Car Rental Toronto

Location guide for Toronto

Car Rental Toronto

Introduction

Toronto is the largest city of Canada, although not its capital (which is Ottawa). It is the capital of the province of Ontario. Toronto is a very pleasant city and, like Vancouver in western Canada, it is considers one of the best places to live. The city is the economic and cultural center of Canada. In addition, it is a great base from which to visit Niagara falls, from which it is an hour's drive. The immediate vicinity of Toronto also consists of impressive nature.

Population

Officially, Toronto has five million inhabitants. This has to do with the fact that a few nearby cities merged with Toronto in 1976. In Toronto itself has about half of the total of five million inhabitants. Toronto is a very multi-cultural city: almost half of its population consists of immigrants from all over the world, among other places from Great Britain, Ireland, India, Eastern Europe, China and Southern Europe.

Location

The city is located in the south-east of Canada, on Lake Ontario in the Great Lake region of North-America. The border with the United States cuts right through Lake Ontario. The American city of Detroit is located at 915 kilometers from Toronto, while the Canadian city of Montreal lies at 546 kilometers to the north-east.

Economy

Toronto is a commercial, logistical, financial and industrial center. This has to do with, among other things, the wealth of raw materials in the province of Ontario, which are either traded in their rough form or processed on site.

Airports

To the west of the city lies the most important airport: Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is the busiest airport of Canada, with direct connections to all continents. There are plans to turn Pickering Airport, to the east of Toronto, into an international airport as well. However, it may take years before a final decision is reached.
In the middle of the city - on the harbor - lies Toronto Island Airport, which is used above all by business travellers, and there are direct flights to Montreal and New York, among other places.

Public transport

Toronto has an excellent public transport network, which consists of metro, tram and bus lines. Although there are only three metro lines, together they cover a network of over 60 kilometers. The surface bus and tram lines all stop at one or more of the metro stations. One rate applies to all public transport, regardless of the distance you travel.

The so-called VIA trains maintain connections with Niagara Falls, Ottawa and Montreal and many smaller places. The trains of Ontario Northland and Amtrak also stop at Union Station.

Traffic and Parking

Straight through the city from west to east runs Highway 401. It is the biggest and busiest highway of North-America. At the point where it connects to Highway 400, it is 22(!) lanes wide.
The city roads follow a regular pattern: either from east to west or from north to south. Generally speaking, they are wide, so driving in Toronto should not be difficult, although there are regular traffic jams.

Toronto encourages the use of bicycles. Downtown, there are various separated cycle paths, to encourage the people of Toronto to leave the car at home when they commute.

Hotels

As the economic, cultural and social center of Canada, Toronto has many hotels: from youth hostels and bed & breakfasts to 5 star hotels. Hotel rooms in this popular city are booked in advance, which we recommend you to do as well, to avoid being unable to spend the night in the hotel of your choice.

External Sources

For more information about Toronto, we recommend Google, and the following sources:

• Wikipedia, Toronto
• Tourism Toronto
(English)
• The City of Toronto
(English)