When you come to Toronto for more than a few days visit, renting a car would be a must. You will quickly ran out of museums and ideas for day and night entertainment. Given how far everything is from each other, you will also get tired fast. So car is a must have for a good experience in the city. While renting a car is not a problem and could be quite affordable at $30 per day. It is also convenient as most of rentals will bring the car to your door for no extra charge. Parking is something to be mindful of if you don't want to pay huge money and keep your car in one piece.
Also parking around fire hydrants and blocking someone's driveway would land you a ticket guaranteed.
Author of this article, Nancy Schneider, lives in Toronto. She writes about the city, world travel, shopping, fashion and tips for buying sunglasses online with free shipping to Toronto.
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| Kensington_market (PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIPEDIA) |
Where is Free
There are plenty of places in the city and especially outside where you will find free parking. All malls, department stores and larger restaurants have free parking. Some high end restaurants and stake houses have valley service and free parking. Price is included in the dinner fee of course :) Some areas like Markham and Mississauga have free parking on the street almost everywhere. In downtown you need to patient and smart. Most of side streets with residential houses have free parking.Where is Dangerous
Parking police in Toronto is extremely efficient. There are articles in local news all the time about their $100K a year salaries and how they hide in bushes looking for the next victim. You have to read signs very carefully. Follow the instructions by the hour, many of busy areas such as Spadina St., Queen St., King St. and around Yorkville - all popular tourist Toronto downtown destinations have limited free hours. It will either be 1 hour at a time or just between certain non-rush hours, such as from 10am - 4pm. Torontonians know that if you are late for just 10 minutes it can cost you either a hefty $50 parkig ticket or worse - towing. Towing is the worst thing that can happen to you in Toronto. You will spend hours locating and getting to the car, plus paying parking fee at towing zone and towing fees on the top. Average cost of towing is anywhere from $100 to $300. If you come to where you left your car and it is not there, call 911 - they will direct you to where your car might have gone. Car thefts during the daylight are extremely rare and for something like rental are pretty much unheard of. So, if your car is gone, don't faint - it just got towed.Also parking around fire hydrants and blocking someone's driveway would land you a ticket guaranteed.
Where is Expensive
Downtown parking is extremely expensive, $20 a day is average and often private parking lots won't offer anything less than a day. If you only need a few hours, you better off looking for a meter. Keep in mind that metered streets also have rules. Busy street may have limited hours, for example from 10am to 3pm and then after 6pm. And they may have limit for 2 hours only. You would either need to go back and refill the meter or take off before it expires.Author of this article, Nancy Schneider, lives in Toronto. She writes about the city, world travel, shopping, fashion and tips for buying sunglasses online with free shipping to Toronto.
