Hello EF students! My name is Cameron Phillips
and I’m so excited to be giving you an in depth guide of my favourite things to do in Toronto.
Welcome to the EF Guest Vlog. I’m your host today and
I’m going to show you how to experience Toronto like a local.
I’ve been living in Toronto for a couple of years now and there are so many incredible neighbourhoods,
fun things to do, great restaurants to eat at and incredible places to explore.
I’m going to share a few of them with you today.
What’s great about the EF school in Toronto is that it's located so centrally in King West,
just west of downtown, which is actually one of the neighbourhoods we’re going to explore today.
Starting out at the EF campus, going just down the street,
is one of my favourite coffee shops of all time: Jimmy’s Coffee.
It offers an incredible variety of coffee, pastries,
and a great atmosphere to get some work done, to hang out and catch up with some friends,
or just go for a nice afternoon walk or coffee. I love going to Jimmy’s.
It’s right down the street from where there is so much is happening.
Let me tell you about it.
King Street West is home to an incredible array of restaurants, shops and great people watching.
Right down the street from Jimmy’s Coffee
is a great bakery that’s kind of tucked under ground and away from sight, but it’s so amazing.
It’s called Forno Cultura, which means “oven culture” in Italian
and they have incredible breads and sandwiches and is another great place to hang out.
While you’re on King Street, walk a little bit further down
and you’re going to be in one of my favourite places ever: Trillium Park.
One of the greatest things about Toronto is its position on Lake Ontario,
which provides this great, natural resource, a beautiful view, and makes you feel connected to this great body of water.
One of the best ways to experience that is through a park.
Trillium Park, which is just a little bit south of King West, is the answer to all your park needs.
It’s a small park, but it gets you right out on the lake
with its stunning view of downtown Toronto, or the airplanes landing at the city airport.
You’ll see people hanging out, having picnics, riding their bikes, or running.
I spend most evenings in this park, watching the sunset or going for a run,
and you might even see me there if you watch this video and get inspired from it.
It is an incredible place to hang out, especially to wind down your day,
get a view of the city, see the boats, watch the planes.
It’s just a really great place and one of my favourite places in the King West neighbourhood.
When you’re down at Trillium Park, there’s a path that runs all the way along the lake.
If you take that path and head towards downtown, you’re going to run into the second neighbourhood
that I’m going to cover in today’s video: the Harbourfront and Downtown.
Downtown Toronto is exactly that: what everyone thinks of when they think of the big city.
There’s a variety of restaurants and shops, a big mall, and everything you need is in Toronto.
It’s a pretty general place to think of, if you think of downtown Toronto as somewhere to hang out,
so I’m going to tell you about the places where I hang out
and what I think you shouldn’t miss if you head to downtown Toronto.
Start at the Harbourfront.
There is a little beach and a few little grassy hills that make incredible places to hang out and picnic,
especially in the summertime, and to people watch.
You’re right below the CN Tower,
so you feel very connected to the city and the lake, and it’s a great place to hang out.
It’s kind of like Trillium Park, but a little bit more central.
While you’re down there, there’s the Lavazza Espression Café, which is an Italian espresso chain.
They have a great little popup shop where you can have espresso shots, lattes and espresso-based beverages.
There are a few restaurants as well right on the water where you can sit and watch the boats,
have lunch or dinner or even breakfast, and take in the beautiful site that is downtown Toronto.
One of the greatest things about Toronto is the public transportation system.
It makes it incredibly easy to get all over the city with just a Presto card, which is your ticket.
You probably know about it if you’re already living in Toronto,
but if you don’t, let me pull out mine. This is a Presto Card.
You just tap this on all the public transportation and you’re into the system.
It’s 3 dollars a ride and it’s perfect because when you’re at the Harbourfront, you just tap on,
go two stops on the streetcar, and you’re right in the heart of downtown Toronto
and heading to my favourite coffee shop, Dineen Coffee.
I’ve mentioned coffee shops in every neighbourhood so far, but if you’re downtown, you’ve got to go to Dineen.
The espresso is phenomenal. It’s exceptional. It’s right across the street from Sud Forno,
which is a casual take on the Terroni restaurant group’s Italian lunch and casual fair.
If you want to go and get pastries, salads, pastas, and pizza,
and a very casual environment for some very great takeout Italian food, you can’t miss Sud Forno.
The location right downtown, right across from Dineen, makes it so perfect, easy, and accessible - you’ll love it.
When you’re there, you’re just a few blocks away from the Eaton Centre,
which is Toronto’s largest mall, right downtown. You can find everything you need there.
It’s also right next to Yonge Dundas Square, which is the "Times Square of Toronto",
featuring that kind of big city, big billboard vibe.
You know, you really feel connected in the middle of the city there.
You’re also right next to Nathan Phillips Square, which is home to Toronto City Hall
and the classic Toronto sign in front of the pond, which becomes a skating rink in the winter.
All those things - the Eaton Centre mall, Yonge Dundas Square, and Nathan Phillips Square -
are all within a 10 minute walk of each other, right within that central downtown area.
You’ll find lots of things to do, especially once you’re fueled up on Dineen espresso and Sud Forno for lunch.
Also from there, you can hop back on that street car.
Take the street car straight down Queen Street and you’re in the neighbourhood of Queen West,
which is one of Toronto’s most sought after neighbourhoods.
It was even recognized globally as a hip neighbourhood amongst all the world cities.
There are a lot of great things to do in Queen West.
Queen West has a lot more of the boutique shops, unique stores, clothing stores,
so many restaurants and coffee shops. There’s so much to do and so much to explore.
You could spend days walking down Queen Street and never see it all.
Queen West is also great because it’s at the base of Trinity Bellwoods Park,
which is a massive park that runs right through the centre of the neighbourhood.
In the summertime you’ll find all kinds of people having picnics, hanging out,
playing volleyball, playing games - all in the park.
And in the winter, it is a beautiful place to go for a nice stroll in the snow and nature.
It is absolutely stunning.
While you’re in Queen West, I’m going to mention a restaurant I love, which is called Terroni
and is the mother company and actual restaurant version of Sud Forno.
Terroni has amazing Italian food. Think great pasta, beautiful pizza.
It’s fresh and simple; you’ll love it. It has super high quality
and a casual, friendly atmosphere. I love Terroni. I go there all the time.
The original one is located in Queen West and you’ll definitely love it when you go there.
I couldn’t bring up a neighbourhood without mentioning a coffee shop,
so I’ll mention Sam James Coffee Bar, which has great coffee.
It’s right across from the park, so you can get your coffee and go right into the park to enjoy it on a bench,
go for a stroll, or just enjoy your day in the park with your coffee.
There are so many things to do in Toronto,
but that was my brief but comprehensive list of my three favourite neighbourhoods in the city.
I encourage you to get out and explore and make the most of the city,
especially in the summer and fall when it’s warm and everybody is out,
but also in the winter because you can still do all these activities then.
If you enjoyed this video, make sure to subscribe to the EF channel where you can find
all kinds of travel guides to other cities all around the world, as well as everything EF.
Links to my own channel and my own content and channel is in the description of this video,
so if you want to join my world, you can find that there.
With that being said, happy travels around Toronto and I’ll see you guys in the next video. Bye!