Making a trip to Niagara Falls, needs recommendation.
 

Making a trip to Niagara Falls in July. Needs recommendation for accomodation and suggestion on tourist activities. Thanks very much!

Sheraton on the Falls opened 4-5 years ago and has great view of the Falls.

Thanks, Supra. Hv you stayed there before?

been there many times. Use priceline and go for the 4 star. I believe there are 3-4 different hotels and tbhey all are very nice and around $100 Canadian a night for a winning bid. Renaissance is on there and is across the street from the new casino.

Yes, I've stayed there. Get a room with falls view, it's cool.

Well, I live too close to require accomodations, but as far as things to see and do...
All of these are on the Canadian side - I'd stay away from the NY side. Not a whole heck of alot to do there and it's not the safest place.

Marineland - pretty cool SeaWorld-type park

Clifton Hill - loads of very touristy things such as Ripley's and souvenir shops

Casinos - Hard Rock Cafe is in Casino Niagara and Planet Hollywod is just Outside

Museum - Walk down Clifton Hill toward the falls and turn left for a relatively short walk, there is a wonderfully ecclectic (and old) museum housing all sorts of artifacts including what's possibly the mummy of Ramses I.

Maid of the Mist - boat that takes you very close to the falls themselves. They provide you with a raincoat.

Spanish Aerocar - Suspended cable car over the water

Cave of the winds - Walkway near and I believe BEHIND the falls. Never did it, so not sure on that one.

Haven't been there in a while, so that's all I can remember right now.

Have fun!

After doing the somewhat tacky touristy thing in Niagara Falls, head to Niagara on the Lake (about a 20 minute drive, I think) for some culture: the Shaw Theatre Festival and tasting the Niagara Region's very good wines. NOTL can be a bit twee for some, but it is a pretty town with some nice B&Bs and small inns. And there are some excellent wineries nearby, a few with great restaurants. I can recommend Lailey Vineyards (book ahead) as an excellent up-and-coming winery. The Shaw Festival isn't just George Bernard Shaw - it encompasses his contemporaries. Tickets can sell out quickly for popular shows, so book tickets ahead, as well.

Take speedboat from Niagara on the Lake up Niagara river,its lots of fun ,discount for AAA,lunch or dinner at OBAN Inn also is enjoyable,if you like Italian food try the Como,NY side its been around for many years

Pay extra for upper floors - in the Hilton
 

Unless you are a regular, make sure you get a falls view room on the upper floors in the Hilton. Some of the lower floors, the angle of the falls isn't good and you can't see both falls.

The Hilton is situated so you can see the bottom of the Horseshoe Falls and watch the Maid of the Mist approach the bottom of the falls. I don't think the Sheraton has as good a view, but I've never stayed there.

The Hilton rooms also have a small slot beneath the window that you can open to hear the falls. It's neat to leave that open all night and when things quiet down, just listen to the falls.

By all means do the Cave of the Winds tour - which includes the opportunity to walk on the hurricane deck - wooden steps and decks built very close to the falls. They provide rain slickers and booties. A great experience!

I agree that the U.S. side is a sad waste of time.


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

I'm also looking to go to Niagara - probably not until next summer though. So far in this thread, it sounds like the Sheraton is nice, but the Hilton (upper floors especially) might have a better view. Has anyone stayed at the Marriott Fallsview? What about the casinos - has anyone stayed there? What are their views like?
Thanks! - great thread so far.

The Hilton NF is directly across the street from the new Niagara Fallsview casino, and there's been many good reports about the hotel here on FT. Your views of the falls may be partially blocked by the casino tower in front of the hotel, however. We've stayed at both the Embassy Suites Hotel (half a block from the new casino) and the Niagara Fallsview Hotel in the casino building (no FF points or miles) and find both to be really nice accomodations with great views of the falls. Always been upgraded to a nice jacuzzi suite in the ES with a great view overlooking the Horseshoe Falls, as a HHonors Gold, as the ES is only a block away from the falls, with nothing impeding your view.

The Niagara Fallsview Hotel has very comfortable rooms and suites (we got upgraded to a larger jacuzzi suite as regular visitors to the casino), also with fantastic views of the falls if you get a room facing them (don't forget that "Cityview rooms" in all the properties face away from the falls, so you'll have limited, if any, views of the falls from those rooms). Both the ES and Niagara Fallsview Hotel are newer then the Hilton, but as I mentioned above, there's been many good reports about the Hilton also, but we haven't stayed there, so I can't compare it to the others. All the hotels charge a rather high parking fee ($20 CAD per day at the ES, for example, but thats' usual for this area), but the casino parking garage (ten stories attached to the casino) is free on weekdays, and free on weekends if you have a players card from the casino which is available at no charge at the players club desk there.

We were at the Niagara Fallsview Casino last night (no hotel stay, just an overnighter from Toronto), and it was packed due to a boxing match held in the casino's theater. Note that on any event weekend down there, the hotel rates at the surrounding properties always jump appreciably, as the lowest rate for this weekend at the ES for example, from their website, was $275 CAD, almost double their usual rates. Weekends, especially in the high-season, are very busy in NF, so book as far in advance as possible, and search as many sites as possible for the best rates. We often find that calling the hotels directly gets us rates lower then seen on their websites, due to "unadvertised specials", so a call may be useful in finding a better rate.

Hope this helps.

BTW, as mentioned above, Niagara-On-The-Lake is also a nice area to visit. Less then ten minutes drive from Niagara Falls, with interesting shops and views of Lake Ontario, with vineyards close by. Supposed to have a Hilton Garden Inn opening there sometime in August, 2005.

bj-21.

What's the most cost-effective way to get there from YYZ or the city? Are there tours? public transportation options? Are most of the hotels in the area within walking distance of the falls?

how many hours should i allot for a trip to niagara falls? i am planning on seeing it the day that i fly out, and was hoping to get up super early (i.e. 6 or 7 a.m.) to drive out there. how many hours away is it from YYZ and is it a fairly easy route to get there? is there anything in particular i should stop to see along the way? i don't have time to take a tour bus. thanks in advance for advice.

If traffic isn't an issue, it's about 2 hrs each way along the QEW. I guess if you are checked in already, heading back 5 hours before scheduled time of departure may be enough time.

I can make Niagara Falls from the foot of Yonge St. (downtown Toronto) in 1:20 if the traffic is really good. It is only 117 km's from Toronto (I have been known to make it in 1:00 but I digress :D )

enroute the only real thing to see is wineries. If they interest you, then certainly stop at 1 or 2. My favourite is Henry of Pelham, followed by Cave Spring.

For travel options to NF, car is the quickest. There are hourly buses from downtown Toronto that take about 1:35 to get there, or if you are really, really cheap - there are casino shuttles that will take you there (and back) for $7. One of them is www.itripmate.com. I have never used them, but know others who do.

One final thing, the_nomad mentions the historical museum, unfortunately I do believe it closed. They were privately run and just couldn't afford to keep it going. Quite the shame actually, it was the best one in the city (and had a display of some stuff I donated :p ). Also the cave of the winds is called the Scenic Tunnels. You do go behind the falls; it is very cool.

(ps if you want to have a blast on the maid of the mist, get drunk and ride it without a raincoat... not saying I would do that :D :D :D ... well not anymore ;) )