Chapel Hill to Toronto

[speech40]

Well, I'm new to this forum and am overjoyed at finding it!!!!

We (my teenage twin girls, husband, and me) are fleeing the hurricanes and humidity to Canada. We kind of have a rough outline planned, but looking
at Toronto's map, I'm overwhelmed at finding a place to stay that is safe,
relatively inexpensive, and close to the metro or subway line (or whatever they have for public transportation). Any thoughts on this. Does Toronto have a "bad" section that you wouldn't want to stay near? We are planning on staying two or three nights before heading to Montreal.

Any suggestions for fun things to do would be welcome. I've been to the
science museum a few times when I was a teenager.

Thanks
Ruth

[blitz2k]

Hi,

Toronto summers are awesome, there's a website called toronto.com that gives information on local events that may be happening around the time you come. Here's some things I'd recommend doing :

- CN Tower (Tallest Free Structure in World)
- Casa Loma (Early 20th Century Castle)
- Royal Ontario Museum or Art Gallery of Ontario
- Centre Island / Ontario Place (Both Adult and Youth Friendly)
- Canadian National Exhitbition (Opens in August)
- Other smaller things would be walking around the Yorkville District, walking on Yonge Street & Eaton Centre, checking out the St. Lawrence Market

If you haven't visited Niagara Falls yet, I'd also strongly recommend at least stopping over there. The view of the falls is unforgettable, and there is plenty of things to keep you entertained there.

If your living in the downtown core, close to any subway station with a reputable hotel chain I wouldn't be too worried.

Gene from Toronto

[Mark Sedenquist]

Well, I'm new to this forum and am overjoyed at finding it!!!!

Welcome to the Forum. Fleeing the humidity of Chapel Hill in July sounds like a good plan! A number of our experienced roadtrippers have traveled to Toronto this summer. A couple of these posts can be read here and here.

Mark

[speech40]

Thanks for the courteous and friendly help.

I was busy this morning checking hotel websites (Thank God for the internet!)
Seems like hotel rates aren't too bad in Toronto! We might just stay
downtown and walk/subway around the whole time! I'll post pictures when I get back....
I'm excited!

Now---my husband wants to go to Ottawa after Toronto.
Has anyone been there?

Ruth

[blitz2k]

Thanks for the courteous and friendly help.

I was busy this morning checking hotel websites (Thank God for the internet!)
Seems like hotel rates aren't too bad in Toronto! We might just stay
downtown and walk/subway around the whole time! I'll post pictures when I get back....
I'm excited!

Now---my husband wants to go to Ottawa after Toronto.
Has anyone been there?

Ruth

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, where our parliamentary committee sits. It's actually a pretty quiet and quiant place. Usually in the winter people skate on the Rideau Canal that runs through the city and participate in Winterlude. The major attractions would be :

- Parliament Hill (See changing of the guard)
- National Art Gallery of Ontario
- Ottawa Locks
- White Water Rafting

In my opinion, you guys should probably want to also visit Montreal also. There's much more to do there, and the two cities relatively close by car. Montreal is a majority french speaking province and retains much of it's old french hertiage. The also city has quite the history - so it is defintely interesting to see this part of Canada.

Gene

[Quebec Gen]

Ottawa is a very pretty and clean city, you'll like Parliament Hill. However, like Gene said, you'll probably find more things to do in Montreal which is about 1½ away if you use I-417. Ottawa is kind of quiet, especially in the summer:o)

Montreal is a very multicultural city so there is a great diversity in restaurants, nightlife, festivals and attractions. Don't worry if you don't speak or understand French, most Montrealers are bilingual and many people in Quebec don't even know a single word of French!:-) You could go to La Ronde (Theme Park) with your daughters on the Ste-Helene Island (subway station Ile-Ste-Helene (yellow line)), walk downtown on Ste-Catherine St. (subway : Guy to Papineau (green line)), visit the Old Port/Old Montreal (Champ-de-Mars or Place d'Armes (orange line), go rollerskating at Canal Lachine, have a pic-nic on the top of Mt Royal (take Camilien Houde St), go to the Biodome at the Olympic Stadium (Pie IX (green line)), Ft. Stewart Museum (Ile Ste-Hèlene (yellow line)), visit the Plateau Mt Royal (Mont-Royal (orange line)) and the Quartier Latin (St-Denis Street).

Approaching Montreal by car looks awful, there is always lots of traffic, but coming from the west, you should be ok! But remember that there is a lot of traffic on the Montreal interstates but not when you're into the city, the population is only about 2,2M so it's not a "real" big city. Downtown has a square pattern so it's pretty easy to find streets and attractions. The biggest problem in Montreal is finding parking spaces, you have to read all the signs everywhere to make sure there's no restriction...And God knows it can get pretty complicated even for us! So you can either a)take a chance b)pay a 10$ in a parking garage or c)park farther east or west near a subway station and take the bus and subway systems.

For accomodations in Montreal, you have plenty of choices from the Ritz to the youth hostel. The cheapest lodging I found in Montreal is at the Oratoire St. Joseph and at the University of Montreal's residence (commonly known as UdeM). The Oratoire is a jewel of architecture, if you plan on going to Mt Royal, you have to visit that place! Of course the rooms are not within the cathedral, I've never slept there but apparently it is very very clean since it is maintained by a religous community. At the UdeS, they rent rooms during the summer for travelers. Both places are near subway stations (blue line) and are ~ 30-35$ for a single room so it probably wouldn't cost much for a family. You will also find plenty of cute B&Bs in different quarters. I lived in Montreal for 2 years and I go there almost on every weekend, so if you find something interesting, tell me in which part of town it is and I'll tell you about attractions/festivals nearby.

Have a great trip!
Gen