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What’s your favorite Canadian city and why?

entremet

entremet

Member
I’m looking to visit Canada and I have three options–Vancouver, Toronto, or Montreal

All three seem like great visits based on my research. Montreal seems to have more fans online. Vancouver has some amazing fine dining and Toronto has sheer diversity of locales.

What do you pick and why?
 
LordAmused

LordAmused

Member
Toronto is pretty boring to be honest. I've never spent more than 2 days over there 'cause I'd run out of things to do.

Montreal is goddamn awesome, it's my favorite city in North America. It's European looking and party life is on top of the world. Food on MTL is top notch too, I think it's one of the NA City with the most restaurants per capita.
 
L

Llyranor

Member
Montreal, but I'm biased. Lots of cultural events, great restaurants of all kinds, retains some of its European flair. And living here I love the bilingual nature of the city.
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
I'm from Toronto.

I have only spent a day in Montreal and I think Montreal might be better.

I like Toronto though, it's where all my stuff is. The people are passive aggressive though.
 
M

Mimosa97

Member
LordAmused said:
Toronto is pretty boring to be honest. I've never spent more than 2 days over there 'cause I'd run out of things to do.

Montreal is goddamn awesome, it's my favorite city in North America. Food on MTL is top notch too, I think it's one of the NA City with the most restaurants per capita.
Click to expand...

I've never understood this. I've been living in Montreal for years and i can count the decent restaurants on one hand and i used to eat our all the time. Tried every top 50 restaurant in the city at least once. Toronto and Vancouver have so many more good restaurants it's ridiculous.

Honestly the food in Canada is overpriced and pretty bad overall. I think it has mainly to do with the base ingredients. Fresh meat and vegetables in Canada taste really bland compared to Europe. Probably has to do with the regulations and the weather.
 
B

Bluenoser

Member
Depends on time of year and what you want to do.

Sports, Toronto... go during Blue Jays home stand and it's an excellent atmosphere.

Shopping, clubs, food, Montreal probably wins. Plus Montreal is so interesting if you're into history, as there are a lot of old buildings worth seeing.

Never been to Vancouver but I hear it's nice, and probably the best of the three if nature is more your thing.
 
Z

Zoc

Member
Ever been to NYC, OP? If so, skip Toronto (my hometown). It's like NYC's boring younger brother.

Vancouver might be all right, if you like sports. I don't, so can't really say.

Montreal is pretty interesting to walk around, though, and has more unique culture than Toronto. The best thing about it is its proximity to Quebec City, though, which is a really interesting place.
 
E

easterislandhead

Member
Do Toronto then Montreal or vice versa. You could also stop by Quebec and Ottawa on the way.

I took a bus once from Toronto to downtown Montreal cost $35 from megabus.
 
S

spekkeh

Banned
I'm going with Toronto, but it's because I'm from Europe so a Europe light with less history is not particularly enticing. It's true Toronto is a bit boring however, but it has a nice atmosphere. Have never been to Vancouver though.
 
G

GSG Flash

Nobody ruins my family vacation but me...and maybe the boy!
From Ottawa, haven't been to Vancouver yet but out of Toronto and Montreal, I prefer Toronto.
 
S

Shaanyboi

Banned
I haven't been to Montreal, so I'm not going to speak for others' experience.

Vancouver is fantastic. Lots to see, do, and it's gorgeous. I moved here for a reason and am grateful I did.

Toronto is a really fucking lame New York.
 
F

Fate_Shirou

Member
I'd say Ottawa
Lots of great museums, and history
Ice skating on the canal is fun during the winter, and going on walks through the city during the summer is a blast!
We need more Ottawa in this thread xD
 
C

Cmerrill

You don't need to be empathetic towards me.
Toronto is pretty amazing. It's even better if you have money to spend.

Halifax is great if you want that smaller city feel, with good food and lots of places to drink.
 
T

the1npc

Member
Hamilton because its home...and the nature and music scene is killer. Out of the cities you picked id say Toronto. Still need to visit mtl. Going this fall very stoked.
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
Montreal for partying

Vancouver for outdoor stuff

Toronto has both, in lesser quantities. But you sort of factor in the whole Niagara region because it's so close.

i hiked the escarpment this past weekend and it was pretty amazing. took an hour to get there.

for people? Halifax. no question.
 
H

hobozero

Member
May I humbly make the case for:

Halifax!

pyuR3iR.jpg

Warning: Hali-fever is the flu.

Fun Facts about Halifax!

Fantastic Winter Tourism!

Enjoy the Dirty Ice Lumps Festival each spring (& summer)!

Enjoy one of Sir Donald Ayre's famous "Donairs"

donair.jpg

Mmm! Doesn't that look delicious!


Halifax! At Least We're Not St. John's! (tm)
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
hobozero said:
May I humbly make the case for:

Halifax!

Halifax! At Least We're Not St. John's! (tm)
Click to expand...

Honestly having visited there a few times, this Torontonian is very much considering selling his house and buying a fucking palatial oceanside manse there, because yeah it's super nice. dat Halifornia lifestyle.

black_13 said:
Vancouver is the best. So many outdoorsy things to do and it's beautiful all year.
Click to expand...
cmon. it is beautiful there but it rains sooooo much. you know it.
 
S

snacknuts

we all knew her
The only Canadian city I have ever been to was Victoria. I was on an Alaskan cruise and we stopped there for a few hours. It was really lovely.
 
F

fin

Member
I've only been to Toronto and Vancouver. I'd choose Vancouver for the mountains and fresh fruit. Plus lots of great places to visit outside the city.

I've heard lots of great things about Montreal. Alot of cool music festivals that I want to go to.
 
H

hobozero

Member
snacknuts said:
The only Canadian city I have ever been to was Victoria. I was on an Alaskan cruise and we stopped there for a few hours. It was really lovely.
Click to expand...

Which is ironic because everyone in Canada hates Victoria. Even Victorians. Not gonna say why but... ok, they're seal f*ckers. They f*ck seals. Like, all of them. There was a Canadian television expose on it once called Danger Bay. Look it up.

Course, no seal f*ckery going on in Halifax*, should you happen to have more tourist dollars to spend :D

*
Full disclosure: There may be some consensual puffin wankery during long weekends.
 
J

jstripes

Banned
Toronto wasn't really built with tourism in mind. It's a great place to live with lots of things to do, but it's one of those places where you really need a guide to get the best of it.
 
P

PudieRSC

Member
hobozero said:
May I humbly make the case for:

Halifax!

pyuR3iR.jpg

Warning: Hali-fever is the flu.

Fun Facts about Halifax!

Fantastic Winter Tourism!

Enjoy the Dirty Ice Lumps Festival each spring (& summer)!

Enjoy one of Sir Donald Ayre's famous "Donairs"

donair.jpg

Mmm! Doesn't that look delicious!


Halifax! At Least We're Not St. John's! (tm)
Click to expand...


I've only ever lived in Halifax since I moved here, but it's great!

In addition to this, the harbour is great and you're like an hour away from watching amazing tide changes. It's my favourite thing here. You can literally walk on the ocean floor.
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
jstripes said:
Toronto wasn't really built with tourism in mind. It's a great place to live with lots of things to do, but it's one of those places where you really need a guide to get the best of it.
Click to expand...

I get why people would think TO is sort of boring. But there's tons of hidden stuff, culturally. You just have to find all the keyboard shortcuts for the city.
 
F

FonkyByNature

Member
I live in Montreal, so i say Montreal big time !

Especially in summer, party city, tons of restaurants, beautiful and mostly nice people, festivals, architecture, blend of french and english. There's things to do for all kinds of people, you wont be bored that's for sure !

I went to Toronto and Ottawa many times and while the cities are beautiful, they're just boring in my opinion. Never went to Vancouver or Halifax, heard good things about these two.
 
H

hobozero

Member
PudieRSC said:
I've only ever lived in Halifax since I moved here, but it's great!

In addition to this, the harbour is great and you're like an hour away from watching amazing tide changes. It's my favourite thing here. You can literally walk on the ocean floor.
Click to expand...

To be fair, if you make a deal with the wrong businessmen in Montreal you can walk on the ocean floor, too. They got special shoes for it and everything.

That's right, I will shit on every other Canadian city until only Halifax and bits of Dartmouth remain standing! Enjoy Halifax - or else!
 
T

talkingood

Member
Of those three, generally I'd say Montreal for its culture and entertainment. Every time I'm there I think, "Why do I live in Kitchener-Waterloo again?" Not on the list, but I would recommend Québec City even more so for the full "European city in North America" experience, as others have mentioned. Both cities are great.

That said, I would also suggest checking out Hamilton. It's beautiful with tons of gorgeous trails and waterfalls, the arts scene on James North is great, it's cheap, it's got a lot of history (you can see canons lined up where they were pointed at American ships in the war of 1812, board a warship in the harbour from WWII and the Korean War, and so much more), and it's just all around an interesting city. People often call it Toronto's Brooklyn but I think that's not quite doing it justice. It's its own culture entirely.

It's also close to Toronto, so you could go back and forth on the bus/train and get the best of both worlds!
 
F

Futureman

Member
The only Canadian city I've been to is Montreal. I was just there for a bachelor party and it was amazing. I would be interesting in moving there but not sure how viable that would be not knowing French. I realize most people probably know English but it seems like it could be an issue.
 
J

jstripes

Banned
Nerfgun said:
I get why people would think TO is sort of boring. But there's tons of hidden stuff, culturally. You just have to find all the keyboard shortcuts for the city.
Click to expand...

We spent decades with the rest of Canada saying "Why would anyone want to visit Toronto?" and we said "Ok, fine."
 
C

ColdPizza

Banned
Proteus said:
I'm from Toronto.

I have only spent a day in Montreal and I think Montreal might be better.

I like Toronto though, it's where all my stuff is. The people are passive aggressive though.
Click to expand...

In what way?

I've only ever been to Toronto and Montreal...I probably like Montreal a little better.
 
P

PudieRSC

Member
hobozero said:
To be fair, if you make a deal with the wrong businessmen in Montreal you can walk on the ocean floor, too. They got special shoes for it and everything.

That's right, I will shit on every other Canadian city until only Halifax and bits of Dartmouth remain standing! Enjoy Halifax - or else!
Click to expand...

Eh Dartmouth can fuck off too.
 
P

PumpkinSpice

Banned
hobozero said:
To be fair, if you make a deal with the wrong businessmen in Montreal you can walk on the ocean floor, too. They got special shoes for it and everything.

That's right, I will shit on every other Canadian city until only Halifax and bits of Dartmouth remain standing! Enjoy Halifax - or else!
Click to expand...

Which bits of Dartmouth exactly?

This is a very important topic.
 
Oppo

Oppo

Member
vaudevillain said:
That said, I would also suggest checking out Hamilton. It's beautiful with tons of gorgeous trails and waterfalls, the arts scene on James North is great, it's cheap, it's got a lot of history (you can see canons lined up where they were pointed at American ships in the war of 1812, board a warship in the harbour from WWII and the Korean War, and so much more), and it's just all around an interesting city. People often call it Toronto's Brooklyn but I think that's not quite doing it justice. It's its own culture entirely.
Click to expand...
who says that??

The Danforth / East York is clearly Toronto's Brooklyn ;)

Hamilton has improved vastly over the years I'll certainly give it that.
 
S

SwipeLeftHoney

Banned
It really depends on what you like to do. There are tons of stuff to do in Toronto and Vancouver depending on what your interests are. Montreal is also pretty nice as well. Personally I love Toronto as it has so much diverse stuff going for it and if you know where to look you can be totally busy every single day of the week.
 
T

talkingood

Member
Nerfgun said:
who says that??
Click to expand...

the1npc said:
Hipster news articles trying to get toronto people to move here. The prices are getting worse every year
Click to expand...

Exactly right. Home prices in Hamilton have gone up like crazy in the past few years. I finished university in 2015 and I was commuting to Mississauga, but we decided to buy a home in K-W last year because comparatively the prices here seemed positively sane, if you can believe that.

We still overpaid by $10K for a very small house in Waterloo.
 
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