Get to Toronto

By air: Toronto’s main airport is Lester B. Pearson International, one of the busiest in North America. It’s located 45 minutes—about a $40 cab ride—from downtown and North by Northeast club-zone central. In addition to taxi and limo services, there’s an airport bus that picks up and drops off at several hotels in the city centre (at about one-third the cost of cabbing it). Even cheaper--$3.00—is the TTC city bus that runs between the airport and Kipling subway station in the city’s west end. There’s also the much smaller—and much-hated by local residents—Toronto City Centre Airport located on the Toronto Islands, which is used primarily by private planes.

By train: Union Station, on Front (at Bay), is next door to the Air Canada Centre and just a few minutes walk to the Entertainment District, the Rogers Centre (formerly Skydome), the CN Tower and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre—and a few minutes further to many NXNE live-music venues. VIA Rail trains to destinations in Canada and the U.S. operate out of Union, which is also directly linked to the subway and the GO Train system of trains and buses to the ‘burbs.

By bus: Toronto’s bus station is conveniently located a few blocks north of City Hall and the Financial District (610 Bay, at Edward).

By car: Driving into Toronto can be a bit complicated (although not compared to entering Montreal). Highway 401 (the 401) runs east-west into the city, north of the downtown core. Highway 400 (the 400) connects to the 401 from the north. Approaching from the south, the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) sweeps up from Niagara Falls and along Lake Ontario into the city, where it becomes the Gardiner Expressway, an elevated highway that cuts along the city’s waterfront.

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