TORONTO

Three days. The CN Tower's 360 restaurant turns slowly — catching sunset from that height is worth the ticket, and worth looking for the fish sticker on one of the windows as it rotates past. Casa Loma is the gothic mansion north of downtown, worth the climb for the architecture and the view back into the city. Niagara Falls from above reads differently than from the walkways — wider, quieter, more blue.

Toronto operates at a scale that takes a day to calibrate. The downtown core is dense with glass towers and underground connections — the PATH system runs for 30 kilometers beneath the city, connecting offices, malls, and transit. Above ground, the neighborhoods surrounding the core each carry a different identity.

Kensington Market occupies about six square blocks west of downtown — independent food vendors, vintage shops, record stores, a community of murals and hand-painted signs. It's pedestrianized on designated days and feels like a neighborhood that resisted gentrification by staying stubborn. The Kensington round of the city's market circuit is the one that still feels unscripted.

Distillery District sits on the eastern edge of downtown, a Victorian industrial complex converted to galleries, restaurants, and studios. The brick buildings are preserved intact — the ENOCH THOMPSON SONS CO. lettering still visible above doorways, loading docks now used as restaurant seating. The scale is low and horizontal compared to the glass towers around it. On a weekday morning, before the foot traffic builds, it's genuinely quiet.

The Waterfront runs along Lake Ontario — a working port on the west, parkland on the east, a continuous path connecting them. Harbourfront Centre runs programming year-round but the waterfront itself is the point: the lake is surprisingly large. From the Queens Quay promenade, the horizon is water all the way across, no visible far shore. It reads as sea.

St. Lawrence Market is one of the better food markets in North America. The main hall on the south side runs Tuesday through Saturday — butchers, cheesemongers, bakers, fish vendors, prepared foods. The Saturday morning farmers market in the north building adds produce and specialty foods. Get there by 9am.

CN Tower is visible from most of the city and worth the ascent once. The EdgeWalk is an outdoor walk on the ring at 356 meters; the glass floor observation deck is available at the standard admission. The view north toward the city and south over the lake is the reason. Toronto's grid is clear from above.

Practical notes: Toronto is large — use the TTC subway for east-west travel; the streetcar runs along King Street and connects the neighborhoods. Tipping follows US convention here. The city is genuinely multicultural in a way that shows up in the food options at almost every price point.

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