Introduction to Toronto
In recent decades, Toronto has thrown itself into a spate of serious image-building, with millions of dollars lavished on glitzy architecture, slick museums, an excellent public transport system and the redevelopment of its waterfront. As a result, Toronto – the economic and cultural focus of English-speaking Canada, and the country’s largest metropolis – has become one of North America’s most likeable and attractive cities.
Toronto sprawls along the northern shore of Lake Ontario, its bustling, vibrant centre surrounded by a jingle and jangle of satellite townships and industrial zones that, as “Greater Toronto”, cover no less than 600 square kilometres. In the centre, huge new shopping malls and high-rise office blocks reflect the economic successes of the last two or three decades, a boom that has attracted immigrants from all over the world, transforming an overwhelmingly Anglophone city into a cosmopolitan megalopolis of some seventy significant minorities. Indeed, getting the feel for Toronto’s diversity is one of the city’s great pleasures. Nowhere is this better experienced than in its myriad cafés and restaurants, where standards are high and prices are low. The city also boasts a pulsating club scene, not to mention a classy programme of performing arts, from dance to theatre and beyond.
Toronto also has its share of attention-grabbing sights, largely conveniently clustered in the city centre. The most celebrated of these is the CN Tower, the world’s tallest free-standing structure, but much more enjoyable are the pick of the city’s museums – for starters, there’s the outstanding Art Gallery of Ontario and the delightful Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art – and a brace of Victorian mansions. That said, these sights illustrate different facets
of Toronto, but in no way do they crystallize its identity. The city remains opaque: too big and diverse to allow for a defining personality and too metamorphic to permit rigid definition. This, however, adds an air of excitement and unpredictability to the place. In fact, for many it’s the surging vitality of the city that provides the most abiding memories.
What to see
Toronto’s central core is readily divided into three main areas: Downtown, Uptown and the waterfront. Downtown, bounded by Front Street to the south, Gerrard Street to the north, Spadina Avenue to the west and Jarvis Street to the east, is the most diverse of the three. Here you’ll find the city’s most visited attractions, kicking off with the famous CN Tower and the armadillo-like Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome) sports stadium next door. These two structures abut the Banking District, whose assorted skyscrapers display some of the city’s most striking architecture, especially in the quartet of hulking black blocks that constitute the Toronto Dominion Centre. One of the four blocks holds the delightful Gallery of Inuit Art, an exemplary collection of Inuit sculpture gathered together from the remote settlements of the Arctic north in the 1960s. Close by, St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church is a proud
The Beaches waterfront
Toronto past and present
Long before the Europeans arrived, the Hurons settled the northern shore of Lake Ontario and named the site of the city “Toronto”, meaning “place of meeting”. In the sixteenth century, British and French fur traders arrived in the area, and the French, who made their headquarters in Québec City, often canoed down to Toronto, which was an early portage route between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay.
The French formed an alliance with the Hurons and ruled the area for over a century. It was only after success against the French in The Seven Years’ War (1756-63) that control shifted in Britain’s favour, and the arrival of several hundred United Empire Loyalists in the wake of the American Revolution further helped to strengthen the supremacy of the Crown. Tensions between the British and their American neighbours culminated here in the War of 1812, during which the American military briefly occupied Toronto twice, but ultimately the US was defeated, acknowledging Britain’s role in North America with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814.
Today Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario, one of ten provinces and three territories that make up Canada. The bicameral federal government meets at the nation’s capital, Ottawa, on the Ontario/Québec border. The city achieved its present geographical dimensions in 1998 when, much to the chagrin of many locals, the six semi-independent boroughs of what had been Metropolitan Toronto were merged into one megacity. Its combined population is around 2.3 million, making it the largest city in Canada by a long chalk – its nearest rival being Montréal, with some 1,800,000 inhabitants.
reminder of the nineteenth-century city, its handsome neo-Romanesque stonework overlooking Roy Thompson Hall, the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
The Banking District fizzles out at Queen Street, giving way to Nathan Phillips Square, site of both the old and new city halls, and the sprawling Eaton Centre, Toronto’s main shopping mall, which extends along Yonge as far as Dundas. Nearby is the much-lauded Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), home to a first-rate selection of both European and Canadian works. Within easy striking distance is Fort York, the reconstructed British army outpost where Toronto began, and which is now stranded on the western edge of Downtown in the shadow of the Gardiner Expressway. In the opposite direction, the St Lawrence neighbourhood is one of the city’s more distinctive, its main claim to fame being a clutch of fine old stone buildings. From here, it’s another short hop east to the Distillery District, not actually a district at all, but rather Toronto’s brightest arts and entertainment complex, which occupies a sprawling former distillery dating from the nineteenth century.
Moving north, Uptown runs from Gerrard as far as Dupont Street. With the exception of the Ontario Legislative Assembly Building, a whopping sandstone pile on University Avenue, the principal attractions here are the museums, beginning with the wide-ranging applied art of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), where pride of place goes to the Chinese collection. Smaller and more engaging are both the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, which holds a connoisseur’s collection of ceramics, and the fascinating range of footwear displayed at the Bata Shoe Museum. Also of interest are a pair of intriguing old houses: Casa Loma, a mock-Gothic extravagance dating from 1911, and Spadina House , whose studied charms are the epitome of Victorian gentility.
The third part of the city centre is the Lake Ontario waterfront. Formerly a grimy industrial strip of wharves and warehouses, it’s now flanked by deluxe condominiums and bright office blocks. This is one of the smartest parts of the city and it comes complete with open-air performance areas, bars, restaurants, shops and a couple of art galleries, including the enterprising Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery The waterfront is also where
The Distillery District
In 1832, James Worts and William Gooderham, two immigrants from England, built a windmill beside Lake Ontario, in what is now central Toronto. Five years later, Gooderham added a distillery to produce whisky from Ontario grain and it was a great commercial success. By the 1860s the distillery was producing two and a half million gallons of whisky from a quarter of a million bushels of grain. In 1869, a fire destroyed most of the original works, but its replacement – a series of tidy brown–brick buildings –survives to this day, on Mill Street, just east of the foot of Parliament Street. The distillery, which at one time was the largest in the British Empire, closed in 1990, but the old works remains the best-preserved Victorian industrial complex in Canada. The complex has recently been revamped as the Distillery District (see p.61), which now holds, amongst much else, art galleries, independent designers, bakeries, shops, a microbrewery and no less than three performance venues – all without a multinational chain in sight, for which blessing the developers are due (at least) three hearty cheers.
ferries leave for the Toronto Islands, the low-lying, crescent-shaped sandbanks that shelter the harbour and provide opportunities for city folk to go walking, swimming and sailing amidst the woods and lawns.
To get the real flavour of Toronto’s core, it’s best to explore on foot, a perfectly feasible option as distances are quite manageable. However, visiting some of the more peripheral attractions – like Casa Loma and Spadina House – can be
Out of the city
Toronto is a convenient base for exploring southwest Ontario, a triangular tract of land that lies sandwiched between lakes Huron and Erie. Significant parts of the region are blotched by heavy industry, but there’s also mile upon mile of rolling farmland and a series of excellent attractions, the best of which are within a two- to three-hour drive of Downtown. Potential destinations include Canada’s premier tourist spot, Niagara Falls, as well as nearby Niagara-on-theLake, a beguiling town of leafy streets and charming colonial houses, as well as site of the renowned Shaw Festival and – within the vicinity – more than twenty wineries. There’s also Goderich and Bayfield, two lovely little towns tucked against the bluffs of the Lake Huron shoreline, and Severn Sound, home to a pair of top-notch historical reconstructions, Discovery Harbour and Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. The sound is also the front door to the Georgian Bay Islands National Park, whose island-studded waters are strikingly beautiful. Beyond southwest Ontario, the most obvious target is Kingston, a lovely mid-sized town with a clutch of old stone buildings, about 260km east along the lake from Toronto.
Toronto Islands
a bit of a trek, especially in the summer when the city is often unbearably humid. Fortunately, Toronto’s public transport system is excellent, consisting of a comprehensive, safe and inexpensive network of streetcars, buses and subways that delves into every nook and cranny of the city. This system also brings most of the city’s suburbs within easy striking distance. By and large they are of limited interest, the main exception being The Beaches, a delightful neighbourhood bordering Lake Ontario, just a twenty-minute streetcar ride east of Downtown.
When to go
Toronto has a harsh climate. In the winter, it’s often bitterly cold, with sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfalls. January and February are usually the coldest months, though real winter conditions can begin in early November and drag on into late March. Summers,
on the other hand, are hot and humid. July and August are consistently the hottest months, sometimes uncomfortably so. Spring and autumn offer the city’s most enjoyable weather, with lots of warm, sunny days and balmy nights. Toronto climate
Getting there
As Canada’s commercial hub, Toronto is not at all difficult to reach. Flying is the most popular, time-effective option, unless you’re already somewhat close to the city, in which case there are plenty of road and rail links to get you there. From outside of North America, flying is of course pretty much your only option. The main airport is Toronto Pearson International, just 25km northwest of the city centre (see “Arrival” for more information).
Airfares to Toronto from the UK, Australia and New Zealand vary depending on the season, with the highest prices applying from around mid-June to early September. You’ll get the best deals during the low season, mid-November through to April (excluding Christmas and New Year, when seats are at a premium and prices are hiked up). Note also that flying on the weekend is generally more expensive than flying during the week. If you’re flying from the US or from anywhere else in Canada, the same general strictures apply, though the market is more unpredictable, with airlines constantly moving their prices up and down.
Airfare costs can often be reduced by going through a specialist flight agent rather than an airline. These agents come in two main flavours: consolidators, who buy up blocks of tickets from the airlines and sell them at a discount, and discount agents, who, in addition to dealing with discounted flights, may also offer special student and youth fares, plus a range of other travelrelated services such as insurance, car rental and the like. Some agents specialize in charter flights, which may well be cheaper than anything available on a scheduled flight – though be aware that departure dates are fixed and withdrawal penalties high.
Package deals from tour operators are rarely going to save you money in getting to Toronto. That said, several of the best do provide excellent city breaks at competitive prices, putting you up in good-quality accommodation.
Booking flights online
Most airlines and discount travel websites offer you the opportunity to book your tickets
online, cutting out the costs of agents and middlemen, though many now charge a small handling fee. Good deals can also be found through auction sites, but you should read the fine print carefully. In the US, the airlines’ own websites are becoming increasingly competitive with larger online travel bookers, so be sure to include them in your search.
Online travel and booking websites
W www.cheapflights.com Bookings from the UK and Ireland only; for the US, visit W www .cheapflight.com ; for Canada, W www .cheapflights.ca ; for Australia, W www .cheapflights.com.au . All the sites offer flight deals, details of travel agents and links to other travel sites.
W www.cheaptickets.com Hawaii-based discount flight specialists (US only) whose search engine claims to dig up the lowest possible fares worldwide; the one drawback is its cumbersome log-in procedure.
W www.counciltravel.com If your journey originates in the US and you’ve some flexibility, this site can provide you with competitive deals.
W www.ebookers.com Efficient, easy-to-use flight finder offering competitive fares.
W www.etn.nl/discount A hub of consolidator and discount agent links, maintained by the nonprofit European Travel Network.
W www.expedia.com Discount airfares, all-airline search engine and daily deals (US only; for the UK
W www.expedia.co.uk ; for Canada W www .expedia.ca ).
W www.flights4less.co.uk Does just what it says on the tin.
W www.flyaow.com Online air travel info and reservations.
W www.gaytravel.com US gay travel agent, offering accommodation, cruises, tours and more. Also at T 1-800/GAY-TRAVEL.
W www.hotwire.com
Last-minute savings of up to forty percent on regular published fares. Travellers must be at least 18 years old. No refunds, transfers, or changes allowed. Bookings from the US only. If you’re looking for the cheapest possible scheduled flight, this is probably your best bet.
W www.kelkoo.co.uk Useful price-comparison site offering low-cost flights (and other goods and services) according to specific criteria. UK only.
W www.lastminute.com UK site with good last-minute holiday package and flight-only deals; for Australia W www.lastminute.com.au
W www.opodo.co.uk Popular and reliable source for low UK airfares. Owned by nine major European airlines.
W www.orbitz.com Comprehensive travel resource with great customer service.
W www.priceline.co.uk (in UK), W www .priceline.com (in US). Name-your-own-price website with discounts around forty percent off standard fares.
W www.qixo.com Trawls through dozens of popular websites to find the best airfares and flight times.
W www.skyauction.com Bookings from the US only. Auctions tickets and travel packages using a “second bid” scheme, just like eBay. You state the maximum you’re willing to pay, and the system will bid only as much as it takes to outbid others, up to your stated limit.
W www.travelocity.com and W www .travelocity.co.uk Great resource for news on the latest airfare sales, cruise discounts, car hire and hotel deals. Provides access to the travel agent system SABRE, the most comprehensive central reservations system in the US.
W www.travelshop.com.au Australian website offering discounted flights, travel packages, insurance, and online bookings.
W www.zuji.com.au (in Australia) Destination guides, hot fares and great deals for car rental and accommodation.
From North America
For those coming from the northern or northeastern US, Toronto is eminently accessible – it’s just a couple of hours’ drive from the US/Canada border at Niagara Falls (near Buffalo, NY) and only a four-hour drive from Detroit, MI. From further afield, almost all major US cities have direct flights to Toronto, and service is characteristically frequent; about sixty percent of North America’s population lives within a ninety-minute plane ride from the city.
Over the last few years, bus and train have become increasingly popular options for getting to Toronto from the US. Canadians visiting Toronto usually choose to drive or fly, though there are of course similar mass ground transit options.
By Plane
In addition to three Canadian carriers, sixty international airlines fly into Toronto Pearson International Airport. Of these, twelve are US carriers. The greatest number of daily flights between major US cities and Toronto occur during weekdays, reflecting the high volume of business travel.
Air Canada is the national carrier and offers the most number of direct flights to the US. United Airlines code-shares with Air Canada on major transporter routes to Toronto, such as those from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and other major US cities. American Airlines and its subsidiary, American Eagle, have similar route structures.
Fares and fare structures on all airlines are extremely fluid, and travellers should consult airline and comparative travel websites for the best deals. As a rule, direct, nonstop flights on Air Canada are at a premium, with standard, return economy fare from New York, Chicago or Los Angeles in the area of Can$280–600, Can$300–620 and Can$350–890, respectively, for low season–high season. A rough range of flight costs between Toronto and Montréal, Ottawa, Halifax or Vancouver, under the same criteria, is Can$200–500, Can$120–280, Can$460–1200 and Can$480–1200, respectively.
Booking two or three weeks in advance of your trip is an immediate way to save money. Including a weekend in travel dates, on the other hand, no longer makes a difference. Air Canada offers five fare options: Executive, Latitude Plus, Latitude, Tango Plus and Tango. The variable is the degree of flexibility each ticket offers regarding changing flight dates and times, etc. Seat confirmations actually cost more, but without them passengers on over-booked flights can be bumped. Before booking your ticket, always enquire about the nature of your
ticket’s fare structure and the limitations involved, and if booking online pay close attention to the types of fares on offer.
The incentive driving Air Canada’s recent interest in discount air service (via its Tango fares) is the brisk competition it is experiencing from the scrappy, Calgary-based WestJet (W www.westjet.com), which innovated paperless, no-frills, book-online travel in Canada. Their core business is servicing the western part of the country, so it is a particularly good choice for Toronto/ Vancouver flights. New routes have been added to eastern Canada as well as US cities, notably in states such as Florida and Arizona. Prices for WestJet and Air Canada Tango fares are extremely competitive, and both airlines offer specials – which are invariably one-way and listed before taxes – on major routes, although price wars have subsided of late in view of the unpredictable cost of fuel.
For daily flight conditions, schedules and up-to-date airport information, travellers in Toronto can call the airline numbers listed below or tune into 1280 CFYZ Radio.
Airlines
Air Canada T 1-888-247-2262, W www .aircanada.com. Canada’s national airline flies to 30 US and 21 Canadian cities year round. The shortlived regional discount carrier Air Canada Jazz was consumed by its Air Canada parent and the discount fares now fall under the Tango rubric.
American Airlines T 1-800/433-7300, W www .aa.com. Offers a number of flights to Toronto from major American cities, especially New York. CanJet T 1-866/656-3761, W www.canjet.com. The new discount kid in town, CanJet is an east coast-based, no-frills airline that runs three direct flights a week to Toronto from New York. It also delivers Canadian snowbirds to Florida resort towns and specializes in discount airfares to the Maritimes. Continental Airlines T 1-800/231-0856 or 1-800/784-4444, W www.continental.com. Provides one- and two-stop connecting flights to Toronto from US cities that have either no direct flights or only a limited number.
Delta Airlines T 1-800/221-1212 domestic, international T 1-800/241-4141, W www.delta .com. Daily, non-direct flights and multi-fare structures (three fares for coach; two for executive) from major cities, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Northwest Airlines T 1-800/441-1818, W www .nwa.com. Sixteen flights daily from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, though not one of them is direct. Detroit is the main connecting city to Toronto, followed by Minneapolis.
United Airlines domestic T 1-800/241-6522, international T 1-800/538-2929, W www.ual.com.
Air Canada’s code-share partner in the US. Direct flights from New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. WestJet T 1-800/538-5696, W www.westjet.com. Seasonal service to and from eight US cities – four direct (Ft Lauderdale, Phoenix, Orlando and Las Vegas), four with stopovers (San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Palm Springs) – plus domestic service across Canada.
By Bus
Toronto is a major hub for continental bus travel. Taking the bus is relatively inexpensive, and you arrive directly in the city centre, at the bus terminal at 610 Bay Street (T 416/393-7911). It goes without saying that travelling by bus is pretty much the slowest way possible, but if time isn’t a consideration, it is a viable option.
Toronto is served from the US by Greyhound (US T 1-800/229-9424; Canada T 1-800/661-8747, W www.greyhound.com).
Trips to Toronto from major cities such as New York, Detroit, Chicago and Montréal take eleven, six, fifteen and eight hours, respectively. From Los Angeles, it’s about a two-and-a-half-day journey, so budget and time constraints are the determining factors here.
By Rail
Rail travel to Toronto has become more popular, given the increased amount of time spent in airport security lines over the last few years. As with buses, Toronto’s train terminal, the graceful old Union Station, is conveniently located downtown. Train travel does takes time, however: a trip from New York City is thirteen hours (which includes a wait of about an hour and twenty minutes at the border) and it takes around fifteen hours from Chicago.
If you are coming to Toronto from a US city, you’ll arrive on one of VIA Rail Canada’s (T 1-888/842-7245, W www .viarail.com) passenger trains. Fares are roughly parallel to airfare, unless you book
Getting to Toronto by car is easy enough but, like any other form of land travel, time is the critical factor. From New York City to Toronto you are looking at approximately 790km, which, assuming the border crossing is uneventful, translates to about ten hours’ driving time. Detroit is 370km and roughly a four-hour drive away. From Montréal, it’s about 540km, and driving will take you about five hours.
If you are driving a rental car in from the US, it may be helpful to let the agency know that you intend to cross the border into Canada with the car, to avoid any possible
Discount travel companies
Butte Travel Service Canada T 1-866/656-3761 or 780/477-3561, W www.flyforless.ca. Edmontonbased specialists in discount flights and cruises around the world.
Educational Travel Center T 1/800/747-5551 or 608/256-5551, W www.edtrav.com. Low-cost fares, student and youth discounts, car rental and tours. Flight Centre US T 1-866/967-5331, Canada T 1-877/478-8747, W www.flightcentre.com. Guarantees lowest airfares.
STA Travel US T 1-800/781-4040, Canada T 1800/427-5639, W www.sta-travel.com. Worldwide specialist in independent and student travel.
Crossing the US/Canada border
Recently there has been a lot of confusion in the US about what is needed to cross the US/Canada border. American visitors crossing the border in either direction do not need a passport. However, they may be asked to verify their citizenship with either a passport or a birth certificate, as well as a photo ID. Naturalized US citizens should carry a naturalization certificate, and permanent US residents who are not citizens should carry their Alien Registration Receipt Card (Green Card). NonAmerican visitors to Canada crossing into the US for a simple day-trip should be aware of all visa regulations and/or residency requirements for both countries and have the proper paperwork, or else risk being stranded at the border. Worthy sites to consult for relevant information include the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (W www.mto.gov.on.ca), Canadian Boarder Service Agency (W www.cbsa.gc.ca), and US Department of State (W travel.state.gov).
Student Flights T 1-800/255-8000 or 480/9511177, W www.isecard.com. Student and youth fares, plus student IDs and bus passes.
Travel Cuts Canada T 1-800/667-2887, US T 1-866/246-9762, W www.travelcuts.com. Student, youth and budget travel.
Worldtrek Travel T 1-800/243-1723, W www .worldtrek.com. Discount travel agency for worldwide travel.
Tour Operators
American Express Vacations US T 1-800/2972777, Outside US T 210/582-2716, W www .americanexpress.com/travel. Hotels, getaways, transportation and last-minute deals.
Brewster Tours Canada T 1-800/661-1152
W www.brewster.ca. Vancouver-based rail specialists offering package tours from Toronto on VIA Rail’s cross-country Canadian Collette Vacations US T 1-800/321-8684, W www.collettvacations.com. Independent and escorted tours of Toronto and Niagara Falls. Destinations Canada T 1-888/475-4226 or 416/488-1169, W www.destinationcanada.com. Air-inclusive packages for Toronto and surrounding area.
Escape Tours Canada T 1-866/607-4567, W www.escapetours.org. Central-Ontario specialists offering small, flexible tours to Algonquin Park, the Niagara region and smaller Ontario cities.
Fresh Tracks Canada T 1-800/667-4744, W www.freshtracks.ca. Specialists in train travel packages with Toronto as the hub.
Gray Line T 1-800/667-0882, W www.grayline .ca. The Gray Line bus company (Greyhound in the US) offers both day-trips and tour packages in and around Toronto. Packages are two- or three-night
affairs, with passes to attractions available at time of booking.
Maxxim Vacations T 1-800/567-6666, W www .maxximvacations.com. Flexible, all-inclusive packages from the US to Toronto.
Odyssey Learning Adventures Canada T 1800/263-0050, W www.odysseylearningadvent ures.ca. Offers educational travel experiences and Elderhostel programmes. Toronto packages include either the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake or the Stratford Festival in Stratford.
Toronto Tours Canada T 1-888/811-9247, W www.torontotours.com. Toronto and Niagararegion tours, plus various Toronto Harbour cruises. Voyageur Quest T 1-800/794-9660 or 416/486-3605, W www.voyageurquest.com. Adventure-travel company based in Toronto that takes you straight from Downtown to the forests edging Algonquin Provincial Park. Provides complete outfitting for three- to five-day wilderness experiences and also leads group canoe expeditions of Toronto Harbour.
Yankee Holidays US T 1-800/225-2550, W www .yankeeholidays.com. Two- to five-day Toronto packages featuring theatre, restaurants, cultural attractions and neighbourhoods. Tours of Niagara region also available.
From the UK and Ireland
Toronto is easily reached from the UK mainland by either charter or scheduled flight. The majority of flights leave from London Heathrow, with other airports offering a slim to slender range of choices; Manchester and Glasgow have the most. From Ireland – north or south – there is only one seasonal scheduled direct, nonstop service to Toronto; the main options here are either charter
flights or routings via the UK mainland or a US hub airport. Keep in mind that direct, nonstop flights can often – but certainly not always – be at a premium when compared with one-stop flights.
A standard return fare on a scheduled flight from London Heathrow direct to Toronto with Air Canada, the principal carrier, can range from £400–1200 (low season—high season). With restrictions, though, this can easily be trimmed to a very affordable £300–350. From Ireland, Air Canada’s direct flights from Dublin and Shannon to Toronto (June–Sept only) can cost as little as e450, but without restrictions can weigh in at around e1750. Much more competitive, however, are the fares offered by the budget airline Zoom, whose going rate for a return from London to Toronto is between £200 and £300.
Airlines
Aer Lingus UK T 0845/084 4444, Republic of Ireland T 0818/365 000, W www.aerlingus.ie. Dublin to Boston; Boston to Toronto. Air Canada UK T 0871/220 1111, Republic of Ireland T 01/679 3958, W www.aircanada.com.
London Heathrow nonstop to Toronto; Manchester and Glasgow nonstop to Toronto (April–Oct only); Dublin and Shannon nonstop to Toronto (June–Sept only).
American Airlines UK T 0845/7789 789 or 020/7365 0777, W www.americanairlines.co.uk; Republic of Ireland T 01/602 0550, W www .americanairlines.ie. London Heathrow to Toronto via Boston, Chicago or New York; Glasgow and Manchester to Toronto via Chicago.
British Airways UK T 0870/850 9850, Republic of Ireland T 1890/626 747, W www.ba.com.
London Heathrow to Toronto; Irish flight connections to Toronto via London Heathrow.
British Midland UK T 0870/607 0222, from elsewhere UK T (0)1332/64 8181, W www.flybmi .com. In conjunction with Air Canada, flights from London Heathrow to Toronto.
Continental Airlines UK T 0845/607 6760, W www.continental.com/uk; Republic of Ireland T 1890/925 252, W www.continental.com/ie. From Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Gatwick, London Heathrow and Manchester to Toronto via Newark, New Jersey. Also from Belfast, Dublin and Shannon to Toronto via Newark, New Jersey.
Delta UK T 0800/414 767, Republic of Ireland T 01/407 3165, W www.delta.com. London Gatwick to Toronto via Cincinnati or Atlanta, with connections to London Gatwick from several regional UK airports. Also Dublin to Toronto via Atlanta.
KLM/Northwest Airlines UK T 0870/507 4074, W www.klm.com. KLM fly from a number of UK regional airports, principally Aberdeen, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Humberside, Leeds-Bradford, London City, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Manchester and Norwich to Amsterdam. From
Amsterdam there are direct nonstop flights to Toronto.
Lufthansa UK T 0845/7737 310, Republic of Ireland T 01/844 5544, W www.lufthansa.co.uk.
Frankfurt to Toronto with connections from several UK airports, including London Heathrow.
United Airlines UK T 0845/8444 777, W www .unitedairlines.co.uk. London Heathrow to Toronto via Chicago or Washington DC; Manchester to Toronto via Chicago or via London Heathrow and Washington DC; Shannon to Toronto via Philadelphia.
Zoom T 0870/240 0055, W www.flyzoom.com.
Scheduled flights from Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, London Gatwick, London Stansted and Manchester to Toronto. Also charter flights.
Discount travel and flight agents
Apex Travel Republic of Ireland T 01/241 8000, W www.apextravel.ie. Specialists in flights to Australia, Africa, the Far East, the US and Canada. Aran Travel International Republic of Ireland T 091/562 595, W homepages.iol.ie/~arantvl /aranmain.htm. Low-cost flights worldwide.
CIE Tours International Republic of Ireland T 01/703 1888, W www.cietours.ie. General flight and tour agent.
Co-op Travel Care UK T 0870/112 0085, W www.travelcareonline.com. Flights and holidays around the world.
ebookers UK T 0870/010 7000, W www .ebookers.com, Republic of Ireland T 01/241 5689, W www.ebookers.ie. Low fares on an extensive selection of scheduled flights and package deals. Flight Centre UK T 0870/890 8099, W www .flightcentre.co.uk. Rock-bottom fares worldwide. Flights4Less UK T 0871/222 3423, W www .flights4less.co.uk. Airline consolidator and tour operator. Offers package deals and independent, tailor-made itineraries. Part of Lastminute.com.
Go Holidays Republic of Ireland T 01/874 4126, W www.goholidays.ie. City-break and package tour specialists.
Joe Walsh Tours Republic of Ireland T 01/676 0991, W www.joewalshtours.ie. Long-established travel agency and tour operator
Lee Travel Republic of Ireland T 021/427 7111, W www.leetravel.ie. Comprehensive, independent travel agency.
McCarthy’s Travel Republic of Ireland T 021/427 0127, W www.mccarthystravel.ie. Offers business, wedding, honeymoon, pilgrimage, skiing and other packages.
North South Travel UK T 01245/608 291, W www.northsouthtravel.co.uk. Friendly, competitive travel agency offering discounted fares worldwide.
Profits go to NST Development Trust, a charity that supports grass-roots projects in disadvantaged areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Premier Travel Northern Ireland T 028/7126 3333, W www.premiertravel.uk.com. Group travel, business travel, car rentals, travel insurance and daily specials.
Rosetta Travel UK T 028/9064 4996, W www .rosettatravel.com. Travel bargains with flights leaving from Belfast.
STA Travel UK T 0870/1600 599, W www .statravel.co.uk. Worldwide specialists in low-cost flights and tours for students and under-26s, though other customers welcome.
Top Deck UK T 020/8879 6789, W www .topdecktravel.co.uk. Long-established agent dealing in discount flights.
Trailfinders UK T 0845/0585 858, W www .trailfinders.co.uk; Republic of Ireland T 01/677 7888, W www.trailfinders.ie. One of the best-informed and most efficient agents for independent travellers; they produce a very useful quarterly magazine worth scrutinizing for round-the-world routes.
USIT Republic of Ireland T 01/602 1600, Northern Ireland T 028/9032 7111, W www.usit.ie. Specialists in student, youth and independent travel.
Tour operators
American Holidays Belfast T 02890/238 762, Dublin T 01/6733 840, W www.american-holidays com. Package deals from Ireland to all parts of the US and Canada.
Canada’s Best UK T 01502/565648, W www .best-in-travel.com. Offers package and tailor-made holidays that include deals on Toronto hotels as well as Ontario cottages, resorts and inns.
TourWorld W www.tourworld.com. Every sporting activity you can think of (and then some) is packagedup on this comprehensive portal website.
Trek America UK T 0870/444 8735, W www .trekamerica.com. Youth-orientated camping and hiking trips throughout the US and Canada. Most of their Canadian holidays are in British Columbia, but they do offer a fourteen-day trip that includes New York, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, and New England.
From Australia and New Zealand
There are no direct, nonstop flights from Australia and New Zealand to Toronto; you will have to break your journey in either an Asian city, like Hong Kong, or in North America (usually Los Angeles or Vancouver);
