Toronto

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto-based broadcaster and public-relations
consultant.

City guides should be informative, detailed, user-friendly, and easy to
carry. This volume is all these things and more. Not only does it
contain an excellent introductory history of Toronto and plenty of
street, transportation, and neighborhood maps, but it breaks down the
city’s sights and activities into useful and manageable sections that
are suitable for visitors and residents alike.

Among the contributors are local magazine and newspaper writers and
architecture, theatre, and restaurant critics. Entertainment, dining,
and accommodation are rated on a scale of economy to five-star, on the
basis of location, type, and cost. Coverage of shopping, from designer
to funky, is extensive and there is an excellent section on where to
take children.

Walking tours of individual areas and neighborhoods are provided to
help readers plan excursions. Out-of-town daytrips include the Stratford
and Shaw Festivals as well as such destinations as Niagara Falls,
Waterloo County, and the Bruce Trail.

Vincenzo Pietropaolo’s color photography greatly enhances the text,
and there is a very good index. Addresses, telephone numbers, and
opening hours are duly noted.

There are only two obvious errors: Hungarians came to Toronto in large
numbers after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, not 1965; and Susur
Lee’s delectable restaurant Lotus is, regrettably, no more.

This guide to Toronto is first-rate.