I’d say this route is the most fun one. It’s also easily accessible for anyone on the east side of Toronto (just get off at Danforth and walk to MAIN STREET), and is an excellent example of a quintessential Toronto streetcar route.
Starting at MAIN STREET station, follow signs to “CARLTON CARS”: already a classic, MAIN STREET is a lovely Bloor-Danforth Line station with a bright, airy interior and clean lines, with the classic signage only slightly mucked up by modern Sheppard additions. A timeless classic of a subway station, it does its job simply and well.
The route starts by heading over the GO station and down to Gerrard St, which is a slightly-busy thoroughfare with lots of lovely shops, churches, (and, for some reason) dentists on it.
It’s also obvious while on this route how important the streetcar is to the atmosphere of the area. The smooth running of the rails and the relatively silent operation of the streetcar, combined with the lack of fumes allow the quiet street to stay quiet and produce its own hustle and bustle, instead of feeling like a highway somehow got squeezed into these people’s neighbourhood.
By downtown, we’ve made it from Gerrard onto Carlton, and now College St, and the buildings have gradually gotten taller. It’s very interesting to see how a street transitions from the downtown version that we all know so well to the neighbourhood one that most of us are less familiar with.
After heading through downtown and seeing some interesting sites like parts of U of T and the “smartest” intersection in Toronto (College & University), we head out over the Humber to the really cool bit.
We head out through a neighbourhood (which just happens to have a streetcar line running down one of its streets: cool) and into High Park. Not HIGH PARK station: High Park. The streetcar heads into the trees and just stops. ‘Cause it’s a park. It’s really neat.
And, of course, while there you can check out High Park, which is also really neat. Look at the forest, the large pond, the gardens, and you can work your way north and meander back to HIGH PARK station and take the subway home.