The industrial city that blooms behind the scenes (Hamilton)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Hamilton
Date:	18/10/09 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some beautiful places in and around

Disadvantages: Too much ugly industrial buildings

Nestled at the far south west corner of Lake Ontario is the industrial city of Hamilton. Our recent family trip to Canada was based mainly on one of our friends getting married. Now, we had previously spent two days in Niagara, which has very commercial areas but is obviously centred around one of the most magnificent sights I have ever seen: The Falls. So, as we left Niagara, we headed towards Hamilton on the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way). About an hour's slow drive from Niagara, it takes about the same time to reach it from Toronto. Niagara heads out south along the lake, while Toronto heads along the north shore. Hamilton nestles in the corner.

We were shocked on entering Hamilton. We turned off the QEW onto the Burlington Road, as it seemed to be the best entrance for us to reach the Sheraton Hotel, where we were staying. The first thing to notice is just how intensely industrial the place is. Huge (and I mean HUGE) industrial plants, buildings, sites and roads coming off the main road everywhere you look, and we started to ask ourselves why anyone would ever want to live or get married here.

After a couple of kilometres, we turned south, heading towards our destination, which was King St East/West, the main road on the one way system, hoping to find a bit more life in the centre. All of a sudden, nice houses and a true suburban feel began to enter into the place, as the scenery changed. Then, all of a sudden, BANG! Welcome to commercial Hamilton! The 'centre' of Hamilton is slightly to the west of the physical centre of the city, and I suppose if you were to enter the place from another direction, then you may actually miss the industrial side of things.

We parked up at the Sheraton, were shown to our room, which was really nice, and relaxed a little. The view from the Sheraton was quite nice. Hamilton does have the city feel to the place, and in the distance you can see the industrial area, but the central hub is okay in itself. Commercially, there si a condensed area of shops actually accessible from the Sheraton's ground floor, something I noticed also happened in the Sheraton in Toronto.

The highly dense buildings of Hamilton can seem a bit too much, but a half an hour's walk to the north, and all of a sudden, you find yourself in a beautiful area. Hamilton touches the shores of Lake Ontario, and as you venture away from the central part heading to the shore, more greenery and open spaces appear. The sun was shining, and it made the palce absolutely beautiful. There are parks for kids, and a beautiful shoreline that you can go right up to. It is less populated, and whether or not it is a tourist secret, there didn't seem to be many people around. We went at the beginning of October, so it is out of the tourist season, yet the weather came out for us, and it was heavenly.

We stayed in Hamilton for a couple of days. Downtown is on the same one way system, and the one thing you notice travelling from the UK is just how straight the roads are. There is little or no turning required, so before you know it, you have driven out of the centre and hit downtown. Things are a bit dodgier there, with more dilapidated buildings and dodgier looking street corners, and a general look of a place it's probably best to steer clear of on a dark night. We had hired a car from Hertz, and tried dropping it off at the downtown branch. This was in virtual ruin and looked like it had been taken over by some unsvoury characters, so we didn't hang around, and headed to the airport instead.

Hamilton has its own international airport, which is about a 10-15 minute drive from the Sheraton in the centre. This was with a fair amount of moving traffic. The airport is rather small in comparison to others such as Toronto and Gatwick, which we had used, but it is rather easy to navigate around.

On the outskirts of Hamilton there are some lovely places. The wedding reception was at a place called Ancaster Mill, a beautiful venue, and driving around outside of Hamilton such as Ancaster and Dundas, as well as the northern areas of Hamilton itself, you notice just how beautiful the place is. Our initial perception was of a densely populated and industrial place, but by the time we left, we realised that Hamilton is, beneath the surface, quite a nice place to visit, so long as you choose the right areas.

Summary: Canadian city nestling in the southwest corner of Lake Ontario