Originally Posted by bobbrownson
As mentioned above, Niagara on the Lake is somewhat of a secret. It is charming, fun place, and well worth the extra hours drive from the Falls which are spectacular any time of year.
I don't know that all of the good restaurants are open year-round, but certainly there will be some that cater to Wintertime people.
The Inniskillin Winery is one of the very best - Chardonnay, Ice-Wine, (Eiswein), and a Merlot that you might appreciate.
bb
...there is no extra hours involved getting to NOTL..its about a 20 minute drive from NF along the Niagara parkway...its a nice drive with lovely old homes lining the route. The town of NOTL was originally supposed to be Canada's capital but its proximity to the USA left it too easy for attack. Go to Ft. George and look across the river to Lewiston NY, you could hit a golf ball at the competing US fort
. The town has been used as movie location for 15+ movies and countless tv shows and commercials. Much better restaurant options than NF. Most of the wineries have restaurants, which are pretty good. The signature grapes of the region are : white - reisling and guwurtz and red - cab franc and baco noir (similiar growing region to the rhine river in germany), as well some of the standards such as cab sauv and merlot are quite nice but go higher end on those products: jackson triggs has an excelent cab-merlot reserve blend for about $25. You can walk around this historical town for a few hours or follow the wine route further afield into the Niagara bench area. The tourist office will have free maps and more reccomendations.