Toronto's Gay Village has dozens of queer bars, including a handful with lively dance floors. The Barn/Stables bills itself a leatherand-Levi disco, but the crowd is actually quite eclectic. There are three floors, the second being the most popular, with a dark, actionpacked dance floor. The premier lesbian hangout is Tango, which occupies an attractive space on Church Street. It encompasses a snazzy dance space and a pool hall and lounge, and there are lots of fun theme nights. A weekends-only venue, Fly feels like a big circuit party, with its buffed crowd, highenergy music, and many lounges and dance spaces. Queer as Folk often filmed here (the show, though set in Pittsburgh, was shot mostly in Toronto).

One of the best hangouts outside the Gay Village, El Convento Rico draws a mostly Latin and mostly gay but increasingly varied crowd. It's a beautiful basement space with a nice-sized dance floor and ample seating from which to take in the festive cabaret and drag shows.

In a city whose name means “meeting place” in the indigenous Huron language, it's not surprising that “hooking up” is a favorite activity in the gay community. Several bathhouses here act as clean and relatively safe “meeting places,” including The Barracks, Steamworks, Club Toronto and St. Marc Spa, The darling of bathhouse aficionados is Spa Excess, a four-story playground with a friendly staff. Leather gals should know bathhouses are not just for men in Toronto – Pussy Palace Toronto is an organization that sponsors and staffs occasional women-only events (which also welcome transgender people) at area bathhouses normally open only to the guys. These evenings are scheduled rather erratically - check the Palace's website for details.

Superb restaurants abound in nearly every Toronto neighborhood, including the Gay Village, surrounding the intersection of Church and Wellesley streets, where the slick restaurant Byzantium serves tasty Mediterranean-inspired contemporary food and fancy martinis. It's definitely one of the top places in the Village to see and be seen. Relatively nearby - in the Danforth neighborhood, which is best known for its outstanding Greek restaurants - you'll find the city's gay-friendliest Irish pub, Allen's. It's a lovely and affordable spot for sampling imported ales and whiskies, famously delicious french fries, and stick-to-your-ribs meat pies, stews, and other Celtic treats.

Few restaurants outside the Iberian Peninsula serve better Portuguese fare than Chiado, where velvet armchairs, warm-golden walls, and starched linens lend a dignified air. The food is authentic and sophisticated - from rabbit braised in Madeira wine to poached salt cod - and the staff charming. Toronto has a wealth of superb Asian eateries, among them Susur, an austere dining room in which celeb- chef Susur Lee's artful creations take center stage. The ultimate way to enjoy dinner here is by ordering the spectacular eight-course tasting menu at about $100 (CDN) per person. It's a very special treat.

Shopaholics should make a beeline for the mammoth, 3-million-square-foot Eaton Centre, an amazingly comprehensive survey of middle- to high-end shops and restaurants. If you're a real diehard, stay at the 18-floor Marriott Toronto Eaton Centre, a lavish, upscale hotel with cushy furnishings; it's connected to the mother ship via an indoor hallway.

Toronto boasts the third-largest theater scene in the English-speaking world (after London and New York). In just 40 years, the number of professional theaters has grown from two to more than 200. For the latest on what's playing, log onto the Toronto Theatre Alliance website, www.theatreintoronto.com, which also has links to T.O. Tix (a half-price-ticket finder). Full-price tickets normally go for $20 to $30 (CDN) but can cost considerably more for top musicals and less for smaller-scale performances. Be sure also check out Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, which calls itself the “world's largest queer theater.” It regularly presents plays, cabaret, and the like. For queer theater of a more carnal nature, go to Remington's, where male strippers bare all for tips and prance around with full erections. Private dance anyone?

Perhaps nothing takes the nip off a chilly night better than snuggling under the covers with your honey in a big bed at an inviting inn. A particularly romantic, gay-friendly place for this is the Gloucester Square Bed & Breakfast, which comprises three century-old properties, each within a five-minute walk of Church Street bars and eateries. These meticulously restored mansions contain every creature comfort, from in-room DSL ports to tip-top concierge service to luxurious massage sessions, body wraps, and mud baths at the inn's small but impressively equipped spa. This is Toronto's classiest inn, gay or straight. And who wouldn't like an inn with the motto, “Sleep with Friends”?

A more affordable Gay Village inn, the restored, 1894 House on McGill occupies a quiet, tree-lined side street. Each of the six rooms is themed around (and named for) a color (blue, green, yellow, etc.). Furnishings are surprisingly lavish for accommodations so inexpensively priced, though all units have shared baths. But if you don't mind this, the House on McGill offers a wonderfully warm and cozy way to experience Toronto without facing the chill of a high tariff.

Andrew Collins is the author of Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA and nine additional travel guides. He can be reached at GayFodors@aol.com