Toronto

By train

All scheduled passenger trains in Toronto run into and out of Union Station (http://www.toronto.ca/uni...), which is located at 65 Front Street, between Bay and York Streets. Opened in 1927, Toronto's Union Station is generally considered to be one of the grandest, most impressive train stations in North America; with an enormous great hall, the ceiling rising to a height equivalent to seven stories. Despite this impressive hall, most of the activity in the station takes place in the underground concourses which link the commuter rail platforms with the subway station. The great hall is still used for purchasing intercity rail tickets with a row of ticket booths and several ticket machines. The train station is served by a subway station with the same name, accessible from the GO concourse. The main intercity concourse is accessed from the great hall, but all commuter rail platforms are accessed from the underground GO Transit concourse, as is the Union Station Bus Terminal across the street. The GO Transit concourse is accessed by taking any one of the three large staircases in the great hall or directly from the subway.

Most intercity rail travel in Canada is provided by VIA Rail, (http://www.viarail.ca/en_...). Union Station is one of VIA Rail's main hubs and connects several of their lines. Railway lines operated by VIA Rail out of Union Station include:

Corridor

This is VIA's busiest line running from Windsor and Sarnia in the southwest to Quebec City in the northeast. Regular trains run from Toronto directly to Montreal, Ottawa, London, Kingston, Windsor, and Sarnia as well as stations in between. The lines between Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto are VIA's busiest and most frequent, they also have the largest discounts if booked well in advance. There are two classes of service, business and economy. Business class includes meals and alcoholic beverages.

Maple Leaf

This service is run jointly by VIA and U.S. passenger rail company, Amtrak, (http://www.amtrak.com/ser...). Trains on this line run between Toronto and New York City once a day in each direction stopping at Albany and Buffalo as well as many smaller stations. Trains between Toronto and New York are extremely slow and very expensive, the coach services listed above generally take several hours less and cost several times less than the train. There are also more frequent trains that run on this line from Toronto to Niagara Falls.

The Canadian

Trains on this line run the transcontinental route from Toronto to Vancouver three times a week each way, stopping at a large number of smaller stations on the way. Cities that this train passes through include: Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper and Kamloops. The full journey takes about three days. This is one of the most expensive rail journeys in North America and is many times more expensive than flying. However, Via rail runs 'express deals' 2-3 weeks before travel that can reduce the price on this route by 75 percent. The trains contain both sleeper berths and cabins, as well as reclining economy seating. Three meals per day are cooked in the train's dining car. These are included in sleeper fares and are available for purchase for economy passengers.

Ontario Northland

(http://www.ontarionorthla...). A Government subsidized passenger rail service into the scarcely populated north of Ontario. They run trains on a single line from Toronto to Cochrane, Ontario six times a week. Most of this line is single track and owned by freight companies, as a result, whenever a freight train passes, the passenger train must move onto a siding and wait for the other train to pass, therefore Ontario Northland trains are generally 1.5-2.5 hours behind schedule at either end of their route.

Commuter train

Services in the Greater Toronto Area are operated exclusively by GO Transit (http://www.gotransit.com/), who run all of their trains from Union Station. Their trains serve mainly the sprawling suburbs around the city and most of the train lines run only during rush hour; at other times of the day, they are replaced by bus services. Most of these buses originate from Union Station Bus Terminal across Bay Street from the railway station; there is an overhead walkway from the GO Train concourse to the bus terminal.

Travel times

Montreal 4hrs 37min

Ottawa 3hrs 57min

Winnipeg 34hrs

Saskatoon 46hrs

Edmonton 56hrs

Vancouver 83hrs

By plane

Toronto Pearson International Airport IATA: YYZ (http://www.torontopearson.com) is about 30-50 driving minutes by car from the downtown core depending on traffic and is serviced by most major international carriers. There are two terminals: Terminal 1 hosts all Air Canada flights and a few other international mostly Star Alliance carriers while Terminal 3 hosts all other airlines. When traveling from Toronto Pearson and other major Canadian airports to the United States, travelers will go through United States immigration and customs preclearance in Toronto, and should leave some extra time to account for this. Toronto Pearson has free WiFi internet access.

There is no direct passenger rail link from the airport under construction estimated completion date: early 2015 , but other options do exist for getting downtown from Pearson:

TTC (Toronto Transit Commission)

(http://www3.ttc.ca/Riding...), provides public bus services that run to and from Pearson. The best TTC option is the 192 Airport Rocket that runs every 9-20 minutes between Kipling Station on the Bloor-Danforth subway line marked green on maps and Pearson Airport. This will take around 20-25 minutes. Kipling Station is the westernmost subway stop on the Bloor-Danforth line and it takes about 20 minutes to reach the boundry of downtown. One way adult fare on the TTC is $3.00 or $2.60 if tokens are purchased in multiples of 4 or 7 from an agent or a machine which includes free transfers to other TTC buses, streetcars, LRT, SRT or the subway. This is valid for 1 trip with no stopovers. Tickets can be purchased from the Bureau de Change in Arrivals. When the subways stop running at around 1:30 AM, the 300A Bloor-Danforth night bus provides service along the subway line and goes directly to the airport.

GO Transit

(http://gotransit.ca/PUBLI...), provides express buses to locations outside of Toronto's downtown. It operates from the airport to Yorkdale and York Mills subway stations in North York every 30-60 minutes for $4.05. This takes about 35-45 minutes, followed by another 20 minutes on the subway to get downtown one must pay a separate fare to board the subway; $3.00. GO Transit offers service to/from the airport to Richmond Hill Centre Yonge & Highway 7. This bus service runs every 60 minutes from about 5AM-1AM daily. The GO Bus Transit service between Square One and the airport no longer operates. Alternatively, Mississauga Transit (http://www.mississauga.ca...) route 107 provides express service between Square One and the airport's LINK train station on Viscount Road.

Pacific Western Airport Express

(http://www.torontoairport...), operates a quick, convenient, and frequent bus service every 20 minutes during peak periods and every 30 minutes on the off-peak. It picks up passengers at both terminals, and stops at several major hotels in the downtown core, as well as Union Station and the inter-city bus terminal at Bay and Dundas. As of March 2011, fares are $23.95 one way, $39.95 for round trips. There is a 5% discount for online reservations.

Taxis run a flat rate of $47, while airport limousines go slightly higher at $50. Limousines are generally slightly larger though not stretched and more comfortable vehicles than taxis. Government approved rates can be found online (http://torontopearson.com...).

Billy Bishop Toronto City Centre Airport, IATA: YTZ, (http://www.torontoport.co...), commonly known as "The Island Airport" by locals, handles short-haul regional flights only. Its main tenant is Porter Airlines (http://www.flyporter.com), a low-cost carrier that operates flights using turboprop planes to many cities in eastern Canada Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax and St. John's and the northeast United States Boston, Chicago, New York/Newark and Myrtle Beach. Air Canada (http://www.aircanada.com) provides service to Montreal. One of the main benefits of flying into this airport is its proximity to the downtown core. Upon landing, you can be downtown within ten minutes.

A free ferry service makes the short crossing. It is just 121 m and the world's shortest regularly-scheduled ferry route. It operates between TCCA and the mainland every 15 minutes, 6:45AM-10:07PM. Once on the mainland, a free shuttle bus connects the terminal with the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, across the street from Union Station.

TTC Streetcars are available a short walk north from the mainland ferry terminal. Route 511 Bathurst provides service north along Bathurst, to Bathurst subway station. Route 509 Harbourfront travels east along the waterfront Queen's Quay to Union Station. Both routes end a short distance to the west at Exhibition Place. However, the most convenient connection to TTC Subway and GO Transit services are via the free shuttle to Union Station.

Hamilton International Airport, IATA: YHM, (http://www.flyhi.ca/), located about 80 km from downtown Toronto and Niagara Falls, is served by WestJet and CanJet. This airport is served by the (Hamilton Street Railway) from the the Hamilton GO Station 36 Hunter Street East where you can catch a GO commuter bus to Union Station in downtown Toronto $9.50 one-way. Buses run every 30 minutes. A taxi from downtown Hamilton to the airport is about $25.

For frugal travellers coming from the United States, Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, IATA: BUF, (http://www.buffaloairport.com), is another option. Flights to Buffalo tend to be significantly cheaper than to Pearson. Megabus, (http://www.megabus.com), has varying prices and requires early booking. They run from the Buffalo Airport to Toronto. The trip takes 3 hours, including the border crossing. Rental cars are available at the airport if you prefer to do the drive yourself. Buffalo Airport Limo (http://buffaloairportlimo.com) offers a flat rate of $175 to downtown Toronto from BUF.

By car

Major highways leading into Toronto are the QEW, the 404, the 401, the 400, and the 427. Toronto is in the enviable position of being the largest city in Canada, so it's relatively easy to find a sign pointing you in the right direction. Be advised that traffic on incoming highways can be extremely heavy. In the downtown core there are many turn restrictions, particularly from main thoroughfares to other main thoroughfares e.g. Yonge to Dundas Streets.

The main streets in Toronto are laid out in a grid pattern that makes it one of the easiest cities to get around in by car. Getting from point to point anywhere in the city can be achieved with only a few turns. Parking in the downtown core can be expensive and hard to find, but is plentiful and inexpensive or free throughout the rest of the city.

Canada drives on the right.