It’s springtime. The masses of tourists have started to flood downtown Toronto. They come from all over. France, Germany, Russia, England. Even Orangeville, Ontario.
Sure, we don’t have the hours long flight, followed by the train or bus ride to our downtown hotel. Sure, we don’t see the city with the same eyes as those visiting for the first time. But, when you’re entertaining a couple of young kids, the journey is still a big deal.
The Magic Of The City
Because of our love of trains, we most always get pulled to where the Skywalk ends at the CN Tower and Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada. From here, you have an excellent outdoor view of the trains coming and going from Union Station.
But, that spot holds much more magic. Let’s say you’re coming from your home in Europe to Toronto for the first time. You land at Toronto Pearson International Airport. You see the usual industrial wastelands with a hint of a city on the horizon.
You then gather your luggage and, as is commonly becoming the norm, you get on the Union Pearson Express train (UP Express for short) for your journey downtown to your hotel. From the dirty windows, you catch even more enticing glimpses of the iconic city you’re about to explore.
You then get off your train at it’s station along the Skywalk. You walk west. You’re lost, but you don’t care. You step out the doors at the western end of the indoor walkway. You are immediately hammered by all that represents Toronto.
So, that’s the magic. While you’re watching trains with the kids, turning around every once in a while and taking in the looks on the faces of these ‘explorers to a new land’ is uplifting at the least. It inspires you too to travel to a far off land and discover something that the locals probably take for granted.
Downtown Toronto Image Gallery
The photos in the image gallery below were taken inside and in the general vicinity of the Skywalk. It might surprise you that there are no actual pictures of trains, since that was the main goal of our trip. Some are taken inside the cavernous, historic main lobby of Union Station. That train station is found at the eastern end of the Skywalk.
Other photos are taken at a peaceful little park on Front Street, between Simcoe Place and the CBC building. When we drive right down, Simcoe Place is most often our parking spot. On this journey, we parked at Wilson Station and took the TTC Subway.
If you do happen to be visiting and find yourself overwhelmed, this little park on Front Street is a great spot to step out of the crowd for a moment. It also offers some hidden gem views of the CN Tower and some of the other downtown Toronto streetscape.
For larger versions of any of the photos in the image gallery, simply click on the individual pictures.
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Downtown Toronto Driving Tour
Most of the spots in the image gallery above can be seen in this driving tour video of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The tour is quite extensive and covers most of the main streets in the downtown core.
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Video edited with Corel VideoStudio Ultimate 2018.
