Canada - Possible 12 Hours In Toronto In December - Good Idea?

Hi Canadians!

I will likely be connecting through YYZ to LIM in December. I have the option of a 1.5 hour layover, but having never actually stepped on Canadian soil, I wanted to see if it's worth it (and ideas for what to do) if I take a 10-12 hour stop in town (flight in from EWR around 10AM; flight out around 11:50PM).

It will be December, and I presume Toronto is moderately cold then... Any suggestions?

Hi! I'm not Canadian eh, but I'd suggest taking a taxi to downtown and going up the CN tower (http://www.cntower.ca/Intro.html). That will essentially burn all your time though you might have a bit of time to eat after. The Bata shoe museum is also cool if shoes are your thing (or your SO's). It will be cold then and all this is weather dependent. If it's snowing hard, stay put. Moderately snowing is probably ok for local trips to Mississauga, but not for rush hour or downtown. Try Urbanspoon.com for Hero Burgers downtown on Queen St (and Delish cupcakes across the street for dessert) and the Apricot Tree Cafe, or Blue Sage Eatery if you decide to stay nearer Pearson.

It's definitely worth visiting the city. The weather can be anything from 10C to -40C, from sunny blue skies to pouring rain to a blizzard (although if the latter, you probably won't be taking off or landing). Check the weather the day before and dress accordingly, but in all likelihood with a proper coat you should be fine.

You could easily hit downtown by TTC (bus/subway connection) from Pearson in about an hour and wander around downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods at leisure. There are some good museums in the downtown core - Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum - and you could even check out the Ontario provincial legislature (Queen's Park) if you're so inclined.

Toronto's also an excellent city for dining. Chinatown is great, and there are lots of neat places around Queen St. West, Bloor St. W., College St., etc.

Well, that's good enough for me - just one more question...is Toronto more or less closed on 12/26? I seem to recall that's Boxing Day (or something)...

Well, that's good enough for me - just one more question...is Toronto more or less closed on 12/26? I seem to recall that's Boxing Day (or something)...

You can go shopping and catch the Boxing Day sales (think of Black Friday in the US, but with fewer brawls and gunshots.)

Some things might be closed, but certainly it's not like Christmas. I saw this roundup of last year's Boxing Day - looks like things would be fine for a visitor. Just don't expect to go to the bank or post office:
http://www.blogto.com/news_flash/2011/12/whats_open_and_closed_on_boxing_day_2011_in_toront o/

You can go shopping and catch the Boxing Day sales (think of Black Friday in the US, but with fewer brawls and gunshots.)

Some things might be closed, but certainly it's not like Christmas. I saw this roundup of last year's Boxing Day - looks like things would be fine for a visitor. Just don't expect to go to the bank or post office:
http://www.blogto.com/news_flash/2011/12/whats_open_and_closed_on_boxing_day_2011_in_toront o/

Everything is closed shut Boxing Day. 'Boxing Day' sales start the day after.

Cheers,

Unless there's a blizzard, Boxing Day should have light traffic with no rush hour problems.

Some of the advice should depend on your nationality. Do you need a visa to enter Canada?

If your connection day is Dec 26, I would come back to visit another time.

Dec 26 is boxing day, a statutory holiday. Only places open are the store doing the Canadian Black Friday thing.

If your connection day is Dec 26, I would come back to visit another time.

Dec 26 is boxing day, a statutory holiday. Only places open are the store doing the Canadian Black Friday thing.

Disagree. Restaurants - particularly in the downtown core, particularly of the ethnic/international variety - will certainly be open. And the sights are free.

If the OP has never been to Toronto - let alone Canada - I think a day wandering around Toronto, even if it's not a regular workday and the museums are closed, would be enjoyable. And many stores will in fact be open - particularly downtown.

Disagree. Restaurants - particularly in the downtown core, particularly of the ethnic/international variety - will certainly be open. ...

Really? As someone who has spend 40+ Dec 26th in Toronto, only the restaurants in the designated tourist zones are open.

How many boxing days have you been in Toronto?

Really? As someone who has spend 40+ Dec 26th in Toronto, only the restaurants in the designated tourist zones are open.

How many boxing days have you been in Toronto?

I used to live there. Last Boxing Day I was in town was 2004, and I quite clearly remember eating Vietnamese very late at night on Gerrard east of Broadview, because there was some guy making some very loud, homophobic comments to his dining companion, and I called him on it.

I've never found Boxing Day to be all that desolate. Xmas Eve and Xmas Day perhaps, but not the 26th. Clearly not every place will be open, but most restaurants and many big stores will be.

Not to be too insensitive, but the Jane Creba shooting downtown the following year - that occurred on Boxing Day, and if you'll recall the whole Dundas/Yonge area was packed because the stores were all having sales.

I used to live there. Last Boxing Day I was in town was 2004, and I quite clearly remember eating Vietnamese very late at night on Gerrard east of Broadview, because there was some guy making some very loud, homophobic comments to his dining companion, and I called him on it.

I've never found Boxing Day to be all that desolate. Xmas Eve and Xmas Day perhaps, but not the 26th. Clearly not every place will be open, but most restaurants and many big stores will be.

Not to be too insensitive, but the Jane Creba shooting downtown the following year - that occurred on Boxing Day, and if you'll recall the whole Dundas/Yonge area was packed because the stores were all having sales.

Shopping YES, dining LIMITED. Yonge/Dundas is one of the tourist zone.

Shopping YES, dining LIMITED. Yonge/Dundas is one of the tourist zone.

For the OP's purposes, I think he'll find plenty of thing to keep him/herself amused for a few hours in Toronto on Boxing Day. And I think as a tourist the OP will probably be spending rather a lot of his/her time in the tourist zone...

Outside of the designated tourism zones I can back up that you won't find much open, the occasional place maybe. I recall a few years back we had a family boxing bay lunch and dinner cancelled on short notice due to illness of the hostess and we had really difficulty finding a place to get a meal (and wound up eating xmas dinner leftovers) every restaurant on the Danforth was closed up tight as a drum.

But the standard tourism sites like the CN tower will be open and there will be some food options available in the vicinity.

Errr, in December?

Freaking cold to be just wandering around a few hours.

I guess the OP is used to cold winters being that he is from NJ but being that it is 1) Boxing Day and 2) Winter, is there another routing he can take to warm Peru avoiding TO in the first place.

Shopping centers will be packed with too many people and many of the tourist sites will be closed.

I love TO but I would hate to have my first impression of a great city to be stuck walking about in the freezing Canadian winter.

If your connection day is Dec 26, I would come back to visit another time.

Dec 26 is boxing day, a statutory holiday. Only places open are the store doing the Canadian Black Friday thing.
The "statutory" part refers to banks, schools and government offices. Malls and stores everywhere have been open on Boxing Day in Ontario for at least a decade. Supermarkets can open and many do. Restaturants have a busy day. Each province decides on holiday closing restrictions. It is a particularly busy day for retailers and the sales are sometimes real.

Don't bother with the people who tell you it would be too cold. Are you comfortable walking around New York in late December? If yes, then you'll be fine in Toronto. The average temperature in Toronto in December is 2 degrees cooler than the average temp in New York. Also, Toronto has NEVER had a temperature of -40C (at least not since they began recording temperatures). A cold snap in the winter for Toronto is hitting -15, and the rest of the country (except our slightly wimpier Vancouver friends) laughs at us.

Stores in Chinatown downtown Toronto and Pacific Mall in Markham are open in even during Holidays.

You could have time to do both if you wanted traveling by Taxi.