2008 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory

July 6th to 11th, 2008
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Social Programs and Attractions

Things to do while not attending ISIT 2008

Welcome to Toronto! While you are here, we hope that you will enjoy much of what our city offers: tourist attractions, theatre and musical entertainment, plenty of shopping, beautiful parks and walking trails, a cornucopia of dining experiences, and a celebrated multicultural diversity that does not exist anywhere else in the world.

From the Sheraton Centre many attractions are within walking distance. Immediately to the north, across the street, is Osgoode Hall, Nathan Phillips Square and City Hall. Just to the west a few blocks is Queen Street West, an eclectic area offering boutique-style shopping and many unique restaurants. Just to the east a couple of blocks, you will see Old City Hall (with the clock tower), The Eaton Centre, and The Bay (more shopping opportunities). Other destinations are a short bus, subway or streetcar ride away. Taxis are also an option. For more adventurous excursions, the Go Train (commuter rail) and other municipal transit systems, tour buses, as well as car rentals can get you where you want to go.

Contents

How to get around

Public Transportation

Guided Bus tours: Toronto Hop On Hop Off City Tour

These Hop On Hop Off Tours are a great way to see a lot of the city fairly quickly (get the lay of the land) and they allow you to spend more time where you want and less time where you don't.

Walking

There are many sites (and sights) to be seen within a short walk of anywhere downtown Toronto. Try some of the walking tours that Frommers.com suggests, or try… if you dare…

The Path: This is Toronto's underground city and pedestrian highway, which stretches and loops around for miles, connecting office towers, shopping malls, restaurants, and hotels. This is particularly useful in the dead cold of winter or in the sweltering hot humid days of summer, when it is not so pleasant above-ground. Be careful, though; once you're in the labyrinth there's no telling when (or where) you might re-emerge. Best to take the GPS, or leave a trail of crumbs, or emergency contact information with your hotel concierge. If you're lucky, you'll reach your destination "in weatherproof comfort," and you will have passed the screening test that qualifies you to enter the hedge maze on Centre Island.

Great areas for outdoor walks include: Waterfront Trail, Toronto Parks (including Don Valley, Allan Gardens, Toronto Music Garden at Harbourfront, High Park).

Main Attractions

Toronto Islands

The Toronto Islands have a bit of everything, with the best view of the city, too: park, waterfront beach, Centreville amusement park, restaurants, the great outdoors, picnic areas, bike rentals, pedal boats, petting zoo, village and cottages, a hedge maze, and a ferry ride to get there. This offers something for any age of visitor.

The Beaches

In The Beaches you'll find parks, waterfront, the boardwalk, sand volleyball, playgrounds, Kew Gardens, shopping, and many restaurants. Toronto recently held a voluntary plebiscite to determine if The Beaches should be called The Beaches or The Beach. The majority vote was for The Beach, so for the next 25 years, you will hear the area referred to as either name, unless Ted Rogers makes a large donation to the area, in which case it will be renamed The Rogers Beach District (or something like that).

Museums, Galleries, etc.

The City of Toronto's homepage , www.toronto.ca, provides an on-line museum and history of the city, with links to many museums and points of interest in our town. Here are listed just a few of what is available: Royal Ontario Museum, Hockey Hall of Fame, Black Creek Pioneer Village, Fort York, Ontario Science Centre, Casa Loma, Toronto Police Museum and Discovery Centre, Toronto Aerospace Museum, Textile Museum of Canada, George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, CBC Museum, The Market Gallery, McMichael Canadian Art Collection (Kleinburg). Oh, yes, we have a shoe museum and a TV museum, too. (Unfortunately, one of our best attractions, The Art Gallery of Ontario is currently under renovation, expected to reopen only in Fall 2008.)

Tourist sites

Tourists typically visit the CN Tower, Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome), Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square, the Theatre District (King St West), the ACC, Queen's Park (Provincial Parliament), The Distillery District, The Steam Whistle Brew House, Union Station, , Universities (Toronto, Ryerson, York) and Colleges (George Brown, Humber, Seneca), Riverdale Farm, the Chum-City Building a.k.a. MuchMusic World Headquarters, Summerhill LCBO (old North Toronto Station) near Rosedale (via subway), the St. Lawrence Market area, and the Necropolis Cemetery.

Day Excursions

(a car is necessary for these treks)

Ontario Place (ok, it is possible to get to this one fairly easily without a car), Canada's Wonderland (Maple), Playdium (Mississauga), Wild Water Kingdom (Brampton), Metro Toronto Zoo (Scarborough), Royal Botanical Gardens (Hamilton/Burlington), Toronto Botanical Gardens in Edwards Gardens, Bronte Creek Provincial Park (Oakville), Oakville Galleries and Gairloch Gardens.

Out-of-Town Excursions

(It might seem like you're driving for hours, definitely need an early start, and it's a full day, but well worth the effort.)

Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Picton, St Jacobs, Elora Gorge, Mountsberg Wildlife Centre and Crawford Lake, Wasaga Beach, Muskoka. An excursion to the Muskoka area or the Picton area would need more than one day (unless you really are an early bird with unlimited energy), but either would be a wonderful add-on at the end of the conference.

Cultural Areas

Greektown (the Danforth), Little Italy, Portugal Village, Chinatown, Gerrard India Bazaar, Eglinton between Spadina and Dufferin (lots of kosher), Forest Hill.

Shopping

Yorkville/Bloor St. West, Queen's Quay Terminal - Harbourfront, Queen St. West, Yorkdale Mall (via subway), Bloor West Village (via subway), The Eaton Centre, St. Lawrence Market, Sherway Gardens (in Etobicoke), Yonge-Eglinton Centre. If these destinations don't have what you need, then do what the locals do each weekend, and drive to Buffalo, N.Y to shop.

Spas

The Old Mill Inn, The Elmwood, Stillwater Spa, Victoria Spa, Senses Spa and Massage Clinic (in the Sheraton Centre Hotel). These will need advance reservations.

Off the beaten path

(car needed)

Scarborough Bluffs, The Leslie Street Spit (Tommy Thompson Park).

A short GO Train ride away: Port Credit in Mississauga; Oakville (on Lakeshore at Trafalgar, and/or Bronte village).

Architectural interest

In addition to the sites already mentioned, there are many buildings of architectural interest in Toronto. Some are listed here: most Toronto libraries including the Toronto Reference Library, Church of the Holy Trinity, St. James Anglican Cathedral, Osgoode Hall, BCE Place, Royal Bank Plaza, Flatiron Building, Sharp Centre, Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, and CIBC Building.

Restaurants

There are virtually more restaurants in Toronto than there are people (please excuse the hyperbole), with certainly something to appeal to any palate, from any cultural background (this is no exaggeration). To get a good view of the city while you eat, try 360 The Restaurant at the top of the CN Tower, Toula Restaurant at the top of the Harbour Castle Westin or Panorama 51st floor in the Manulife Centre at Bay and Bloor (this gives you a panoramic view of Toronto — this restaurant/lounge/club is restricted to 19 years and above). A very fine (yes, that means expensive) restaurant with a surprising view of the city is Scaramouche, in the Forest Hill area of Toronto (near Avenue Rd., 4 streets south of St. Clair Ave. West).

The following links will give you plenty of options for food in any area of town and also outside of town:

Entertainment

Live Jazz

Live Jazz can be found at several very good restaurants in the area: Jazz FM 91.1 lists clubs that have live jazz in the area, as well as good food. The Old Mill Inn also offers jazz Friday and Saturday nights in a beautiful setting (spa/hotel, restaurant).

Dinner Theatre/Comedy/Improv/Music

There are many renowned theatre groups and performance venues in the Toronto area, including Soulpepper Theatre, Second City (Toronto), StageWest (Mississauga), Mysteriously Yours Mystery Dinner Theatre, Bad Dog Theatre Company, The Bathurst Street Theatre, The St. Lawrence Centre, the Glenn Gould Studio , and the Mirvish group of theatres, to name just a few. Tickets usually need to be purchased well in advance for most events.

Nathan Phillips Square and Harbourfront

… will often have free musical events happening, and in the summer, High Park is host to the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night's Dream in the evenings.

Other Information Sources

At Torontowide.com you will see info on all types of cultural events and musical and theatrical entertainment, as well as some magnificent panoramic photos of sites around Toronto.

Ourfaves.com has some "favourite" things to do in Toronto.

10 things to do in Toronto that cost absolutely nothing, listed here.

ISIT 2008 Companion Events