Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is the classic day trip for visitors to Toronto. It's a natural wonder less than 50 miles away¹. It will be less crowded if you visit on a week day.

The falls themselves are spectacular. There's actually two waterfalls - the US side and the Canadian side. The Canadian side is better, and you'll get a good view of both. The town of Niagara Falls, on the other hand, is a touristic hellscape. You can skip all of the town and not miss anything.

Getting there

I've always driven to Niagara Falls; it takes about 1h40m. Parking is limited, so be prepared to walk 20 minutes from your car. Motels often offer parking; expect to pay about $20 for the day.

You can also take the train; I've never done this, but it takes about 2h20m.

Niagara Falls

There's a park with a paved path up to the waterfall. It's a longer walk than you expect, maybe 15 minutes. You can get extremely close to the falls for free (you'll get wet). There's a building by the falls with a number of souvenir shops.

If you've come all this way, it's worth doing some of the paid attractions. The boat cruise costs about $35, and the behind the falls tunnels are about $25. Both of these are worth it. I've never done the zip line - $70 is too steep for me - but it looks fun.

For about $65 you can buy the "Adventure Pass Classic", which adds a boardwalk trip along the river and a 360° cinema thing that sprays you with water. It's fine as a novelty, and also gets you a bus pass, but personally I would skip it. Be aware the boardwalk is a bus ride away.

The town

The town of Niagara Falls only exists because of tourism, so there's not much worth seeing. There's no good vegan food, and all the restaurants will be packed. I think your best bet is to bring a packed lunch. There's a Starbucks in the Sheraton Hotel, which is about the best you can hope for coffee.

My favourite thing about Niagara Falls is Bird Kingdom. If you like birds, you should definitely visit. It looks like a tourist trap, and there's some Niagara Falls history parts that are very cheesy and touristy. But once you've passed through that, it's all animals. There's a small bird aviary and some parrots; a gallery with insects and reptiles, and then the main aviary - a giant 3-storey high hall. It's the world's largest indoor aviary. You can also feed some lorikeets, and there's a Javanese house to check out too. It's got "museum cafe" vibes from the outside, but go in - it's an actual historical marvel. It dates from the 1800s, was built without nails, and is the only one in North America.

You can save a couple of bucks by buying tickets online.

Elsewhere

• Niagara-on-the-Lake is about a 15 minute drive north of Niagara Falls. It's a smaller town, and more bijou. It's a popular place to watch the sunset, and there's many wineries nearby. It was the first capital of Upper Canada. There's not much to do or see though. There's a tiny chapel just outside the town.
• You will drive through Hamilton, and it has a fair few things worth doing. It's not a big town but there's some interesting shops to browse.
  • Hamilton is sometimes called "the city of waterfalls". They're very different to Niagara Falls, but there's some nice easy hikes.
  • Planted in Hamilton and Boon Burger have good vegan food. I've never tried The Hearty Hooligan but the menu looks good. There are other vegan options too.
  • The Royal Botanical Gardens are technically part of Burlington, but they're closer to Hamilton. Just over the road is Holy Sepulchre Cemetry; I've seen bald eagles nesting in the trees near the lake, and you can get a nice view over the harbour.
• You will probably spot the Grand Hermine on your drive to the falls. I've never tried to visit it.
• There's an outlet mall just outside Niagara Falls, if you want to do some shopping.