Considered Toronto’s “Main Street,” Yonge Street is the city’s boulevard of cosmopolitan cool. With live theatrical productions running at the Canon Theatre and the Toronto Centre for the Arts, posh accommodations and lots of great restaurants and cafes, there are plenty of places to rest during your bags-runneth-over shopping spree.
Start at Yonge-Dundas Square — a modern reminiscence of London’s Piccadilly Circus — then head to College Park, Empress Walk and the vast Toronto Eaton Centre.
Yonge Street begins at beautiful Harbourfront Shore and boasts the World’s Biggest Bookstore, with 12 miles of literary shelf space to peruse; a fresh-food emporium called St. Lawrence Market; Canada’s anchor superstore for Hudson Bay Company outdoor outfitters; Holt Renfrew’s haute couture, and scads of other shops. With access to subway lines and public transport via Union Station, an architectural marvel and Toronto’s oldest train depot, the city is your oyster.
Try walking Yonge Street with shopping bags and you’ll understand why Guinness World Records once dubbed it “Longest Street in the World.” We suggest wearing comfy shoes (you can buy the sexy ones while you’re there) or stashing some Loonies (dollar coins) in your pocketbook for a ticket to ride.
And ladies, if you must bring your sporting men along, send them to the nearby Hockey Hall of Fame, the Rogers Centre sports venue, Maple Leaf Gardens (currently under renovation), Sam the Record Man, and then to Wayne Gretzky’s for lunch. That’ll keep ’em busy and happy for hours.