Toronto is a city that can trigger déjà vu. It’s one of those places that vaguely remind you of your hometown, or of another place you’ve been. It has the big-city quality of Los Angeles, with a small-town sensibility.
Its natural resources are almost limitless, and the scenery the city provides is equally breathtaking. From lakes and ponds that litter the city, with their serene stillness, the city is the perfect way to start off exploring Canada’s vast landscape.
Toronto is a cosmopolitan city that not only preserves its natural beauty, but unabashedly steps boldly towards the future, with condos and apartment buildings that are the norm in the downtown area of the city.
It’s also a great place to visit for Muslim families and singles. There is a sizable Muslim population within the city, and most are concentrated in certain pockets of the city. There is also a lot of feeling of community in the minority populations. People tend to stick together in their enclaves, but the city itself is very multicultural. Most everything will be written first in English, then in French.
The population of the Arab population has expanded greatly since the last few years, and many Arab supermarkets and shops can be found, as well as halal restaurants ranging from delicious Pakistani cuisine, Persian kebabs, halal chicken wings, and the ever-popular halal Popeye’s and KFC’s.
Toronto not only satisfies your appetite, but it also provides multiple opportunities to have fun with the family. There are numerous museums and educational workshops throughout the city. One of the best is the Ontario Science Center, which gives kids and adults alike, hands on-experiences to learn about the mechanics of the body, nature and human cultures around the world.
The center’s IMAX movie theater is a huge draw. The wrap-around screen completely immerses you in the story and gives great insight on various educational topics such as the wolves of Alaska, how the immune system works, and the native tribes of Papua New Guinea.
The best times of the year to go are during spring and fall, when the weather is mild. It’s when the crush of tourists have abandoned the city. The beautiful springtime blooms and flowers make March through May a great time to visit the city. In the fall, the leaves change into beautiful jewel shades of deep yellow, orange and red, and fall off, creating beautiful fall foliage which is unforgettable.
The summers and winters can be unusually harsh in Toronto, much like the rest of Canada. The summers are often humid and sweltering, but numerous swimming pools and ponds are appreciated avenues of relief. A modern city such as Toronto has air conditioning nearly everywhere as well, so the summer is a good time to go, if you don’t mind long lines at amusement parks or the crush of other tourists.
Winters here have been less cold than they normally were, so this is a better time to go than it used to be. Winter also brings out the beauty of the city, covering it in a blanket of snow and creating great hills for skiing, sledding and snowboarding. Toronto has much to offer any traveler; all you have to do is look beyond the usual.