So my friend and I are (again) going from montreal to toronto for a concert. However we'll be getting there at about 6AM and so we'll have a whole day before the show with nothing to do. I want to explore some anime stores in tdot. but I'm not sure how to get there. My friend told me to try the Pacific Mall, but I'm wondering if that's easier to get to, or Chinatown. Advice? PS The bus will be dropping us off at the Toronto Coach Terminal.
Yonge Street downtown has a slew. Once you hit Yonge and Dundas, go North (walk away from the Eaton's Centre, one of Toronto's BIGGEST malls) and walk down Yonge Street. Once you hit the College and Yonge intersection the comic book shops and manga stores pop up. Silver Snail, located at 367 Queen's Street West is a great comic book shop that sells manga. The Labyrinth sells mostly manga and anime last time I checked, it's located on 386 Bloor Street West. Downtown Toronto has a lot so just explore and you'll find.
Pacific Mall? Noooo~ It's a super import store with a lot of suspicious stores xD There's about 5 bubble tea shops on each floor. Stuff there is really overpriced :\ But if you really must have that anime action figurine, feel free to visit there . Though, honestly, Pmall is about an hour away from Toronto, you have to take a subway and a bus :/ You can go explore the St.George UofT campus (which is realllyyyy nice!), aside from that... If you are curious about anything near Pacific mall, I can help >_>
I was in Toronto back in August. I second the recommendation to explore the area around Younge and Dundas. Dundas square is really neat. From there it is just a short walk to the Church Wellesley village, which is one of the gay villages in Toronto. I enjoyed looking around all of the shops there. I spent a lot of time just riding street cars exploring the area. I rode a street car out to the east and west parts of Toronto and walked back to my hotel at Dundas square. I really enjoyed walking through all of the neighborhoods. The CN tower is neat, though the lines can be long. Took an afternoon to do the tour. If you are into aircraft there is the Canadian Air & Space Museum up on the north side of Toronto. They have a replica of an Avro Aero. Which was really cool. Oh Honest Ed's is really neat. It is a discount stuff store. It was like stepping back into my childhood, I remember going to similar stores with my grandmother. If you get a chance eat at the Senator restaurant. It is right near Dundas square. It like is stepping into a time machine back to 1948. I really enjoyed eating there. I don't know where the bus terminal is, but I found Toronto easy to get around without a car. The only time I used my rental car was went I went out to Markham and Mississauga.
"From there it is just a short walk to the Church Wellesley village, which is one of the gay villages in Toronto. I enjoyed looking around all of the shops there". Speaking as such, there is a great comic book shop that sells a lot of manga and anime called "One Million Comix" in that same village.
Yeah, I wouldn't recommend Pacific Mall due to the distance. It's going to be almost 2 hours to get there from downtown and 2 hours back if you're taking public transit. I am not too sure where a good anime store in downtown is though.
