As Toronto gears up for the arrival of thousands of athletes from the Western Hemisphere for the 2015 Pan Am Games (July 10-26) and Parapan Games (Aug. 7-15), Canada’s largest city is brushing up on good manners and fine-tuning its infrastructure.
Case in point: The chic and speedy air-rail link UP Express — part of a $16 billion provincial transportation infrastructure plan — debuted in early June, ahead of the games.
Now, jetting into Canada’s largest city and making a beeline to the downtown core is a snap.
But what to do once you land? Here’s your itinerary:
Ride UP Express
The new Union Pearson Express is the pride and joy of Toronto. It’s a dedicated air-rail link connecting Pearson International Airport outside the city to downtown’s Union Station. With only two stops between them, the journey is only 25 minutes and offers an alternative to the city’s increasingly unbearable traffic (plus, there’s Wi-Fi, outlets and restrooms onboard). “UP is a reflection of who we want to be as a city and a community,” says UP Express president Kathy Haley, who praises its eco-friendly aspects.
For example, it’s estimated that 1.2 million car trips will be removed from the roads during its first year of service. UP Express enlisted Tyler Brûlé, chairman and CEO of Winkreative, to help establish the design and branding sensibility. This includes a stunning but minimalist Union Station stop covered in supple blonde wood and high ceilings. Plus, it enlisted a trio of trendy local retail partners — Balzac’s Coffee Roasters, Mill Street Brewery and Drake General Store — all of whom have outposts at the Union Station stop. And in a nod to the glamour of rail travel of yesteryear, Toronto designer Matt Robinson of Klaxon Howl created vintage-looking uniforms for UP Express agents and conductors.
Says Brûlé: “UP Express is further establishing Toronto’s position as one of North America’s most important international hubs. That said, it’s a very handsome looking experience!”
Eat at Montecito
Toronto’s chefs are working hard to designate the city a global culinary capital. Enter one-year-old Montecito, a two-story, 12,000-square-foot Entertainment District restaurant from Hollywood director Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters,” “Stripes,” “Meatballs”) and James Beard Award-winning chef Jonathan Waxman. It features a chic décor inspired by Reitman’s Montecito, Calif., home, with everything made from natural materials.
There’s a digital wall with 55-inch screens projecting a video Reitman shot outside him home, as well as black-and-white stills from his iconic movies adorning the walls. The menu, which changes daily and is sourced from Canadian farms, is just as engaging: Think mouth-watering Alberta grass-fed beef, Nova Scotia lobster and Ontario fruits and vegetables.
Visit the Bata Shoe Museum
Foot fetishists, rejoice! Toronto is home to the Bata Shoe Museum, the only museum dedicated solely to footwear in North America, located on boutique-dotted Bloor Street West. The brainchild of Sonja Bata — matriarch of the Bata footwear family — the museum is designed by Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama and it’s a stunning piece of art: The sleek structure is meant to look like an open shoe box, with its canted walls and copper-clad roof.
Featuring a collection of over 13,500 items from six continents over the past 4,500 years, gems include a pair of 250-year-old wedge-heeled mojaris worn by an Indian ruler and Elton John’s monogrammed silver platform boots.
See a film at TIFF Bell Lightbox
TIFF Bell Lightbox is the gem of the Entertainment District, and, as its name suggests, it’s the epicenter of the Toronto International Film Festival, hosting screenings and parties. It’s a striking five-story complex with a soaring three-story atrium and outside glass panels against which the shadows of people moving are cast, creating a cinematic dimension to the exterior.
While the five-year-old TIFF Bell Lightbox may lack the star power it does during the Festival, it’s buzzing with activity the rest of the year due to it being a hub for art films and independent international films for the public. It also hosts lectures, special festivals, and is home to Luma, a restaurant serving drool-inducing Canadian-inspired fare.
Go for a walk at CN Tower
CN Tower, the city’s iconic, lakeside 1,800-foot structure with a glass floor observation deck and a revolving restaurant, offers the ultimate urban, thrill-seeking experience: EdgeWalk. It claims to be the world’s highest full circle, hands-free walk, on a five-foot-wide ledge, encircling the tower’s main pod, 116 stories above the ground. Visitors — who are given red, one-piece suits to wear — walk in groups of six while attached to an overheard safety rail via a trolley and harness systems.
Guides encourage the fearless to lean back and enjoy the views of Toronto and its environs while being securely fastened to the Tower during their $195, 30-minute walk. And in a nod to visitors’ fearlessness, certificates of achievement are handed out.
Visit Aga Khan Museum
Located outside the city’s downtown core in North York, the 113,000-square-foot Aga Khan Museum is an architecturally impressive venue housing more than 1,000 artifacts showcasing the artistic, intellectual and scientific contributions of Muslim civilizations.
Opened in September 2014, it features pieces — including ceramics, metalwork, paintings and Qur’an manuscripts — from the private collections of His Highness the Aga Khan, London’s Institute of Ismaili Studies, and Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki, the museum is set within formal gardens and surrounded by the Aga Khan Park, creating a wonderfully serene setting suitable for it suburban surroundings.
Have high tea at Windsor Arms
Transport yourself back to more proper times, and head to the Windsor Arms Hotel for its legendary afternoon tea.
Built in 1927 in Yorkville, this boutique hotel exudes a Victorian sensibility.
Afternoon tea is served in a series of rooms, including the French-style lobby tea room, the cozy Purple Room with its original working fireplace, and the bolder Russian Red Tea Room, adorned with, of course, heavy red velvet drapes.
And the service is simply civilized: Nibble on fresh scones with house-made preserves and Devon cream, various tea sandwiches (a classic is cucumber with sundried tomato paste and dill cream cheese) and petit fours.
And, of course, keep hydrated with more than thirty varieties of tea that span the savory spectrum from mild to bold and from sweet to spicy.
From $360/night.
Toronto Islands
A chain of small islands in Lake Ontario, measuring an area of about 570 acres, the Toronto Islands are accessible via ferry and are the perfect way to spend an afternoon outdoors — during the city’s warmer summer months, that is. Visitors may rent bikes, boats and canoes, or embark on a leisurely stroll around the car-free islands’ many parkgrounds and paths, while enjoying the tranquility of the islands.
But a must-visit, particularly for families, is Centreville Amusement Park, located on Centre Island and built in 1967 with a turn-of-the-century theme. With more than 30 rides for both children and adults, it includes a 1907 vintage carousel, an antique Ferris wheel, as well as “antique” cars which shuttle visitors around the grounds.
Go to a sporting event
The city’s newly-minted SoCo (South Core) neighborhood, centrally located downtown near Lake Ontario, is the epicenter of all things sports in Toronto: Air Canada Centre is home to the NHL’s Maple Leafs and the NBA’s Raptors, while the nearby Rogers Centre hosts the World Series-winning Blue Jays and the Canadian Football League’s Argonauts. Plus, there’s Toronto FC, who play at BMO Field, and occasionally at Rogers Centre, as well. Filled with sports bars and shops selling team souvenirs, its easy to craft a sports-themed getaway weekend in a snap.
One word of caution: Don’t remind Torontonians that their beloved Maple Leafs haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967.
Visit The Junction neighborhood
One of the emerging neighborhoods that’s being gentrified — but not at a horrific pace — is The Junction, located in the city’s West End near the junction of four railway lines. Remnants of its history as an early twentieth century immigrant melting pot remain, but it’s become increasingly popular with artists, up-and-coming clothing and home designers and entrepreneurs of all stripes. Spend time walking along its major thoroughfare, Dundas Street West.
Standouts include Mjölk, a gallery and shop located in a narrow Victorian-era building that sells home pieces and crafts largely created by Scandinavian and Japanese designers and artisans. Mjölk’s finds also include locally-made pieces, including a $2,600 brass table lamp with porcelain shade and a cast bronze door wedge for $140. Also on the strip, there’s designer Brian Vu’s Latre Art + Style, which focuses on African, Aboriginal and Inuit handmade pieces (a $115 Inuit-made tea cozy, anyone?), local artisan creations and military-inspired fashions. The Junction is already being billed as the successor to the city’s once-edgy Queen Street West.