It's no wonder that Toronto, the fifth largest city in North America, is a favorite destination of UB students seeking to venture two hours out of Buffalo..
Like New York, the city boasts an array of neighborhoods, different cuisines and exciting nightlife. With a little research on the www.toronto.ca, tourists will have more to do than one weekend can fit.
When traveling from Buffalo to Toronto, students won't even need a car.
According to www.greyhound.com, the student bus fare is $40 for a round-trip ticket. For those who plan to drive to Toronto and stay within the city, it may be more efficient to park and head out on foot or take the transit system to get around town.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates subway trains and streetcars throughout the city. According to www3.ttc.ca, on weekends, friends can share a day pass for unlimited rides. A pass lasts from the time it is purchased, through 5:30 a.m. the following morning.
There are plenty must-see attractions in Toronto, but one of the most notable, and most visible, is the CN Tower.
According to www.cntower.ca, the tower still offers the highest observation platform in the world. Its 1,465-foot high Sky Pod offers unobstructed views of Toronto, Lake Ontario and even Niagara Falls on a clear day.
The lookout level, part of the large, round structure protruding from the tower, also offers a glass floor for a bird's eye view of the ground, 1,122 feet below. A new elevator, which began operating last year, offers a glass floor of its own.
There are various tourism packages available, including the Total Tower Experience, which offers entrance to the lookout level, the glass floor, an outdoor observation area, the Sky Pod and a movie about the tower's construction.
According to www.citypass.com, a CityPass for Toronto costs around $40. The CityPass permits visitors into several Toronto attractions including the CN Tower, the beautiful Casa Loma castle, the Ontario Science Centre, the Royal Ontario Museum and the Toronto Zoo.
According to www.toronto.ca, a simple, but free attraction worth visiting is the Toronto Music Garden. The Toronto Music Garden boasts a waterfront park with sections designed to correspond to each part of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello."
The garden is located on Queen's Quay, a main waterfront street that's also home to Queen's Quay Terminal, a shopping mall with several bars and restaurants.
Just west of the Terminal is the Harbourfront Centre, which offers ice-skating in the winter and various arts events and facilities year-round.
According to the Web site, Toronto is called the "City of Neighborhoods" because there are more than 240 distinct neighborhoods within the city limits. Most places fall within Old Toronto, the epicenter of the city, which is further divided into the waterfront areas of Old Toronto East, West, Downtown and the landlocked Old Toronto Midtown and North.
A good neighborhood map will be helpful in order to find these areas, as well as neighborhoods including Chinatown, Little Italy, Greektown and Little India.
Other areas worth visiting include Queen Street West near Bathhurst, The Beaches neighborhood at Queen Street East and Woodbine, and The Annex neighborhood, where many University of Toronto students reside.
For visitors staying the night, it's worth checking out Toronto's vibrant club scene. For a list of clubs and special events, interested travelers can visit www.clubcrawlers.com, which offers a handy column offering the age of admission for each club and the type of music they feature.
Note: All dollar amounts are in U.S. Dollar currency.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
