your Iggy Pop T-shirt, don your Eddie Vedder Doc Martens and get rockin’. Alt-rock, metal, ska, punk and funk – Toronto has it all. Bebop, smoky swamp blues and acoustic balladry provide an alternative. Expect to pay anywhere from nothing to a few dollars on weeknights; up to $20 for weekend acts. Megatours play the Rogers Centre, the Air Canada Centre and the Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place.

Independent concert halls include:



Koolhaus (Map; 132 Queens Quay E; bus 6, 75) Inside Guvernment.

Opera House (Map; 416-466-0313; www.theoperahousetoronto.com; 735 Queen St E; streetcar 501, 502, 503)

Phoenix (Map; 416-323-1251; www.libertygroup.com; 410 Sherbourne St; streetcar 506)



ROCK, JAZZ & BLUES

Cameron House (Map; 416-703-0811; www.thecameron.com; 408 Queen St W; shows free-$5; 4pm-2am Mon-Fri, 3pm-2am Sat & Sun; streetcar 501, 510) Singer-songwriters, soul, jazz and country performers grace the stage; artists, musos, dreamers and slackers crowd both front and back rooms. Sunday evening’s Mad Bastard Cabaret (вЂ˜accordion singing about love, lust and Spain’) is unmissable.

Horseshoe Tavern (Map; 416-598-4753; www.horseshoetavern.com; 370 Queen St W; shows free-$20; bar noon-2:30am, music room 9pm-2am; streetcar 501, 510) Well past its 50th birthday, the legendary Horseshoe still plays a crucial role in the development of local indie rock. Not so local, The Police played here on their first North American tour – Sting did an encore in his underwear. Tuesday night is usually free.

Top O’ The Senator (Map; 416-364-7517; www.thesenator.com/top_o.html; 249 Victoria St; admission $7-10; 8:30pm-1am Tue-Sat, 8pm-1am Sun; subway Dundas) The sassy jazz standards drifting from the Senator’s stage, just east o’ the Eaton Centre, are seductive and hypnotic. Serious hepcats like Branford Marsalis play here when they’re in town.

Rivoli (Map; 416-596-1980; www.rivoli.ca; 334 Queen St W; shows $5-10; 7pm-2am; streetcar 501) The everlovin’ Rivoli offers a lot: nightly live music (rock, indie and solo singer-songwriters), weekly stand-up comedy and monthly hip-hop nights. CD launches, art shows and Saturday-night DJs complete a very renaissance picture. There’s also a pool hall, and the food is fabulous!

Rex (Map; 416-598-2475; www.therex.ca; 194 Queen St W; shows free-$7; 6:30pm-12:30am Mon-Thu, to 1:30am Fri, noon-1:30am Sat, noon-12:30am Sun; streetcar 501) Make a bebop beeline for the Rex, which has risen from its pugilistic, blue-collared past to become an outstanding jazz and blues venue. Over a dozen different Dixieland, experimental and other local and international acts knock over the joint each week. Cheap drinks; affordable cover.

Lee’s Palace (Map; 416-532-1598; www.leespalace.com; 529 Bloor St W; shows $10-15; 8pm-12:30am Sun-Thu, 9pm-2am Fri & Sat; subway Bathurst) Legendary Lee’s Palace has set the stage over the years for Dinosaur Jr, Smashing Pumpkins and Queens of the Stone Age. Kurt Cobain started an infamous bottle-throwing incident when Nirvana played here in 1990. An ear-throbbing alt-rock venue.

Dominion on Queen (Map; 416-368-6893; www.dominiononqueen.com; 500 Queen St E; shows free-$10; 11am-1am Mon-Sat, to 11pm Sun; streetcar 501, 502, 503) This jazzy pub has been around a while, earning a rep for sassy vocalists, trios, and sextets through to full-blown swing bands. Music starts nightly around 9pm. Beers have a crafty edge, and there’s plenty of vin rouge to soothe your big-city heartbreak.

Healey’s (Map; 416-703-5882; www.jeffhealeys.com; 178 Bathurst St; shows free-$10; 8pm-2am Tue-Sat; streetcar 501) The 300-capacity Healey’s has an idiosyncratic lineup of rock, blues, soul and roots. Swing by when owner Jeff Healey, a Canadian music icon, audiophile and radio DJ, gets up on the stage with his house band. Tuesday open-jam nights and Saturday muso matinees are free.

Sneaky Dee’s (Map; 416-603-3090; www.sneaky-dees.com; 431 College St; shows free-$10; 11am-3am Mon & Tue, to 4am Wed-Fri, 9am-4:30am Sat, 9am-3:30am Sun; streetcar 506, 511) Spangled with graffiti on the prominent Bathurst/College St corner, Sneaky Dee’s isn’t so sneaky-looking. The downstairs bar has battered booths with skeletons painted on them; upstairs is a darkened breeding ground for new T.O. rock talent.

CLASSICAL & OPERA

Canadian Opera Company (Map; 416-363-8231; www.coc.ca; Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St W; tickets $20-275; box office 11am-7pm Mon-Sat, 11am-3pm Sun; subway Osgoode) Canada’s national opera company has been warbling its pipes for over 50 years. Tickets sell out fast; free concerts are at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre (in the Four Seasons Centre) year-round, usually Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon.

Glenn Gould Studio (Map; 416-205-5555; www.glenngouldstudio.cbc.ca; Canadian Broadcasting Centre, 250 Front St W; tickets $15-40; box office 2-6:30pm Mon-Fri, 2-8pm Sat; subway Union, streetcar 504) Free noontime concerts are given in the Glenn Gould Studio (named after the famous pianist). Purchase advance tickets for evening concerts of classical and contemporary music by soloists, chamber groups, choirs and sinfonia between September and June. Young international artists are often featured.

Harbourfront Centre (Map; 416-973-4000; www.harbourfrontcentre.com; York Quay Centre, 235 Queens Quay W; tickets $10-40; box office 1-6pm Tue-Sat; streetcar 509, 510) The vibrant Harbourfront Centre puts on a variety of world-class musical performances throughout the year, including Sunday family shows and free outdoor summer concerts in the Toronto Music Garden and on the Concert Stage.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO; Map; 416-593-4828; www.tso.ca; Roy Thompson Hall, 60 Simcoe St; tickets $30-120; box office 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, noon-5pm Sat; subway St Andrew) A range of classics, Cole Porter–era pops and new music from around the world are presented by the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall, Massey Hall and the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Consult their website for the answers to such questions as вЂ˜What if I need to cough?’ and вЂ˜Should I clap yet?’

Other major classical and opera venues include:



Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (Map; 416-363-6671; www.fourseasonscentre.ca; 145 Queen St W; box office 11am-7pm Mon-Sat, 11am-3pm Sun; subway Osgoode)

Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts (Map; 416-393-7469; www.hummingbirdcentre.com; 1 Front St E; box office 10am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm Sat; subway Union)

Massey Hall (Map; 416-872-4255; www.masseyhall.com; 178 Victoria St; box office from noon on show days; subway Queen)

Roy Thomson Hall (Map; 416-872-4255; www.roythomson.com; 60 Simcoe St; box office 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, noon-5pm Sat, 2hr pre-show Sun; subway St Andrew)

Toronto Centre for the Arts (416-733-9388; www.tocentre.com; 5040 Yonge St; tickets from $10; box office 11am-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun; subway North York Centre)



Theater

Toronto is a playground for first-rate mainstream theater, centered around the Theatre Block and Dundas Sq. Upstart companies favor smaller venues around Harbourfront and in the Distillery District. Check www.onstagetoronto.ca or newspapers for current listings. Tickets for major productions are sold through TicketKing (416-872-1212, 800-461-3333; www.ticketking.com). For half-price tickets, go to TO Tix (Map; 416-536-6468 ext 40; www.totix.ca; Dundas Sq, 1 Dundas St E; noon-6:30pm pm Tue-Sat; subway Dundas) or inquire about вЂ˜rush’ tickets at box offices.

CanStage (Canadian Stage Company; Map; 416-368-3110; www.canstage.com; 26 Berkeley St; tickets $20-95; box office 10am-6pm Mon-Sat; streetcar 503, 504) Contemporary CanStage produces top-rated Canadian and international plays by the likes of David Mamet and Tony Kushner.

Canstage plays are staged at its own 260-seat theater and the larger St Lawrence Centre for the Arts (Map; 416-366-7723; www.stlc.com; 27 Front St E; box office 10am-6pm Mon-Sat; subway Union). CanStage also runs Dream in High Park (Map; 416-367-1652 ext 500; High Park, 1873 Bloor St W; adult/child $15/free; 8pm Tue-Sun Jul-Sep; subway High Park), wonderful mid-summer productions of Shakespeare under the stars in High Park. Show up early and bring a blanket.

Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre (Map; 416-872-5555; www.mirvish.com; 189 Yonge St, Dundas Sq; tickets $25-100; box office 11am-5pm Tue-Sat; subway Queen) The restored double-decker Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre stages high-profile productions.

Canon Theatre (Map; 416-872-1212, 800-461-3333; 244 Victoria St; tickets $25-120; box office 10:30am-6pm Mon, to 8pm Tue-Sat, 11am-3pm Sun; subway Dundas) Nearby, the Canon, a 1920s-era Pantages vaudeville hall, is a hot ticket for musical extravaganzas like Wicked and We Will Rock You.

Royal Alexandra Theatre (Map; 416-872-1212, 800-461-3333; www.mirvish.com; 260 King St W; tickets $25-100; box office 10:30am-6:30pm Mon, to 8:30pm Tue-Sat, 11am-3pm Sun; streetcar 504) Commonly known as the вЂ˜Royal Alex,’ this is one of the most impressive theaters in the city. Expect renditions of plays like Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending and splashy Broadway musicals. Working in tandem with the Alex (and booked via the same avenues) is the lavish Princess of Wales Theatre (Map; 300 King St W) down the street.

Young Centre For Performing Arts (Map; 416-866-8666; www.youngcentre.com; Distillery District, 55 Mill St, bldg 49; tickets $15-45; box office Tue-Sat 1-8pm; streetcar 503, 504) The $14-million Young Centre houses four separate performance spaces, utilized by theatrical tenants including Soul Pepper (www.soulpepper.ca), Moonhorse Dance Theatre (www.danceumbrella.net/clients_moonhorse.htm) and George Brown Theatre Co (www.georgebrown.ca/theatre). There’s an on-site bookshop and bar too.

Factory Theatre (Map; 416-504-9971; www.factorytheatre.ca; 125 Bathurst St; tickets $23-35, previews $12; box office 1-7pm Tue-Sat, shows 7pm Tue-Sat & 1:30pm Sun; streetcar 511) This innovative theater company – вЂ˜Home of the Canadian Playwright’ – has been busy for 35 years. The independent SummerWorks Theatre Festival (416-410-1048; www.summerworks.ca) stages plays at the Factory Theatre too, as do performers from the Toronto Fringe Festival. Sunday matinees are вЂ˜Pay What You Can.’

Gay & Lesbian Nightlife

Most of the following venues are in the Church-Wellesley Village.

Woody’s/Sailor (Map; 416-972-0887; www.woodystoronto.com; 465-7 Church St; admission free-$10; 4pm-2am; subway Wellesley) On a busy night, red-hot Woody’s sells more beer than any other bar in the country. The city’s most popular gay bar complex has a glad-bag of tricks, from drag shows, вЂ˜best ass’ contests, leather sessions, billiards tables and nightly DJs. Sailor is a slick bar off to one side.

Slack’s (Map; 416-928-2151; 562 Church St; admission free; subway Wellesley) Bridging the divide between gays, lesbians, urban cowboys and straights all searching for a little glitz, quasi-retro Slack’s opens its backlit bar to all-comers. Events include comedy, karaoke, drag shows, live music and art installations. The food’s great too.

Fly (Map; 416-410-5426; www.flynightclub.com; 8 Gloucester St; admission $10-25; 10pm-4am Fri & Sat; subway Wellesley) Off Yonge St, gay-focused Fly is a shirts-off muscle fest, with state-of-the-art sound and light and US and international DJs spinning hard-house, tribal and trance.

Black Eagle (Map; 416-413-1219; 457 Church St; admission free; subway Wellesley) A charred-out, lawless tomb, Black Eagle lures leather-men, uniform fetishists and denim boys. Hard-core gay porn plays on big screens; the art on the walls is well hung in all senses of the expression. Check your clothes at the door for gritty theme nights (not for the mild-mannered).

Crews/Tango/Zone (Map; 416-972-1662; 508 Church St; admission free-$5; 4pm-2am Thu-Sun; subway Wellesley) This three-pronged joint sees women cranking up the heat at Tango, next door to the men’s bar Crews (nice pun!) and the cabaret-style Zone. Show up for karaoke nights, drag queen/king shows and DJs spinning their stuff.

See also El Convento Rico (below).

Clubbing

Toronto’s вЂ˜Clubland’ convenes around Richmond St W and Adelaide St W at John St, where dozens of nightclubs come to life after dark. Nondescript doorways creak open, thick-necked bouncers cordon off sidewalks and queues of scantily clad girls start to form. Hip-hop guys drive hotted-up cars past the girls, hissing come-ons from wound-down windows. The air hangs heavy with clearly defined gender roles and anticipation… Later in the night, things get messy: drunk girls stagger and wipe vomit from their hair, guys swing apocalyptic fists, hot-dog cart owners struggle to maintain order amongst the condiments. It’s quite a scene!

Other club zones include Little Italy, Church-Wellesley Village and Queen West. Cover charges range from $5 to $15. Most clubs open around 9pm or 10pm (some don’t really get going until later) and close around 4am.

Republik (Map; 416-598-1632; www.republiknightclub.com; 261 Richmond St W; admission $5-15; 10pm-4am Wed-Sat; streetcar 501, 505) Resident DJs spin old-skool, drum вЂ˜n’ bass, alt-rock and hip-hop at this massive club, divided into three rooms: the main club, the Vision Room and Toronto’s largest smoking room (wheeze…). Friday’s alternative nights are more rockin’, less pill-poppin’.

Mod Club (Map; 416-588-4663; www.themodclub.com; 722 College St; admission $5-25; 9pm-3am Wed-Sun; streetcar 506) Celebrating all things UK Mod, this excellent Little Italy club plays electronic, indie and Brit-pop, with occasional live acts like Paul Weller, The Killers and Muse taking the stage. Up-to-the-nanosecond lighting gives way to candlelit chill-out rooms.

Tonic (Map; 416-204-9200; www.tonicnightclub.com; 117 Peter St; admission free-$12; 10pm-3am Wed-Sat; streetcar 510) Clubland’s Tonic bills itself as вЂ˜neutral’ and вЂ˜abstract,’ but the grape-like disco balls above the entry lobby suggest otherwise. вЂ˜Uni Night’ on Thursdays draws a slightly more literate crowd than вЂ˜Fashion Fridays,’ which see a steep decline in the skin-to-clothing ratio.

Guvernment (Map; 416-869-0045; www.theguvernment.com; 132 Queens Quay E; admission $10-15; 10pm-4am Thu-Sat; bus 6, 75) For diversity, nothing beats the gargantuan Guv. Although critics say it’s too mainstream, DJs play hip-hop, R&B, progressive house and tribal music to satisfy all appetites. Rooftop skyline views are as impressive as the Arabian fantasy lounge and art-deco bar. Koolhaus is their midsize live venue.

Other suggestions:



El Convento Rico (Map; 416-588-7800; 750 College St; admission free-$8; 9pm-4am Fri & Sat; streetcar 506) Gender-bending Latino dance palace.

Fly (Map; 416-410-5426; www.flynightclub.com; 8 Gloucester St; admission $10-25; 10pm-4am Fri & Sat; subway Wellesley) See opposite.

Hooch (Map; 416-703-5069; www.gypsyco-op.com; 815 Queen St W; 9pm-2am irregularly; streetcar 501) Upstairs from Gypsy Co-op Click here; soul, jazz, house, swing and drum вЂ˜n’ bass, often with no cover.

Matador (Map; 416-533-9311; 466 Dovercourt Rd, west of Ossington Ave; 2am-5:30am Fri & Sat; streetcar 506) Click here.



Sports

Torontonians weep with joy at the very mention of sport. There’s professional baseball and football through the summer; ice hockey, basketball and lacrosse through the winter. Ticketmaster (416-872-5000; www.ticketmaster.ca) sells advance tickets, as do the box offices at the Air Canada Centre and Rogers Centre. Ticket scalping is illegal, but that doesn’t seem to stop anybody.

Toronto’s Major League Baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays (416-341-1000; www.bluejays.com; tickets from $9; regular season Apr-Sep), plays at the Rogers Centre. Buy tickets through Ticketmaster or at the Rogers Centre box office near Gate 9. The cheapest seats are way up above the field. Instead, try for seats along the lower level baselines (from $32) where you have a better chance of catching a fly-ball (or wearing one in the side of the head). The Jays haven’t won the World Series since 1993, but who knows, this could be their year.

The Toronto Argonauts (416-341-2700; www.argonauts.on.ca; tickets from $20; regular season Jun-Oct) crack their Canadian Football League (CFL) helmets at the Rogers Centre. They haven’t won the Grey Cup since 2004, but the Argos have brought home more championships than any other team (15, two ahead of Edmonton). Bring a jacket – the open-roof Rogers Centre cools off at night. Tickets through Ticketmaster or the Rogers Centre.

The 13-time Stanley Cup–winning Toronto Maple Leafs (416-815-5500; www.mapleleafs.com; tickets from $24; regular season Oct-Apr) slap the puck around the Air Canada Centre (ACC; Map; 416-815-5982; www.theaircanadacentre.com; 40 Bay St; subway Union) in the National Hockey League (NHL). Every game sells out, but a limited number of same-day tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster at 10am and at the Air Canada Centre ticket window from 5pm. You can also buy tickets via the website from season ticket–holders who aren’t attending – expect to pay around $80 and up.

During hockey season, the Toronto Raptors (416-815-5500; www.nba.com/raptors; tickets from $12.50; regular season Oct-Apr) of the National Basketball Association (NBA) also play at the ACC. The вЂ˜Raps’ have been around since 1995, but haven’t yet caused much of a flap. Tickets through Ticketmaster or the ACC.

Lacrosse may not immediately spring to mind when someone mentions Canadian sports, but the 13-team National Lacrosse League (www.nll.com) has been building momentum for two decades. Toronto’s team, the Toronto Rock (416-596-3075; www.torontorock.com; tickets from $23; regular season Jan-Apr), is red hot, having won the championship five times since 1999. Games at the Air Canada Centre; tickets through Ticketmaster.


Return to beginning of chapter

SHOPPING

Shopping in Toronto is more of a hobby than a necessity. Shops dot every part of the city, but you’ll find concentrations of stores in monstrous malls like the Eaton Centre (Map; 416-598-8560; 220 Yonge St; 10am-9pm Mon-Fri, 9:30am-7pm Sat, noon-6pm Sun; subway Queen, Dundas) or neighborhoods like Kensington Market, where young bohemians buy their rasta-retro threads. On the same side of town, eclectic Queen West and West Queen West have the lion’s share of music and vintage shops.

The Annex features specialized bookstores, secondhand music shops and a hodgepodge of artistic vendors, especially along Harbord St and on Markham St (aka Mirvish Village). Chichi Bloor-Yorkville is the city center’s most exclusive shopping district. This day-spa mecca was once вЂ˜Free Love’ central for hippies during the 1960s. Nothing is free here nowadays, and don’t expect much love from the haughty sales clerks.

Downtown, the underground PATH Click here shops are literally bargain basements for discount clothing, everyday goods and services. Canadian and international design shops line King St W between Jarvis and Parliament Sts, an area known as the Design Strip. Also near downtown, the burgeoning Distillery District is a major draw, with design shops, art galleries and craft studios. The Yonge St Strip and Church-Wellesley Village house a mishmash of music, gay-friendly and random specialized shops.

Typical retail shopping hours are 10am until 6pm Monday to Saturday, noon to 5pm Sunday. But this varies depending on the season, the neighborhood and the amount of foot traffic.

Aboriginal Art & Canadian Crafts

Arctic Nunavut (Map; 416-203-7889, 800-509-9151; www.ndcorp.nu.ca; ground fl, Queen’s Quay Terminal, 207 Queens Quay W; 10am-6pm; streetcar 509, 510) Carved Inukshuk figurines, Taloyoak dolls, Inuit handicrafts and Arctic-related books, music and DVDs are all sold here. Proceeds go toward the Nunavut Development Corporation, supporting artisans from Canada’s Aboriginal-run territory.

Bay of Spirits Gallery (Map; 416-971-5190; www.bayofspirits.com; 156 Front St W; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun; subway Union) The works of Norval Morrisseau – the first native artist to have a solo exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada – are proudly on display in this atmospheric space, which carries native art from across Canada. Look for the Pacific West Coast totem polls (from miniature to over 4m tall), Inuit carvings and Inukshuk figurines.

Guild Shop (Map; 416-921-1721; www.craft.on.ca; 118 Cumberland St; 10am-6pm Mon-Wed, to 7pm Thu, to 6pm Fri & Sat, noon-5pm Sun; subway Bay) The Ontario Crafts Council has been promoting artisans for over 70 years. Ceramics, jewelry, glassworks, prints and carvings make up most of the displays, but you could also catch a special exhibition of Pangnirtung weaving or Cape Dorset graphics. Staff are knowledgeable about First Nations art.

Arts on Queen (Map; 416-699-6127; 2198 Queen St E; 11am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-7pm Sat, 11am-7pm Sun; streetcar 501) It’ll be hard to leave this cruisy store and gallery empty-handed. One-of-a-kind pottery, glassworks, photography and modern, fun art pieces are mostly made by Ontario-based artists, many of whom live in The Beaches.

Fashion

John Fluevog (Map; 416-581-1420; www.fluevog.com; 242 Queen St W; 11am-7pm Mon-Wed, to 8pm Thu & Fri, to 7pm Sat, noon-6pm Sun; streetcar 501) Legendary Vancouver-based designer John Fluevog has always marched to the beat of his own drum, and this local favorite now carries bags and a line of hemp Veggie Vogs in addition to the famed granny platform boots and classic footwear. Re-heeling and re-soling is also done at this shop, which was once a diner – check out some of the original fittings.

Courage My Love (Map; 416-979-1992; 14 Kensington Ave; 11:30am-6pm Mon-Fri, 11am-6pm Sat, 1:30-5pm Sun; streetcar 505, 510) Vintage clothing stores have been around Kensington Market for decades, but Courage My Love amazes fashion mavens with its secondhand slip dresses, retro pants and white dress-shirts in a cornucopia of styles. The beads, buttons, leather goods and silver jewelry are handpicked.

Annie Thompson Studio (Map; 416-703-3843; 674 Queen St W; 11am-6pm Tue-Sat, 1-5pm Sun; streetcar 501) The motto of internationally famous designer Annie Thompson, вЂ˜Personality is a terrible thing to waste,’ flows into the artistic and unique designs of her clothing, handbags and backpacks in this Queen West staple. Canadian-designed jewelry is available here too.

Girl Friday (Map; 416-364-2511; 740 Queen St W; noon-7pm Mon-Fri, 11am-7pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun; streetcar 501) Proof that office clothes don’t need to be boring lives in this small but delightful boutique, where pretty yet edgy pieces are trendy yet stylish enough to last. Formal dresses and jeans are up for grabs too.


Return to beginning of chapter

GETTING THERE & AWAY

Air

Most Canadian airlines and international carriers arrive at Canada’s busiest airport, Lester B Pearson International Airport (YYZ; Map; 866-207-1690, Terminals 1 & 2 416-247-7678, Terminal 3 416-776-5100; www.gtaa.com), 27km northwest of downtown Toronto. Terminal assignments are subject to change; call ahead or check airport entrance signs.

Air Canada and WestJet compete heavily and match fares between Toronto and Ottawa (from $69), MontrГ©al (from $69), Calgary (from $159), Edmonton (from $159), Vancouver (from $179) and Victoria (from $224).

On the Toronto Islands, small Toronto City Centre Airport (TCCA; Map; 416-203-6942; www.torontoport.com/airport.asp) is home to regional airlines, helicopter companies and private flyers. Air Canada Jazz flights from Ottawa land at TCCA rather than Pearson.

Bus

Long-distance buses operate from the Metro Toronto Coach Terminal (Map; 416-393-7911; www.greyhound.ca; 610 Bay St; 5:30am-midnight; subway Dundas), which has a Travellers’ Aid Society (416-596-8647; www.travellersaid.com; 9:30am-5:30pm) help desk. When making reservations, always ask for a direct or express bus. Advance tickets are cheaper but don’t guarantee a seat.

Greyhound Canada (800-661-8747; www.greyhound.ca) has the following routes from Toronto:



Coach Canada (800-461-7661; www.coachcanada.com) offers similar routes (mostly) and prices.

Union Station downtown serves as the bus and train depot for GO Transit (416-869-3200, 888-438-6646; www.gotransit.com), a government line that services nearby towns. It’s mainly used by commuters, but does go a relatively long way west of Toronto (to Hamilton, for example).

Car & Motorcycle

Toronto is served by expressways from all directions. Expect congestion. Along the lake, the Gardiner Expwy runs west into Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) to Niagara Falls. At the city’s western border is Hwy 427, running north to the airport. The tolled (and often bumper-to-bumper) Hwy 401 runs east–west above the downtown area: east to Montréal, west to Windsor. On the eastern side of the city, the Don Valley Pkwy connects Hwy 401 to the Gardiner Expwy. Hwy 400 and Hwy 404 run north from Toronto.

International car-rental agencies have desks at Pearson airport, as well as city offices. Smaller independent agencies offer lower rates, but may have fewer (and older) cars. New Frontier Rent-A-Car (Map; 416-675-2000, 800-567-2837; www.newfrontiercar.com; 5875 Airport Rd, Mississauga) and Wheels 4 Rent (Map; 416-585-7782; www.wheels4rent.ca; 77 Nassau St; streetcar 510) rent compact cars from around $35 per day excluding taxes. Zipcar (Map; 416-977-9008; www.zipcar.com; 147 Spadina Ave, Ste 205; streetcar 501, 510) offers eco-aware city car-sharing.

For long-distance trips, try Auto Drive-Away Co (416-225-7754, 800-561-2658; www.torontodriveaway.com; 5803 Yonge St; bus 97), which has cars for Canadian and US destinations. Also check the newspaper classified ads in either the Toronto Sun or the Toronto Star and the travel ads in Now.

Train

Grand Union Station (Map; 416-869-300; www.viarail.com; 140 Bay St) downtown is Toronto’s main rail hub, with currency exchange booths and two Travellers’ Aid Society (416-366-7788; www.travellersaid.com; 9:30am-9:30pm) help desks. VIA Rail services ply the heavily trafficked Québec City–Windsor corridor and beyond. Daily departures include:



Ontario Northland (416-314-3750; www.ontarionorthland.ca) runs the Northlander train to northern Ontario, visiting Huntsville, North Bay and Temagami, and the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee. For the latter, take the Northlander to Cochrane ($131, 11 hours, once daily except Saturday) and make connections there.

Amtrak trains link Toronto’s Union Station with Buffalo ($52, four hours, one daily), Chicago ($130, 15 hours, one daily) and New York City ($125, 14 hours, one daily).

GO Transit trains and buses (left) also use the station.


Return to beginning of chapter

GETTING AROUND

To/From the Airport

Airport Express (905-564-3232, 800-387-6787; www.torontoairportexpress.com) operates an express bus connecting Pearson International with the Metro Toronto Coach Terminal (Map; 416-393-7911; www.greyhound.ca; 610 Bay St; 5:30am-midnight; subway Dundas) and major downtown hotels. Buses depart every 20 to 30 minutes from 5am to 1am. Allow 1ВЅ hours to get to/from the airport. A one-way/round-trip ticket costs $17/30 (cash, credit card or US dollars). Students and seniors receive $2 off one-way fares; kids under 11 travel free. Buses leave Terminals 1/2/3 from curbside locations B3/17/25.

If you’re not buried under luggage, the cheapest way to Pearson is via the TTC (right). From the airport, the 192 Airport Rocket bus departs Terminals 1, 2 and 3 every 20 minutes from 5:30am to 2am. It’s a 20-minute ride to Kipling Station ($2.75, exact change only), where you transfer free onto the Bloor-Danforth subway line using your bus ticket. Allow an hour for the full trip. The 300A Bloor-Danforth night bus runs every 15 minutes from 2am to 5am ($2.75, exact change only). The 300A departs the same locations as the 192; it’s 45 minutes from Pearson to Yonge and Bloor.

A taxi from Pearson into the city takes around 45 minutes, depending on traffic. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) regulates fares by drop-off zone ($46 to downtown Toronto). A metered taxi from central Toronto to Pearson costs around $50. If you’re driving yourself to/from the airport, avoid Hwy 401 and take the Gardiner Expwy west from Spadina Ave, then head north on Hwy 427. Parking at the Terminal 1, 2 and 3 garages costs $3 per half-hour, $24 per day. Long-term parking at off-site lots costs around $13 per day or $50 per week.

Boat

From April to September, Toronto Islands Ferries (Map; 416-392-8193; www.city.toronto.on.ca/parks/island/ferry.htm; adult/concession/child $6/3.50/2.50) runs every 15 to 30 minutes from 8am to 11pm. The journey (to either Ward’s Island or Hanlan’s Point) only takes 15 minutes, but queues can be long on weekends and holidays – show up early. From October to March, ferry services are slashed (roughly hourly), only servicing Ward’s Island, plus a couple per day to Hanlan’s Point. The Toronto Islands Ferry Terminal is at the foot of Bay St, off Queens Quay.

Bicycle

Click here for bicycle-rental operators.

Car & Motorcycle

Parking in Toronto is expensive – usually $3 to $4 per half-hour, with an average daily maximum of $12 or more (or a flat rate of around $6 after 6pm). Cheapest are the municipal lots run by the Toronto Parking Authority (416-393-7275; www.greenp.com) – look for the green signs. They cost the same as metered street parking – usually $3 per hour. Some metered spaces have a central payment kiosk – purchase your time then display the receipt on your dashboard. It’s illegal to park next to a broken meter; residential streets have severely restricted on-street parking.

Traffic is horrendous around the edges of town, and construction never ends – always allow extra time. Vehicles must stop for streetcars, behind the rear doors, while the streetcar is collecting or ejecting passengers. Drivers must also stop for pedestrians at crosswalks when crossing signals are flashing.

Hwy 407, running east–west from Markham to Mississauga for about 40km just north of the city, is an electronic toll road. Cameras record your license plate and the time and distance traveled. If you don’t have a prepaid gizmo on your car, expect a bill in the mail (Canada, US or Zanzibar, they’ll find you).

Public Transportation

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC; 416-393-4636; www.toronto.ca/ttc) operates Toronto’s efficient subway, streetcar and bus system. The regular fare is adult/concession/child $2.75/1.85/0.70 (cash), or 10 tickets (or tokens) for $21. Day passes ($8.50) and weekly Metropasses ($30) are also available. Tickets or tokens are available in the subway and at some convenience stores. You can transfer to any other TTC bus, subway or streetcar for free using your paper streetcar/bus ticket or transfer ticket from automated dispensers near subway exits. Exact change is required for streetcars and buses; subway attendants are more forgiving.

Subway lines operate from approximately 6am (9am on Sunday) until 1:30am daily, with trains every five minutes. The main lines are the crosstown Bloor-Danforth line, and the U-shaped Yonge-University-Spadina line which bends through Union Station. Stations have Designated Waiting Areas (DWAs) monitored by security cameras and equipped with a bench, pay phone and intercom link to the station manager.

Streetcars are slower than the subway, but they stop every block or two. Streetcars operate from 5am until 1:30am on weekdays with reduced weekend services. The main east–west routes are along St Clair Ave (512), College St (506), Dundas St (505), Queen St (501 and 502), and King St (503 and 504). North–south streetcars grind along Bathurst St (511) and Spadina Ave (510). The 511 turns west at the lakefront toward the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) grounds; the 510 turns east toward Union Station. The 509 Harbourfront streetcar trundles west from Union Station along Lake Shore Blvd.

Visitors won’t find much use for TTC buses, which are slow and get held up in traffic. Women traveling alone between 9pm and 5am can request stops anywhere along regular bus routes; notify the driver in advance and exit via the front doors.

For more far-flung travel, the TTC system connects with GO Transit’s GO Bus (416-869-3200, 888-438-6646; www.gotransit.com) routes in surrounding suburbs like Richmond Hill, Brampton and Hamilton.

Taxi

Metered fares start at $3, plus $1.50 for each additional kilometer, depending on traffic. Taxi stands reside outside of hotels, museums, shopping malls and entertainment venues. Reliable companies include:



Crown Taxi (416-292-1212, 877-750-7878; www.crowntaxi.com)

Diamond Taxicab (416-366-6868; www.diamondtaxi.ca)

Royal Taxi (416-777-9222; www.royaltaxi.ca)




Return to beginning of chapter

AROUND TORONTO

Within 1½ hours’ drive of Toronto is a crop of small towns that were once functional farming communities. The land here is fertile, but working farms have given way to urban sprawl. Stifled city-slickers still make day trips around this district though, especially on Sundays, enjoying the rolling landscapes and walking and picnicking in conservation areas.

Northwest of Toronto, Caledon, in the Caledon Hills, is a large, accessible town. Not far southeast of here, Terra Cotta is one of the closest points to Toronto for access to the Bruce Trail, perfect for an afternoon’s walk. The Hockley Valley area, near Orangeville, offers more of the same. The Credit River has trout fishing, and in winter the area is not bad for cross-country skiing. Downhill daredevils won’t think much of the local hills, which are more like undulations.

McMichael Canadian Art Collection

If it weren’t for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection (905-893-1121, 888-213-1121; www.mcmichael.com; 10365 Islington Ave, Kleinburg; adult/concession/child/family $15/12/free/30; 10am-4pm Nov-Apr, 10am-5pm May-Oct; ), Kleinburg, a rather posh retreat just north of Toronto, might be worth a miss. This gallery’s handcrafted wooden buildings (which include painter Tom Thomson’s cabin, moved from its original location) are set amidst 100 acres of conservation trails. Works by Canada’s best-known landscape painters the Group of Seven, as well as First Nations, Inuit and other acclaimed Canadian artists are on display. Visit in the afternoon if you can, as school groups tend to overrun the gallery on weekday mornings.

To get here from Toronto (a 34km, 45-minute drive), take the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) west to Hwy 427, driving north past Hwy 401. Exit at Hwy 7, drive east (turn left) 6km, then turn north onto Hwy 27, then right onto Major Mackenzie Dr. At the next traffic light, turn left onto Islington Ave. Drive 1km north to the gallery gates, or park in Kleinburg then backtrack on foot to the gallery gates.

David Dunlap Observatory

Just north of the Toronto city limits, the David Dunlap Observatory (416-884-9562; www.astro.utoronto.ca/DDO; 123 Hillsview Dr, Richmond Hill; 50min tour adult/senior/child $6/4/4; 7:30pm Sat Jun-Oct, also 7:30pm Fri Jul-Aug; ) is a major player in the cut-throat world of international stargazing. The observatory presents introductory talks on modern astronomy, followed by interplanetary voyeurism through Canada’s biggest optical telescope (the reflector measures 1.9m). Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis (cash only). Call ahead to check weather conditions. No kids under seven years old.

From Toronto, drive 30 minutes up Bayview Ave past 16th Ave to Hillsview Dr, turn left onto Hillsview Dr and drive 1km west until you see the sinister white dome on your left. Alternatively take the TTC subway north to Finch station. Walk underground to a nearby transit terminal and catch the 91 Bayview bus operated by York Region Transit (905-762-2100, 866-668-3978; www.yorkregiontransit.com). This bus stops on request at Hillsview Dr, from where it’s a 1km walk to the observatory. The one-way trip costs $2.75, with a free transfer from the subway station.



* * *



THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

This gung-ho, all-male group of Canadian landscape painters first came together in the 1920s. Fired by an almost adolescent enthusiasm, they spent a lot of time rampaging through the wilds of northern Ontario, capturing the rugged Canadian wilderness through the seasons in all kinds of weather. The energy they felt joyfully expressed itself in vibrant, light-filled canvases of mountains, lakes, forests and provincial townships.



Painter Tom Thomson died before the group was officially formed, but the other members – which included Arthur Lismer, JEH MacDonald, Frank Johnston, Frederick Varley and Franklin Carmichael – considered him their leading light. An experienced outdoorsman, Thompson drowned in 1917 just as he was producing some of his most powerful work. His deep connection to the land is obvious in his works hanging at the Art Gallery of Ontario. His rustic cabin has been moved onto the grounds of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, which, along with Ottawa’s National Gallery, is the best place to view esteemed Group of Seven creations.





* * *



Local Conservation Areas

Southern Ontario is urban. To offset this somewhat, the government has designated many conservation areas – small nature parks for walking, picnicking and (sometimes) fishing, swimming and cross-country skiing. The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (416-661-6600; www.trca.on.ca) is responsible for the development and operation of these areas, most of which are difficult to reach without a vehicle.

For a quick summer escape, try Albion Hills Conservation Area (905-880-4855; Hwy 50, Albion; adult/child $6/5; 9am-dusk; ), a quiet, wooded area with walking trails and cross-country skiing in winter. It’s on the west side of Toronto; take Hwy 427 north from the airport, then Hwy 50 for about 20km to the park.

Also in this region, near Kleinburg, is the Kortright Centre for Conservation (905-832-2289; 9550 Pine Valley Dr, Woodbridge; adult/child $5/3 Sat & Sun, free Mon-Fri; 10am-4pm; ). There are trails here too, but it’s more of a museum, with displays and demonstrations on resources, wildlife and ecology.

West of Toronto near Milton is Crawford Lake Conservation Area (905-854-0234; Steeles Ave, at Guelph Line; adult/child $6/4; 10am-4pm May-Oct; ), one of the most interesting in the entire system. Deep, glacial Crawford Lake is set in the woods, surrounded by walking trails. Read up on its formation at the interpretive center. Crawford Lake is 5km south of Hwy 401, down a road called Guelph Line (Hwy 1). The Bruce Trail also runs through the park.

In the same general area is the Mountsberg Conservation Area (905-854-2276; Millburough Line, Mountsberg; adult/child $6/4; 10am-4pm; ). It’s 19km west of Milton; exit south off Hwy 401 at Guelph Line and head southwest from Campbellville. The site runs country-related educational programs, including a maple-syrup demonstration explaining the history, collection and production of this Canadian specialty. Kids can climb, scale and slide themselves silly in the Cameron Playbarn on-site.

Parkwood Estate

In Oshawa, 40km east of Toronto off Hwy 401, you’ll stumble across Parkwood Estate (905-433-4311; www.parkwoodestate.com; 270 Simcoe St N, Oshawa; adult/concession/child/family $7/6/4/16; 9am-4pm Tue-Sun Jun-Aug, 1:30-4:30pm Tue-Sun Sep-May; ). This is the former home of auto-baron RS McLaughlin, who once ran the Canadian division of General Motors. The property consists of a 55-room mansion with antique furnishings, set amid grand gardens. Admission includes a tour. Afternoon tea is served outside during summer and in the conservatory during winter. Call to check opening times – they vary.


Return to beginning of chapter


NIAGARA PENINSULA

Jutting east from Hamilton and forming a natural divide between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, the Niagara Peninsula is a legitimate tourist hot spot. Lake Erie is around 100m higher than Lake Ontario. Water flows from the upper to the lower lake via two avenues: stepping down steadily through the locks along the Welland Canal, or surging over Niagara Falls in a reckless, swollen torrent.

A steep escarpment jags along the spine of the peninsula, generating some weird weather. Humid and often frost-free, this is Ontario’s premier wine-growing region, the commercial focus of which is picture-postcard Niagara-on-the-Lake.


Return to beginning of chapter

NIAGARA PENINSULA WINE COUNTRY

Huh? Vineyards in the Great White North? The Niagara Peninsula adheres to the 43rd parallel – a similar latitude to northern California and further south than Bordeaux, France. A primo vino location, mineral-rich soils and a moderate microclimate: the perfect recipe for viticultural success! A visit to the area makes an indulgent day-trip or lazy weekend, with haughty old vineyards and brash newcomers competing for your attention.

Orientation & Information

Touring the vineyards by car is the best way to go. There are two main areas to focus on: west of St Catharines around Vineland, and north of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) around Niagara-on-the-Lake. Regional tourist offices stock wine-route maps and brochures, also available at winery tasting rooms. For more info check out www.winesofontario.ca.

Winery Driving Tour

The following drive weaves through the best Niagara wineries. Parking is free at all vineyards.

Coming from Toronto, take QEW exit 78 at Fifty Rd into Winona and Puddicombe Estate Farms & Winery (905-643-1015; www.pubbicombefarms.com; 1468 Hwy 8, Winona; 4 tastings $1; 9am-5pm daily May-Dec, 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat & Sun Jan-Apr), a rustic farm specializing in fruit wines (try the peach and the iced apple). Light lunches available.

Off QEW exit 74 is Kittling Ridge Winery (905-945-9225; www.kittlingridge.com; 297 South Service Rd, Grimsby; tastings free; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun, free tours 2pm Tue-Sat year-round & 11am Sun Jun-Aug). It looks like a factory, but friendly staff and award-winning ice and late-harvest wines will win you over.

Continue east on the service road, then cut south onto rambling Hwy 81; photogenic Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery (905-563-0900; www.peninsularidge.com; 5600 King St W, Beamsville; 4 tastings $2, tours $5; 10am-6pm, tours 11:30am & 3pm Jun-Nov) is unmissable on a hilltop. Some of the new wines taste unfinished, but the lofty timber tasting room, restaurant Click here and hilltop setting are magic.

From Hwy 81, turn right up Cherry Ave to casual Lakeview Cellars Estate Winery (905-562-5685; www.lakeviewcellars.ca; 4037 Cherry Ave, Vineland; 3 tastings free, ice wine $3; 11am-5pm, extended summer hours, tours 11am & 3pm daily May-Oct, 3pm Sat & Sun Nov-Apr), known for its ice-wine varietals, including a special cabernet franc version.

Follow Cherry Ave up the hill and turn left onto Moyer Rd and the stone buildings of Vineland Estates Winery (905-562-7088, 888-846-3526; www.vineland.com; 3620 Moyer Rd, Vineland; tastings free if purchasing, tours $6-25; 10am-6pm Sun-Thu, to 8pm Fri & Sat Jun-Aug, 10am-5pm Sep-May), the elder statesman of Niagara viticulture. Almost all the wines here are excellent – riesling and cabernet franc are the flavors of the moment. The restaurant and accommodations are fabulous too Click here.

Follow Moyer Rd east, turn right onto Victoria Ave, then left onto 7th Ave for Flat Rock Cellars (905-562-8994; www.flatrockcellars.com; 2727 7th Ave, Jordan; tastings free; 10am-6pm daily May-Oct, Sat & Sun only Nov-Apr). The hexagonal architecture and lake views here are almost as good as the wine!

Wander back toward the lake to 4th Ave and cheery Creekside Estate Winery (905-562-0035, 877-262-9463; www.creeksideestatewinery.com; 2170 4th Ave, Jordan Station; tastings free if purchasing, tours free; 10am-6pm May-Nov, to 5pm Dec-Apr, tours 2pm), where you can tour the crush pad and underground cellars. Try the sauvignon blanc.

From 7th Ave, scoot back onto the QEW and truck east into the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. Take exit 38 and head north onto Four Mile Creek Rd, which will take you to Hillebrand Estates Winery (905-468-1723, 800-582-8412; www.hillebrand.com; 1249 Niagara Stone Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake; tastings $3; 10am-9pm Jun-Aug, to 6pm Sep-May). Mass-market wines are the name of the game here, but hourly introductory tours and tasting-bar presentations are good if you’re new to the wine scene.

Further north, superiority emanates from Konzelmann Estate Winery (905-935-2866; www.konzelmann.ca; 1096 Lakeshore Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake; tastings $0.50-4, tours $3; 10am-6pm, tours 11:30am & 2:30pm May-Sep), one of the oldest wineries in the region and the only one to take full advantage of the lakeside microclimate. Snooty, maybe, but the late-harvest vidal and ice wines are superb.

Next on the right is Strewn (905-468-1229; www.strewnwinery.com; 1339 Lakeshore Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake; tastings $0.50-2, tours free; 10am-6pm, tours 1pm), producing medal-winning vintages and home to a classy restaurant and Wine Country Cooking School (905-468-8304; www.winecountrycooking.com), where one-day, weekend and weeklong classes are a gastronomic delight.

Closer to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Sunnybrook Farm Estate Winery (905-468-1122; www.sunnybrookfarmwinery.com; 1425 Lakeshore Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake; tastings $0.50-1; 10am-6pm) specializes in unique Niagara fruit and berry wines, and brews a mean вЂ˜hard’ cider. It’s only a little place, so tour buses usually don’t stop here.

On Niagara Stone Rd south of Niagara-on-the-Lake is brilliant Stratus (905-468-1806; www.stratuswines.com; 2059 Niagara Stone Rd, Niagara-on-the-Lake; tastings $4-10; 10am-5pm), the first building in Canada to earn LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification. The design addresses complex recycling, organic, energy-efficient and indigenous concerns. Your wine choice is less complex: Stratus White, or Stratus Red.

Heading south down the Niagara Pkwy, Reif Estate Winery (905-468-7738; www.reifwinery.com; 15608 Niagara Pkwy, Niagara-on-the-Lake; 1st tasting free, $1 thereafter, tours $5-20; 10am-6pm, tours 11:30am & 1:30pm May-Oct), pronounced вЂ˜Rife,’ is a well-established winery with a new retail center. Ice wines are what you’re here for.

Nearby, award-winning Inniskillin (905-468-2187, 888-466-4754; www.inniskillin.com; 1499 Line 3, cnr Niagara Pkwy, Niagara-on-the-Lake; tastings $5-7, tours $5; 10:30am-6pm, tours 10:30am & 2:30pm daily May-Oct, Sat & Sun only Nov-Apr) is a master of the ice-wine craft.

Tours

Click here for winery tours departing Niagara-on-the-Lake.



Crush on Niagara (905-562-3373, 866-408-9463; www.crushtours.com; tours $69-99) Small-group morning and afternoon van tours departing from various pickup points in the Niagara region.

Niagara Airbus (905-374-8111, 800-268-8111; www.niagaraairbus.com; tours from Niagara Falls $54-90, from Toronto $101-142) Stops at well-known wineries; some itineraries include vineyard tours, lunch and shopping in Niagara-on-the-Lake.



Festivals & Events



Niagara Icewine Festival (905-688-0212; www.niagaraicewinefestival.com; mid-Jan) A 10-day winter festival throughout the Niagara region, showcasing Ontario’s stickiest, sweetest ice wines.

Niagara New Vintage Festival (905-688-0212; www.grapeandwine.com; late Jun) Celebrating Niagara’s new-season vino and regional cuisine.

Niagara Wine Festival (905-688-0212; www.niagarawinefestival.com; mid-Sep) A weeklong event celebrating the region’s finest picks off the vine.



Sleeping & Eating

See www.20valley.ca for local B&B listings.

Bonnybank (905-562-3746, 888-889-8296; www.bbcanada.com/bonnybank; RR 1, Vineland; r incl breakfast $90-120; ) A stately Tudor-meets-Grimsby-sandstone house in a bird-filled wilderness setting. Call for directions, as it’s not signposted and is a little off the beaten track (a good thing!).

Colonist House B&B (905-563-7838; www.colonisthousecom; 4924 King St, Beamsville; d incl breakfast $120; wi-fi) This 1840-built B&B exudes charm from the picket fence out front to the antique-filled guestrooms. Sunlight floods through ample windows throughout the house, and cooked breakfasts – including homemade bread, fresh fruit and coffee – tempt even choosy eaters. Feed the local cardinals in the back garden.

Jordan Manor B&B (905-704-0577; www.bbcanada.ca/9316.html; 1590 St Paul St W, St Catharines; r incl breakfast $100-120; ) In its heyday some 170 years ago, this manor on the outskirts of St Catharines was a tavern complete with grand ballroom. Today’s incarnation is a spacious and comfortable B&B, set on eight acres of woodland. There’s a pool if it’s hot; open fires if it’s not.



* * *



THE GRAPE ONE?

Big news on the Niagara Peninsula is that Ontario’s favorite son, NHL hockey legend Wayne вЂ˜The Great One’ Gretzky, is embarking on a new career as a winemaker. Wayne Gretzky Estates won’t open to the public until 2009, but is already producing ice wine, meritage and chardonnay vintages available from the LCBO liquor stores. Do hockey players have the subtlety and experience to succeed as viticulturalists? Hell, if Dan Aykroyd can do it, anyone can, and as Gretz asserts, вЂ˜I can tell you if I like the taste of something, or I don’t like the taste of something.’ Fair enough, but we doubt Ontario’s legions of rabid hockey fans will be switching from beer to wine anytime soon.





* * *



Vineland Estates Winery (905-562-7088, 888-846-3526; www.vineland.com; 3620 Moyer Rd, Vineland; r incl breakfast $145, 3-bedroom guesthouse $295; ) The seminal Niagara winery also has a small but perfectly-formed B&B for two, and a three-bedroom guesthouse.



* * *



ICE, ICE BABY

Niagara’s regional wineries burst onto the scene at Vinexpo 1991 in Bordeaux, France. In a blind taste test, judges awarded a coveted gold medal to an Ontario ice wine – international attendees’ jaws hit the floor! These specialty vintages, with their arduous harvesting and sweet, multidimensional palate, continue to lure aficionados to the Niagara Peninsula.



To make ice wine, a certain percentage of grapes are left on the vines after the regular harvest is over. If birds, storms and mildew don’t get to them, the grapes grow ever-more sugary and concentrated. Winemakers wait patiently until December or January when three days of consistent, low temperature (-8°C) freeze the grapes entirely.



In the predawn darkness (so the sun doesn’t melt the ice and dilute the grape juice), the grapes are carefully harvested by hand, then pressed and aged in barrels for up to a year. After decanting, the smooth ice vintages taste intensely of apples, or even more exotic fruit, and pack a serious alcoholic punch.



Why are ice wines so expensive? It takes 10 times the usual number of grapes to make just one bottle. This, combined with labor-intensive production and the high risk of crop failure often drives the price above $50 per 375mL bottle. Late-harvest wines picked earlier in the year may be less costly (and less sweet), but just as full-flavored and aromatic.





* * *



Peach Country Farm Market (905-562-5602; 4490 Victoria Ave, Vineland Station; items from $2; 9am-8pm Jun-Aug, to 6pm Sep & Oct) An open-fronted barn selling fresh fruit, jams, ice cream and fruit pies, all grown, picked and baked on-site by fourth-generation farmers – a roadside gem!

Smiling Dog Coffee House (905-309-5858; 43 Main St E, Grimsby; mains $4-7; 8am-4:30pm Mon-Thu & Sat, to 8pm Fri) Polish up your canines and grin at the soups, panini, salads, wraps and frittatas on offer at this casual cafГ©. Some black-bean enchiladas washed down with fair trade organic coffee is hard to beat.

Vineland Estates Winery Restaurant (905-562-7088, 888-846-3526; 3620 Moyer Rd, Vineland; mains $15-40, tasting menus $39-70; 11:30am-2:30pm & 5:30-8:30pm) The winery’s sassy restaurant proffers unbeatable vineyard views and locally sourced, seasonal inventions such as summer risotto with garden greens, cherry tomatoes and roasted eggplant caviar. Reservations advised.

Peninsula Ridge (905-563-0900; 5600 King St W, Beamsville; mains $16-35; 11:30am-3pm & 5-9pm Wed-Sun) Sit outside, upstairs or down in this high-Victorian 1885 manor, serving haute cuisine that won’t break the bank. Super-chef Robert Trout will start you on PEI mussels steamed in chardonnay and coconut milk, and follow up with double-smoked, bacon-wrapped ribeye stuffed with herb mustard.

Getting There & Away

The 100km drive from Toronto to the central peninsula takes around 1½ hours – take Hwy 403 then the QEW east from Hamilton toward Niagara Falls. The official Wine Route is signposted off the QEW, on rural highways and along backcountry roads.

See opposite and Click here for organized tours to the region.


Return to beginning of chapter

WELLAND CANAL AREA

Built between 1914 and 1932, the historic Welland Canal, running from Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, functions as a shipping bypass around Niagara Falls. Part of the St Lawrence Seaway allowing shipping between the industrial heart of North America and the Atlantic Ocean, eight locks along the 42km-long canal overcome the difference of about 100m in the lakes’ water levels.

On Lake Ontario, understated St Catharines (www.stcatharines.ca) is the major town of the Niagara fruit- and wine-producing district. Remnants of the first three canals (built in 1829, 1845 and 1887) are visible at various points around town, while the Welland Canals Pkwy traces the canal along the city’s eastern edge – seeing massive container ships floating along above road level is a disconcerting experience!

Before it shifted east to Port Weller, the original Welland Canal opened into Lake Ontario at Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie (pronounced Dal-oo-zey). This rustic harbor area is a blend of old and new, with a reconstructed wooden lock and an 1835 lighthouse alongside bars, restaurants and ice-cream parlors. Hikers and cyclists can stretch out along the 45km Merritt Trail (www.canadatrails.ca/tct/on/merritt.html), an established track along the Welland Canal from Port Dalhousie to Port Colborne.

For a more up-to-date look at the canal, the Welland Canals Centre (905-984-8880; www.stcatharineslock3museum.ca; 1932 Welland Canals Pkwy; admission free; 9am-6pm Jul-Aug, to 5pm Sep-Jun; ) at Lock 3, just outside St Catharines, has a viewing platform close enough to almost touch the building-sized ships as they wait for water levels to rise or fall. Also here is the St Catharines Museum (adult/concession/child $4.25/4/2.50), with displays on town history and canal construction, plus a lacrosse hall of fame.

There’s not much on offer in the town of Welland other than its collection of murals, depicting historic, agricultural and canal scenes. Most appear along Main St E, but our favorite adorns the Sears building at 800 Niagara St N – a powerful evocation of indigenous, white and black history on the Niagara Peninsula.

Port Colborne, where Lake Erie empties into the canal, contains the 420m Lock 8 – one of the longest in the world. Check it out at Lock 8 Park (Mellanby St; admission free; 24hr), south of Main St. Also here is Port Colborne Visitors Information Booth (519-834-5722, 888-767-8386; www.experienceportcolborne.com; Lock 8 Park, Mellanby St; 10am-6pm May-Nov). The quiet, good-looking town has a canal-side boardwalk and shops and restaurants along West St – good for an afternoon stroll or evening meal.


Return to beginning of chapter

NIAGARA FALLS

pop 79,000

WOW! You won’t be able to keep the word from your lips at Niagara Falls: great muscular bands of water arch over the precipice like liquid glass, roaring into the void below; a vast plume of spray boils up from the cauldron, feathering into the air hundreds of meters above. There are dozens of taller waterfalls in the world (Niagara ranks a lowly 50th), but in terms of sheer volume these falls are unbeatable: more than a million bathtubs of water plummet over the edge every second.

By day or night, regardless of season, the falls never fail to awe (14 million visitors annually can’t be wrong!). Even in winter when the flow is partially hidden and the edges freeze solid, the watery extravaganza is undiminished. Very occasionally the falls stop altogether. This first happened on Easter Sunday morning in 1848, when ice completely jammed the flow. Pious locals feared the end of the world was nigh…

Piety, however, isn’t something Niagara Falls strives for these days. It’s been a saucy honeymoon destination ever since NapolГ©on’s brother brought his bride here – tags like вЂ˜For newlyweds and nearly deads’ and вЂ˜Viagra Falls’ are apt. More recently, a crass morass of casinos, fast-food joints, sleazy motels, cheesy tourist attractions and sex shops has bloomed parasitically around the falls – Little Las Vegas! Love it or loathe it, there’s nowhere quite like Niagara Falls.

Orientation

The town of Niagara Falls is split in two: there’s the older commercial zone, where locals go about their business, and the newer, touristy area around the falls themselves. Many of the B&Bs are between the two areas.

There’s not much going on in the old downtown area, but the train and bus stations are here. Queen St and Victoria Ave are the main streets. About 3km south of here are the falls, with all the trappings of the tourist trade: restaurants, hotels, shops and attractions. The main streets here are Clifton Hill, Falls Ave, Centre St, Victoria Ave and Ferry St. Lundy’s Lane heads west from here.

Information



Accessible Niagara (www.accessibleniagara.com) Advice for the mobility-impaired.

Greater Niagara General Hospital (905-358-0171; www.niagarahealth.on.ca; 5546 Portage Rd; 24hr) Emergency room.

Info Niagara (www.infoniagara.com) Privately run website with helpful links.

Niagara Falls Public Library (905-356-8080; www.nfpl.library.on.ca; 4848 Victoria Ave; 9am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 5:30pm Fri & Sat, 1-5pm Sun) Free internet and wi-fi internet access.

Niagara Parks Commission (905-371-0254, 877-642-7275; www.niagaraparks.com; 9am-11pm Jun-Aug, to 4pm Sep-May) The falls’ governing body, with information desks at Maid of the Mist Plaza and Table Rock Information Centre.

Ontario Travel Information (905-358-3221; www.ontariotravel.net; 5355 Stanley Av; 8am-8pm May-Aug, to 5pm Sep-Apr) On the western outskirts of town; free tourist booklets containing maps and discount coupons.

Post Office (905-356-4845; www.canadapost.ca; cnr Queen St & St Clair Ave; 8am-5pm Mon-Fri)





* * *



WORTH THE TRIP: FORT ERIE

East of Port Colborne and south of Niagara Falls is the town of Fort Erie, where the Niagara River leaks out of Lake Erie. Across from Buffalo, New York, it’s connected to the US by the Peace Bridge. The main drawcard here is the historic, star-shaped Fort Erie (905-871-0540; www.oldforterie.com; 350 Lakeshore Rd; adult/child $9/5; 10am-5pm May-Nov; ), a key player in the War of 1812. Also known as the Old Stone Fort, it was first built in 1764. The US seized it in 1814 before retreating. Inside there’s a museum and immaculate, uniformed soldiers performing authentic military drills. Take the worthwhile guided tour (every 30 minutes), included in the admission.





* * *



Sights & Activities

For sights and activities around the falls and Clifton Hill, park elsewhere (Click here).

THE FALLS & AROUND

Niagara Falls forms a natural rift between Ontario and New York State. On the US side, Bridal Veil Falls (aka the American Falls) crash onto mammoth fallen rocks. On the Canadian side, the grander, more powerful Horseshoe Falls plunge into the cloudy Maid of the Mist Pool. The prime falls-watching spot is Table Rock, poised just meters from the drop – arrive early to beat the crowds.

Around 1km south of Horseshoe Falls, the Floral Showhouse (905-353-5407; www.niagaraparks.com; 7145 Niagara Pkwy; admission free; 9:30am-8pm) offers year-round floral displays and some warm respite on a chilly day. Opposite, lodged on rocks in the rapids, the Old Scow is a rusty steel barge that’s been waiting to be washed over the falls since 1918 – a teetering symbol of Western imperialism, perhaps?

Following are the four main falls tours and activities. Tickets can be bought separately, or purchase the Niagara Falls Great Gorge Adventure Pass (905-371-0254, 877-642-7275; www.niagaraparks.com; adult/child $40/25) discount pass for admission to all four attractions, plus Niagara Pkwy and Queenston sites, and all-day transportation on the Niagara Parks People Mover. Passes are available from the Niagara Parks Commission (opposite) at Table Rock Information Centre and various attractions.

Maid of the Mist (905-358-5781; www.maidofthemist.com; 5920 River Rd; adult/child $14/8; 9am-7:45pm daily Jun-Aug, 9am-4:45pm Mon-Fri, to 5:45pm Sat & Sun Apr, May, Sep & Oct) is a brave little boat that’s been ploughing headlong into the falls’ misty veil since 1846. It’s loud and wet and lots of fun. Everyone heads for the boat’s upper deck, but views from either end of the lower deck are just as good. Departures every 15 minutes, weather permitting.

From Table Rock Information Centre, you can Journey Behind the Falls (905-354-1551; www.niagaraparks.com; 6650 Niagara Pkwy; adult/child $13/8; 9am-5:30pm Mon-Fri, to 7:30pm Sat & Sun) by donning a very un-sexy plastic poncho and traversing rock-cut tunnels halfway down the cliff – as close as you can get to the falls without getting in a barrel. It’s open year-round, but be prepared to queue.

At the northern end of town, next to Whirlpool Bridge, White Water Walk (888-255-1321; www.niagaraparks.com; 4330 Niagara Pkwy; adult/child $8.50/5; 9am-7:45pm daily Jun-Aug, 9am-4:45pm Mon-Fri, to 5:45pm Sat & Sun Apr-May & Sep-Oct) is another way to get up close and personal, this time via an elevator down to a 325m boardwalk suspended above the rampaging torrents, just downstream from the falls.

Dangling above the Niagara River 4.5km north of Horseshoe Falls is the Whirlpool Aero Car (888-255-1321; 3850 Niagara Pkwy; adult/child $12/7; 9am-7:45pm daily Jun-Aug, 9am-4:45pm Mon-Fri, to 5:45pm Sat & Sun Apr-May & Sep-Oct). Designed by Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Quevedo, it’s been operating since 1916 (but don’t worry – it’s still in good shape). The gondola travels 550m between two outcrops above a deadly whirlpool created by the falls – count the logs and tires spinning in the eddies below. No wheelchair access.

CLIFTON HILL & AROUND

Clifton Hill is a street name, but refers to a broader area near the falls occupied by a sensory bombardment of artificial enticements. You name it – House of Frankenstein, Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, Castle Dracula – they’re all here. In most cases, paying the admission will leave you feeling like a sucker.





The most engaging thing around here is the Daredevil Gallery (905-358-3611; www.imaxniagara.com; 6170 Fallsview Blvd; admission free; 9am-9pm) attached to IMAX Niagara. Scratch your head in amazement at the battered collection of barrels and padded bubbles in which people have ridden over the falls (not all of them successfully; see boxed text opposite). There’s also a history of falls вЂ˜funambulism’ (tightrope walking) here.

Up the street, the jungly Bird Kingdom (905-356-8888, 866-994-0090; www.birdkingdom.ca; 5651 River Rd; adult/child $15/10; 9:30am-7pm May-Sep, to 5pm Oct-Apr) claims to be the world’s largest indoor aviary, with 400 species of free-flying tropical birds from around the globe. You can also buddy-up with a boa constrictor in the Reptile Encounter Zone.

If the tourist bustle is messing with your yang, find tranquility at the totally out-of-context Buddhist temple Ten Thousand Buddhas Sarira Stupa (905-371-2678; 4303 River Rd; admission free; 9am-5pm, main temple Sat & Sun only). Visitors are welcome to wander the serene complex and view the various sculptures, bells and artworks.

Skylon Tower (905-356-2651, 800-814-9577; www.skylon.com; 5200 Robinson St; adult/child $10/6; 8am-midnight Apr-Oct, 11am-9pm Nov-Mar) is a 158m spire with yellow elevators crawling like bugs up the exterior. The views are real eye-poppers, and the revolving restaurant is worth a spin or two.

Leering over the falls, the Minolta Tower (905-356-1501; www.niagaratower.com; 6732 Fallsview Blvd; adult/child $7/4.50; 11am-7pm) is another bodacious vantage point, with indoor and outdoor observation galleries. On a clear day the view extends from Toronto to Buffalo, New York. There’s a restaurant here too.

NIAGARA PARKWAY

The slow-roaming, leafy Niagara Parkway runs for 56km along the Niagara River, from Niagara-on-the-Lake past the falls to Fort Erie. Along the way are parks, picnic areas and viewpoints. The 3m-wide Niagara River Recreation Trail (www.niagaraparks.com/nature/rectrailarea.php) for cycling, jogging or walking runs parallel to the Parkway – an idyllic short or long cycling excursion. The trail can easily be divided into four chunks, each of which takes around two hours to pedal. For bike hire, Click here. In season, fresh-fruit stands selling cold cherry cider adorn the trail. Download a map online, or pick one up at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Chamber of Commerce Visitors Information Centre.

About 8km north of the falls is the exceptional Niagara Glen Nature Reserve (905-371-0254, 877-642-7275; www.niagaraparks.com; Niagara Pkwy; admission free; dawn-dusk; ), where you can get a sense of what the area was like pre-Europeans. There are 4km of walking trails winding down into a gorge, past huge boulders, cold caves, wildflowers and woods. The Niagara Parks Commission offers guided nature walks daily during the summer season for a nominal fee. Bring something to drink – the water in the Niagara River is far from clean.

Almost opposite Niagara Glen are the neatly pruned Botanical Gardens (905-356-8554; www.niagaraparks.com; 2565 Niagara Pkwy; admission free; dawn-dusk; ) with 100 acres of herbs, vegetables and trees – a quiet spot to chill out. Also here is the glass-enclosed Butterfly Conservatory (905-358-0025; www.niagaraparks.com; 2565 Niagara Pkwy; adult/child $11/6.50; 9am-8.30pm Jun-Aug, to 5pm Sep-May; ) where more than 50 species (some as big as birds) flit around 130 species of flowers and plants. This is also a breeding facility; see young butterflies released, usually around 9:30am daily.



* * *



DAREDEVILS

Surprisingly, more than a few people who have gone over Niagara Falls have actually lived to tell the tale. The first successful leap was in 1901, by a schoolteacher named Annie Taylor, who did it in a skirt, no less. This promoted a rash of barrel stunters that continued into the 1920s, including Bobby Leach, who survived the drop but met his untimely death after slipping on an orange peel and developing gangrene!



In 1984 Karl Soucek revived the tradition in a bright red barrel. He made it, only to die six months later in another barrel stunt in Houston. Also during the вЂ˜80s, two locals successfully took the plunge lying head to head in the same barrel. After tumbling over the falls they emerged from their vessel with only minor injuries.



A US citizen who tried to jet ski over the falls in 1995 might have made it – if his rocket-propelled parachute had opened. Another American, Kirk Jones, survived the trip over the falls unaided in 2003. After being charged by the Canadian cops with illegally performing a stunt, he joined the circus.



Only one accidental falls-faller has survived – a seven-year-old Tennessee boy who fell out of a boat upstream in 1960 and survived the drop without even breaking a bone.



Take the virtual plunge at IMAX Niagara, and check out the over-the-falls barrels folks have used at the Daredevil Gallery.





* * *



QUEENSTON

In Queenston village, a snoozy historic throwback north of the falls near the Lewiston Bridge to the US, is Queenston Heights Park (905-371-0254, 877-642-7275; www.niagaraparks.com; 14184 Niagara Pkwy, Queenston; admission free; dawn-dusk; ), a national historic site. Here, the commanding Brock Monument honors Major General Sir Isaac Brock, вЂ˜Saviour of Upper Canada.’ The tower stairwell was closed for repairs at the time of research, but might be open by the time you read this. Self-guided walking tours of the hillside recount the 1812 Battle of Queenston Heights, a significant British victory that helped Canada resist becoming part of the USA.

The ivy-covered Mackenzie Printery & Newspaper Museum (905-262-5676; www.niagaraparks.com; 1 Queenston St, Queenston; adult/child $4.50/3.50; 11am-5pm May–mid-Oct; ) was where the esteemed William Lyon Mackenzie once edited the hell-raising Colonial Advocate. Enthusiastic young staff conduct tours every half-hour.

Nearby, the demure Laura Secord Homestead (905-262-4851; www.niagaraparks.com; 29 Queenston St, Queenston; adult/child $4.50/3.50; 11am-5pm Wed-Sun May-Oct; ) celebrates a Canadian heroine who lived here during the War of 1812. She’s famous for booting it nearly 30km to warn the British soldiers of impending attack by the USA – even though she was a US citizen. The rose garden out front was planted by Laura herself. Tours on the half-hour.

Further north, RiverBrink Gallery (905-262-4510; www.riverbrink.org; 116 Queenston St, Queenston; adult/concession/child $5/4/free; 10am-5pm late May–Sep; ) houses the Samuel E Weir Collection of Canadian art, which includes early landscapes of the Niagara Peninsula and works by the Group of Seven.

The southern end of the Bruce Trail, which extends 780km to Tobermory on Georgian Bay, is in Queenston. There are numerous access points in the Niagara area.

Tours

Click here for tours to Niagara Falls from Toronto; for Wine Country tours from Niagara Falls.



Double Deck Tours (905-374-7423; www.doubledecktours.com; cnr River Rd & Clifton Hill; tours adult/child from $23/13; 10am & 11am Apr-Oct) Sightseeing tours on big red British double-deckers. You can hop on and hop off at will, taking two days to complete the tour.

Niagara Air Tours (905-688-9000, 800-473-5533; www.niagaraairtours.com; Niagara District Airport, Hwy 55, Niagara-on-the-Lake; 20min flights adult/child $61/51; 9am-sunset, weather permitting) If you’re cashed up, you can snatch aerial photographs and a bird’s-eye view of the falls, Welland Canal and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Niagara Helicopters (905-357-5672; www.niagarahelicopters.com; 3731 Victoria Ave; 10min flights adult/child $110/65; 9am-sunset, weather permitting) A fantastic falls encounter, but pricey and not the most environmentally sensitive option.



Festivals & Events



Spring Festival (www.niagarafallskiosk.com/niagarafalls-events; mid-May–late Jun) Opening with the Maid of the Mist Parade, this festival celebrates the colors and scents of spring with a feast of concerts, fireworks and events.

Niagara Wine & Food Classic (800-563-2557; www.discoverniagara.com/nf_tourism/wine_food_classic; mid-Sep) A gastronomic celebration to welcome the autumn wine harvest. Some of the region’s top wines are paired with sublime cuisine.

Art by the Falls (905-227-7248; www.insideniagara.com/events/Event_Detail/829.html; early Oct) About 100 artists, designers and craftspeople from all over Canada demonstrate their skills.

Winter Festival of Lights (905-374-4683, 800-563-2557; www.wfol.com; late Nov–mid-Jan) A season of events including concerts, car shows and cheerleading championships, the undisputed highlight of which is an over-the-top nocturnal light display along a 36km route.



Sleeping

There are more beds than heads in Niagara Falls, but the town is sometimes completely booked up. Prices spike sharply in summer, on weekends and during holidays (Canadian and US). Check B&B availability online at www.bbniagarafalls.com; if you haven’t made a reservation, look for vacancy signs. Lundy’s Lane is motel central.

Hostelling International Niagara Falls (905-357-0770, 888-749-0058; www.hostellingniagara.com; 4549 Cataract Ave; dm/d incl linen $22/48; wi-fi) Quietly adrift in the old town, this homey, multicolored hostel sleeps around 90 people. The facilities, including a sizable kitchen, pool table, lockers and cool basement lounge are in good shape; staff are friendly and eco-focused. It’s close to the train and bus stations, and you can rent bicycles for $17 per day.

Backpacker’s International Hostel (905-357-4266, 800-891-7022; www.backpackers.ca; 4219 Huron St; dm $25, d $55-75; ) An independent, shabby-chic hostel housed inside a grand 19th-century home. The endearing upstairs doubles feel like small, non-specific European hotel rooms; the friendly owner is also a small, non-specific European. Rates include taxes, kitchen use, morning coffee and a muffin.

Cadillac Motel (905-356-0830, 800-650-0049; www.cadillacmotelniagara.com; 2 Ferry St; d from $50; ) What killer architecture! Straight out of a 1950s design dreambook, the old Cadillac has resisted the urge to scrap its neon sign, funky pink-and-peach brickwork, retro plastic chairs, lewd tiling and geometric carpets. The walls are a little thin (an eavesdropper’s delight), but the location is brilliant.

Flamingo Motor Inn (905-356-4646, 800-738-7701; www.flamingomotorinn.com; 7701 Lundy’s Lane; d from $55; wi-fi) Of the gaggle of motels along Lundy’s Lane, the brick-ugly, U-shaped Flamingo stands out in kitsch style. Enticements include waterbeds, saunas, heart-shaped Jacuzzis and a wedding chapel – très sexy. No sign of any flamingos.

Strathaird B&B (905-358-3421; www.strathairdinn.com; 4372 Simcoe St; d incl breakfast $65-105; wi-fi) Run by a Scottish couple who laugh as much as they talk (the change of continents agrees with them), back-street Strathaird has four cottagey, en-suite rooms with comfy pillow-top mattresses. Breakfast is a meaty Scottish affair – haggis on request!

Eastwood Tourist Lodge (905-354-8686; www.theeastwood.com; 5359 River Rd; r incl breakfast $110-140, ste incl breakfast $150-175; May-Dec; wi-fi) Eatswood’s chunky extension blends in nicely with the original 1891 guesthouse, with balconies overlooking the river valley. Professional management, fresh flowers and a cheery breakfast room complete the package. English, German and Spanish are spoken.

Oakes Hotel (905-356-4514, 877-843-6253; www.niagarahospitalityhotels.com; 6546 Fallsview Blvd; d $119-269; ) A jaunty silver spire next to the Fallsview Casino, the Oakes has front-row-center views of the great cascades. For a lofty establishment, staff are remarkably down to earth. Not all rooms have falls views, but ask and ye shall receive. The pricier rooms have Jacuzzis, fireplaces, terraces and the best views. Parking is $12.

Eating

Finding food here is no problem, but be prepared for quantity rather than quality. For cuisine a cut above, you’re better off heading to the Wine Country. Aside from the following there are sky-high restaurants at both the Skylon Tower and Minolta Tower.

Flying Saucer Drive-In (905-356-4553; 6768 Lundy’s Lane; items $1-16; 6am-10pm) For extraterrestrial fast food, you can’t go past this diner on the Lundy’s Lane motel strip. Famous 99¢ breakfasts are served until noon (eggs, fries and toast), but heftier meals in the way of steaks, seafood, fajitas, burgers and hot dogs are also on-board.

Daily Planet (905-371-1722; 4573 Queen St; mains $6-12; 2pm-2am Wed-Fri, 9am-2am Sat) Downtown Daily Planet is the perfect place to escape the crowds and grab a chunky meal: pub grub pronounced with a Mexican accent, soaked in as much Molsons as you can manage. There’s a nightclub out the back, but don’t expect too much of a small town.

Simon’s Restaurant (905-356-5310; 4416 Bridge St; mains $6-12; 5:30am-7pm Mon-Sat, to 2pm Sun) Readers rave about Simon’s, a family-run diner near the Whirlpool Bridge that opens pre-dawn. Surrounded by a clutter of miniature statues of buildings and piled boxes of God-knows-what, hungry locals chow down on burgers, grills, pancakes and all-day breakfasts.

Second Bowl (905-353-8346; cnr Lundy’s Lane & Depew Ave; mains $6-14; 11am-10pm Mon-Fri, noon-10pm Sat & Sun) If all the steaks, subs and burgers are inching you toward a coronary, Second Bowl offers some Southeast Asian respite. Close your eyes and jab at the 188-item menu – stir fries, spring rolls, fried rice and noodle soups aplenty.

The Guru (905-354-3444; 5705 Victoria Ave; mains $11-16; noon-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri-Sun) Alternate sips of cold mango lassi with forks of red-hot vindaloo at the Guru, an unexpected gem in Clifton Hill. Darkwood wicker chairs and Ganesh-skin tablecloths set the scene for smooth vegetable curries, tangy chicken masalas and a surprisingly global wine list.

Mama Mia’s (905-354-7471; 5719 Victoria Ave; mains $11-19; noon-11pm Mon-Thu, to midnight Fri-Sun) There are plenty of quick-fire Italian eateries and pizza joints around town, but this one has been serving tasty and authentic pastas, seafood and carnivorous feasts since the ’60s. The Brooklyn/Brando atmosphere is relaxed and friendly – a good place to bring the kids.

Entertainment

IMAX Niagara (905-358-3611; www.imaxniagara.com; 6170 Fallsview Blvd; adult/child $12/8.50; 9am-9pm) On a 20m screen with 12,000-watt woofers, IMAX blasts out the 45-minute Falls Movie about the history and development of the region. The amazing Daredevil Gallery is here too.

Niagara Fallsview Casino (905-371-7569; www.fallsviewcasinoresort.com; 6380 Fallsview Blvd; admission free; 24hr) This mondo-successful casino never closes. The building itself is worth a look – an amazing complex of commerce and crap-shoots, with a fantastical fountain in the lobby. Corny old-timers and has-beens like Kenny Rogers and Donny Osmond are regularly wheeled out to perform.

Getting There & Away

BUS

Niagara Falls Bus Station (905-357-2133, 800-461-7661; www.greyhound.ca; 4555 Erie Ave; 7am-10:30pm) is in the old part of town. Greyhound Canada buses depart for Toronto ($26, 1ВЅ to two hours, 12 daily) and Buffalo, New York ($10, one to 1ВЅ hours, seven daily).

Safeway Tours (416-593-0593, 888-230-3505; return ticket $30) works in liaison with the Niagara Fallsview Casino (above), shuttling passengers between Toronto and Niagara Falls. In a deal-with-the-devil, you get $10 cash back from the casino and must stay a minimum of five hours, the presumption being that you’ll spend most of this time (and all of your money) gambling. No problemo – grab your $10 then slip out the back, Jack. No overnight stays; over-19s only (ID required). Call for pickup locations and times.

Niagara Airbus (905-374-8111, 800-268-8111; www.niagaraairbus.com) is a door-to-door coach service with frequent connections to and from airports in Toronto (one way/return $62/99, 1ВЅ hours) and Buffalo, New York ($71/117, 1ВЅ hours).

TRAIN

From Niagara Falls Train Station (888-842-7245; www.viarail.ca; 4267 Bridge St; 6am-10pm Mon-Fri, 8am-10pm Sat & Sun) opposite the bus station, VIA trains run to Toronto ($35, two hours, three daily) and New York City ($75, nine hours, once daily).

Getting Around

BICYCLE

Readers who cycle recommend Zoom Leisure Bicycle Rentals. They’re based in Niagara-on-the Lake, but will deliver a bike to you anywhere in the Niagara region – escape the falls via the Niagara River Recreation Trail. Longer rentals and two-wheeled wine tours available, too. Hostelling International Niagara Falls also rents out bikes.

CAR, MOTORCYCLE & PARKING

Driving and parking around the centre is an expensive headache. Park way out and walk, or follow the parking district signs and stash the car for the day (around $6 per 30 minutes, or $15 per day). The huge Rapidsview parking lot (also the Niagara Parks People Mover depot; see below) is 3km south of the falls off River Rd.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Cranking up and down the steep 50m slope between the falls and Fallsview Blvd is a quaint Incline Railway (905-356-0943; www.niagaraparks.cm; 6635 Niagara Pkwy; one way $2; 9am-midnight Jul-Aug, to 8pm Sep-Nov & Apr-Jun).

The Niagara Parks People Mover (905-371-0254, 877-642-7275; www.niagaraparks.com; day pass adult/child $7.50/4.50; every 20min 9am-9pm Mar-Oct) is an economical and efficient bus system, departing the huge Rapidsview parking lot south of the falls. Day passes can be purchased at most stops. Shuttles follow a 15km path from the parking lot north past the Horseshoe Falls, Rainbow and Whirlpool Bridges and Whirlpool Aero Car, continuing along Niagara Pkwy to Queenston in peak season.

Niagara Transit (905-356-1179; www.niagaratransit.com; one way adult/child $3.50/1, day pass for 1 adult & 2 children $6; every 30min 9am-1:30am Jun-Aug, reduced service May, Sep & Oct) runs three shuttle-bus routes around town: the red route goes around Clifton Hill and other falls attractions, then up Lundy’s Lane and back; the blue route runs from downtown to the falls, then down to the Rapidsview parking lot and back; the green route goes from Rainbow Bridge north to Whirlpool Aero Car, then back down River Rd past the B&Bs to Clifton Hill. Out of season, use Niagara Transit’s regular city buses (adult/child $2.25/1).

WALKING

Put on your high-heel sneakers and get t’steppin’ – walking is the way to go! You’ll only need wheels to visit outlying sights along the Niagara Pkwy.


Return to beginning of chapter

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE

One of the best-preserved 19th-century towns in North America, affluent N-o-t-L is a strange fruit indeed. Originally a Neutral First Nations village, the town was founded by Loyalists from New York State after the American Revolution. It later became the first capital of the colony of Upper Canada. These days it’s an undeniably gorgeous place, with tree-lined streets, lush parks and impeccably restored houses, but the atmosphere smacks of skin-deep tourist cash-in. Tour bus stampedes overrun the streets, puffing Cuban cigars and dampening the charm; the town fountain is full of coins – there are no homeless people here to plunder it. Is this a real town, or just gingerbread? Is there a soul beneath the surface? The annual Shaw Festival paves the way to redemption.

Orientation & Information

Queen St is the main drag. On the eastern side of the downtown area, toward Niagara Falls, King St crosses Queen St at large Simcoe Park. Beyond that, Queen St becomes Picton St.



Chamber of Commerce Visitors Information Centre (905-468-1950; www.niagaraonthelake.com; 26 Queen St; 10am-7:30pm Apr-Oct, to 5pm Nov-Mar) A brochure-filled info center; staff can book accommodations for a $3.50 fee. Pick up the Niagara-on-the-Lake Official Visitors’ Guide for maps and a self-guided walking tour.



Sights & Activities

Queen Street teems with shops of the ye olde variety selling antiques, Brit-style souvenirs and homemade fudge. Greaves Jams & Marmalades (905-468-7831; www.greavesjams.com; 55 Queen St; jams around $5; 9:30am-8pm Sun-Thu, to 6:30pm Fri & Sat) is run by fourth-generation jam-makers (try the peach jam). Further east is the Victorian-era Niagara Apothecary (905-468-3845; www.ocpharma.com; 5 Queen St; admission free; noon-6pm May-Sep), a functional pharmacy until 1964 but now a museum fitted with great old cabinets, remedies, jars and old posters advertising snake-oil cures (вЂ˜Merchant’s Gargling Oil: a liniment for man and beast!’).

On the town’s southeastern fringe, restored Fort George (905-468-6614; www.pc.gc.ca/fortgeorge; 51 Queens Pde; adult/concession/child/family $11/9.50/5.50/27.50; 10am-5pm daily May-Oct, Sat & Sun only Apr & Nov; ) dates from 1797. The fort saw some bloody battles during the War of 1812, changing hands between the British and US forces a couple of times. Within the spiked battlements are officers’ quarters, a working kitchen, a powder magazine and storage houses. Ghost tours, skills demonstrations, retro tank displays and battle reenactments occur throughout the summer. Parking costs $6 (reimbursed with admission).

The Niagara Historical Society Museum (905-468-3912; www.niagarahistorical.museum; 43 Castlereagh St; adult/concession/child $5/3/1; 10am-5pm May-Oct, 1-5pm Nov-Apr; ), south of Simcoe Park, has a vast collection relating to the town’s past, ranging from First Nations artifacts to Loyalist and War of 1812 collectibles (including the prized hat of Major General Sir Isaac Brock).

Not far away is the Lincoln & Welland Regimental Museum (905-468-0888; www.lwmuseum.ca; cnr King & John Sts; adult/concession/child $3/2/2; 10am-4pm Sat-Mon Jul-Sep; ), with wonderfully aged displays of Canadian military regalia.

Tours

Click here for Wine Country tours from Niagara Falls.



Grape Escape Wine Tours (905-935-4445, 866-935-4445; www.grape-escape.ca; tours $59-129; year-round) A range of wine-flavored regional tours, always including some kind of meal (cheese platters on cheaper tours through to full gourmet dinners). Free hotel pickup/drop-off.

Jetboat Niagara (905-468-4800, 888-438-4444; www.whirlpooljet.com; 61 Melville St; 45min tours adult/child $56/47; Apr–mid-Oct) Hold onto your lunch on this Niagara River jetboat ride, full of fishtails and splashy stops – bring a change of clothes (and maybe underwear). Reservations required.

Niagara River Cruises (905-468-0341, 888-991-4888; www.niagararivercruises.com; 454 Mississauga St; 1½hr cruises from $17; May–mid-Oct) The rather plush MV Senator cruise boat putts up and down the Niagara River (well out of reach of whirlpools and rapids), with commentary on local history and War of 1812 happenings.

Niagara Wine & Culinary Tours (905-468-1300, 800-680-7006; www.niagaraworldwinetours.com; 92 Picton St; tours $65-120; tour times & months vary) Various bicycle and gourmet lunch and dinner tours around local wineries, including tastings.



Sleeping

Although there are over 300 B&Bs in town (!), accommodations here are expensive and often booked out. When the Shaw Festival is running, lodging is even tighter, so plan ahead.

Anchorage Motel (905-468-2141; www.theanchorage.ca; 186 Ricardo St; d $65-95; ) Drifting in a doldrum of B&Bs, it might come as some relief to drop anchor at the old Anchorage Motel, its shingled roof bent toward the breeze and the local marina. The shipshape rooms are unremarkable, but who’s remarking at these prices?



* * *



A SHAW THING

In 1962 a lawyer and passionate dramatist, Brian Doherty, led a group of residents in eight performances of George Bernard Shaw’s Candida and вЂ˜Don Juan in Hell’ from Man and Superman. Doherty’s passionate first season blossomed into today’s much-esteemed Shaw Festival (905-468-2172, 800-511-7429; www.shawfest.com; tickets $25-95; box office 9am-5pm Mon-Sat Jan–mid-Apr, to 8pm mid-Apr–Oct). For 45 years the festival has lured global audiences who haven’t been shy about issuing praise.



Plays run from April through to October, the festival’s visionary art direction infusing a variety of works and playwrights. Aside from an opening Shaw showstopper, you’ll be treated to Victorian drama, European and US plays, musicals, mystery and suspense, and classics from Wilde, Woolf and Coward. Specialized seminars are held throughout the season, plus informal вЂ˜Lunchtime Conversations’ on selected Saturdays.



Actors tread the boards in three theaters around town – the Festival, Royal George and Court House Theatres – all of which are within walking distance of town. The cheapest rush seats go on sale at 9am on performance days (except for Saturdays). Students, under-30s and seniors receive discounts at some matinees; weekday matinees are the cheapest. Call the toll-free telephone number from anywhere in Canada or the USA well in advance, or check the internet site for details.





* * *



Cecile’s House (905-468-0040; www.cecilehouse.com; 156 Gate St; d incl breakfast $115-155; wi-fi) Cecile offers you a choice of three rooms: the French, Country and Master’s suites, all of which have private bathrooms, antiques and more frills than you could unravel in a year. The house itself dates from 1890 – quite the old stager.

Skyehaven Bed & Breakfast (905-468-9696; www.skyehaven.com; 67 Mary St; d incl breakfast $125; wi-fi) Built in 1787 (now that’s old!), the two-story sky-blue shuttered Skyehaven has stood the test of time. It’s a bit of a hike from the action, but that’s not a bad thing. Skyehaven can also claim the 2007 вЂ˜Coolest Business Card in Niagara-on-the-Lake’ award.

Prince of Wales Hotel (905-468-3246, 888-669-5566; www.vintage-hotels.com; 6 Picton St, cnr King St; d $225-375, ste $425-475; wi-fi) Prince of N-o-t-L, this elegant Victorian hotel was knocked into shape around 1864 and retains much of its period primp: vaulted ceilings, timber-inlay floors, red-waistcoated bellhops. Frills and floral prints seem angled toward the elderly and honeymooners, but it’s the perfect spot for anyone looking to splash out. Also on-site are a spa and the excellent Escabeche restaurant (right). Parking costs $5.

Eating

A few blocks from Queen St, Queen’s Royal Park is a sweet spot for a picnic by the water.

Fans Court (905-468-4511; 135 Queen St; lunch mains $7-10, dinner $15-20; noon-3pm & 4-9pm Tue-Sun) A menu graced with Cantonese, Szechuan and pan-Asian dishes distinguishes this place from its neighbors in this most Anglo of towns. If your taste buds are yearning for Singapore beef, mango pork or sizzling lemon chicken, Fans’ alfresco courtyard is where you want to be.

Epicurean (905-468-0288; 84 Queen St; lunch mains $5-11, dinner $17-27; 9am-9pm) By day this fare-thee-well cafeteria dishes up fresh, tasty sandwiches, salads, pies and quiches. The ambience ramps up at night with a bistro menu offering the likes of crispy-skin chicken with steamed rice, scallions and shiitake mushrooms in Thai coconut curry. The street-side patio is always full.

Escabeche (905-468-3246, 888-669-5566; www.vintage-hotels.com; 6 Picton St, cnr King St; mains $25-48; 7am-11pm) Arguably the best restaurant on the whole Niagara Peninsula, the fine-dining room at the opulent Prince of Wales Hotel takes its food seriously. The contemporary menu offers taste inventions like a tart of locally-cured prosciutto, cacciatore sausage, tomato and mascarpone, followed by roast lamb with fine mustard, fingerling potatoes, baby amber turnips in ice wine–braised shank jus. Leave room for dessert (you’ve been warned).

Getting There & Around

There are no direct buses between Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake, so head for St Catharines or Niagara Falls then transfer.

5-0 Taxi (905-358-3232, 800-667-0256; www.5-0taxi.com; adult/child one way $10/5, return $18/9) shunts folks between Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Call for pickup locations and times. A regular one-way taxi between the two towns costs around $40.

Cycling is an ace way to explore the area. Rent a bike from (or have one delivered to you by) the reader-recommended Zoom Leisure Bicycle Rentals (905-468-2366, 866-811-6993; www.zoomleisure.com; 2017 Niagara Stone Rd; rental per half-day/day/two days $20/30/50, delivery $25; 9am-5pm).


Return to beginning of chapter


SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

The heavily populated industrial and agricultural areas of southwestern Ontario have a rich history of aboriginal settlement, farming, manufacturing and urban sprawl. Arcing around Lake Ontario from Toronto to Hamilton is the вЂ˜Golden Horseshoe’ – a heavily industrialized zone serving primarily as a conduit between Toronto, Detroit and Buffalo. But those who bravely venture off Hwy 401 will uncover the region’s storied heritage, well-preserved limestone and redbrick buildings, tree-lined boulevards, verdant pastures and sandy shorelines. Don’t miss the chance to explore brilliant little towns like Elora, St Jacobs and Fergus.

Way out west, sandy soils sustain dead-flat wheat- and corn-growing regions where you’ll cheer at the sighting of even the most modest of hills. Farming gives way to sandy beaches along the north shore of Lake Erie and east shore of Lake Huron. Substantial inland cities like Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and London are thriving university and technological centers. Stratford plays host to the annual Shakespeare Festival, while Windsor – like Detroit, Michigan (its big brother across the river) – is an auto manufacturing hub.


Return to beginning of chapter

HAMILTON

pop 503,000

Blue-collar Hamilton is the center of Canada’s iron and steel industry, and as a result it’s not a good-looking or particularly appealing town. There’s a vague whiff of sulfur in the air, and a vague sense of menace in the city’s smokestack silhouette. Tourists usually grit their teeth and continue to Niagara Falls without entertaining thoughts of stopping, but recent cleanup efforts have improved things a little. If you do pull off the freeway, there are some decent eateries, interesting museums and charming B&Bs here, and the Niagara Escarpment cuts through the southern part of town providing sweeping Lake Ontario views.

Orientation & Information

Hamilton squats at the southwestern corner of Lake Ontario, marking the split between the Niagara-bound QEW and Hwy 403, which joins Hwy 401 to Detroit. In town, westbound King St and eastbound Main St are the major one-way arteries. King St has most of the downtown shops; Main St W between Dundurn and Hess Sts has plenty of places to eat and shop. James St heads south from the lakeshore through town toward the Niagara Escarpment.



Parks Canada Discovery Centre (9055-526-0911; www.pc.gc.ca; 57 Discovery Dr; adult/concession/child/family $7.50/6/3.50/18; 10am-5pm, closed Mon Oct-May; ) On the lakeshore is this snazzy new place, an urban outreach center with displays on local maritime conservation, parks and heritage sites.

Tourism Hamilton (905-546-2666, 800-263-8590; www.tourismhamilton.com; 34 James St S; 8:30am-4:30pm, closed Sat & Sun Sep-May) Downtown, this office can help with maps, brochures and the local lowdown.



Sights & Activities

ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS

With 1000-plus hectares of flowers, natural parklands and a wildlife sanctuary, the Royal Botanical Gardens (905-527-1158; www.rbg.ca; 680 Plains Rd W; adult/concession/child/family incl shuttle-bus rides $8/6/4/20; 10am-dusk; ) is only one of six world gardens to be designated вЂ˜royal.’ During spring, the rock garden is a highlight, with three hectares of rare trees, waterfalls, ponds and 125,000 flowering bulbs. Think a rose is a rose? Think again pal. From June to October, thousands of different roses (including antique varieties) bloom in the Centennial rose garden. The arboretum is best in May when the lilacs explode into flower. The sanctuary is home to birds, deer, fox, muskrat and coyote, with trails traversing marshes and wooded ravines. Free tours run hourly; jazz and classical concerts are held on summer evenings. To get here, follow York Blvd west toward Burlington.

AFRICAN LION SAFARI

About 1000 animals and birds express themselves freely in the vast, cageless African Lion Safari (905-623-2620, 800-461-9453; RR1, Cambridge; adult/concession/child $27/24/22; 10am-5:30pm Jul-Aug, to 4pm May-Jun & Sep; ), about 25km northwest of Hamilton off Hwy 8. Drive your car through the park and get within kissing distance of lions, giraffes, zebras, monkeys and other African beasts. If your car-rental agency has an aversion to bird droppings, take the park tour-bus instead ($5 per person). Kids love this place – a great way to keep them entertained for an afternoon.

CANADIAN FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM

Despite universal mockery of вЂ˜Canadian football,’ nothing stops Canadian sports fans from welling with enthusiasm for their fast-paced brand of gridiron. The Canadian Football Hall of Fame & Museum (905-528-7566; www.footballhof.com; 58 Jackson St W; adult/concession/child/family $3/1.50/1/8; 9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sat) puts more than 100 years of Canadian Football League (CFL) history on display through equipment, photos and the actual Grey Cup – the CFL’s holy grail. All praise the brass bust of Hall of Fame inductee Russ Jackson, legendary Ottawa quarterback.

DUNDURN CASTLE & HAMILTON MILITARY MUSEUM

A boxy, column-fronted, 36-room mansion, Dundurn Castle (905-546-2872; www.hamilton.ca/museums; 610 York Blvd; adult/concession/child/family $10/8/5/25; 10am-4pm Jul–early Sep, noon-4pm Tue-Sun early Sep–Jun; ) once belonged to Sir Allan Napier McNab, Canadian prime minister from 1854 to 1856. It sits on a cliff overlooking the harbor amid lovely chestnut-studded grounds, and is furnished in mid-19th-century style.

Also on-site is the Hamilton Military Museum (905-540-5693; admission adult/concession/child/family $3/2.50/2/7.50) with weapons and uniforms dating from the War of 1812 through to WWI. Admission is free with Dundurn Castle admission.



CANADIAN WARPLANE HERITAGE MUSEUM

The newly renovated Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (905-679-4183; www.warplane.com; 9280 Airport Rd, Mt Hope; adult/concession/child $10/9/6; 9am-5pm; ) is a capacious hangar 10km south of town near Hamilton airport. Dangling inside is a collection of two-dozen vintage planes, all in flying condition, celebrating Canada’s history in the skies. Look for the huge RACF 641 jet impaled on a hot-dog spike out the front.

WALKING TRAILS

Hamilton’s recent efforts to clean up its act means there are plenty of good parks and multiuse trails here. The 32km Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail (905-627-1233; www.conservationhamilton.ca), parts of the Trans Canada Trail and the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail are all within striking distance of the city; consult the tourism office for maps and directions.

Festivals & Events



Stoney Creek Battlefield Reenactment (905-662-8458; www.myhamilton.ca; Stoney Creek Battlefield Park; adult/concession/child $7/3/3; 1st weekend in Jun) Full-costumed reenactment of a battle between British and US soldiers in the War of 1812; 8km south of town.



Sleeping & Eating

Hwy 403 and the QEW are dotted with standard motels, which are considerably cheaper than accommodations in Toronto or Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Rutherford House B&B (905-525-2422; www.rutherfordbb.com; 293 Park St S; s/d incl breakfast $110/115; ) A short walk from downtown, Rutherford is a gracious old tier-fronted redbrick house with two en-suite guestrooms, each with plush beds and over-the-top wallpaper. It’s one of Hamilton’s better B&Bs, but isn’t really set up for kids.

Blue Martini (905-525-5650; 11 Hess St S; mains $10-37; 3-10pm Tue, Wed & Sun, to 2am Thu-Sat) Two blocks west of the Convention Centre in the cobblestone Hess Village, Blue Martini is the mainstay of a crop of cool eateries and bars with wrought-iron fences and outdoor patios. Lash out on a late-night steak and lobster tail ($37) or more affordable pasta dishes.

Entertainment

The 15-time CFL Grey Cup champions the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Ti-Cats; 905-527-2287; www.ticats.ca; Ivor Wynn Stadium, 75 Balsam Ave; tickets $18-66; Jul-Nov) have been cracking heads and busting tackles since 1869. Try to catch a game against archrivals the Toronto Argonauts and hear the crowd snarl.

Getting There & Away

WestJet uses John C Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM; 905-679-1999; www.flyhi.ca; 9300 Airport Rd, Mt Hope), 10km south of town, as a major hub for flights to other parts of Canada.

Coach Canada, Greyhound Canada and Toronto-bound Go Transit commuter buses ($9, one to two hours, every 20 minutes) and trains ($9, one hour, three daily) roll out of the GO Centre (905-529-0196, 888-438-6646; www.gotransit.com; 36 Hunter St E; 5am-11:30pm Mon-Fri, from 6:15am Sat & Sun), three blocks south of the center of town.


Return to beginning of chapter

BRANTFORD & AROUND

You’d think that a town that lays claim to a Mohawk village, the invention of the telephone and the birthplace of the greatest hockey player ever would have plenty going on, right? Well, not really. Surrounded by farmland and bisected by the lazy Grand River, вЂ˜Telephone City’ Brantford is about as demure as a city of its size can get. But it does make an affordable pit stop if you’re trucking between Windsor and Toronto.

Southeast of town, the Six Nations territory has been a First Nations’ center for centuries. Captain Joseph Thayendanegea Brant led the Six Nations people here from upper New York State in 1784 and established a village that long served the district’s First Nations tribes. European settlement and industrial growth along the Grand occurred steadily over subsequent centuries.

Orientation & Information

Brantford straddles Hwy 403, with the main downtown area south of the highway and east of the Grand River around Dalhousie St.



Brantford Visitor & Tourism Centre (519-751-9900, 800-265-6299; www.brantford.ca; 399 Wayne Gretzky Pkwy; 9am-8pm Mon-Fri, to 9pm Sat, to 5pm Sun, reduced winter hours) Just north of Hwy 403, the sparkling new tourism center is optimistic about Brantford’s future, with plenty of brochures and helpful staff.



Sights

The shining gem at the heart of the Gretzky Centre is the Brantford Sports Hall of Recognition (519-756-9900; www.brantford.ca/gretzkycentre; 254 North Park St; admission free; 9am-9pm Mon-Fri, to 6pm Sat & Sun; ). Memorabilia from dozens of local track-and-field, football, lacrosse and wrestling stars line the walls, but who wants to know about them? What you’re here for is Wayne вЂ˜The Great One’ Gretzky’s permanent display. Gretz honed his game on the backyard hockey rink at his childhood Brantford home before shattering the NHL record books and blitzing his way to four Stanley Cups.



* * *



HOT TOPIC: THE HAMILTON PREDATORS?

There’s nothing more Canadian than hockey, eh? Hell, hockey is Canada! After decades of selling hockey to the lucrative US sports market, Canadians are starting to feel their national game slipping away. The QuГ©bec Nordiques folded in 1995, followed by the Winnipeg Jets in вЂ˜96, and a Canadian team hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since the MontrГ©al Canadiens in 1992–93. A national disgrace!



Enter Waterloo billionaire Jim Balsillie, part-owner of Research In Motion (RIM), creators of the Blackberry. Balsillie has launched a brave $240-million bid to purchase the ailing Nashville Predators and relocate them to hockey-mad Hamilton. Hamilton had a hockey team in the 1920s – the Hamilton Tigers – and locals are champing at the mouthguard for another slap-shot at NHL glory. One problem: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman isn’t sold on the idea, wanting to grow the game in Kansas City rather than preach to southern Ontario’s converted. By the time you read this, Big Jim may have sealed the deal and reclaimed hockey for Canada. If he fails, Hamiltonians might be acting more prey than predator…





* * *



Captain Brant’s tomb is on the grounds of the tiny but exquisite Her Majesty’s Chapel of the Mohawks (519-756-0240; www.mohawkchapel.ca; 291 Mohawk St; admission by donation; 10am-6pm Jul-Aug, 1-5:30pm Wed-Sun May-Jun & Sep-Oct; ), best visited on sunny afternoons when light streams through the gorgeous stained-glass windows. On the site of the original village, it’s the oldest Protestant church in Ontario (1785) and the world’s only Royal Indian Chapel. To get here follow the signs off Colborne St E.

Not far from the Mohawk chapel, the Woodland Cultural Centre (519-759-2650; www.woodlandcentre.on.ca; 184 Mohawk St; adult/concession/child $5/4/3; 9am-4pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun; ) triples-up as an indigenous performance space, cultural museum and art gallery. Exhibits follow a timeline from prehistoric Iroquoian and Algonquian exhibits through to contemporary indigenous art. The attached shop stocks beautifully made basketry and jewelry, plus books, ceramics and paintings. Call or check the website for the latest lecture, gallery talk and performance dates.

Southeast of Brantford is Six Nations of the Grand River Territory – the six nations being Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora – and the village of Ohsweken, a well-known aboriginal community. Established in the late 18th century, the territory gives visitors a glimpse of traditional and contemporary First Nations culture. Six Nations Tourism (519-758-5444, 866-393-3001; www.sntourism.com; 2498 Chiefswood Rd; 9am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-3pm Sat & Sun) at the corner of Hwy 54 runs the visitors center, with information on local sites, attractions and events in Six Nations.

Across the street from the visitors center, Chiefswood National Historic Site (519-752-5005; www.chiefswood.com; 1037 Hwy 54; adult/concession/child $5/4/free; 10am-3pm Tue-Sun May-Oct; ) was the home of Mohawk poet E Pauline Johnson, whose best-selling Flint & Feather poems reflected a blend of European and aboriginal cultures in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Put down your cell phone and listen up: Alexander Graham Bell changed the future of communication when he conceived the first telephone at Bell Homestead National Historic Site (519-756-6220; www.bellhomestead.on.ca; 94 Tutela Heights Rd; adult/concession/child $5/3.75/free; 9:30am-4:30pm Tue-Sun; ) on July 26, 1874. Bell’s first North American home has been lovingly restored to original condition. There’s a café here, too.

Activities

Rafting on the Grand River is a great way to see the countryside. Put flashbacks from Deliverance to one side and contact the following operators to organize your trip:



Blue Heron Rafting (519-754-0145; www.blueheronrafting.com) Family, romantic evening and combined bike/rafting trips from Brantford; from $30 per person.

Grand River Rafting Company (866-286-7722; www.grandriverrafting.ca) Operating out of Paris, just north of Brantford; guided family, moonlight, evening and overnight rafting trips from $30 per person.



Festivals & Events



Grand River Powwow (519-758-5444; www.grpowwow.com; adult/child $10/2; 4th weekend in Jul) A major two-day cultural event over a midsummer weekend. Expect colorful dancers, traditional drumming and singing, competitions and aboriginal foods and crafts.



Sleeping & Eating

Along Colborne St E there are a handful of standard (some sub-standard) motels, plus Thai and Japanese eateries near the Queen St corner competing admirably with the usual fast-food suspects.

Bear’s Inn (519-445-4133; www.thebearsinn.com; 1979 4th Line Rd, Ohsweken; r incl breakfast $60-80; wi-fi) For an authentic taste of Six Nations hospitality, try Ohsweken’s Bear’s Inn in the heart of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. Comfortably decked out in rustic style, rooms range from studios to suites, with cable TV and continental breakfast. Wander around the village and stock up on cheap no-name cigarettes.

Getting There & Away

The Brantford Transit Terminal (519-756-5011; www.greyhound.ca; 64 Darling St; 7am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8:30am-4pm Sat) is downtown. Greyhound Canada connects to Toronto ($26, one to two hours, six daily), London ($24, 1ВЅ hours, five daily) and (via Hamilton) Niagara Falls ($30, four hours, three or four daily).

Brantford Train Station (519-752-0867; www.viarail.ca; 5 Wadsworth St; 7-10:30am & 11:30am-9pm Mon-Fri, 8:30-11:10am & noon-9pm Sat & Sun) has trains to Toronto ($29, one hour, five daily) and London ($30, one hour, five daily).


Return to beginning of chapter

GUELPH

Guelph’s population has almost doubled in the last decade (to around 140,000), thanks to its universities and вЂ˜bedroom burb’ commuter relationship with Toronto. Attractive brick houses that would make the Three Little Pigs proud flank tree-lined streets, upon which laid-back students on bicycles roll between lectures and Sleeman’s-drinking sessions (the town’s famous beer).

Orientation & Information

West of Toronto and 15km north of Hwy 401, Guelph forms an abstract grid at the junction of the Speed and Eramosa rivers. Wyndam St is the main commercial zone, running north–south.



Guelph Visitor Information Centre (800-334-4519; www.visitguelphwellington.ca; 42 Wyndham St N; 10am-5:30pm Mon-Sat) At the time of research, the information center was thinking of relocating. Call them if they’re not where they’re supposed to be.



Sights & Activities

Lording over downtown Guelph is the dominant stone-faced bulk of the Church of Our Lady Immaculate (519-824-3951; ourlady@dionet.ca; 28 Norfolk St; admission by donation; 7am-dusk; ). It’s hard to move around town without catching a glimpse of Our Lady’s twin towers and elegantly proportioned rose window, which have been awing parishioners since 1888.

In a handsome 1847 stone house, the Guelph Civic Museum (519-836-1221; www.guelph.ca/museum; 6 Dublin St S; adult/concession/child/family $4/3/free/10; 1-5pm; ) offers exhibitions, programs and events digging up the history of the city (which, incidentally, is named after the British Royal Family’s ancestors the Guelphs). The вЂ˜Growing Up in Guelph’ kids’ exhibition makes a happy distraction.

Worthwhile shows occur in the Raymond Moriyama–designed galleries of the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre (519-837-0010; www.msac.uoguelph.ca; 358 Gordon St; adult/child $10/5; noon-5pm Tue-Sun; ), specializing in Inuit and Canadian art. The Donald Forster Sculpture Park outside features gravity-defying cubes, beached boats and cell phones spiked onto communist sickles.

The birthplace of John McCrae, McCrae House (519-836-1221; www.guelph.ca/museum; 108 Water St; adult/concession/child/family $4/3/free/10; 1-5pm, closed Sat Dec-Jun) is a modest stone museum laying out the trials and tribulations of his life. McCrae was a Canadian soldier and author of In Flanders Fields – an antiwar poem written during WWI, read by all Canadian school kids.

Go paddling with Speed River Canoe & Kayak Rentals (519-822-5692; speedriverpaddling@hotmail.com; 116 Gordon St; kayak/canoe rental per hr $8/10; 10am-dusk Tue-Sun Jun-Aug; ), then tackle the ice-cream store next door. This is also the starting point of a self-guided eco-heritage walk along the banks of the Speed and Eramosa Rivers, a 6km circuit with interpretive signs.

Ask at the visitors center about guided downtown walks.

Sleeping & Eating

The Guelph Area Bed & Breakfast Association (www.gabba.ca) has a crop of quality B&Bs on its books. If motels are more your style, there are a couple on Woodlawn Rd W, just north of town.

Parkview Motel (519-836-1410; www.parkviewmotel.ca; 721 Woolwich St; r from $60; ) A typically low-slung, low-key motel marginally closer-in, and marginally more charming than the rest. Shabby-looking doors open into cornflower-yellow walls, cleaner-than-usual bathrooms and comfy beds.

Cornerstone (519-827-0145; 1 Wyndham St N; mains $6-10; 8am-midnight Mon-Fri, from 9am Sat & Sun) A well-loved vegetarian café that’s just as comfortable for morning coffee and granola as it is for late-night pizzas and pints. Acoustic guitars are twanged on Sunday evenings, much to the appreciation of a mixed crew of purple-haired teens, old tea-sipping ladies, first-daters, parents and kids.

Entertainment

Bookshelf (519-821-3311; www.bookshelf.ca; 41 Quebec St; cinema tickets $9, brunch mains $4-14, dinner $16-22; 9am-9:30pm Mon-Sat, 10:30am-9pm Sun) Part lefty bookstore, part cinema, part café, Bookshelf is the pacemaker of Guelph’s cultural heartbeat. Swing by to read the paper, catch an art-house flick or have brunch in the Artisanale Café.

Getting There & Away

Guelph Bus Station (519-824-0771; www.greyhound.ca; cnr MacDonnell & Carden Sts; 8:30am-8:15pm Sun & Mon, from 5am Tue-Fri, from 6:30am Sat) has buses to Toronto ($22, 1Вј hours, 15 daily) and London ($25, 2Вѕ hours, seven daily).

Guelph Train Station (888-842-7245; www.viarail.ca; cnr Wyndham & Carden Sts; 6am-1pm & 4pm-midnight Mon-Fri, 9am-2pm & 4pm-midnight Sat & Sun) has trains to Toronto ($25, 1ВЅ hours, three daily) and London ($30, two hours, three daily).


Return to beginning of chapter

KITCHENER-WATERLOO

pop 280,000

Affectionately know as вЂ˜K-W’ (but not вЂ˜Kay-Dub’), these twin cities have formed a symbiotic, neighborly relationship rather than doing battle. Despite their proximity, they’re very different in attitude and appeal. Leafy, hilltop Waterloo is regularly voted one of Canada’s вЂ˜smartest cities.’ Waterloo universities churn out dot-com geniuses, many of whom find local employ at RIM (Research In Motion), home of the Blackberry.

At the bottom of the hill, Germanic Kitchener (called Berlin before WWII – oh the shame…), is a different prospect entirely. Derelict industrial monoliths, bong shops and tattoo parlors line the city’s hard-luck streets, awash with homeless alcoholics. Still, there’s a toothy integrity here, and it’s a surprisingly multicultural town with some good places to eat, drink and sleep.

Orientation & Information

The main throughway, King St, runs north–south from вЂ˜uptown’ Waterloo downhill into вЂ˜downtown’ Kitchener (it’s King St W and E in Kitchener, King St N and S in Waterloo). Kitchener is the bigger town, shouldering most of the civic responsibilities.



KW Tourism (519-745-3536, 800-265-6959; www.kwtourism.ca; 191 King St W, Kitchener; 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, noon-4pm Sat & Sun) Can help with maps and information on local walking tours, plus bike and nature trails. Echo is a free weekly, available from bookstores and restaurants around town.



Sights & Activities

KITCHENER MARKET

The building here is new, but Kitchener Market (519-741-2287; www.kitchenermarket.ca; 300 King St E, Kitchener; admission free; 7am-2pm Sat, also 8am-2pm Wed Jun-Oct; ) has been open downtown since 1839. Bread, jam, cheese, sausages and pecks of pickled peppers are cultivated and created by local Mennonite farmers (see boxed text), and are sold alongside handcrafted quilts, rugs, clothes and toys. More conventional farmers are here too – you can pretty much get anything you need for lunch on the run.

KITCHENER-WATERLOO ART GALLERY

Inject some art into your veins at the natty K-W Art Gallery (519-579-5860; www.kwag.on.ca; 101 Queen St N, Kitchener; admission free; 10am-5pm Mon-Wed, Fri & Sat, to 9pm Thu, 1-5pm Sun) in the Centre in the Square performance hall. There’s a 3500-piece art collection with a local bias, plus free public tours and seasonal studios in painting, drawing and sculpture for kids, teens and grown-ups (from $14).

DOON HERITAGE CROSSROADS

The re-created pioneer settlement at Doon Heritage Crossroads (519-748-1914; www.region.waterloo.on.ca; 10 Huron Rd, Kitchener; adult/concession/child/family $6/4/3/15; 10am-4:30pm May-Aug, Mon-Fri only Sep-Dec, closed Jan-Apr; ) chronicles the times when motors, telephones and electricity began to shake things up in K-W. Costumed volunteers walk the boardwalks between the general store and workshops, doing their best to help you time-travel.

CHILDREN’S MUSEUM

The K-W regional Children’s Museum (519-749-9387; www.thechildrensmuseum.ca; 10 King St W, Kitchener; admission $7; 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat, noon-5pm Sun, closed Mon & Tue Sep-Jun; ) has been well received by the young and not-so-young since it opened in 2003. Hands-on technological and educational displays have different themes every month (like вЂ˜Measure your ecological footprint’ and вЂ˜Smile – the tooth and nothing but the tooth!’) while the permanent building-block display is a big hit. Parking costs $2.

JOSEPH SCHNEIDER HAUS

A national historic site, Joseph Schneider Haus (519-742-7752; www.region.waterloo.on.ca; 466 Queen St S, Kitchener; adult/concession/child/family $2.25/1.50/1.25/5; 10am-5pm Jul-Aug, 10am-5pm Wed-Sat & 1-5pm Sun Sep-Jun; ) was one of the first homes built in the area, and has been restored to full 19th-century splendor. Originally built for a prosperous Pennsylvanian Mennonite, the architecture is amazing, as are demonstrations of day-to-day 1800s chores and skills (everything from beadwork to making corn-husk dolls).

Festivals & Events



Ontario Mennonite Relief Sale (519-745-8458; www.nhmrs.com; last weekend in May) In New Hamburg, 19km west of Kitchener-Waterloo, a pancake breakfast, Mennonite food sale and an auction of handmade quilts and wall coverings is held, raising money for the needy worldwide.

Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival (519-885-1921; www.uptownwaterloojazz.ca; mid-Jul) Big-time jazz, small-town environment.

Waterloo Busker Carnival (519-747-8769; www.waterloo-buskers.com; late Aug) Street performers from around the world entertain and bedazzle; a must-see if you’re in the area.

Oktoberfest (519-570-4267, 888-294-4267; www.oktoberfest.ca; early–mid-Oct) Willkommen to this nine-day beery Bavarian bash – the biggest of its kind in North America and possibly the largest outside of Germany. It’s K-W’s favorite event, bringing in about 500,000 people each year – sauerkraut, oompah bands, lederhosen and biergartens galore. Book accommodations well in advance.



Sleeping

There are plenty of motels on Victoria St N west of King St, or along King St E south of downtown toward Hwy 401. KW Tourism can help with finding B&Bs, as can the Waterloo Region Bed & Breakfast Association (www.bbwaterlooregion.ca).

Bingemans Camping Resort (519-744-1002, 800-565-4631; www.bingemans.com; 425 Bingemans Centre Dr, Kitchener; unpowered/powered sites $32/34, cabins from $65, reservations $8; ) South of Hwy 401 is Bingemans, a combined water park and campground with enough pools, ponds and waterslides to warrant вЂ˜Great Lake’ status. The cabins are nothing spectacular, but sleep four.

Sunbridge Crescent B&B (519-743-4557, 877-743-4557; www.sunbridgecres.com; 11 Sunbridge Cres, Kitchener; d incl breakfast $95-140; wi-fi) The new owners of this quiet neighborhood house have stripped out the old wallpaper, brought in new beds and quality linen and shunted the breakfast menu into the realm of frittatas and omelets. There are four rooms here – the cheaper two share a bathroom – plus a backyard pool and hot tub.

Walper Terrace Hotel (519-745-4321, 800-265-8749; www.walper.com; 1 King St W, Kitchener; r from $110; wi-fi) There’s a rich sense of history at the old Walper, a downtown dame that’s been around the block a time or two. Quality renovations haven’t stifled this sense, and the friendly young staff keep the love flowing by failing to be remotely snooty.

Eating & Drinking

Fiedler’s (519-745-8356; 197 King St E, Kitchener; items $3-6; 8am-6pm Tue-Fri, 7am-4pm Sun) Thanks to Kitchener’s Euro heritage, you’ll find a few continental delis like this one along King St. Not far from the market, Fiedler’s is stacked full of cheeses, rye breads, sausages and salamis.

Still Bar & Grill (519-743-5657; 125 King St W, Kitchener; mains $6-10; 11am-late) The Still has a huge, glassed-in patio abutting an outdoor sand volleyball court – if that doesn’t spell вЂ˜good times,’ we don’t know what does! Inside it’s open, airy and dark – plenty of nooks in which to sip your pint (a dozen beers on tap) or launch into burgers, pizzas, nachos, salads and wraps.

Symposium Café (519-746-3550; 2-4 King St N, Waterloo; mains $9-14; 7am-midnight Mon-Fri, 8am-2am Sat, 8am-midnight Sun) Downstairs at the old Waterloo Hotel, Symposium conducts itself with confused success. Sometimes it feels like a beer barn, sometimes it thinks it’s a flight lounge, and sometimes it’s a breezy café – whichever incarnation you encounter, you can be sure of a solid feed. Pizza, pasta, burgers, steaks and sandwiches, plus an awesome martini menu.

Concordia Club (519-745-5617; 429 Ottawa St S, Kitchener; lunch mains $7-12, dinner $12-20; 11:30am-2pm & 5:30-10:30pm Mon-Sat, 11am-2pm Sun) Polish up your German verbs and fill up on schnitzel at Concordia, a Teutonic fave that’s been around for decades. Dark wood, low ceilings, white linen and loud conversation complement the menu. There’s red-hot polka action on Friday and Saturday nights, and a summer biergarten.

Entertainment

Waterloo Entertainment Centre (519-883-0300; www.waterlooentertainmentcentre.com; 24 King St N, Waterloo; tickets adult/concession/child $38/14/14; box office 10am-5pm Mon-Fri) Just two years old, the very вЂ˜uptown’ WEC occupies a renovated 1930s cinema, inside of which it hosts classical concerts, raucous jazz sessions and premieres of new Canadian plays.

Theatre & Company (519-571-0928; www.theatreandcompany.org; 36 King St W, Kitchener; tickets adult/concession $23/21; box office 11am-7pm Thu-Fri & 11am-4pm Sat) Theatre & Co puts on some fantastically quirky and whimsical productions, ranging from classical to new Canadian works. Wednesday is вЂ˜Pay What You Can’ night.

Centre in the Square (519-578-1570, 800-265-8977; www.centre-square.com; 101 Queen St N, Kitchener; tickets $20-120; varies) This hefty performance hall hosts live musical acts like KISS and Beatles tribute acts (sometimes accompanied by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony), comedy and Broadway productions like Rent and Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Getting There & Around

From Waterloo International Airport (YFK; 519-648-2256; www.waterlooairport.ca; 4881 Fountain St N, Breslau), 7km east of town, there are daily flights to Calgary with WestJet and to Detroit with Northwest Airlines.

Greyhound Canada operates from the Charles St Transit Terminal (800-661-8747; www.greyhound.ca; 15 Charles St W, Kitchener; 5:15am-12:15am Mon-Sat, from 6:45am Sun), a five-minute walk from downtown. Buses run to Toronto ($23, 1ВЅ to two hours, hourly) and London ($21, 1ВЅ to two hours, six daily).

Kitchener Train Station (888-842-7245; www.viarail.ca; cnr Victoria & Weber Sts; 5:45am-1:30pm & 4-11:45pm Mon-Thu, 5:45am-11:45pm Fri-Sun) is an easy walk north of downtown. Trains serve Toronto ($29, 1Вѕ hours, three daily) and London ($26, 1ВЅ hours, three daily).

Grand River Transit (519-585-7555; www.grt.ca; one-way $2.50, day pass $7; 6am-midnight) has extensive services in the K-W area. Bus 7 traverses King St every 10 minutes or so.



* * *



SCENIC DRIVE: O(LD) CANADA

For a scenic, time-tripping drive through Wellington County’s villages, rattling cornfields, lonesome farmhouses and rust-red barns, head north along King St N from Kitchener-Waterloo to St Jacobs. Take Rte 17 east to Rte 23 and turn left. Take another left on Rivers Edge Dr and rekindle youthful romance (or start a new one) at the Kissing Bridge. Constructed in 1880 to protect the bridge surface from the elements, it’s Ontario’s only remaining covered bridge. Wipe off the lipstick on the far side and turn right onto Kissing Bridge Dr, then turn left onto Rte 86 and roll into Mennonite Elmira. Keep driving west on Rte 86, hanging left onto Rte 10 and detouring into leafy, agricultural Hawkesville. Rte 10 continues south to utilitarian St Clements. Leave town on Rte 15 west and turn left onto Moser-Young Rd to Bamberg, then left again onto Rte 12 to St Agatha with its unmissable church steeple. Keep going south on Rte 12 through Petersburg, where you’ll turn left onto Rte 8 which lands you back in Kitchener.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

ST JACOBS & AROUND

For some exposure to Mennonite ways (see boxed text), drive 6km north of Waterloo along King St N to the historic river village of St Jacobs – don’t be surprised if you pass a horse and buggy along the way. The town has become an artsy-craftsy tourist trap (wanna learn how to make a quilt?), selling its soul down the river, but the original stone buildings and fantastic market retain a steadfast charm.



* * *



WORTH THE TRIP: COUNTRY PUB CRAWL

For your pint-sloshing pleasure, four pre-1875 taverns await you in the isolated communities west of K-W. Designate a non-drinking driver (sucker!) and have yourself a fine country time.





Blue Moon (519-634-8405; www.thebluemoon.ca; 1677 Snyders Rd E, Petersburg; 11:30am-late Mon-Sat) Take Hwy 7/8 west from Kitchener to Petersburg’s Georgian-style inn, built in 1848; a smokin’ place for live blues, Tuesday night jams and tasty pints of Blue Moon Pilsner.

EJ’s (519-634-5711; www.ejsatbaden.com; 39 Snyder Rd W, Baden; 11:30am-late, closed Mon) From Petersburg take Snyders Rd west to Baden to find hand-painted ceiling tiles, an 1891 oak bar and ornamental beer taps in this impressive redbrick edifice. Cozy, family vibes.

Kennedy’s Country Tavern (519-747-1313; 62 Erb Rd West, St Agatha; 11am-late) Backtrack to Petersburg, turn left onto Notre Dame Dr and head north into St Agatha. Kennedy’s is an Irish pub with a lively atmosphere and honest pints – mayhem on St Patrick’s Day!

Olde Heidelberg Brewery & Restaurant (519-699-4413; www.oldhh.com; cnr Kressler Rd & Lobsinger Line, Heidelberg; 11am-late) Take Rte 12 north from St Agatha, turn right onto Berlett’s Rd, left onto Wilmot Line and continue north to Heidelberg. Straight out of the вЂ˜40s, the only thing changing around here is the contents of the copper brew tanks out the back.





* * *



About 8km north of St Jacobs up Hwy 86, Elmira is a nuggety, working Mennonite town. The main street feels like it’s caught in a time warp: black buggies rattle past, the scent of cattle fills the air, and bonnets, braces and buttons are de rigueur.

Information



St Jacobs Visitors Centre (519-664-3518, 800-265-3353; www.stjacobs.com; 1406 King St, St Jacobs; 11am-5pm Mon-Sat & 1:30-5pm Sun Apr-Dec, 11am-4:30pm Mon-Sat & 2-4:30pm Sun Jan-Mar) Has effusive staff who field questions with confidence.



Sights & Activities

The lifeblood of the area is St Jacobs Farmers’ Market (519-747-1830, 800-265-3353; www.stjacobs.com; cnr King & Weber Sts, St Jacobs; 7am-3:30pm Thu & Sat, also 8am-3pm Tue Jun-Aug), 3km south of town – the quintessential country market with its earthy soul fully intact. Locals from miles around flock here for the high-quality produce, smoked meat, cheese, baked treats, arts and crafts. Across the street is the smaller Sunday Market (10am-4pm Sun Mar-Dec) – less busy than St Jacobs, but still selling quality local products.

Venture downstairs at the St Jacobs Visitors Centre to see The Mennonite Story (adult/child $4/free), an insightful exhibition on the Mennonites, their history, culture and agricultural achievements.

Saccharine but interesting, the Maple Syrup Museum of Ontario (519-664-1232; www.stjacobs.com; 1441 King St N, St Jacobs; admission free; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, noon-5:30pm Sun; ) is on the 3rd floor of the old mill by the river. Peer quizzically into display cases full of spiles, buckets, taps and tanks, and check out the short film Liquid Gold of Spring.

Festivals & Events



Elmira Maple Syrup Festival (877-969-0094; www.elmiramaplesyrup.com; 1st Sat in Apr) Spring street festivities and pancake breakfasts soaked in the good stuff.



Sleeping & Eating

Benjamin’s (519-664-3731; www.stjacobs.com/benjamins; 1430 King St N, St Jacobs; d $90-145; ) A renovated 1852 inn right in the middle of St Jacobs, Benjamin’s looks a little weary from the outside, but the rooms are comfortable, bright and spacious (with mandatory quilts).

Stone Crock Bakery (519-664-3612; 1402 King St N, St Jacobs; items $2-6; 6:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5:30pm Sun) The Stone Crock Bakery is a Mennonite-run bakehouse selling fruit pies, muffins, breads, quiches and scones fresh from the oven – they taste as good as they smell. Avoid the piped patio muzac and get yours to go.

Benjamin’s Dining Room (519-664-3731; 1430 King St N, St Jacobs; lunch mains $10-15, dinner $18-32; 11:30am-4:30pm & 5-9pm) Trad pasta, chicken, seafood and steak dishes pepper the menu in the dining room at Benjamin’s, with a stone fireplace and occasional jazz bebopping in the corner.



* * *



THE MENNONITES

Many people see the Mennonites as curious social hark-backs: black-clad, carriage-riding, traditional farmers eschewing modern life. True enough in an orthodox sense, but many Mennonites are less hard-line, and their history and culture goes deeper than these surface impressions.



The Mennonite timeline arcs back to a 16th-century Swiss Protestant sect who was forced to move around Europe due to religious disagreements. During a stay in Holland it acquired their name from one of its Dutch leaders, Menno Simons. Another leader, William Penn, promised religious freedom and prosperity in the rural settings of what is now Pennsylvania in the USA. News of cheaper land and more of it in southern Ontario lured many Mennonites north in the late 19th century. The Mennonites’ unwillingness to fight under the US flag hastened their exodus.



Ontario has several groups of Mennonites. The вЂ˜plain’ group is known for simple clothes and simple living. The Old Order Mennonites are the strictest and most rigid in their practices and beliefs. They are similar to the Amish, for whom even buttons on clothes are considered a vanity. They don’t worship in a church but hold services in undecorated houses within the community. You might see less-strict Mennonites chatting on cell phones or tightening the velcro on their kids’ shoes (even jumping into pickup trucks!), but the basic values of their society still apply: family, humility, simplicity, modesty and pacifism.



For more detailed history and information, see www.mhsc.ca.





* * *




Return to beginning of chapter

CENTRE WELLINGTON: ELORA & FERGUS

In boxing parlance, the Centre Wellington district of Wellington County is punching well above its weight. Linked by the sinuous, fish-filled Grand River, the area’s main towns – seductive Elora and practical Fergus – have been proactive in keeping their old buildings, mills and farms looking as good as old. This sets the scene for crowd-pulling festivals, snug pubs and outstanding accommodations – plan to stay a few days!

Information

The Fergus Information Centre (519-843-5140, 877-242-6353; www.elorafergus.ca; 400 Tower St S, Fergus; 10am-5pm) is a well-stocked, informative tourist office. The same can be said of the Elora Welcome Centre (519-846-2563; www.elora.info; 5 Mill St E, Elora; 10am-5pm), just near the bridge.

Sights & Activities

Midway between Fergus and Elora, an austere, red-roofed former вЂ˜Poor House’ provided refuge for the aged and homeless for almost a century before becoming the Wellington County Museum (519-846-0916; www.wcm.on.ca; Rte 18, Elora; adult/concession/child $3/2/1; 9:30am-noon & 1-4:30pm Mon-Fri, noon-4pm Sat & Sun; ) in 1957. Historical and local modern-art exhibits extend through 12 galleries, displaying an obvious pride in local history and current culture. The centerpiece is the recreated WWII trench with mannequins cast from descendants of actual Wellington County residents who fought in the war.

About 2km south of Elora is the photo-worthy Elora Gorge Conservation Area (519-846-9742, 866-668-2267; www.grandriver.ca; Rte 21, Elora; adult/child $4/2.50; late Apr–mid-Oct; ), a plunging limestone canyon through which the Grand River seethes. Easy walks extend to cliff views, caves and the Cascade waterfalls – a sheet of white water spilling over a stepped cliff. For a free gorge view, head to the end of James St, off Metcalfe St in Elora.

Tubing (rentals $13) – the gentle art of floating down the river in an inner tube – is a lazy way to spend a warm afternoon at the gorge. You can also camp here (see opposite).

There are several parks and conservation areas along the Grand River south of Centre Wellington, offering river access, swimming and walking trails. If you’re into canoeing, Adventure Paddling (519-827-6849; www.adventurepaddling.com; courses from $125) runs one-day and weekend courses and trips.

A short walk east of Elora are the possibly bottomless waters and 12m limestone cliffs of the Elora Quarry Conservation Area (519-846-9742; www.grandrivercountry.com; Rte 18, Eloral; adult/child $4/2.50; dawn-dusk Jun-Aug; ) – a superb swimming hole. Hormone-fuelled teens plummet from great heights, despite signs suggesting they don’t.

Tours



Elora Historic Walking Tours (519-846-2563; info@elora.info; $5; May-Sep) Ask the Elora Welcome Centre for a schedule.

Elora-Fergus Studio Tour (877-242-6353; www.elorafergusstudiotour.ca; late Sep) Pan-weekend self-guided tours visiting local artisans’ workshops.



Festivals & Events



Elora Festival (519-846-0331, 800-747-7550; www.elorafestival.com; mid-Jul–mid-Aug) A classical, jazz, folk and arts festival with concerts at the quarry and in the town’s salt barn (the acoustics are wicked!). Singers and musos from around the country crowd the schedule of Elora’s premier event.

Fergus Scottish Festival and Highland Games (519-787-0099, 866-871-9442; www.fergusscottishfestival.com; two days mid-Aug) If it’s not Scottish, it doesn’t count: tugs-of-war, caber tossing, bagpipes, Celtic dancing, kilts, haggis and Scotch nosing (aka tasting). Hoots!



Sleeping

With more than 100 B&Bs in Centre Wellington, you’ll have no trouble finding a place to stay. Visitors centers can help with contacts, or check availability online with the Fergus Elora Bed & Breakfast Association (www.febba.ca).

Elora Gorge Conservation Area Campground (519-846-9742, 866-668-2267; www.grandriver.ca; Rte 18, Elora; unpowered/powered sites $27/32, reservations $9; ) More than 550 campsites in six distinct, riverside zones – overflowing during summer, especially on holiday weekends.

Drew House (519-846-2226; www.drewhouse.com; 120 Mill St E, Elora; r incl breakfast from $90; ) Run by a charismatic duo – a Basque chef and a New Jersey journo – Drew House unites the old world with the new. Choose to stay in the renovated stable suites (with private bathrooms), or the old guestrooms (with shared bathrooms) in the main house. Yard-thick stone walls whisper history as you drift into dreams, before waking to a breakfast of fresh fruit (from the St Jacobs Farmers’ Market), hot coffee and bacon and eggs cooked how you love them. Warm-heartedness and value for money in perfect harmony.

Elora Mill Inn (519-846-9118; www.eloramill.com; 77 Mill St W, Elora; r $200-320; wi-fi) The limestone walls and massive wooden beams of the old, five-story Elora Mill stand literally on the edge of the river, an enduring reminder of the town’s industrious past. The moody, luxurious restoration inside is fabulous, but be warned: with wealth comes a certain snobbery. Laugh it off and you’ll sleep fine.

Eating & Drinking

Desert Rose Café (519-846-0433; 130 Metcalfe St, Elora; mains $7-12; 11:30am-7pm Wed, Thu & Sun, to 8pm Fri & Sat) A local fave that manages to be vegetarian whilst retaining Mexican and Greek influences (the place accidentally went meat-free 26 years ago when the pork delivery didn’t arrive). It’s hard to beat the moussaka or black-bean chili, and the atmosphere is earthy and wholesome.

Shepherd’s Pub (519-846-5775; 8 Mill St W, Elora; mains $9-13; noon-10pm) Pubby mains and cold pints of Guinness by the river (almost in the river!). All-day breakfast fry-ups, beer-battered fish and chips, and hearty pies will revive you if you spent too long here the night before.

The Brewhouse (519-843-8871; 170 St David St S, Fergus; mains $10-19; 11:30am-3pm & 6-10pm) Wave to the fly-fishermen on the Grand River from the shady Brewhouse patio as you weigh up the benefits of a chunky soup, burger or curried chicken enchilada. Cozy bar, Euro beers on tap and live music to boot.

Getting There & Away

Greyhound Canada stops on Bridge St in Fergus, and at the Little Katy Variety Store (519-846-5951; www.greyhound.ca; 185 Geddes St, Elora; 9am-7pm) in Elora, heading to/from Toronto ($23, two hours, once daily).


Return to beginning of chapter

STRATFORD

Encircled by farmland, Stratford elevates itself above docile, rural Ontario with its world-famous Shakespeare festival. Primped to English-country-garden perfection, the affluent township profits from the festival trade and tries hard to inject вЂ˜The Bard’ into all facets of life; Stratford-upon-Avon in England almost pales in comparison! You might find it endearing, or perhaps a little tragic – either way, it’s never dull.

Orientation & Information

Queen’s Park and the main Festival Theatre are at the east end of town, just north of Ontario St. From the park, Lakeside Dr runs along the river back into town.



Stratford Public Library (519-271-0220; www.stratford.library.on.ca; 19 St Andrew St; 1-9pm Mon, 9:30am-9pm Tue-Sat, 2-5pm Sun, closed Mon May-Oct) Free internet access.

Stratford Tourism (519-271-5140, 800-561-7926; www.welcometostratford.com) Downtown (47 Downie St; 8:30am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 4:30pm Jun-Aug) Riverside (30 York St; 10am-8pm Tue-Sun Jun-Sep) Help with accommodations and all things вЂ˜Festival.’



Sights & Activities

Stratford’s swan-filled Avon River (what else were they going to call it?) flows slowly past the town, with plenty of riverbank lawns on which to chill out. Just west of Stratford Tourism on the riverbank, the Shakespearean Gardens (admission free; dawn-dusk) occupy the site of an old wool mill. Parterre gardens, manicured box hedges, herbs, roses and a bronze bust of Bill – pick up a brochure at Stratford Tourism.

Further along the river is Queen’s Park, with paths leading from the Festival Theatre along the river past Orr Dam and an 1885 stone bridge to a formal English flower garden.

The Stratford-Perth Museum (519-271-5311; www.stratfordperthmuseum.ca; Discovery Centre, 270 Water St; admission by donation; 10am-5pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun & Mon May-Aug, 10am-4pm Tue-Sat Sep-Apr; ), beside the Festival Theatre, has collections of 20th-century Canadiana and historical and cultural exhibitions revolving around military, textile and kid-friendly themes.

In a renovated 1880s pump house is Gallery Stratford (519-271-5271; www.gallerystratford.on.ca; 54 Romeo St; adult/concession/child $5/4/free; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun Jun-Nov, 1-4pm Tue-Sun Dec-May; ), exhibiting innovative contemporary art with a Canadian emphasis. If your timing’s good, there are regular art studios, movie nights and family days. Bring a picnic and wander over to Queen’s Park afterwards.

Tours



Boat Tours (519-271-7739; fherr@sympatico.ca; 30 York St; 30min tours adult/concession/child $7/6/3; 9am-dusk May-Oct) Take in the parks, swans, riverbanks and grand gardens on Avon River tours departing below Stratford Tourism by the river. Canoes, kayaks and paddleboats can also be rented (per hour $15 to $25).

Festival Tours: The Double Deck Experience (519-273-1652, 866-502-7956; www.festivaltours.on.ca; 1hr tour adult/concession/child/family $13/12/7/35; 10:30am, 12:30pm & 2pm Jun-Sep) No, it’s not a deck-spinning DJ session, but rather a red double-decker bus tootling around town. Tours depart York Lane near the river.

Heritage Walk (519-271-5140, 800-561-7926; www.stratfordperthheritage.ca; 30 York St; 90min tours free; 9:30am Tue-Sat Jul-Aug, Sat only May, Jun & Sep) Oozing historic content, free guided walking tours depart Stratford Tourism by the Avon.



Festivals & Events



Stratford Garden Festival (519-271-7500; www.stratfordgardenfestival.com; Stratford Coliseum, 20 Glastonbury Dr; admission $8; early Mar) A four-day horticultural extravaganza, featuring flora from around the world, guest speakers and presentations.

Stratford Festival (Apr-Nov) See boxed text opposite.

Stratford Summer Music (519-273-1600, 800-567-1600; www.stratfordsummermusic.ca; tickets free-$35; mid-Jul–mid-Aug) Four weeks of classical, cabaret and theatrical music, with acclaimed musicians from around Canada tuning up and letting loose.



Sleeping

There is a veritable plethora of accommodations in Stratford, but locals aren’t shy about exploiting their captive theater-going guests for top prices. The majority of rooms are B&B-style, but there are several well-appointed, traditional inns too. If you’re a registered festival-goer, the Stratford Festival Visitor Accommodation Bureau (519-273-1600, 800-567-1600; www.stratfordfestival.ca) can help with bookings.

Stratford General Hospital Residence (SGH Residence; 519-271-5084; sgh.residence@hpha.ca; 130 Youngs St; s/d $55/65; ) By far the most affordable beds in town are at this renovated nurses’ quarters: 360 spotlessly maintained rooms with shared bathrooms, kitchens and a heated pool. As close to youth hostel as you’ll find round these here parts.

Swan Motel (519-271-6376; www.swanmotel.on.ca; Downie St S; r $96-117; wi-fi) It’s great when you meet people at the top of their game. The owners of the Swan Motel most certainly are – we challenge you to find a better-maintained, cleaner, more affable motel in southwestern Ontario! About 3km south of town; closed from December to April.

Acrylic Dreams (519-271-7874; www.acrylicdreams.com; 66 Bay St; r incl breakfast $110-145; wi-fi) How can you go past a name like this? Owned by an artsy husband-and-wife team (there are more than a few acrylic masterpieces on the walls), this renovated 1879 B&B has polished wooden floorboards and quirky country decor. Vegetarian breakfasts fuel your 15-minute walk into town.

Mercer Hall Inn (519-271-1888, 888-816-4011; www.mercerhallinn.com; 108 Ontario St; d $120-190; wi-fi) Another fine choice with liberal luxuries, Mercer Hall Inn does things with more class than most. Uniquely artistic rooms with handcrafted furniture, kitchenettes, electric fireplaces and whirlpools steer refreshingly clear of Shakespeare.



* * *



THE STRATFORD FESTIVAL

Sir Alec Guinness played Richard III on opening night of the much-lauded Stratford Festival (519-273-1600, 800-567-1600; www.stratfordfestival.ca; Festival Theatre, Queen’s Park, 55 Queen St; tickets $26-108; box office 9am-5pm Mon-Sat Jan-May, 9am-8pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat, to 2pm Sun Jun-Oct), which began humbly in a tent at Queen’s Park. The festival, with more than 50 seasons under its belt, has achieved international acclaim. Productions are first-rate and feature respected actors, but there’s a vague sense in the wider theatergoing community that the festival has become an unwieldy show-pony, straying dangerously far from its Shakespearean roots. Whatever your impression, Stratford is certainly vibrant during the festival, and there’s no better excuse to don your tights and pantaloons and wax lyrical!



Aside from the plays, there’s a peripheral schedule of interesting programs, including post-performance discussions, backstage tours, lectures, concerts and readings. Some are free; some charge a nominal fee.



The festival plays a monster season from April right through to November. Four theaters stage contemporary and modern drama and music, operas and, of course, works by the Bard. Mainstage productions occur at the 1800-seat Festival Theatre. The Avon Theatre is the secondary venue, putting more than 1000 bums on seats. The Tom Patterson Theatre and Studio Theatre are more intimate.



Tickets go on sale to the general public in early January, and by showtime nearly every performance is sold out (book your tickets months ahead). Spring previews and fall end-of-season shows are often discounted by 30%, with 50% off вЂ˜rush’ tickets on sale two hours before showtime.





* * *



Bentley’s Inn (519-271-1121, 800-361-5322; www.bentleys-annex.com; 99 Ontario St; r $130-195; wi-fi) This modern, dark-wood furnished inn houses commodious bi-level suites and lofts. Skylights, kitchenettes and period furnishings are standard, the receptionists are friendly and the café downstairs is always pumping. Cheaper off-season rates.

Eating & Drinking

Tango CafГ© & Grill (519-271-9202; 104 Ontario St; lunch mains $5-10, dinner $10-14; 7am-8pm Mon-Sat, from 8am Sun) Aromatic coffee has bean-fiends tango-ing through the doors here, many of whom decide to stay for a tasty sandwich, omelet, burger or salad. Fair trade coffee blends include the light-roasted вЂ˜Sleepy Monk’ and tongue-in-cheek вЂ˜Moonbucks.’

York Street Kitchen (519-273-7041; 41 York St; mains $7-16; 8am-8pm) This technicolor bunker at the bottom of an old riverside warehouse dishes up homestyle cooking: show-stopper sandwiches on homemade bread, cheese platters, salads, soups and desserts. Try the вЂ˜Mennonite’ sandwich: sausage, cheddar, corn relish, tomato, honey mustard, mayo and lettuce.

Raja (519-271-3271; 10 St George St W; mains $10-18; noon-3pm & 5-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat) Challenging Stratford’s demure Anglo tastes with funky lashings of chili and spice, Raja plates up super curries, soups, salads, breads, vegetarian and tandoori dishes from the subcontinent. Staff are dapper and unfailingly polite.

Down the Street Bar & Restaurant (519-273-5886; 30 Ontario St; lunch mains $11-13, dinner $17-26; 11:30am-1am Tue-Sat) With gorgeous gilt mirrors and old neons stirring memories of Parisian cafés, this place offers pre-theater dining, microbrews (try the Stratford Pilsner) and wines by the glass. The menu is multicultural (thin-crust pizzas, tandoori lamb chops) and after the food stocks have been exhausted the bar steps up as one of Stratford’s more kickin’ nocturnal haunts.

Avoca (519-272-9704; 23 Albert St; lunch mains $12-14, dinner $22-27; 11:30am-2pm & 5-8:30pm) Proudly displaying вЂ˜Stratford’s Best Restaurant’ accolades, Avoca sports a selective menu, dancing around the planet from UK ploughman’s lunch and yellow Thai curry to Mediterranean fettuccine and San Fran cioppino (fish stew). Service and surrounds are refined.

Old Prune (519-271-5052; 151 Albert St; lunch mains $10-30, prix fixe dinner $71; 11:30am-1pm Wed-Sun, 5-9pm Tue-Sat, to 7pm Sun) Next to the Stratford Chef’s School, this Edwardian eatery features student chefs and tables overlooking a tranquil garden. The вЂ˜two unclaimed treasures lost in the wastelands of life’ who run the show serve up fresh, organic and innovative contemporary food, with just a hint of QuГ©becois cuisine. Make reservations.

Getting There & Away

For select summer weekend matinees, Toronto Direct buses depart Toronto’s York Mills TTC subway station at 10am, returning from Stratford at 7pm (round trip $45). Contact the Festival Theatre box office for schedules and reservations.

Greyhound Canada stops at the Stratford Bus Depot (519-273-2160; www.greyhound.ca; 219 Frederick St; 9am-1:30pm & 2:30-5pm), 2km east of town, with buses to Toronto ($34, three hours, two daily) and London ($15, one hour, two daily).

VIA Rail runs from Stratford Train Station (888-842-7245; www.viarail.ca; 101 Shakespeare St; 5:30am-1pm & 5pm-12:30am Mon-Fri, 8am-1:30pm & 3:30-11pm Sat, 8am-1pm & 5pm-12:30am Sun) to Toronto ($37, 2ВЅ hours, three daily) and London ($17, one hour, three daily).


Return to beginning of chapter





LONDON

pop 348,000

The Thames, Covent Garden, Pall Mall and Oxford St – that’s London, right? You betcha, but beyond nomenclature, this version has nothing in common with its namesake. Midway between Toronto and Detroit, London Ontario is a staid, functional student town that seems hell-bent on trying to be something more than it really is. Take the students out of the picture (they remove themselves every summer) and London seems little more than a loose affiliation of tattoo parlors, homeless strugglers and Anglo street signs. Still, the music scene is rockin’, there are some cool local festivals, and one thing they do better here than in the UK is food – enough to keep you distracted for a few days.

Orientation & Information

East–west Dundas St and north–south Richmond St converge at the center of town. The northern end of Richmond St is вЂ˜Richmond Row,’ a hip strip of shops, eateries and cafГ©s.



Attic Books (519-432-7277; www.atticbooks.ca; 240 Dundas St; 10am-5:30pm Mon-Thu & Sat, to 9pm Fri) Classy and kooky secondhand books.

Head 2 Head (519-434-5591; 246 Dundas St; per hr $4; 24hr) Internet access.

London Public Library (519-661-4600; www.londonpubliclibrary.ca; 251 Dundas St; 9am-9pm Mon-Thu, to 6pm Fri, to 5pm Sat, 1-5pm Sun) Slick modern book barn with a cafГ©, reading garden, free internet and wi-fi.

Post Office (800-267-1177; www.canadapost.ca; cnr Dufferin & Richmond Sts; 8am-5pm Mon-Fri)

Tourism London (519-661-5000, 800-265-2602; www.londontourism.ca) Downtown (267 Dundas St; 8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun) Wellington Rd (696 Wellington Rd S; 8:30am-8pm) The downtown office shares a building with the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and its interesting/gory displays of brains, hearts and bones.



Sights & Activities

MUSEUM OF ONTARIO ARCHAEOLOGY

An educational and research facility affiliated with the University of Western Ontario, the Museum of Ontario Archaeology (519-473-1360; 1600 Attawandaron Rd; www.uwo.ca/museum; adult/concession/child/family $4/3.25/2/10; 10am-4:30pm daily May-Aug, Wed-Sun only Sep-Dec, 1-4pm Sat & Sun Jan-Apr; ) displays materials and artifacts spanning 11,000 years of aboriginal history in Ontario. Lawson Prehistoric Indian Village (May-Nov) is an active excavation of a 500-year-old village next to the museum.

MUSEUM LONDON

Relating London’s story from 1826 to today through artifacts, maps, documents and photos, Museum London (519-661-0333; www.museumlondon.ca; 421 Ridout St N; admission by donation; noon-5pm Tue-Sun; ) is the architectural love-child of a greenhouse and a loaf of bread. Also exhibited are contemporary and classical art pieces by local artists. Also on-site is Eldon House (admission by donation Wed & Sun, adult/concession/child/family $6/5/1/11 other days; noon-5pm Tue-Sun Jun-Sep, Wed-Sat May & Oct-Dec, Sat & Sun Jan-Apr), London’s oldest residence, which places you in the past rather than attempt to describe it. Ignore the ugly condo tower going up across the street (my, haven’t we evolved?). Parking costs $1.25 per hour.

SKA-NAH-DOHT IROQUOIAN VILLAGE & MUSEUM

Recreating a 1000-year-old Iroquois longhouse community, Ska-Nah-Doht Iroquoian Village & Museum (519-264-2420; www.owerthames-conservation.on.ca; Longwoods Rd Conservation Area; adult/concession/child $3/2/free; 9am-4:30pm daily May-Sep, Mon-Fri only Oct-Apr; ) is 32km west of London. Village structures are encircled by a maze; the museum contains artifacts thousands of years old and recounts the area’s history. Outside the walls are First Nations crops and burial platforms. From London, take Hwy 402 to interchange 86 then follow Hwy 2 west.

BANTING HOUSE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

This historic site (519-673-1752; www.diabetes.ca; 442 Adelaide St N; adult/concession/child/family $4/3/free/8; noon-4pm Tue-Sat; ) is where Nobel Prize winner Sir Frederick Banting devised the method for extracting insulin in the 1920s. A pilgrimage site for diabetics, the meticulously curated museum outlines the history of diabetes, and chronicles Banting’s medical contributions.

FANSHAWE PIONEER VILLAGE

Explore London’s history at the 30-building Fanshawe Pioneer Village (519-457-1296; www.fanshawepioneervillage.ca; 1424 Clarke Rd; adult/concession/child/family $5/3/4/15; 10am-4:30pm Tue-Sun May-Oct; ) on the eastern edge of town. Costumed blacksmiths, farmers and craftspeople carry out their duties in true 19th-century-pioneer-village-life style. At the adjoining Fanshawe Conservation Area you can swim, walk and camp Click here.

PONDS & BOGS

In the west side of town, oozy Sifton Bog (519-451-2800; www.thamesriver.on.ca; off Oxford St W; admission free; dawn-dusk; ) is a peaty acid bog that’s home to unusual plants and animals, including lemmings, shrews, carnivorous sundew plants, white-tailed deer and nine varieties of orchid.

South of town behind the Tourism London office, Westminster Ponds (519-451-2800; www.thamesriver.on.ca; off Wellington Rd S; admission free; dawn-dusk; ) is an area of woods, bogs and ponds sustaining a veritable zoo of creatures, including fox, turtles and herons.



ROYAL CANADIAN REGIMENT MUSEUM

Inside the austere Wolseley Hall, the Royal Canadian Regiment Museum (519-660-5102; www.rcrmuseum.ca; 750 Elizabeth St; adult/concession/child $5/4/3; 10am-4pm Tue-Fri, noon-4pm Sat & Sun; ) focuses on the oldest infantry regiment in Canada, with displays covering the North-West Rebellion of 1885 through both world wars to the Korean War.

Tours



Double Decker Sightseeing Tour (519-661-5000, 800-265-2602; www.londontourism.ca; cnr Wellington & Dundas Sts; 2hr tour adult/child $12/5; 10am daily late Jun–Aug) Top-deck London views on a London bus; departing the downtown Tourism London office.



Festivals & Events



Bluesfest International (519-488-1240; www.thebluesfest.ca; mid-Jul) My woman done left me, and my dog went with her… Big names like Robert Cray play the blues.

London Beer Festival (519-672-1967; www.londonbeerfest.ca; mid-Jul) Put your drinkin’ shoes on.

Home County Folk Festival (519-432-4310; www.homecounty.ca; mid-Jul) Free four-day event in Victoria Park where middle-sized names take the stage. Dance, crafts, food and kids’ entertainment.

London Fringe Festival (519-434-0606; www.londonfringe.ca; late Jul–mid-Aug) Eleven days of theater, spoken word, film and visual arts around downtown.



Sleeping

The London & Area B&B Association (www.londonbb.ca) lists accommodations from around $55 for singles, $70 for doubles. Tourism London also publishes rate sheets for local hotels and B&Bs. Wellington Rd south of town and Dundas St E are predictable motel/fast-food/sex-shop strips.

Fanshawe Conservation Area Campground (519-451-2800, 866-668-2267; www.thamesriver.on.ca; 1424 Clarke Rd; unpowered/powered sites $25/29, reservations $9; late Apr–mid-Oct; ) Convenient camping within the city limits, across from Fanshawe Pioneer Village.

ACBB London (519-936-7823; www.allcanbb.com; 190 Wellington St; dm/d incl breakfast $25/55; wi-fi) Just south of town is this top-notch backpackers joint, run by an enthusiastic guy who claims to have personally assessed every hostel in New Zealand before siphoning the best ideas into his own version. Good security, friendly atmosphere, custom-made beds and mattresses, outdoor decks, clean bathrooms, well-equipped kitchens, free breakfast, barbecues and internet – it’s a simple formula, but rare that anyone gets it right!

Pink Chestnut (519-673-3963; www.pinkchestnut.com; 1035 Richmond St; r $50-80; ) Between the university and downtown, this 1920s house features over-the-top floral wallpaper, shared bathrooms and a filled-in swimming pool, but compensates with friendliness, coziness and tasty breakfasts. Look for the big pink chestnut tree out front.

London Executive Suites (519-679-3932, 800-265-5955; www.les-hotel.com; 362 Dundas St; ste $75-120; wi-fi) This former downtown apartment building has spacious rooms with balconies and kitchens. No surprises, just comfy mattresses, solid furniture and good views from the upper floors.

Windermere Manor (519-858-1391; www.windermeremanor.com; 200 Collip Circle, off Windermere Rd; r/ste $127/149; wi-fi) Atop a green hill overlooking the Thames and the university, this modified, upper-crust 1925 manor is popular with conventioneers and visiting uni lecturers. It’s a fair hike from downtown, but the on-site café does breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Eating

Covent Garden (519-439-3921; 130 King St; items from $2; 8am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-4pm Sun) This humongous, barn-shaped market will whet and satisfy any appetite. There’s a permanent collection of delis, bakeries, chocolate shops, fresh produce stalls and world cuisine eateries, plus seasonal vendors and a sunny, busker-fuelled buzz on the patio.

Sammy’s (519-457-6014; items $3-7; 10am-4am) Downtown (cnr Richmond & Carling Sts) Train Station (cnr Richmond & York Sts) Bump elbows with taxi drivers and late-night beery hordes at Sammy’s, serving take-out souvlaki, falafels, poutine, burgers and hot dogs. Burp…

Mykonos (519-434-6736; 572 Adelaide St N; mains $10-15; 11am-10pm Mon-Sat, to 9pm Sun) For excellent Greek food and lashings of aquamarine paint, sail into Mykonos on London’s edgy east side. Specialties include Ontarian lamb, vegetarian and seafood dishes. There’s an outdoor patio and faster-and-faster Greek music at night.

Jambalaya (519-858-2000; 646 Richmond St; mains $10-18; 11:30am-3:30pm & 4:30-10pm Mon-Fri, noon-midnight Sat) A cheery, multicolored fusion den on Richmond Row, Jambalaya dips its spoon into Thai, Cajun and Caribbean recipe books and comes up with winners. Try the spicy blackened chicken with sweet potato ($16).

Mexicali Rosa’s (519-439-5111; 288 Dundas St; mains $10-20; 11am-10pm Sun & Mon, to 11pm Tue-Sat) Better-than-usual south-of-the-border offerings are done with vim and vigor at this long-time fave. The back patio is perfect for face-melting fajitas and $5 Monday margaritas.

Thaifoon (519-850-1222; 120 Dundas St; mains $11-14; 11:30am-2:30pm Mon-Fri, 5-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri & Sat) New to the London foody scene is classy Thaifoon. A calm, composed atmosphere and babbling water features provide relief from the mean streets, while chili-laden curries, stir-fries, soups and salads provide a kick in the pants.

Drinking & Entertainment

Check out the local rag Scene for arts and entertainment listings.

Honest Lawyer (519-433-4913; 228 Dundas St; admission free, 11am-late) Is there such a thing? Maybe not, but it’s a sure-fire conversation starter at this long, narrow beer room where an upbeat crowd is usually knocking back a few. Student specials, wing nights and big-screen sports.

CEEPS (519-432-1425; 671 Richmond St; admission free; 11am-2pm) For reliable good times, head to this student-flavored party bar. Live bands, DJs, pool tables, shuffleboard, local beers on tap – hard to beat.

Call the Office (519-432-2263; www.calltheoffice.com; 216 York St; admission $5-15; 5pm-late) A grungy dive bar with cheap drinks and alt-rock live bands like The Screwed, The Dead Boys and Hell Yeah, Fuck Yeah.

London Music Club (519-640-6996; www.londonmusicclub.com; 470 Colborne St; admission free-$15, 7pm-late Wed-Sat) Touring blues and folks acts fall over themselves to play here, a rockin’ room out the back of a cream-brick suburban house. Electric blues jam on Thursday nights; acoustic open mic on Fridays.

Up on Carling (519-630-1178; www.uponcarling.ca; 153 Carling St; admission $3-7; 9pm-late Thu-Sat) London’s new club on the block is a stylish, martini-soaked affair, spinning latin, R&B, funk house and soul. Dress up.

Getting There & Around

London International Airport (YXU; 519-452-4015; www.londonairport.on.ca; 1750 Crumlin Rd) is a regional base for Air Canada Jazz, WestJet and Northwest Airlink with flights to Toronto and limited Canadian and US destinations.

Greyhound Canada rolls out of London Bus Station (519-434-3991; www.greyhound.ca; 101 York St; 6:30am-9pm) to Toronto ($37, 2ВЅ hours, eight daily) and Windsor ($37, 2ВЅ hours, eight daily).

London Train Station (519-672-5722; www.viarail.ca; cnr York & Clarence Sts; 5am-9:30pm Mon-Fri, from 6:30am Sat & Sun) has trains to Toronto ($56, two hours, eight daily), Sarnia ($32, one hour, two daily) and Windsor ($51, two hours, four daily).

London Transit (519-451-1347; www.londontransit.ca; 150 Dundas St; 7:30am-7pm Mon-Fri, 8:30am-6pm Sat) has extensive bus services around town ($2.50 a ride).


Return to beginning of chapter

ST THOMAS

St Thomas is a low-key farming community with a well-maintained Victorian downtown, 20km south of London on the way to Lake Erie. The St Thomas Visitors Centre (519-637-3326; www.elgintourist.com; 65 Old Talbot St; 10am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 5pm Sun) can help with accommodations info.

For the kid in everyone, the Elgin County Railway Museum (519-637-6284; www.ecrm5700.org; 225 Wellington St; adult/child $4/free; 10am-5pm late May–Aug; ) is an old brick warehouse full of red-hot locomotive action. Displays revisit the times when St Thomas was the undisputed вЂ˜Railway Capital of Canada.’

Unfortunately, St Thomas does have a deep, dark story to tell. Hearts were broken around the world when the famous circus elephant Jumbo met his maker when he was hit by a train here in 1885. A jumbo-sized Jumbo statue next to the visitors center pays tribute to the poor pachyderm.


Return to beginning of chapter

LAKE ERIE SHORELINE

From the Welland Canal to the Detroit River, the Lake Erie shoreline is a scenic, thinly populated strip of sandy beaches, chilled-out towns and peaceful parks – no wonder so many Ontarians have summer cottages here. Lake Erie (the shallowest and warmest of the Great Lakes) has long been considered a polluted puddle, but recent environmental efforts have brought it back from the brink. You can swim here now, but it’s still wise to look before you leap (or send your kid brother in first). Don’t miss a visit to the lowest of low-key holiday destinations, Pelee Island, Canada’s southernmost land.

Port Dover & Around

Port Dover is a summer-centric beach town with a sandy, laid-back vibe. Sunburned mid-lifers, bikini teens and ice-cream-dripping kids patrol the main drag on summer vacation. Port Dover Visitor Centre (519-583-1314; www.portdover.ca; 19 Market St W, Port Dover; 10am-5pm daily Jun-Aug, Mon-Fri only Sep-May) has giggly staff who can help with accommodations and loan bicycles for free.

The two-story Port Dover Harbour Museum (519-583-2660; portdover.museum@norfolkcounty.on.ca; 44 Harbour St, Port Dover; admission by donation; 11am-6pm) is a cute, reconstructed fishing shack focusing on the Lake Erie fishing industry, sailing, shipwrecks, knot-work, and the exploits of local sea-dog Captain Alexander McNeilledge (вЂ˜Wear no specks, use no tobacco, take a wee dram as necessary’).

Southwest along the coast are two excellent provincial parks: Turkey Point Provincial Park (519-426-3239; www.ontarioparks.com; 194 Turkey Point Rd, Turkey Point; unpowered/powered sites $28/33, admission per car $11; May-Oct; ) and Long Point Provincial Park (519-586-2133; www.ontarioparks.com; 350 Erie Blvd, Port Rowan; unpowered/powered sites $28/33, admission per car $11; May-Oct; ), both popular day-use and camping parks. Long Point occupies a sandy spit jagging into the lake, great for swimming, while Turkey Point’s forests teem with bird nerds and nature lovers.

The most central beds in town are at the white-walled Erie Beach Hotel (519-583-1391; www.eriebeachhotel.com; 19 Walker St, Port Dover; d from $80; wi-fi). The best rooms overlook impossibly perfect lawns, while the pubby dining room (mains $10-20; 11am-3pm & 6-9pm) obsesses over perch and shrimp.

Port Stanley

A working fishing village in a nook of Kettle Creek, Port Stanley (www.portstanley.net) has a tiny, picture-perfect downtown and an agreeable atmosphere that’s far from pretentious. It’s the kind of place where the lady in the coffee shop issues a heartfelt вЂ˜Thankyou!’ and goes into great detail explaining ice-cream flavors to the kids.

The summer program at the Port Stanley Festival Theatre (519-782-4353; www.psft.on.ca; 302 Bridge St; tickets $25-28; box office noon-5pm Tue-Sat) always fills seats, while outside, the Port Stanley Terminal Rail (519-782-3730, 877-244-4478; www.pstr.on.ca; 309 Bridge St; 1hr rides adult/child $11.50/7; noon, 1:30pm & 3pm daily Jul-Aug, weekends only May-Jun & Sep-Oct; ) chuffs along a 14km portion of the historic London–Port Stanley railroad.

If you want to stay the night, try the upmarket, maritime-hewn Inn on the Harbour (519-782-7623; www.innontheharbour.ca; 202 Main St; d $120-150; wi-fi). Watch fishing boats come and go, offloading baskets of perch and pickerel.

Leamington & Around

Lakeside Leamington is the вЂ˜Tomato Capital of Ontario,’ and a key ketchup producer – the Heinz factory south of town is a major employer. Greenhouses dot the acres around town, rampaging tomato vines crowding out against the glass. The neat, window-box-strewn downtown area attracts visitors en route to Pelee Island. Leamington Tourist Information (519-326-2721, 800-250-3336; www.uptownleamington.ca; cnr Albert & Talbot Sts; 9am-6pm daily Apr, to 7pm May-Sep, 9am-6pm Thu-Sun Oct, 9am-5pm Sat & Sun Nov) occupies a giant tomato!

About 10km east of Leamington, Wheatley Provincial Park (519-825-4659; www.ontarioparks.com; 21116 Klondyke Rd S, Wheatley; unpowered/powered sites $28/33, admission per car $11; Apr-Oct; ) has good camping despite much of the beach being swept away by a monster storm in 1998. The park offers вЂ˜champagne bird-watching’ and gets busy as a woodpecker during migrations.

Southeast of town, Point Pelee National Park (519-322-2365, 866-787-3533; www.pc.gc.ca; 407 Robson Rd, Leamington; admission adult/concession/child/family $7/6/3.50/17.50; dawn-dusk; ), on the southernmost point of mainland Canada, is a pit stop for thousands of birds during spring and fall migrations. The fall migration of monarch butterflies is a spectacle of swirling black and orange. There are numerous nature trails, a marsh boardwalk, forested areas and sandy beaches within the park.

In Kingsville, just west of Leamington, Pelee Island Winery (800-597-3533; www.peleeisland.com; 455 Seacliff Dr, Kingsville; admission free, tours adult/concession/child $5/4/free; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun; ) offers tours (noon, 2pm and 4pm), including a trip down to the huge wooden cellar doors, and free tastings. The grapes actually come from Pelee Island, so the name isn’t a fraud! Grab a bottle of pinot grigio to go.

Just east of town, Hillman Marsh (519-776-5209; www.erca.org; Country Road 37, Leamington; admission per car $1.50; dawn-dusk; ) is another bird-filled wetland with a 4.5km walking trail.

Pelee Island

Dead-flat and as southerly as Canada gets, Pelee Island (pronounced вЂ˜Pee-lee,’ from the French pelГ©e, meaning bare) is a chilled-out oasis adrift in Lake Erie some 20km from the mainland. Covered in ridiculously green fields and outlined by sandy beaches, Pelee is one of southwestern Ontario’s major drawcards.

The island’s settled history arcs back to 1788 when the Ojibwe and Ottawa nations leased it to Thomas McKee. It remained largely undeveloped until William McCormick bought it in 1823. By 1900 Pelee had 800 residents, four churches and four schools. These days there are just 275 residents and life revolves around tourism, but nothing is overly pricey, snobby, hurried or harried – perfect for a weekend of doing not much at all.

ORIENTATION & INFORMATION

The island isn’t big – about 12km long by 6km wide – and is easy to navigate. Regional visitor information centers will help you plan your visit, as will www.pelee.org. During summer, book ferries and accommodations in advance. Most ferries depart Leamington rather than Kingsville; all pull in at West Dock on Pelee. The only ATM on the island is at Scudder Beach Bar & Grill (right).

SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES

Near West Dock, the small Pelee Island Heritage Centre (519-724-2291; pimuseum@mnsi.net; West Dock; adult/concession/child $2.50/2/1.50; 10am-5pm May-Oct; ) has one of the best natural history collections in Ontario. Engrossing displays cover indigenous to 20th-century history, geology, wildlife, industry, sailing and shipwrecks.

Fish Point Nature Reserve (519-724-2291; www.ontarioparks.com; 1750 McCormick Rd; admission free; dawn-dusk; ) is a long sandy spit – absolutely the southernmost point of Canada. A 3.2km return forest walkway leads to the point, the island’s best swim spot. You might see a salamander, an eastern box turtle, or a rare blue racer snake along the way.

The 1833 Pelee Island Lighthouse (519-724-2931; www.ontarioparks.com; East Shore Rd; admission free; dawn-dusk; ) on the island’s northeastern corner stopped flashing in 1909 and was derelict until restoration in 2000. It’s a 30-minute return walk from the end of East Shore Rd – take the right fork over the wooden bridge and follow the beach north. You can’t access the lighthouse, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Enjoy the fruits of island life at the Pelee Island Winery Wine Pavilion (800-597-3533; www.peleeisland.com; 20 East-West Rd; admission free, tours adult/concession/child $5/4/free; 10am-6pm May-Oct; ). The first three tastings are free; tours are at noon, 2pm and 4pm most days, plus 6pm in July and August.



* * *



SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES

The flat, sandy soils of northern Norfolk County between Port Dover and Port Stanley provide ideal growing conditions for alternate crops – what used to be a strictly tobacco-growing area now also supports hemp and ginseng fields. For a sniff of old вЂ˜baccy, take Hwy 3 inland to the Delhi Tobacco Museum & Heritage Centre (519-582-0278; tobacco.museum@norfolkcounty.on.ca; 200 Talbot Rd, Delhi; admission by donation; 10am-4:30pm Mon-Fri, 1-4pm Sat & Sun Jun-Aug; ), a wooden-crate, leaf-filled multicultural museum with displays on the local history and tobacco production.





* * *



SLEEPING

There are some good B&Bs here, plus cottages which are rented out by the week. Most take advantage of the western side’s fantastic sunsets.

East Park Municipal Campground (519-724-2931; East Shore Rd; unpowered site $15; ) You can camp on the east side of the island at these basic, wooded sites – quiet, uncrowded, and you can light a campfire.

Anchor & Wheel Inn (519-724-2195; www.anchorwheelinn.com; 11 West Shore Rd; unpowered/powered sites $20/35, dm/s $25/65, d $85-115; ) The effervescent Anchor & Wheel in the northwest corner of Pelee has a range of beds from grassy campsites through to air-conditioned guestrooms with Jacuzzis.

Tin Goose Inn & Restaurant (519-724-2223, 877-737-5557; www.vintagegoose.com; 1060 East-West Rd; r/ste $100/175; ) Behind a picket fence, this lovely old, yellow, flaky-paint house has smallish rooms but loads of color (there’s a tad more elbow room in suites out the back). Wooded seclusion and a short walk from a private east-coast beach magnify Pelee’s serenity.

EATING

Scudder Beach Bar & Grill (519-724-2902; 325 North Shore Rd; mains $7-16; noon-10pm May-Sep) This woody bar room decorated with French horns serves meat and fish fresh off the grill, plus burgers, pizza and gallons of cold beer; there might even be a live band on a Saturday night.



* * *



FINE FEATHERED FRIEND

Legend has it that one chilly winter, a couple of islanders drove their truck from Pelee across frozen Lake Erie to Leamington to have some repairs done. All went to plan until the return trip, when a thick bank of fog blew in, enshrouding the men on the ice. Night was falling, and rather than continue with no sense of direction (and maybe bump into Ohio), they decided to wait it out. Just before dawn, they heard a rooster crowing on the island. Realizing they were close to home, the happy trucksters followed the rooster’s cries to Pelee and went promptly to bed. When they awoke later that day, the fog lifted to reveal a broken and rapidly disappearing ice sheet! We suspect that particular fowl lived a long and prosperous life.





* * *



Anchor & Wheel Inn Restaurant (519-724-2195; www.anchorwheelinn.com; 11 West Shore Rd; mains $7-27, 11:30am-9pm Wed-Sun Jun-Aug, Thu-Sun Mar-May & Sep-Nov) The South-Seas-meets-reggae restaurant located within the Anchor & Wheel Inn does some mean seafood dishes and salads, as well as a Big Island Buffet on Saturday night ($27).

Tin Goose Inn & Restaurant (519-724-2223, 877-737-5557; 1060 East-West Rd; mains $25; 6pm & 8pm sittings Fri & Sat) The sassy restaurant at the Tin Goose occupies an L-shaped veranda; try the prickly pear and chicken fettuccine (when was the last time you ate cactus?).

GETTING THERE & AROUND

From Leamington (and sometimes Kingsville), Ontario Ferries (519-326-2154, 800-661-2200; www.ontarioferries.com; adult/concession/child $7.50/6.25/3.75, car/motorcycle/bicycle $16.50/8.25/3.75; Apr–mid-Dec) services the island. Schedules depend on the day and season; reservations essential. The trip takes 1½ hours each way. Ferries also connect Pelee with Sandusky, Ohio – see the website for details.

Bicycles can be rented at Comfortech Bicycle Rentals (519-724-2828; West Dock; per hr/day $8/20; 9am-7pm May-Oct, to 4pm Apr & Nov) – a practical way to tour the island.

Amherstburg

South of Windsor, where the Detroit River flows into Lake Erie, sits small, historic Amherstburg. Much more happened here in the past than of late, a fact you can’t help but avoid (signs in the downtown area actually say вЂ˜Olde Towne’). War of 1812 and Underground Railroad buffs will find some enthralling diversions. The Amherstburg Visitors Information Centre (519-736-8320, 800-413-9993; www.amherstburg.ca; cnr Sandwich & William Sts; 9am-6pm daily Apr, to 7pm May-Sep, 9am-6pm Thu-Sun Oct, 9am-5pm Sat & Sun Nov) is just north of town.

On earthwork embankments along the river stands Fort Malden National Historic Site (519-736-5416; www.pc.gc.ca; 100 Laird Ave; adult/concession/child/family $4/3.50/2.50/10; 10am-5pm May-Oct; ), a British fort built in 1840. Beginning with the arrival of the fur traders, the area saw a lot of friction between the French, First Nations and English and, later, the Americans. Here, during the War of 1812, General Brock (together with his ally, Shawnee Chief Tecumseh) conspired to take Detroit.

Learn about black settlement in the area at the North American Black Historical Museum (519-736-5433, 800-713-6336; www.blackhistoricalmuseum.com; 277 King St; adult/concession/child/family $5.50/4.50/4.50/20; 10am-5pm Tue-Fri, 1-5pm Sat & Sun; ). The Nazrey African Methodist Episcopal Church here, a national historic site, was built by former slaves and played a role in the Underground Railroad as a terminal (see boxed text opposite).

Park House Museum (519-736-2511; www.parkhousemuseum.com; 214 Dalhousie St; adult/concession/child $2/1.50/1; 10am-5pm Jun-Aug, 11am-5pm Tue-Fri & Sun Sep-May) is the oldest house in town, and the only one not from town. It was built on the other side of the river, ferried across in 1799, and is now furnished in 1850s style.


Return to beginning of chapter

WINDSOR

pop 216,470

At the southwestern tip of Ontario, across the Detroit River from Detroit, Michigan, Windsor is the only Canadian city south of mainland USA. Like Detroit, Windsor is a вЂ˜motor city,’ but with the car industry feeling the pinch, what was once a neat, civilized town is becoming run-down and haggard. Real-estate prices are on the slide, and Windsor’s future prosperity seems uncertain.

Despite the negative outlook, there are some solid late-night bars and eateries here, Motown tunes snake across the airwaves, and the riverside on a warm summer night and the Italian district on Erie St E have a happening vibe.

Orientation & Information

The downtown area centers on the junction of Riverside and Ouellette Sts. Streets are named вЂ˜E’ and вЂ˜W’ of Oullette St.



Convention & Visitors Bureau (519-255-6530, 800-265-3633; www.visitwindsor.com; Ste 103, 333 Riverside Dr; 8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri) Information on Windsor and the area; best accessed from Pitt St.

Ontario Travel Information Centre (800-265-3633; www.ontariotravel.net; 8:30am-8pm Jun-Aug, 8:30am-5pm Sep-May) Tunnel (519-973-1338; 110 Park St E) Bridge (519-973-1310; 1235 Huron Church Rd) Local lowdown delivered with a smile; offices near the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel entrance and the Ambassador Bridge.



Sights & Activities

CASINO WINDSOR

The super-plush Casino Windsor (519-258-7878; www.casinowindsor.com; 377 Riverside Dr E; admission free; 24hr; ) overlooking the river provides a fat economic injection for Windsor. A bitter labor dispute in 2004 closed the doors for 41 days, costing the casino $1 million per day and turning downtown Windsor into a tourist-free ghost town. With around 13,000 punters high-rolling through the doors every day, there’s little doubt what Windsor’s number one attraction is. Minimum age 19 years.

ART GALLERY OF WINDSOR

The jaunty glass-and-concrete prow of the Art Gallery of Windsor (AGW; 519-977-0013; www.agw.ca; 401 Riverside Dr W; admission $3; 11am-8pm Wed, to 9pm Thu & Fri, to 5pm Sat & Sun; ) seems to want to sail into the Detroit skyline. Inside is an awesome permanent collection focused on contemporary Canadian sculpture and painting.

WALKERVILLE DISTILLERY & BREWING COMPANY

The whiskey was here long before the gambling. Distributed to 151 countries, Canadian Club Whisky has been sluicing out of the Walkerville Distillery (519-973-9503; www.canadianclubwhisky.com; Canadian Club Brand Heritage Centre, 2072 Riverside Dr E; adult/concession/child $5/4/free; noon-6pm Wed-Sat, to 4pm Sun May-Dec, Fri & Sat only Jan-Apr; ) since 1858. One-hour tours (noon, 2pm and 4pm) examine the processes and let you taste the splendorous drop.

More of a beer boffin than a whiskey noser? The Walkerville Brewing Company (519-255-9192; www.walkervillebrew.com; 525 Argyle Rd; admission free; 1-5pm Sat) cooks up some tasty lagers and ales, with free tours and tastings on Saturday afternoons.

WALLS UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MUSEUM

One of the best Underground Railroad historical displays is at the Walls Underground Railroad Museum (519-727-6555; www.undergroundrailroadmuseum.com; 855 Puce Rd, Maidstone; admission $5; 10am-5pm Jun-Aug; ), 20km east of Windsor. The original 1846 log cabin built by John Freeman Walls, a fugitive slave from North Carolina, is still here; it functioned as a safe terminal for others searching for freedom. Walls’ descendants still run the museum. See also boxed text below.

PARKS & GARDENS

The best views of the glimmering Detroit skyline are from Dieppe Gardens (cnr Ouellette St & Riverside Dr; admission free; 24hr), constructed on land once used by Detroit–Windsor ferries before the 1929 bridge and 1930 tunnel put them out of business.



* * *



THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Neither subterranean nor an actual railroad, the Underground Railroad refers to the secretive web of abolitionists and humanitarians – both black and white – who shepherded, sheltered, hid and transported escaped slaves north from the US to freedom in Canada. Before the American Civil War, it’s estimated that 40,000 brave souls made the dangerous journey. Predictably, this part of southwestern Ontario, so close to the US border, is rich with historic Underground Railroad sites. Many local towns have substantial African-American populations, descended from those who found sanctuary here.



For more info, visit www.blackhistorysociety.ca. See also North American Black Historical Museum (opposite), Walls Underground Railroad Museum (above), and Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site.





* * *



Further south the Odette Sculpture Park (Riverside Dr; admission free; 24hr), almost under the Ambassador Bridge, features a long run of zany 3-D efforts including a family of elephants, a huge apple core and twisty swan necks.

Festivals & Events



Summerfest (519-254-2880; www.summerfestwindsor.org; Jul 1-4) Along the riverfront, combining Canada’s July 1 national holiday with US July 4 celebrations: parades, concerts, dancing and a gargantuan fireworks display.

Festival Epicure (519-971-5005; www.festivalepicure.com; early Jul) Three days of food, wine and music overload along the downtown riverside.

Bluesfest International (866-934-6889; www.thebluesfest.ca; mid-Jul) Working in tandem with London’s Bluesfest International, and featuring the likes of Los Lobos and Dave Mason.



Sleeping

There are a ton of beds in Windsor and reservations aren’t crucial. Chain hotels and local motels dominate Huron Church Rd, leading off the Ambassador Bridge. Prices are higher on weekends but drop outside of summer.

Windsor Campground (519-735-3660, 866-258-5554; www.windsorcampground.ca; 4855 Concession 9; unpowered/powered sites $32/39, cabins $53; ) About 6km out of town just off Hwy 401, this massive place is the only campground in this neck of the woods. There’s a catch-and-release fishing pond here, and tractor rides for the kids. Basic cabins sleep four.

Cadillac Motel (519-969-9340, 888-541-3333; www.cadillacmotel.com; 2498 Dougall Ave; r $65-95; ) They never built any Cadillacs as ugly as this brown-brick behemoth, but you’ll always get a room here, and it’s clean and comfortable. Lock yourself away and write your Great Canadian Road Novel.

Kirk’s B&B (519-255-9346, 888-251-2624; www.kirksbandb.com; 406 Moy Ave; s/d $75/99; ) An odd mix of charming and clueless, the managers here are set in their ways but still run a decent B&B. One block from the river, it’s a three-story, old-fashioned brick affair, with a lush garden and a cat.

Eating

Oullette Ave (Thai, Indian and coffee shops) and Chatham St (bars and grills) lend foody focus to the downtown area. Erie St E is the Italian district, with oodles of affordable eateries.

Plunkett’s Bar & Grill (519-252-3111; 28 Chatham St E; mains $9-18; 11am-late) вЂ˜Great kitchen, cool bar’ is the catchcry here, and who are we to disagree? The menu covers the map from burgers to pad thai to chorizo and pecan chicken, but they don’t make anything they can’t handle. Bend elbows at the huge horseshoe bar or hit the streetside patio.

Chatham Street Grill (519-256-2555; 149 Chatham St W; lunch mains $9-13, dinner $22-33; 11:30am-11pm Mon-Wed, to midnight Thu, to 1am Fri, noon-1am Sat, 5-10pm Sun) вЂ˜Everyman’ in a comfortable Canuck way, this happy joint serves an inoffensive menu of soups, salads, seafood, pasta and steaks, eaten at the easygoing beer bar, on the kid-chattering patio or in the crimson-walled dining room.

Spago Trattoria e Pizzeria (519-252-9099; 614 Erie St E; mains $10-28; 11:30am-10pm) Windsor is famous for its Italian, and this is the place to dip your tongue in some. If you’re not in the mood for delicious pasta, the clean-shaven staff also deliver outstanding pizzas from the wood-fired oven.

Spago Ristorante Italiano (519-252-2233; 690 Erie St E; mains $12-30; 5-10pm Mon & Tue, to 11pm Wed, to midnight Thu, to 2am Fri & Sat, 4-11pm Sun) Spago Pizzeria’s more formal counterpart is just up the street.

Getting There & Away

Detroit–Windsor is a major international border crossing, via either the famously expansive Ambassador Bridge (toll $4-4.75/US$3.50-4.50), or the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel (toll $4-4.75/US$3.50-4.50) connecting the two downtowns. Tolls vary with time of day.

The shiny new Windsor Bus Station (519-255-6100; www.greyhound.ca; 300 Chatham St W; 7am-10pm) runs buses to Toronto ($73, five hours, five daily) via London ($39, two hours). US-bound trips to Chicago ($79, seven to nine hours, two daily) transfer from Greyhound Canada to Greyhound in Detroit. Also here is Transit Windsor (519-944-4111; www.citywindsor/transitwindsor), running buses to Detroit ($2.75, 30 minutes, every 30 minutes) – bring your passport.

Windsor Train Station (888-842-7245; www.viarail.ca; cnr Walker & Wyandotte Sts; 5:30am-midnight), 3km east of downtown, has trains to Toronto ($87, four hours, four daily) via London ($51, two hours).


Return to beginning of chapter

LAKE HURON SHORELINE

Lake Huron has some of the cleanest waters of the Great Lakes, and it’s wide enough that from its eastern shore, the sun actually sets on the waterline. If you’ve been lingering around Toronto and Lake Ontario, Lake Huron’s вЂ˜blueness’ will be both surprising and refreshing. The coast road traces the under-populated shoreline, separated by piney forests and lakefront mansions.

About 100km northeast of Windsor is Uncle Tom’s Cabin Historic Site (519-683-2978; www.uncletomscabin.org; 29251 Uncle Tom’s Rd, Dresden; adult/concession/child/family $6.25/5.25/4.50/20; 10am-4pm Mon-Sat, noon-4pm Sun Jul-Aug, closed Mon Jun, Sep & Oct; ). Uncle Tom was the fictional protagonist and namesake of the book written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852, based on real-life hero Reverend Josiah Henson. The site displays articles relating to the story and the Underground Railroad (see boxed text).

On the southern shore of Lake Huron, across the Bluewater Bridge from Port Huron, Michigan (a less-busy border crossing if you want to avoid Windsor’s traffic), is industrial Sarnia. This is the hub of Chemical Valley, Canada’s main oil-and-chemical production and refining zone. The first commercial oil well in North America was dug near here; the surrounding towns Oil City, Oil Springs and Petrolia pay homage.

Further up the coast, south of Grand Bend, is Pinery Provincial Park (519-243-2220; www.pinerypark.on.ca; 9526 Lakeshore Rd; unpowered/powered sites $28/33, yurt $75, day pass $13, bike/kayak rental per day $40/45; ), with 10km of beaches and lots of trails winding through wooded sections and sand dunes. Take your pick of the 1000 campsites, or rent a вЂ˜yurt’ – a kind of rigid tent. No вЂ˜rowdyism’!

Acting as a regional center, Goderich has bitten off more of the charming-country-town pie than seems fair, with a distinctive octagonal town square forming the commercial hub. Grab the self-guided 4 Heritage Walking Tours brochure from Goderich Tourist Information Centre (519-524-6600, 800-280-7637; www.goderich.ca; 91 Hamilton St; 9am-7pm Apr-Oct, reduced winter hours) or the Visitor’s Guide to help you get your bearings. The center can also help you find a place to stay. Don’t miss a walk along the beach boardwalks at dusk to see the swoon-worthy sunsets.

Walk the wooden floorboards at Huron County Museum (519-524-2686; www.huroncounty.ca/museum; 110 North St, Goderich; adult/concession/child/family $5/4/3.50/18, combined Huron Historic Gaol ticket $7.50/5.50/4/25; 10am-4:30pm May-Oct; ) for an informed look at local history, industry and transportation. Displays include everything from antique furniture and china to an old steam engine and a tank.

Follow a creepy, prison-gray corridor into the Huron Historic Gaol (519-524-6971; www.huroncounty.ca/museum; 181 Victoria St, Goderich; adult/concession/child/family $5/4/3.50/18, combined Huron County Museum ticket $7.50/5.50/4/25; 10am-4:30pm May-Oct; ), an octagonal fortress which served as the courthouse and jail for almost 130 years (and the site of Canada’s last public hanging in 1869).

The nearby village of Blyth has the kind of main street Bruce Springsteen likes to sing about, and is home to the esteemed summer Blyth Festival (519-523-9300, 877-862-5984; www.blythfestival.com; box office 9am-9pm performance days, to 5pm non-performance days). From June to August, primarily Canadian plays get an airing, from outdoor pioneer performances to indoor gut-busting comedies.


Return to beginning of chapter