What’s the best thing about Niagara Falls, which attract more than 10 million visitors a year? With its quirky mix of stunning natural beauty, historic and cultural sites, and honky-tonk tourist attractions, Niagara is a destination you can visit at any time of year.
Niagara Falls
Here’s a four-season guide to the best of the Niagara region.
Getting Oriented in Niagara
The Niagara region straddles the border between Canada and the United States, roughly equidistant between Toronto, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York. Niagara’s larger Horseshoe Falls are on the Canadian side (and yes, they’re shaped like a horseshoe). The American Falls are across the Niagara River on the New York shore.
Most of the region’s attractions are on the Canadian side of the river. From Niagara Falls, Ontario, it’s a short drive north to the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, which is filled with B&Bs, wineries, and a popular summer theatre. To the west is another wine region, known as the Twenty Valley.
Summer Activities at Niagara Falls
Summer is Niagara’s peak season. From late June through early September, everything is open, and most attractions keep long hours, from 9 am until at least 7–8 pm.
If you visit in summer, start your trip to the Falls with the Maid of the Mist boat tour that ferries you to the base of both the American and Horseshoe Falls. You get a plastic parka to protect you from the spray, but warning – you will get wet. The Maid tours, which operate from April through late October, last about 30 minutes.
You see the Falls from a different perspective – and really feel their power – on the Journey Behind the Falls. After taking an elevator 150 feet below the top of Horseshoe Falls, you walk through a network of underground tunnels to two observation decks, where the falls crash just beside you. If you thought you were wet on the Maid of the Mist, you’ll get drenched here; you’ll want to protect your camera, your lunch, and anything else that you don’t want deluged by the spray. While it’s open year-round, you’ll enjoy this “journey” best on a hot day. That water is cold!
A two-part multimedia show, Niagara’s Fury explains how the Falls were created. In a short cartoon, you learn how the Falls emerged from the Ice Age many centuries ago. Then you enter a circular theater, where lightning flashes, the earth shakes, and water pours from the ceiling as you “experience” the birth of the Falls. Kids may think Niagara’s Fury is cool (and they may even learn something), but the real Falls are far more dramatic.
North of Horseshoe Falls, the Niagara River churns through a section of whitewater known as the whirlpool rapids. At the White Water Walk, you can follow a quarter-mile boardwalk along the river’s edge for an up-close look at the rushing rapids slicing through the deep gorge.
If you plan to visit several of these attractions, consider a package like Viator’s Niagara Falls Summer Adventure Pass, valid from mid-April through mid-October. It includes admission to the Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind the Falls, Niagara’s Fury, and the White Water Walk.
Niagara Outdoor Adventures
Beyond the Falls, the Niagara region offers lots of ways to enjoy the outdoors. One of the most unusual is a ride in the Whirlpool Aero Car, a quirky-looking red cable car that transports you across Niagara’s “Great Gorge.” As the Niagara River cuts through this gorge, it makes a sharp turn, which forces the water into a counterclockwise spin. It’s difficult to make out this atypical churning whirlpool from shore, but you can easily see it from the Aero Car, which swings you over the gorge. You might think that cable cars are relatively modern inventions, but the Aero Car, which is attached to overhead cables by a bright yellow contraption that looks like half of a giant bicycle wheel, was built back in 1916. Although the Aero Car ride lasts less than 15 minutes, you’ll have great views of the whirlpool and along the river.
Aero Car
For more river views, visit the window-lined Nature Centre at the Niagara Glen Nature Reserve. While you take in the vistas, the kids will enjoy exploring fossils and animal skulls at the centre’s “touch table.” The nature reserve is also a good base for hikes into the gorge, whether on your own or on a guided walk with park naturalists, who’ll tell you about the area’s history, plants, and wildlife. Admission to the Nature Centre is free.
If you’d rather explore on two wheels, rent bicycles and follow the 35-mile Niagara River Recreation Trail, a paved, mostly flat path that extends from Niagara-on-the-Lake through Niagara Falls and south to Fort Erie. Zoom Leisure Bikes is a centrally located bike rental shop in Niagara Falls, with another location in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The Play’s The Thing
A short drive north of Niagara Falls, one of Canada’s major professional theatre festivals takes to the stage in Niagara-on-the-Lake from April though October. The Shaw Festival performs works by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, his contemporaries, and more recent writers. If you have time, take a backstage tour of the Festival Theatre, where you’ll get to peek into the dressing rooms, check out the wardrobe shop, and learn something about how the theatre staff designs and builds the sets.
Oh Canada Eh?
As long as you don’t mind some corny jokes about beavers and Mounties, the Oh Canada Eh? dinner theater in Niagara Falls makes a fun, family-friendly evening. The enthusiastic performers take you on a cross-country journey of Canadian music, from Newfoundland sea shanties to more contemporary songs by Canadians like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, while you stuff yourself on Quebecois pea soup, Alberta beef, and other stick-to-your-ribs dishes from across the country.
Fall at the Falls
One of the best times to visit the Niagara region is in autumn when the trees take on their red and golden hues, and the crowds of summer begin to thin. With crisp, clear weather, fall is still a busy season, especially on weekends when the leaf-peepers descend, but it’s quieter mid-week. Most of the summer activities, including the Maid of the Mist, the White Water Walk, and the Whirlpool Aero Car, stay open until late October.
September and October are harvest season for Niagara’s vineyards, making it an especially popular time for wine touring. Niagara is Canada’s largest wine district, with dozens of wineries around Niagara-on-the-Lake and in the Twenty Valley, both an easy drive from Niagara Falls.
A good place to start your wine tour is just outside the village of Niagara-on-the-Lake at the Niagara College Teaching Winery, Canada’s only licensed wine college. At their Wine Visitor and Education Centre, you can pick up information about area wineries and sample wines that the students make. Their top-scoring reserve wines get the “Dean’s List” label.
Nearby, you can taste more wine at the posh Stratus Vineyards or the organic Southbrook Vineyards, or at smaller properties, like family-owned Marynissen Estates or the Ice House, one of many wineries that produce Ontario’s signature “ice wine,” a sweet dessert wine made from grapes harvested just after they freeze on the vines. Try their tasty ice wine slushies.
In the Twenty Valley, many of the wineries are smaller properties where the winemakers themselves may be pouring your samples in the tasting room. Visit the laid-back Flat Rock Cellars in the town of Jordan or the cozy Good Earth Food and Wine Co., which has a café and also runs a small recreational cooking school on their Beamsville vineyard.
Why Visit Niagara in Winter?
Why should you visit the Niagara region during the winter, when it’s often freezing and snowy? The Falls themselves are (obviously) still there, and you can save a bundle on accommodations. Most hotels offer significant discounts from November through March.
The Falls are especially beautiful during the Winter Festival of Lights, when they’re illuminated nightly from November through January. Bring your skates if you’re in town from December to February. You can ice skate overlooking the Horseshoe Falls at the TD Rink at the Brink.
In winter, after you’ve had your fill of the Falls, you can explore the region’s indoor attractions. One of the best winter destinations is the tropical Butterfly Conservatory, where more than 2,000 butterflies flit around, alighting on colorful flowers and on visitors’ arms and heads. Most kids love the butterflies, and children under six are admitted free.
For winter visitors, Viator offers a Niagara Falls Winter Magic Pass, valid from mid-October to mid-April, which includes admission to the Journey Behind the Falls, Niagara’s Fury, and the Butterfly Conservatory.
It’s also warm year-round in the Bird Kingdom, the world’s largest free-flying indoor aviary, housed in a former Niagara corset factory. Nearly 400 birds from roughly 80 species, from multicolored macaws to brilliant scarlet ibis, fly all around you as you wander the paths. If you’ve brought the kids, check the daily schedule of snake handling demonstrations, bat feedings, and other fun animal encounters.
Spring Savings
When you’re trying to balance moderate prices, mild weather, and plenty of activities, consider visiting Niagara in the spring.
Most seasonal attractions reopen in mid-April or early May, and as temperatures warm, flowers bloom everywhere. It’s a lovely season to visit the free Niagara Botanical Gardens, where walking paths crisscross the manicured grounds. Rhododendrons and irises typically peak in June; roses start blooming mid-June and continue into September.
At the Shaw Festival, you can often purchase less expensive tickets for early season preview productions in April and May.
Spring lodging prices, while not as low as in mid-winter, are generally cheaper between April and mid-June than during the busier summer and fall seasons. Visiting the Falls during this spring “shoulder” period can also mean fewer crowds and shorter waiting times at the most popular attractions.
The other best thing about Niagara Falls? While there’s lots to do in any season, standing in front of these majestic cascades of water and feeling the spray on your face is always free.
Photos by Carolyn Heller.
–Carolyn B. Heller
A Four-Season Guide to Niagara Falls by Carolyn Heller from Viator Travel Blog