The falls are impressive but the town is a bit too kitschy for most.
A visit to Niagara Falls really is a sight to see. The Falls are magnificent and worth this trip for sure but do yourself a favor and plan to stay outside of the town proper. With a definitive Vegas feel the town is a bit much, and while fun to wander for an hour or two, I would recommend staying further up north nearby the charming small town of Niagara on the Lake, or NOTL as it is known locally. NOTL lies on the southern shore of Lake Ontario at the point where the Niagara river empties into the lake downstream from the falls. It has a distinct small Irish town feel to it and, while it can get quite busy, is nowhere near the crush of humanity you'll experience in Niagara Falls further south.
Accommodations
You'll have plenty of options on where to stay in the region. There are numerous country inn style accommodations in the historic old town area, some in the heart of the main thoroughfare, Queen street, that have the bulk of the shops and restaurants that tourists love to wander around in. Some of these are landmarks such as the Prince of Wales vintage hotel. Naturally these accommodations will tend to be a more expensive option given the convenient location and upscale feel. Other locations right on Queen street are the 124 on Queen hotel and the Shaw Club hotel which sits across from the Shaw festival theatre where one can attend a variety of plays.
If you are more of a chain hotel aficionado you can find a Hilton Garden Inn situated near the expressway about half way between Niagara Falls and NOTL. I've stayed at this hotel before and found it to be quite nice. Predictable, but sometimes that is what you want, right? We were even gifted a bottle of local wine on our arrival.
Of course you can also look to book a bed and breakfast in the area. These are abundant in this area and are, by far, the most common accommodations. Depending on location and property type you can find very reasonable prices as well and charming hosts. I've stayed at a few of them and have never had a bad experience. You can find a few of them on this list, but any search for B&B's in NOTL will yield a goldmine of results so do a bit of research and plan accordingly, especially with respect to the location you are seeking. I've not stayed at one in the town itself instead preferring to be outside in the countryside near the vineyards. Speaking of which...
Niagara Wine Region
Other than visiting the region to witness the glory of the falls, this is easily the other biggest draw. There are more than 80 vineyards in the Niagara peninsula and you can go on tours on many of them. Pretty much all of them offer tasting so you can do a lot of sampling! You're going to want to have a designated driver for this or there are numerous wine tours that will shuttle you around leaving you free to indulge. Several of them will also give you a gourmet meal to round out the day.
You could look at renting a bike, or bringing your own, and riding around there but I don't recommend that given that there aren't any proper bike paths around the vineyard areas and you'll be sharing the road with fast moving cars, buses, and shuttles. If you really want to take full advantage of the tours and the sampling I would ultimately recommended the shuttle tours. There are enough of these tours that you'll be able to find the right fit for your group. Bear in mind, legal drinking age in Ontario is 19 so these tours aren't for families. If you are a family you'll pretty much have to drive yourself but there are a few kid-friendly wineries that have activities for them to do as well.
A couple of my favorite vineyards there are Chateau des Charmes with its spectacular chateau and gardens, and Inniskillin Vineyards as they had some very nice dry red Cabernet Franc wines. This wine region is also quite famous for its ice wines which are brutally sweet for me, but they do seem to be popular. They are harvested once the grapes have frozen and the sugars within have concentrated. Peller estates is one of the vineyards well known for their ice wines if you want to try them out.
Dining
There exists an abundance of restaurants both in NOTL and in the surrounding area that you will be able to find somewhere that fits everyone's needs. I would honestly just jump on Trip Advisor or Open Table and filter for what you are craving and to make those reservations. Unless you are looking to get in to one of the more fancy vineyards style restaurants you can pretty much find seating on short(ish) notice. I made an online reservation for the OLiV Tasting bar and Restaurant at Strewn vineyards a couple of weeks in advance as it was the only place I was planning to go that needed the advance booking. It was an amazing dinner set in a beautiful venue and highly recommended for a romantic night out.
One of my favorites in NOTL is The Epicurean. It is fairly casual and has amazing outdoor seating in the garden area behind the restaurant. There are also some tables on the front street facing side patio and of course some indoor seating for inclement weather. If the weather is nice though, take the rear garden patio. Sitting under a giant lit-up butternut tree on a summer evening eating beer battered fish and chips (malt vinegar please, no tartar for me) with a bloody Caesar cocktail at hand is my happy place!
Another spot with great outdoor seating just outside of town along Niagara Stone road is BarrelHead Wine Pizza Patio. This is a great spot for lunch with the kids. You can grab a picnic table out among some dwarf bing cherry trees and order some wood fired pizza. We even were able to grab a couple of fresh cherries off the tree as a treat (after asking the waitress of course). The pizzas were all under $25.00 and were quite decent. You can only make a reservation if you are a Pillitteri Wine Club Member, the affiliated vineyard, but it was never so busy that we couldn't just do a walk in at lunch time at least.
Got a sweet tooth? There are a dozen different ice cream or gelato places you can visit, or make an ice cream pub crawl and get a sample at each before buying like we did. Our favorite, by which I mean my daughter's favorite, was the Pistacchio Gelateria. There is a Baskin and Robbins and Dairy Queen for those who want to stick to the household names, but... WHY???
Other Activities
I won't go into all of the typical Niagara activities like the Maid of the Mist, Whirlpool boat tours, or the Behind the Falls tours etc. other than to say if you are wanting to partake in these it is best to buy a package deal and get a few of them ahead of time. It will save a fair amount of money to do so and apparently you don't need to do them all in one trip if you are close enough that a couple visits in a year is feasible. Search the Niagara attraction packages and find the deal best suited for you.
There is only one activity that I wanted to include here and that pertains to an earlier remark. When I said I wouldn't recommend biking, that was only in the vineyard areas. Biking along the Niagara River Parkway is amazing and you'll have dedicated pathways via the Niagara River Recreational Trail so you'll be able to skip car traffic for most of the journey. The total trial is 53 kilometers (32 miles) but you can start and stop at several locations along the way. I personally loved the section from NOTL down to the Whirlpool Overlook with a stop planned at the Butterfly Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, another family favorite. The gardens are free. The conservatory is a paid entry (under $20.00) but well worth it and some of the multiple attraction packages can include this venue as well.
Parking
Yeah, I know we hate this but there are a couple tricks I've learned and places to find parking in both NOTL and Niagara Falls. If you are truly only looking to experience the attractions in NF then maybe a stay at the hotels might be easier but if you do want to venture out then here's a couple of tips.
First off, in the Heritage District of NOTL which is effectively the "downtown core", you will need to pay and currently most of the parking machines in the area no longer accept credit cards with the exception of these four locations. You can download the Honk Mobile app, however, and use that to pay so maybe install it before you go if you don't want to deal with coins.
Secondly, if you don't mind a short walk of about 2-3 blocks southwest of Queen Street then there is plenty of free parking on the side residential streets. The street I almost always find parking on is the southern side of Gage street which is a 2 block walk (shown in blue line on map). Just be sure to look for any parking signs indicating permit only or paid parking on those side streets and if there are none, you are safe to park there. Both sides of the street are NOT always the same as is the case with Gage. Only the southwest side is free there.
Finally, as for parking in Niagara Falls, expect lots of headaches and traffic anywhere near the viewing platforms and walkways overlooking the falls. if you don't mind walking there is on street paid parking to be found on Robinson Street where you can then walk to the cul-de-sac on the eastern side and there is a footpath (dotted green below) down to Queen Victoria park and the riverside walkways leading down to the Table Rock Welcome center and viewing platforms. The traffic is much lighter in this area so you won't be waiting in frustration in the car but rather enjoying a stroll along the walkways in the fresh air.
This footpath is a bit steep so unfortunately it is not good for those requiring accessibility. I would also add that I would not park and walk from here at night for the fireworks as I don't think the footpath was lighted. We sucked it up and parked at one of the lots close to the falls just out of an abundance of caution. We were there for Canada Day fireworks so it was insanely busy and I think cost about $35.00 for a couple hours. Just remember you're going to have to pay for convenience; in both traffic wait time and parking costs. Plan accordingly!
Summary
Niagara is a great place to visit and the Falls are phenomenal, but look more closely into the overall region and make sure you get to experience all that the beautiful peninsula has to offer. Maybe mix it up and stay in town for a couple nights, especially if you've young kids who want to go to all the attractions, and then look to book elsewhere for some of the other aspects. I'd recommend doing the Falls first and then NOTL as by the time you've been in the main town a couple days you'll be looking for some R&R!
Final note, for those American travelers contemplating their first trip into Canada, you will require a passport to enter the country. If you need some advice on what to pack for your trip then take a look at our lists. Thanks for the read and hope this post gave a different point of view for the area.
Happy Travels!
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