Travel to Vancouver

Vancouver is the city of Canada that has it all: natural beauty and cosmopolitan flair. Set between the Pacific Ocean and the coastal mountains, it has a harmonious blend of nature and urban living. Gardens, parks, and beaches are as common here as heritage buildings, restaurants, and theatres.

While maintaining the laid-back attitude of North America's West Coast, Vancouver has managed to build an international spirit. As the third largest city in Canada, it shares an ethnic diversity and multicultural flavor with the rest of the country. It's young, lively, and the jumping-off point for many spectacular outdoor activities.

Downtown : Vancouver has vitality and style. Nowhere is this more evident than in the downtown core. Its first distinct feature is Stanley Park , located on the west end of Georgia Street. This 1000-acre park includes an 11 kilometre Seawall promenade, old-growth forests, hiking trails, and the Vancouver Aquarium. Downtown is the city's largest shopping district. One of its main arteries is Robson Street , a highlight for both locals and visitors. It's brimming with fashion boutiques, coffee bars and trendy cafes.

Crossing Robson is Granville, a street that offers independent fashion stores and entertainment venues. Shops like John Fluevog Shoes and True Value Vintage are here, as well as the city's "Theatre Row," where concert, theatre and movie choices can be found. The Orpheum Theatre and the Commodore Ballroom are also on Granville, and are fantastic places to catch performances of live theatre and music. Overall, the area has restaurants to satisfy every palette, urban nightclubs, and a dizzying number of bars offering live entertainment.

Gastown : This is Vancouver's first community and a heritage zone. Red cobblestone streets, Victorian street lamps, and heritage architecture give the area its old-world atmosphere. Today, boutiques, restaurants and specialty shops, such as Hill's Native Art , Three Centuries Shop , and Salmagundi West , combine with its historic character to make it a special attraction. The Steam Clock at Cambie and Water streets goes off every 15 minutes and adds to the area's quirky

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Chinatown : Vancouver's Chinatown is one of the largest in North America, and is second only to San Francisco's. The area's specialty shops, superb dining, and heritage buildings attract millions of visitors. The bustle here goes on day and night, from the summer's open-air Chinatown Night Market , to packed restaurants such as Hon's Wun-Tun House or Floata Seafood Restaurant .

Yaletown : Not long ago, Yaletown was just a collection of abandoned warehouses. Today, it is one of the city's trendiest areas, dotted with posh condominiums and converted historic warehouses. One popular establishment is the Yaletown Brewing Co. , and unique boutiques like Atomic Model and BoNaparte Designs are also worth checking out. Part of the area's popularity is its ultra-cool nightlife, and the exclusive Bar None is one hot spot.

Granville Island : A former industrial site, Granville Island has become one of the city's biggest and best attractions. Live theatre, pubs, and artist workshops converge here. The public market has one-stop food shopping, where you can select fresh produce and treats. La Baguette et L'Echalote Edie's Hats , and the colourful Kids Only Market are favourites. Numerous festivals use the island as their headquarters, including the Vancouver International Writer's Festival , annual Vancouver International Comedy Festival .

Kitsilano : Located minutes south of downtown , Kitsilano is known for its active population, beaches and mountain views. The community has a profusion of eateries, bookstores, theatres, bars, open-air grocers and boutiques. Here, you'll find gems like the Naam , Sophie's Cosmic Cafe , Kidsbooks and the Hollywood Theatre . Vanier Park accommodates the annual Vancouver International Children's Festival in May, as well as the summer's open-air Shakespearean Bard on the Beach productions.

Point Grey : Just to the west of Kitsilano is Point Grey , another residential area. One of the wealthiest regions of the city, it boasts stately homes, miles of waterfront, and one of Vancouver's oldest parks. The area's beaches stretch from Jericho Beach to Spanish Banks , offering haunts to swim, sail and walk in. It also has a cluster of antique and collectible shops, and is home to the annual Vancouver Folk Festival . West Point Grey Park provides one of the city's most dramatic viewpoints, with the University of British Columbia (UBC) just south of it. UBC has an expansive campus, featuring several of the city's best museums and attractions, including the Museum of Anthropology and the Nitobe Memorial Gardens .

East Vancouver : Vancouver's east side has always been known for its multitude of ethnic neighbourhoods and unconventional shopping and entertainment. Once dubbed Little Italy, the area on Commercial Drive , between Broadway and Venables, is often considered the city's hub for artists and counter-culture. Shops and cafes like Pupuseria Rinconcito Salvadoreno and La Casa Gelato help piece together this diverse community. You can also wander through the pockets of eclectic galleries and second-hand shops, such as Cosmopolis and Attic Treasures. Another area to shop and dine in is Little India , located south of East 47th Street on Main Street. The Punjabi Market (Little India) has jewelery and fabric shops. This is also where flavourful Indian foods and spices are readily available. Some of the stores and restaurants here include Guru Bazaar, All India Foods, and Bombay Sweets.

West Vancouver : This suburb area northwest of downtown is one of the most prosperous communities in Canada. If you're looking for a place to shop, the large Park Royal Centre is the country's first shopping mall. Be sure to take time out to walk through Lighthouse Park . It's in an 80-acre old growth forest, and visitors might get a chance to watch seals lounging on the rocks near Howe Sound.

North Vancouver : Just next to West Vancouver lies North Vancouver. The lower Lonsdale area has heritage buildings and antique and specialty shops, while the Lonsdale Quay Market is a thriving waterfront treat. North Vancouver is the gateway for several of the area's ecological sites. Tourists will revel at Lynn Canyon Park , the thrill of the Capilano Suspension Bridge , and the splendor of the Fraser Valley. The year-round fun of Grouse Mountain and Cypress Mountain are also nearby.

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Travel to Toronto

Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. It is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous municipality in North America. Toronto is at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) which contains 6.2 million people, and is part of a larger combined region in Southern Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, totalling over 8.1 million residents making up approximately 25% of Canada's population.

Spawned out of post-glacial alluvial deposits and bluffs, the area was populated at different times by Iroquois and later Wynadot (Huron) peoples. The settlement by Europeans started with the French building a seldom occupied fort near todays Exhibition grounds in the mid-1700s, then grew out of a backwoods English trading post established as York in 1793 (reverting to the current name Toronto in 1834). Later in the 19th century, it grew to become the cultural and economic focus of English Canada. Owing largely to the country's liberal immigration policies starting in the 1960's, and the region's strong economy, Toronto has, in recent decades, been transformed into one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse cities in the world. More than 80 ethnic communities are represented, and over half of the city's residents were born outside Canada.

Districts in Toronto

When Metropolitan Toronto amalgamated its six internal cities into one in 1998, it created a new "mega-city" known simply as Toronto, now made up of varied and unique neighbourhoods. Covering more than 600 square kilometres, Toronto stretches some 32 kilometres along the shores of Lake Ontario, and includes a dense, urban core surrounded by a inner ring of older suburbs followed by an outer ring of post-war suburbs. The city is laid out on a very straightforward grid pattern and streets rarely deviate from the grid, except in cases where topograhpy inteferes such as the indented, curved Don River Valley and to a lesser degree the Humber and Rouge valleys at opposite ends of the city. Some main throroughfares do intersect the grid at angles. The six Toronto districts are:

Old Toronto (Downtown, West End, East End, Midtown): Downtown Toronto is the heart of this urban core, with Yonge Street running almost directly in the middle of this district.

Etobicoke: is largely industrial and suburban in urban makeup. The airport service area and hotels, most airport facilities are located within Mississauga, just to the west.

York: is formerly a separate city, the second smallest of the six former municipalities, yet it is one of the most ethnically diverse.

East York: was formerly a semi-autonomous borough within the overall municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. One of East York's claims to fame was that, before the amalgamation, it was Canada's only borough.

North York: is home to Parc Downsview Park, Canada's first national urban park, Downsview Airport and the North York Performing Arts Centre.

Scarborough: has characteristics of a suburb of old Toronto, but retains much of its own character and flavour. Because of the topography of the Bluffs, the Rouge Valley, and other creeks and minor tributaries, Scarborough is said to be the greenest and leafiest part of Toronto.

Understand the Toronto city

In 1998, the cities of Toronto, Scarborough, North York, Etobicoke, and York and the Borough of East York amalgamated to form the current City of Toronto. This is also known as Metropolitan Toronto or "the 416" after its area code (although now there are some new area codes, the overwhelming number of area codes in the Toronto are still "416") and has a population of over 2.6 million people. More than half of these were born in some country other than Canada: a fact obvious to any visitor immediately, as the city has many vibrant bustling neighbourhoods with street signs in several languages.

Toronto and its surrounding suburbs are collectively known as the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Outlying suburbs are also known as "the 905" after their area code, although technically this code is also used in both Hamilton and the Niagara Region, stretching to the border in Niagara Falls. The entire area including Toronto is known as the "Golden Horseshoe" and has a population of over 8 million people. Distances between cities in the area can be great as it spralws along, outward and even wraps around the western end of Lake Ontario, public transit not always effective enough to make it a quick or seamless trip. Many suburban residents rely on motor vehicles to get around.

Climate in Toronto

Toronto's climate is on the whole on the cool side and varibale conditions can be expected, temperatures average -3.5°C (26°F) in January downtown, however the type of extreme cold experienced in parts of Canada further north do not hold a tight grip for usually more than a day or two, despite this come prepared, winters are still cold and at times, snowy and windy. Contrary to Canadian climate stereotypes, the city experiences warm and humid summers with an average high of 27°C (80°F) and a low of 18°C (65°F) in July/August with many muggy evenings but rarely extreme heat. Late spring and early fall are generally considered to be the most pleasant times to visit, summer is the peak tourist season, but visitors will find that Toronto's vibrancy extends through the winter with outdoor ice-rinks and bundled up clubgoers, etc. Toronto's public buildings are nearly all air-conditioned and fully heated.

Sometimes during the winter, severe storms can slow down transportation and activities in the city for a day or two. In the summer, thunderstorms are common, most lasting less than an hour.

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