I'm planning a ride from Chicago to attend a blues festival in Toronto in June. My route will take me along routes 402 and 403. How safe are the motels in London and Toronto? Should I worry about overnight parking? Any recommendations on places to stay?

 

Ah, taking the Blue Water Bridge; smart man.

 

London shouldn't be a problem. Toronto is hit-and-miss. It depends where you are staying. Toronto proper is 30 miles across by 10 miles (north from Lake Ontario). The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is about twice that size and extends east, west and north. There are some very safe areas to stay and there are some very dangerous areas to stay.

Where do you plan to stay in Toronto?

BTW - The stretch from the border to Toronto is very boring.

 

Don't know where I'll stay. Any suggestions?

 

It really depends on how much you want to spend and how much riding you want to do. Where is the festival? I'm not familiar with the Blues festival, but there is a Jazz festival in the Beach area every year.

If you want to spend the $$ there are lots of hotels in the downtown core. Most of them will be cool about the bike parking outside where the concierge can see it (unless its a rat bike or a real eyesore). Your '08 Ultra should be quite respectable. Otherwise you could pay as much as $25 a night to park downtown. Don't leave your bike where you can't see it or its not watched by hotel staff overnight. You can find a nice hotel in Markham (north of Toronto) for a decent price. Its out of the way of the city gridlock and makes a good central point for just about any destination you choose. Its more of a suburb where you will have to ride everywhere, but there are some pockets where there is lots within walking distance. Markham is about 80% Chinese (very wealthy from Hong Kong) so there are lots of upscale Chinese restaurants there. If you stay in Markham ride your bike to Unionville. Its about 5 minutes ride from Markham. Its an old Main street with coffee shops, bars, pubs with patios. If you go there park in the driveway of a place called Jakes. Its across the street from the Starbucks at the north end of the street. Thats where we usually hang out and watch the scenery (there's lots of it!).

You could easily spend over $400/night for a standard room downtown during the summer if you are so inclined, but you don't really have to. There are some deals to be had, but it depends on what is happening in town. If you are attending the Jazz festival in the Beach, or plan to do some day rides to places around Toronto there is no reason to stay right downtown. In fact, I would suggest you try to avoid downtown any time between 7:30 am and 7:30 pm. The traffic can be gridlock and the drivers ae mostly idiots. I tried to ride out of downtown yesterday at 3:30 and after 1.5 hours I had only travelled about 4 miles. The bike was so hot it was pinging like a bitch and I really thought it was going to shut down.

The downtown core (between Yonge Street and John Street) is relatively safe, even at night. All you have to worry about are drunk morons from the clubs at closing time. You will want to stay away from outlying areas like Etobicoke, Scarborough, the Jane-Finch Corridor (really), some parts of North York, and Brampton. There are some decent people there and some nice pockets, but for the most part they are no place for a visitor or a nice bike.

Toronto is hot and humid in the summer. It is right on Lake Ontario and that is where the humidity comes from. For a nice ride, Niagara Falls or Niagara on the Lake are about 2 hours away (west) and are nice destinations for day trips. There are lots of wineries in the Niagara region too. If you go East the Thousand Islands area near Kingston is about 2 hours away and has lots of great scenery and interesting stuff to do. Toronto itself is full of clubs, bars, live music and theaters. If you are out alone or with the guys (i.e., no wives or girlfriends) there are lots of strip joints in and around Toronto, or so I have heard ;-) . There are tons of nice places to ride to in what's called "cottage country" north and east of the city.

Do not drive drunk or even slightly drunk here. There is no tolerance. The blood-alcohol limit is 0.08 for an impaired charge, but they will impound your bike if you blow 0.05. If you drive 50kmh (30mph) over the speed limit you will be charged with stunt driving and your bike will be impounded for a week. Don't speed in town, but keep up with the flow of traffic on the highways. Its always faster than the limit. 100kmh is about 60mph. 80kmh is about 48mph. 60kmh is about 36mph. 50kmh is about 30mph. 6mph for every 10kmh is a safe calculation.

There are a few HD dealerships around Toronto. Toronto Harley is midtown. Mackie HD is east in Oshawa (35 minutes). Jacox HD is west in Mississauga (30 minutes). Davies HD is north in Richmond Hill (30 Minutes, but near Markham). Barrie HD is north about 1 hour out of the city.

There's a BBQ and chicken place called Haugens thats about 45 minutes N/E of the city (in Port Perry). Every Thursday night they have a bike "Cruise-In" and its not unusual for over 700 bikes to show up. Theres a few vendors there, but mostly its about people watching and bike viewing.

There will be lots going on in and around the city in June. Lots of festivals and events. There will be no shortage of things to do. Every kind of food in the world is available here. As you may already know, we love beer. Don't waste your time with large brand names like Molson or Labbatt. They are OK, but there are so many smaller breweries and brew houses that you really should try some micro-brewed beers.

If you are not afraid of heights, go up the CN Tower. Until last year it was the tallest man-made, self-supporting structure in the world. Its still the tallest in North America. The elevators are glass and the observation decks are great for seeing the entire area.

Change some money before you get here or use ABMs. Most places will accept US dollars, but not all. Our dollar is currently worth more than your's, but most restaurants, bars and stores have no idea how to do the proper exchange and you'll probably pay more for Canadian money if you leave it up to a bartended or waiter to figure out.

If you've got any idea where the festival is I may be able to give you more information.

Have fun and let me know if you are going to go to Unionville.

 

What FLHTK said is very true and educational. I only don't agree with his opinion about
Etobicoke. It's the safest part of Greater Toronto. We live here with 4 Harleys and
we can keep them unlocked on my driveway and nobody will touch them. Anyway, Geoff,
I would suggest that for you , coming here from the West, the best place to stay is ether Missisauga , Etobicoke or Downtown Toronto. If you stay Downtown, you can just take a cab to your destination, drink beer and don't worry. Do the research about prices of the hotels etc,then decide.

 

Didn't mean to burn Etobicoke mustasz. As I said there are some decent people and nice pockets.

I would just hate to see him get into the wrong area on the East/West Mall or along the Queensway. I guess if you are familiar with the area its just as nice as any and a great place to live, but he's from out of town and will be staying at a hotel so I had to either be very specific or generalize a bit.

 

http://www.seetorontonow.com/

Tourism Toronto website, shows places to stay.
I am assuming you are going to the Blues Festival in the Beaches?
http://www.waterfrontblues.ca/

Waterfront Blues is southeast part of city.

 

Thanks to all for the great info. I'm atending a blues festival in Woodbine Park.

 

That's in the Beach area. Parking will be an issue. I suggest you try to get street parking on Queen St. or park in the big lot in Ashbridges Bay Park. You may get lucky and find a spot on Queen. Bikes do not have to "Pay and Display" or feed the parking meters in Toronto. It was decided some time ago that there was no place to attach a parking receipt or even a ticket on a bike. Just stay away from hydrants, fire routes and other "No Parking" areas.

Queen St. just east of there is a nice place to walk around and people watch. There is also a long boardwalk on the beach. The scenery can be good there. There are usually some bikes parked on the south side of Queen across from the Ben and Jerry's ice cream place. If you can park there its a safe bet. Even if you want to stroll around the other riders will keep an eye on your bike. Not that it would be in any danger parked there, but its always good to have friendly eyes on it just to make sure some kid doesn't get sticky fingers all over it.

If you stay downtown you can ride to the Beach or take a streetcar along Queen (which runs right through downtown.). City Hall is on Queen, if you're interested in doing the tourist thing. A lot of downtown is connected underground in what is essentially a burried mall. You can get from building to building or just shop the stores down there in air-conditioned comfort. If you can get a good deal I recommend staying at the Sheraton Center or the Hilton (2 blocks away). They are both nice hotels and although they are expensive, you may catch a deal. From there you can also walk to the Theater District, the CN Tower, Sky Dome (home of the Blue Jays now called Rogers Center), Queen West (trendy shopping) and the Harbourfront. Yorkville is a trendy somewhat pretentious 4-block square area north of there. Its just a short subway ride or medium walk. If you are into star spotting that is where a lot of them stay and hang out when they are in town for movies or festivals.

Just be prepared - traffic SUCKS downtown.

Have fun. Enjoy the festival and the city.