We talk to our furnished apartment clients a lot, all the time in fact, and the one thing we hear often, whether they are her just to see the city or here for work, is that their first day in the city can be frustrating. We are excited to launch a series of Micro-Neighbourhood Guides to help visitors find everything they need easily during their first couple of days in Toronto.
THE PROBLEM
Most travellers who arrive in Toronto from another city don’t know their way around, they just checked into their furnished apartment or hotel room, and now they want to explore and see what’s around them! At the same time they usually need to pick up a few essential things, like go to a pharmacy because they forgot their favourite shampoo at home or forgot to pack a toothbrush..and of course they need a good cafe too because they’re jet lagged. All of this might sound like a simple task, but when you are new to a city, finding a good cafe can be time-consuming, you either go to Starbucks to experience the best that mediocrity has to offer, or you use precious out-of-town mobile data to read reviews and find that good place. A typical Toronto travel guide or app was not enough, so we decided to do something about it and help them!
We also realized a typical Toronto neighbourhood like Yorkville or the Fashion District or Queen West is a big area when you are on foot and clueless! From block to block it offers very different essential amenities, shops and food options. And that is why we decided to cover Micro-Neighbourhoods, that is small popular pockets within neighbourhoods. They can be a 2-block radius, or a 5-minute walking area. When you are on foot and want to explore your new area while you search for your basic amenities like detergent, it helps to have a very specific guide for the few blocks around you – and that’s what we created!
OUR SOLUTION!
We are excited to launch the first of a series of Micro-Neighbourhood Guides that provide you with everything you need in your 2-block radius. That’s it just two blocks, or all the important things you need to find within a 5-minute walk! We give you a list of the places that we have tried and love, and also show you which places around you are over-rated and you can/should avoid (consider yourselves warned if you decide to try them anyway). Whether you are in Toronto for a really short term stay or are staying in a furnished Toronto apartment long-term, you can use these guides to make your first couple of days better.
Each Micro-Guide card has a list of the place we absolutely LOVE and what we find over-rated in the micro-hood. On top of that we include a list of the essential places you may need, like the closest pharmacy that’s open late, the closest supermarkets, and even where the cleanest bathroom around the block is (because we know waiting in line for 15 minutes for the bathroom at your local Starbucks never ends well)!
Save the first card on your phone and use it on your first day in Yorkville! And check back soon for more of our Micro-Neighbourhood Guides!
