Toronto/Scarborough

As late as the 1950s, "Scarborough Township" was largely rural. A piece of road from Oshawa to the current "Highway 2A" in Scarborough's east end had been built as freeway by 1939, but until 1956 this traffic poured onto Scarborough surface streets such as Kingston Road (at the time, the main motel strip for traffic from the east) or Danforth Avenue on its way across the Don River into Toronto.
As the city grew, suburbs gradually sprawled north through Don Mills, east into Scarborough and westward through Etobicoke and across the county line to Mississauga, largely following the freeways and an east-west subway line first opened in 1966. Toronto surpassed Montréal in size sometime after 1976, becoming Canada's largest city. As the easternmost point still within the metro Toronto line, the city of Scarborough was unofficially nicknamed "Scarberia" through much of the 1980s. In the 1990s Agincourt, a neighbourhood in the northern portion of Scarborough, became Asiacourt - effectively a second or third Toronto Chinatown - to accommodate an influx of immigrants arriving from Hong Kong before its 1997 retrocession to communist China.
Since then, huge amounts of suburbia have sprawled northward into Markham and eastward into Durham as the city expanded. The six former Toronto boroughs, from Scarborough to Etobicoke, were annexed to the City of Toronto in 1998.

All Toronto-bound traffic from points eastward (such as Montréal) enters the city by road and rail through Scarborough.

By car

The borough's major freeway is Ontario Highway 401, Canada's busiest highway. Twelve lanes of chaos are packed at peak hours with motorists from the eastern suburbs (such as Pickering and Oshawa in Durham) all flooding into the city at once.
The north-south Highway 404 / Don Valley Parkway does not enter Scarborough, but runs just west of it. Exiting the 404/DVP onto any of the eastbound cross streets, from Steeles Avenue south to the lakeshore, should take you across Victoria Park Avenue into Scarborough.

By train

• VIA Rail stops at the Guildwood GO Transit station on Kingston Road on its way into Toronto from Ottawa and Montréal.
• GO Transit offers regular commuter train and bus service to Toronto and throughout the GTA (from Oshawa to Hamilton or Niagara). Main train connections are at the Rouge Hill, Guildwood, Eglinton, and Scarborough stations. The Stouffville line offers limited rush hour service to and from downtown Toronto with stops at Milliken, Agincourt and Kennedy stations in Scarborough.

By bus

• Megabus (Coach Canada) stops at Scarborough Centre (401 and McCowan) on their way into Toronto from Kingston and Montréal.

• The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) provides bus and subway service throughout Scarborough and all of Toronto. On the Bloor-Danforth subway line 2, all stops from Victoria Park Ave. east to Kennedy serve Scarborough; a light metro line (Scarborough RT - line 4) continues eastward from there to McCowan Avenue, primarily serving the Scarborough Centre mall. A little-used McCowan Station at the eastern end of the line provides city-owned commuter parking; the TTC also operates "park and ride" lots at the eastern end of the main subway line, +1 416-393-INFO (4636) for info.
• Durham Region Transit provides bus service to the Scarborough campus of University of Toronto from Pickering (Ontario).
• Bicycle routes cover most of Scarborough as well as the rest of Toronto. With a day's worth of cycling, it is possible to cycle most of Scarborough.

• Rosetta McClain Gardens

  address: 5 Glen Everest Rd
  Formal gardens with rose gardens and a rock fountain surrounded by a pergola, with spectacular views of Lake Ontario from the top of Scarborough Bluffs

• Scarborough Historical Museum

  address: Thomson Memorial Park, 1007 Brimley Rd
  Scarborough Historical Museum has a small collection of rural 19th century buildings.

• Bluffer's Park and Beach

  address: 1 Brimley Rd S
  Located on a 14 km stretch along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. The highest cliff is 65 m (213 ft) and the views of the waves crashing along the shore are beautiful. Definitely a must see and there are no entry fees but parking is paid and very limited on summer weekends. Warning for those walking in: There is a steep road down to Bluffer's Park. Bus 175 eliminates the steep walk.

• Guild Park and Gardens

  address: 201 Guildwood Pkwy
  The park has some beautiful gardens holding the pillars and facades of many elegant temple-like buildings that were unfortunately demolished to make way for glass and steel skyscrapers.

• Osterhout Log Cabin

  address: Guild Park
  Augustus Jones, who surveyed Scarborough, built this cabin in 1795. This is the oldest building in Scarborough, and the second oldest in Toronto after Scadding Cottage in Exhibition Place in the Harbourfront district.

• Milliken Park

  address: 5555 Steeles Ave E
  Beautiful park with a large pond, marshes, wildlife, flower beds, picnic tables, children's playground, WC. The pond is stocked with goldfish visible from the wharf near the main pavilion. In mid-May, the rolling hills are picturesque with yellow dandelions in bloom.

• Toronto Zoo

  phone: +1 416-392-5929
  address: Meadowvale Rd
  Canada's premier zoo showcasing over 5,000 animals and 460 species, the Toronto Zoo is divided into seven zoogeographic regions (Indo-Malaya, Africa, Americas, Tundra Trek, Australasia, Eurasia, and the Canadian Domain) featuring both indoor and outdoor displays. It worth a visit in both the winter and summer months.

• Gorilla RainforestThe Gorilla Rainforest is the world’s largest indoor habitat for the western lowland gorilla, and one of the zoo's most popular pavilions.

• Rouge National Urban Park

  address: Meadowvale Rd
  A federal park full of nature and wildlife, featuring a sandy beach, forests & rolling hills where visitors can hike, swim, canoe & fish.

• Rouge Valley Conservation Centre

  address: 1749 Meadowvale Rd

• Rouge Beach

  address: 195 Rouge Hills Dr

• Thomson Memorial Park

  phone: +1 416-338-4386
  address: 1005 Brimley Road
  Nature paths through wooded ravine along the West Highland Creek, ball diamond, multipurpose sports field, tennis courts, picnic areas, off-leash dog area, wading pool and playground.

• Morningside Park

  address: Morningside Ave
  Large park with a creek running through a forested area; trails, picnic areas, playgrounds & a splash pad.

Shopping malls

• Agincourt Mall

  phone: +1 647-346-1400
  address: 3850 Sheppard Ave E
  Suburban shopping mall.

• Cedarbrae Mall

  phone: +1 416 431-1550
  address: 3495 Lawrence Ave E
  Suburban shopping mall.

• Malvern Town Centre

  phone: +1 416-297-4786
  address: 31 Tapscott Rd
  Suburban shopping mall. Post office outlet within Mac's Convenience store.

• Morningside Crossing

  address: 4218 Lawrence Ave E
  Suburban shopping mall.

• Scarborough Town Centre

  phone: +1 416-296-0296
  address: 300 Borough Dr
  This large 2-level suburban mall offers big-box & brand-name shops & a cinema. Post office outlet within Shoppers Drugmart.

• Woodside Square

  phone: +1-416-298-2330
  address: 1571 Sandhurst Cir
  Suburban shopping mall with food court, bakeries, and supermarkets.

Shopping districts

• Kennedy Avenue from Lawrence Avenue East to Ellesmere Avenue is a commercial district featuring dozens of independent furniture, electronic, houseware and computer businesses that all share some of the best deals the city has to offer, together with a couple of large electronic chains. It is often very congested on weekends by automobile, and many merchants lack adequate parking, but it is within walking distance of the Scarborough RT and there is bus service from the Kennedy subway station on the Danforth line. This is not really a destination for tourists, and it's quite a drive from the city centre, but if you're in the area, and want to do some discount shopping, there may be something here to suit your needs.

• Ted's Restaurant

  phone: +1 416 282-2204
  address: 404 Old Kingston Rd
  Old fashion diner in Highland Creek. A bit of a historical site.

• St. Andrews Fish and Chips

  phone: +1 416 431-6574
  address: 1589 Ellesmere Rd
  Traditional 'fish and chips'. Also supply deep fried Mars bars.

• King Georges Arms

  phone: +1 416 492-8036
  address: 2501 Victoria Park Ave
  Known for having the best wings in Scarborough, King Georges Arms is also a pub and attraction for late night drinks.

• Real McCoy Burgers and Pizza

  phone: +1 416 439-6804
  address: 1033 Markham Rd
  This fast food restaurant with good pizza and burgers. It's a simple take-out restaurant with no seating environment and is open for late-night requirements. Closed on Sundays.

• Perfect Chinese Restaurant

  phone: +1-416-297-6100
  address: 4386 Sheppard Ave E
  Popular Chinese restaurant. Serves dim-sum at lunch, and a large selection of items at dinner. Open at all times.

• Island View Nightclub

  address: 3601 Lawrence Av E.
  This trendy bar is the perfect stop to start or end a night of dancing. Drinks are cheap, service is efficient and the dancefloor is big enough to sustain large crowds.

• Holiday Inn Express

  phone: +1 416 439-9666
  address: 50 Estate Dr
  3 star, with high-speed internet access, continental breakfast, fitness centre and business facilities.

• Travelodge Toronto East

  phone: +1 416 299-9500
  address: 20 Milner Business Court
  All rooms feature swipe-card access, work desk, in-room coffee, voice mail, irons and ironing boards, in-room movies, and a 25 inch TV. Free wi-fi access and an indoor pool.

• Delta Toronto East

  phone: +1 416 299-1500
  address: 2035 Kennedy Rd
  Includes continental breakfast each morning, high speed wifi, cableTV with movies. 20,000² ft atrium houses a large swimming pool, saunas, whirlpool, exercise room and squash court.

High lake levels in 2017 have resulted in landslides along the Scarborough Bluffs. Thus, visitors are advised to stay away from top edge and lower base of the bluffs. Safe access to the water is provided at Bluffer's Park, Sylvan Park, Guild Park and Gardens, or East Point Park.

• Scarborough Civic Centre Library

  phone: +1 416-396-3599
  address: 156 Borough Dr
  large library with free wifi, computers, and other technology available.

• Agincourt Library

  phone: +1 416-396-8943
  address: 155 Bonis Ave
  large library with free wifi and computer access.

• Markham has two attractive main streets.