Frommer's Toronto 2010 (Frommer's Complete Guides) [Paperback]

Hilary Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Frommer's Complete Guides | Publication Date: December 21, 2009

• Completely updated every year, Frommer's Toronto features gorgeous color photos of the sights and experiences that await you.
• Our author Hilary Davidson, a longtime resident of Toronto, guides you through the city, from the Theatre District to the Art & Design District to Little Italy, Little India, The Gay Village, and more. She's checked out all the city's best hotels, restaurants, and attractions in person and offers you her favorites, plus "the best things to do for free," which includes picnicking on Centre Island and catching a concert at the Toronto Music Garden.
• You'll also get up-to-the-minute coverage of shopping and nightlife; in-depth coverage of the city's architecture and dining scene; detailed walking tours; accurate neighborhood maps; advice on planning a successful family vacation; and side trips to Statford, Niagara, The Muskoka Lakes, and Hamilton.
• Frommer's Torontoalso includes a color fold-out map.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Canoe, kayak, and explore Toronto's Harbourfront Centre and the shoreline of Ontario Place. See chapter 7.

Foldout map, plus detailed maps throughout

Exact prices, directions, opening hours,and other practical information

Candid reviews of hotels and restaurants,plus sights, shopping, and nightlife

Itineraries, walking tours, and trip-planning ideas

Insider tips from local expert authors

About the Author

Toronto native Hilary Davidson now calls New York City home, thanks to her persuasive Manhattan-born husband, Daniel. Her debut crime novel, The Damage Done, will be published in October 2010 by Forge. She is also the author of Frommer’s New York City Day by Day First Edition, a contributor to Frommer’s Canada, and the founder of www.GlutenFreeGuidebook.com, a website for travelers with gluten intolerance and food allergies. Visit her website at www.hilarydavidson.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 16 edition (December 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470541261
• ISBN-13: 978-0470541265
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,121,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Travel > Canada > Cities > Toronto
  • #58 in Books > Travel > Canada > Provinces > Ontario

More About the Author

I was a prolific journalist before I turned to crime... crime fiction, that is. My debut novel, THE DAMAGE DONE (Forge, 2010) won the 2011 Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and the Crimespree Award for Best First Novel (it was a finalist for the Macavity and Arthur Ellis awards). My second novel, THE NEXT ONE TO FALL, will be published by Forge in February 2012. Some of my short stories appear in anthologies, including CRIME FACTORY: THE FIRST SHIFT, BLOOD GUTS & WHISKEY and BEAT TO A PULP: ROUND ONE. Before that, my day job was travel journalist: I've written 17 guidebooks for Frommer's and hundreds of articles for magazines in the U.S. and Canada. I also run the www.GlutenFreeGuidebook.com site, for people with celiac disease/gluten intolerance. You can see more of my writing and photography at www.HilaryDavidson.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A reasonable guide if you don't need lots of photos, August 30, 2010

By 

G. Bomer (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Frommer's Toronto 2010 (Frommer's Complete Guides) (Paperback)

I have used this guide recently on my first trip to Toronto. While it has the standard contents: Where to Stay, Where to Dine, What to See & Do, City Strolls, Shopping, After Dark and Side Trips, I couldn't help feel a little disappointed with the guide.

It is 2-color (red and black) throughout, with the exception of the covers, inside covers, and the first 14 pages. These contain the only photos, and I didn't find that very helpful when looking through the book for ideas of things to do. Sometimes you just need a stunning photo next to a description to get you interested.

I also wasn't keen on the lack of cross-referencing of suggested items to the maps. For example, if I am reading about Casa Loma and I'm interested, I would like a reference to a grid map so that I can see how easy it is to get to from my hotel. It gives an address, sure, but with the whole of Toronto to search, it can be tricky. The flip side of this is that some of the sections are by area (midtown, downtown east etc) that come with a map somewhere close by in the guide. I'll add to this that in the photo descriptions at the beginning it would have been nice to be directed to the appropriate page number to make it user friendly.

My last whinge is about some lack of detail. There are precisely 8 lines that cover both the buses and streetcars, with no information provided about how to buy tickets, costs, or route maps.

The guide seems fairly up-to-date as far as I could tell, and the pull-out (color!) map is useful if you don't want to carry the whole guide around with you.

So the guide's not bad, but could be improved to make it easier to navigate for the reader.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip It!, August 14, 2010

By 

Ushiwakameru "Ushiwakameru" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's Toronto 2010 (Frommer's Complete Guides) (Paperback)

Granted, there is some good information in this book. However, compared to other popular guides to Toronto I found it very wanting. The listings are limited. Other general guides include a much greater number of listings in each category -- places to stay, things to see, restaurants, etc. I found the organization a bit confusing having to flip around a lot. The maps are, by themselves, good but there are separate maps for each subject so if you want to find restaurants close to your hotel or to a site you are visiting you have to flip among maps -- very annoying!

And who designed this book? It is printed in a rather small, san serif font. Anyone with a passing knowledge of publishing knows that in printed text serif fonts -- such as the popular Times family -- are much easier to read (there is some debate about reading text on computer screens but not about text printed on paper). I found this book difficult to read because of the font selection and the small font size and I was sitting at my desk under good lighting. I'd hate to try to use this as a guidebook when I'm out walking around the city or sitting in a dimly lighted restaurant.