Understand
Bordered by Front St. to the south, Dupont St. to the north, Bathurst St. to the west and Jarvis St. to the east. This area contains many of the tourist attractions and amenities the city has to offer.
The Southernmost part of the district includes the busy downtown financial district with its banks and institutions fuelling the city's financial engine, including Canada's largest stock exchange, the TSX.
To the southeast, there is the bustling and impressive St. Lawrence Market at Jarvis St. and King St, a must-see attraction for any visitor to the city willing to visit during its peak hours between 6:00am and noon on a Saturday, although the market is great at any time of day. This district also contains one of the largest nightlife districts in North America, bordered by Simcoe St. to the west, Queen St. to the north, Bathurst to the west and King St. to the south.
The theatre district is also largely based in Central Toronto, along Yonge St. and King St. Furthermore, the city's opera house The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is also in this area at University Ave., just south of Queen St., as well as the the home of the Hummingbird Centre and Roy Thompson Hall which host the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Ballet Company.
Toronto's most important shopping districts are also located here:
Toronto's largest downtown shopping centre, The Eaton Centre;
The varied offerings of Yonge St.;
The trendy, youthful boutiques of Queen West;
The upscale boutiques of Bloor St. West and Yorkville.
Central Toronto also contains Toronto's most important sporting venues, including the Air Canada Centre & the Rogers Centre.
In addition to these varied attractions, central Toronto is also the academic and scholastic heart of the city, with the massive St. George campus of the University of Toronto taking up a large chunk of the northwest portion of this district.
The heart of the university-oriented neighbourhood of the Annex also runs along Bloor St. West from Spadina Ave. to just west of Bathurst St., where a multitude of restaurants, bars & lounges, book stores, and other shops are located. Toronto's highest concentration of bookstores are located in the Annex, with dozens of eclectic choices to be found on Harbord St., Bloor St., Spadina Ave. and Bathurst St.
Moving right along, North America's second-largest Chinatown after New York City is located on Spadina Ave., between Queen St. West and College St., with several cross-streets like Dundas St. radiating outwards from Dundas and Spadina, and containing many Chinese and East Asian restaurants, shops and businesses.
Adjacent to Chinatown is Kensington Market, one of the most eclectic and unique locations in the entire city. Everything from fresh food markets to restaurants and bars, vintage clothing boutiques, spice markets, and music shops are all contained in two small north-south streets and a handful of cross-streets.
Home to some of Toronto's most expensive shops and restaurants, Yorkville is Hollywood North's home away from home and the focal point of the Toronto International Film Festival, which rivals Cannes as the most important film festival in the world.
Toronto's medical research community also finds its home on University Ave., where many of the city's best hospitals can be found. The world-renowned Hospital for Sick Children is located here, as well as other world-renowned institutions such as Toronto General Heart, Princess Margaret Cancer, Mt. Sinai Obstetrics, and the nearby administrative headquarters of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Central Toronto is also home to a thriving gay community, based mainly in and around Church St., between Carlton St. and Bloor St. The Gay Village, as its known, has been an important facet of Toronto life for many years, and is a must-see destination for any visitor to the city, homosexual or otherwise.
