Like a needle jabbing into the sky, the CN Tower dominates Toronto's cityscape and is its most famous attraction. Since its completion in 1976, the tower has attracted company - at its foot stands the Rogers Centre (formerly the SkyDome), a retractable dome stadium, while further east is the Air Canada Centre (a state-of-the-art hockey and basketball arena).

Immediately to the north is the dense cluster of office towers that comprise the Financial District, including some architectural wonders by Mies van der Rohe (Toronto-Dominion Centre) and Santiago Calatrava (the galleria at BCE Place).

Interspersed between these (and even underlying many of the buildings) are some of the city's main shopping areas, with the theatres and nightclubs of the Entertainment District to the west, and some of Toronto's chief tourist attractions just to the north.

The latter include Toronto City Hall, a gem of modern architecture, the nearby Art Gallery of Ontario, the vast collections of the Royal Ontario Museum, and the medieval-inspired 20th-century castle, Casa Loma, which stands a bit further to the north.

In the city's west end, the enormous, sweeping patch of green known as High Park unfurls, while along the waterfront Ontario Place and the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds provide fun days out for families with children. Beyond the trail-laced ravine of the Don Valley, to the east of the centre, is The Beaches, with chic boutiques and a waterfront promenade.

Toronto is known as a city of neighbourhoods and many of these are a short distance from the Financial District's towers. Unlike many major North American cities, Toronto has a thriving, vital, leafy downtown that keeps home owners and families from fleeing to the suburbs.

Two of the city's most affluent areas are Rosedale and Forest Hill - pleasant for walks and people-watching. Yorkville, a hippy enclave in the 1960s, predictably went chi-chi in the 1970s, today offering elegant cafes and restaurants and even a Prada store.

Toronto's Chinatown - arguably North America's best due to Toronto's enormous Chinese community - centres on Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West. Danforth Avenue is home to Greektown. Toronto has one of the highest concentrations of Italians outside Italy and many of them originally made their homes in Little Italy, west of the city centre.

Near the University of Toronto, the Annex is a trendy, popular neighbourhood known for its lively nightlife and cultural scene. The area around Church and Wellesley Streets is home to the city's out and proud gay and lesbian village.

Tourism Toronto
Suite 590, 207 Queen's Quay West
Tel: (416) 203 2600 or 1 800 499 2514.
Website: www.torontotourism.com
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1800.

Ontario Travel Information Centre
20 Dundas Street West
Tel: (416) 314 5899 or 1 800 668 2746.
Website: www.ontariotravel.net
Opening hours: daily 0830-1700 (until 2000 from late May through August).

The Toronto CityPass includes entry to the Royal Ontario Museum, CN Tower, Hockey Hall of Fame, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto Zoo and Casa Loma. The pass is available from the participating attractions or from CityPass (tel: 1 888 330 5008; website: www.citypass.com).