dulciusexasperis

Hilarious. How can anyone attempt to answer this without knowing when the person(s) is going to be there?

Advice to go to N. Falls if it is this week is ridiculous. It's minus 38C real feel today. Want to walk around in that? Will you have the necessasary (for anyone with half a brain) equipment in the rental car in case of a breakdown or accident. ie. sleeping bags, warm coats, toques, etc.? I grew up in Toronto. I've also been to N. Falls hundreds of times. I wouldn't leave the airport for either this week.

As for the price of gas; limited public transport to the city and the US side of the Falls being a better drive, that's ridiculous.

Sure gas costs a bit more. Do you think the difference in price of a tank of gas (more than enough to go to the Falls and back) of maybe $10 is going to break the bank? Public transport has various options but the easiest is the downtown shuttle bus which costs $42 return. Less than a taxi and less than renting a car for a day.

As for, " remember the US side is more worth the drive", that has to be one of the most incorrect statements ever made on a travel forum. First, the view of the Falls from the US side sucks and that is acknowledged by anyone who lives on or has ever visited the US side. Second, the ammenities and attractions for tourists are near non-existant on the US side compared to the Canadian side. Third, the drive along the river from the Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Canadian side is considered one of the most scenic drives in N. America. There is nothing to compare on the US side. I won't misuse the English language and write the gramatically incorrect, 'more worth the drive.' The Canadian side is worth the drive. The US side is not worth the drive.
https://www.google.ca/search?q=niaga...w=1280&bih=687

Some people need to learn to write about what they KNOW about, rather than making incorrect and misleading comments.

IF this trip will be at a time of year when it makes sense to consider leaving the airport jamesvu, then you need to indicate that and also what your interests are. Whether to go to the city or the Falls or anywhere else within a short distance will depend on YOUR interests, not what anyone else thinks you should do because THEY think it is worth the time and money to do.

Having lived near the Falls for a great part of my life I will ask those suggesting it the same thing I ask anyone planning to visit the Falls. How long can you stand and watch water fall off a rock? That is the Falls unless you are into kitsch tourist stores selling snow globes with the Falls inside or Indian mocassins made in China. The Falls are one of those 'must see' things for a lot of people and I understand that but they are a 5 minute must see and the question is what do you do after that? Similarly, the average visitor to the Grand Canyon south rim spends something like 12 minutes at the Rim looking down into the Canyon and taking the obligatory picture. After that it's the visitor centre, lunch and tourist shops.There are a lot of other things you could see and do if they were of interest and the timing of your flight was right.

For example, I happen to be a fan of the Group of Seven. They are Canada's best known artists. North of the city of Toronto is a little town called Kleinburg and in that little town is the McMichael Gallery which has the largest collection of their works in the world. For anyone who is an art lover, that would be a 'pilgrimage' well worth renting a car to make. http://www.mcmichael.com/about/

If budget or timing precluded that then the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) has a collection of their works as well and all that would take is the $42 shuttle to downtown.

But without knowing YOUR interests jamesvu, NO ONE can give you a relevant to YOU suggestion. Instead you get the usual pap anyone could have thought of for themselves. ie. 'Go to the city, go to the Falls', duhhhh.

AA_EXP09

Expect $5-5.5/gallon.
($1.4+/L)

mapleg

Seriously? It might cost you 8 or 10 bucks more a fillup than you are used to. Is that actually a budget breaker?

mapleg

Every single point dulciusexasperis has made in post 16 is correct. Drive to the falls? From YYZ? Hmm...1 hour to fool around renting a car, 2 hour drive there (if you are lucky with traffic), 2 hours back. The drive on the highway to N Falls can be nightmarish in winter, and not much better on certain days in summer.

And whoever said the US side is the place to go? Ha ha, totally wrong. You really suggest the OP clear US and Canadian customs at the Rainbow bridge in a rental car adding hours to the trip and all kinds of potential complications? And to see what? A dump of a city. Ask yourself why 95% of the hotels in the Niagara Falls area are on the Canadian side and not the US side. The answer is obvious to anyone familiar with the area.

Other posters suggest going to N Falls to "avoid Toronto traffic". The QEW highway Toronto to N Falls is a commuter highway with constant traffic jams. Driving that highway is (and I have years of experience to back this up) is the last thing I would think of doing to entertain myself in a stopover in Toronto.

HMPS

Are you two refering to the "land area & facilities" around the viewing areas or the falls themselves ? Falls are much better when viewed from US side, more Fall activities too...(decend lower level behind the falls...)

mapleg

The Journey Behind the Falls is on the Canadian side

http://www.niagaraparks.com/niagara-...the-falls.html

The US side has something called cave of the winds but it is not open in winter

http://www.niagarafallslive.com/cave_of_the_winds.htm.


In any event, you get a better view of the falls from Canadian side, there are far more attractions etc. As a former local, I can attest to that.

BadgerBoi

...and yet many have, so there ya go

HMPS

Thanks for your info, as a local I will defer to you. However I remember (twice) taking tourists down an elevator and at somepoint stand on a deck behind the fall.

greggarious

The Canadian side is superior both in terms of view and that there's other cool stuff to do in Clifton Hill in my opinion. Plus, why subject yourself to US border agents needlessly?

I wouldn't go until May though. I went once in March - journey behind the falls was "Journey behind a foot thick slab of ice"

mapleg

That's the Canadian side. I actually worked there as a student.

B1

I think Niagara Falls is a waste of time. It is exactly what you expect. Then what? If you go into Toronto, you can use public transit to get there and go to the Art Gallery and Chinatown and Kensington Market or the ROM and the Eaton Centre. If you want a tour of the area where Mayor Ford's crack episodes took place, that is included if you go from the airport via the frequent TTC Malton bus 58 (on Dixon Road past the infamous apartment blocks) to Lawrence West subway and then take the subway to St. Andrew and you'll be at the Art Gallery, all for one low fare. No driving and no borders to cross.

B1

There's also one on the US side on Goat Island. You can walk from there to Luna Island on the US side and peer down the Bridal Veil Falls. Yawn.

riva31

Dont waste time going to USA time, Canadian side has the best view of the falls and there are planty of places to visit nearby the falls for Kids and if you like Gamble has Casinos, Restaurants.