Niagara Falls, ON

After a rough winter and a rushed trip to Japan, I finally got some time away with my man over Memorial weekend. Our initial plan was to visit my family down near Charlotte, but a rainy forecast down there spurred a last minute change of plans. So, we drove 8 hours away from the rain to sunny & hot Niagara Falls! We stayed on the Canadian side (heard it was nicer with better views) and our first impression upon driving in at night was that it was a mini Las Vegas. Hotel lights were lit up everywhere, and there were many cheesy tourist attractions aside from the falls. We stayed a bit away from the main falls area in the seedy part of Niagara Falls (looks just like the seedy parts of Vegas). Signs for honeymoon suites were everywhere. I guess you get married in Vegas and go to Niagara Falls for honeymoon. We must've missed the memo on the latter... but better late than never.


Despite our initial impressions, we thought the falls were amazing. The main drop seem to be the Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls. This is the one that the Maid of the Mist takes you right up under. The American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are right next to each other on the American side and are also very beautiful. You get a great view of it from the Canada side. I think you have to go out onto an observation tower to see it if you were on the American side. I'd imagine the Horseshoe Falls might be harder to see from the American side, too.

The main attractions surrounding the falls pretty much involve getting you closer to the falls and wet. On the Canadian side, there is the Maid of the Mist (also on American side) and Journey Behind the Falls. The Maid of the Mist is the everyone-does boat ride. It's actually pretty cool since it takes you as close as the boat can get without going under. You do get pretty wet in the process though. With Journey Behind the Falls, I was expecting to be able to walk out to a platform right behind the falls. Unfortunately all you get is a look out of a portal. The observation deck does get you very close to the edge of the falls though, so from that perspective it's worth doing. The two attractions together cost just under $30, but you can get a package deal that includes two other attractions and shuttle rides for $40. The other two attractions lumped in the package is absolutely crap though and not even worth writing about in this blog. All I have to say about them is don't waste your time on them. You do get some coupons for other attractions with the package deal, but seriously, your main objective should be to see the falls. Unless you have loads of time to kill, I wouldn't bother with anything else. You also don't need a shuttle if you are looking at just the falls. Oh, and don't be fooled into thinking the whirlpool is anything cool... it isn't worth the shuttle money and it's a serious hike to get there.

Logistics wise, staying near the falls may seem most convenient, but staying further away for cheaper and paying $10 for all-day parking worked for us. There is also parking at the IMAX theatre for $4 - for as long as you want (must pay with coins to get out). Speaking of, we caught the Falls show at IMAX. Can't say it was all that, but supposedly it's the second most watched IMAX film next to Grand Canyon's. It is pretty interesting to hear about the daredevils who went down the falls in barrels and such though.

So what else is there worth doing in Niagara Falls besides see the falls? Not sure. I certainly didn't go there to visit the House of Frankenstein or Ripley's Believe-It-or-Not museum. We decided to do a day trip up to Toronto, an hour and half away, the 2nd day. We enjoyed Casa Loma a lot, but rest of Toronto didn't do much for us. After a quick look around and a snap of CN Tower, we decided to head back to Niagara and enjoy our evening by the falls. The falls at night are worth checking out too, since it is lit up in colors and fireworks go off at 10 on some nights.