Before you get overwhelmed by the sheer size of your new fair city, remember this: the city is on a grid, and if you’re lost, use the CN Tower as your north star (except it’s south). When you’re looking for a street address, know that odd numbers are always on the east or south side of the street, and even numbers are on the west or north side.
For getting around Toronto without your parents’ car, there are three cheap and environmentally friendly options available to you: walking, biking and taking the TTC.
The cheapest and most effective way to get around and get familiar with the city is walking. For more than just pounding the pavement, enjoy car-free reign of Kensington Market during Pedestrian Sundays on the last Sunday of the month from May to October. Essential during the winter is Toronto's downtown, weatherproof, underground walkway, PATH (see a full map at www.toronto.ca/path), linking 27 kilometres of shopping, services and entertainment, from the bus terminal at Bay and Dundas and Yonge-Dundas Square all the way down to Union Station and the Air Canada Centre. For guided tours, check out the free ROMwalks (www.rom.on.ca) to explore the city’s history, art and architecture.
The fastest, cheapest way to navigate downtown is definitely by bike. Toronto boasts a vibrant cycling community (www.ibiketo.ca), and is becoming more bike-friendly by the day with new bike lanes opening all the time. (Get the bike routes mapped out at www.toronto.ca/cycling/map/index.htm.) With the arrest last year of (alleged) notorious bike thief Igor Kenk, thefts are down substantially. Accidents and careless drivers, on the other hand, are a consistent threat so wearing a helmet should be second nature.
If you don’t have a bike already, you can get a cheap, but dubiously sourced used one at one of the sketchy shops on Spadina, but why risk the bad karma? Instead, get a brand new Beater Bike (www.beaterbikes.ca), which, at $325 (taxes included), could soon become as ubiquitous in Toronto as hipsters in skinny jeans. Check out their showroom at Resistor Gallery (284E College at Spadina, 2nd fl).
If you’re feeling philanthropic get a Kona AfricaBike, a sweet commuter bike; with every two sold, one is donated to projects in sub-Saharan Africa. You’ll find them among many, many others at Sweet Pete’s (1204 Bloor W. at Brock, www.sweetpetes.com). Or, if you want something trendy, pick up a fixie at Urbane Cyclist (180 John at Queen, www.ucycle.com), which is also one of the better spots to go to for repairs and tune-ups, along with Bikes on Wheels (309 Augusta at College, www.bikesonwheels.ca) and Set Me Free (381 Roncesvalles at Neepawa and 653 College at Grace, www.setmefree.ca). Alternately, become your own bike mechanic at the do-it-yourself, punk-approved, PWYC bike-fixing workshop space Bike Pirates (1292 Bloor W. at Lansdowne, www.bikepirates.com).
For a great day trip of biking, grab the $4 (return, with your student card) ferry to the Toronto Island and be sure to bring a picnic. Or hit the Waterfront Trail along the Lakeshore, from Humber Bay Park all the way to the Beach, and take in the terrific view of the city from Leslie Spit. Or follow the Don Valley bike trail from the Lakeshore, all the way up to Pottery Road.
The TTC (www.ttc.ca) gets a bad rap, but it’s still one of the best ways to get to where you need to be. A monthly pass is a must; students can get them for $96 through school. Single fares are $2.75, whether you’re going two blocks or across the city. The subway stops running around 1:30am depending on the stop, and after that you’re stuck with the Blue Night bus routes: east-west on the 300 Bloor-Danforth, 301 Queen, 305/307 Eglinton, 306 Carlton; and north-south on the 310 Bathurst, 329 Dufferin, 316 Ossington and 320 Yonge.
Other transportation options include taxis ($4 to start, $50 to the airport) for short runs, or, if you’re 21 and have had your full license for at least a year, car sharing with ZipCar (www.zipcar.com) or Autoshare (www.autoshare.com), with decent hourly and daily rates.