Niagara Falls

[Ko.Fe.]

Stealin' my thunder ay?

I lived in the region for a while. Stick with the American side, the Canadian side is plastic-fantastic cut rate Vegas. USA side is still a park and I pray it stays that way. However, I highly recommend walking across rainbow bridge into Canada, the observation deck is .50 or a dollar. You can take the elevator down and stand right next to the falls.

It is total and clueless gringo bias.


Niagara is not just falls and tiny territory adjoined to it. Not if you able not just drive in and walk very little.
Right on falls if you walk upstream where are parks and gardens. But you have to walk. We do walk in Canada here.
We have parks and walking, biking trails all way among Lower Niagara on top and hiking trail among the river. And Bruce Trail starts here as well. It is hundreds of miles trail.

 

[Photo Engineer]

There are a number of attractions in upper NY state listed in the books on hiking and camping here. I suggest them. They cover Niagara Falls in detail.

PE

 

[Sirius Glass]

And all of you know that his trip is off, right?

PE

I view any thread as a venue for providing information for the OP and anyone else interested in the subject. Like you part of the reason I am here is to pay forward the help others gave me in the past. Or maybe I am just getting old.

 

[Photo Engineer]

As do I.

 

[Cholentpot]

It is total and clueless gringo bias.


Niagara is not just falls and tiny territory adjoined to it. Not if you able not just drive in and walk very little.
Right on falls if you walk upstream where are parks and gardens. But you have to walk. We do walk in Canada here.
We have parks and walking, biking trails all way among Lower Niagara on top and hiking trail among the river. And Bruce Trail starts here as well. It is hundreds of miles trail.

I'll stick with my bias. I park on the USA side and walk across if need be.

 

[RattyMouse]

Chinese temple.

I visited this temple. Perhaps it is better on a weekend when the Pagoda is fully opened up. Otherwise, it's a big pass. Not much happening there.

 

[RattyMouse]

Don't know much about Niagara Falls, but almost everything in western NY looks pretty good in springtime. Buffalo has plenty of sights to see, especially architecture. Check out the Martin House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright... (http://www.martinhouse.org/). If you like ships and boats there's the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park... (http://buffalonavalpark.org/exhibits/ships), featuring the retired guided missile cruiser 'USS Little Rock', plus the WWII submarine 'Croaker' and destroyer 'The Sullivans'. Then there's the Buffalo Maritime Center that features small craft & boatbuilding.... (http://buffalomaritimecenter.org/). I must admit that Buffalo is generally better for sightseeing than Rochester, except perhaps for the George Eastman Museum.

I visited the 3 warships in Buffalo. Going on the USS Croaker was amazing. Cramped can't begin to describe life on that ship!

 

[RattyMouse]

I can't believe how tacky the Canadian side of the falls is. As tacky and tasteless as Las Vegas. The view may be better, but i'll take the natural park setting of the US side over the ungodly awful tackiness of the Canadian side. My wife and kids had a great time and that's all that matters to me. But I found the sleaze of the Canadian side very off putting. Why would they do that to such a beautiful and natural place?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

From the US side.


Niagara Falls from the top by Alan Klein, on Flickr


Niagara Falls at the top by Alan Klein, on Flickr

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I can't believe how tacky the Canadian side of the falls is. As tacky and tasteless as Las Vegas. The view may be better, but i'll take the natural park setting of the US side over the ungodly awful tackiness of the Canadian side. My wife and kids had a great time and that's all that matters to me. But I found the sleaze of the Canadian side very off putting. Why would they do that to such a beautiful and natural place?

I visited this temple. Perhaps it is better on a weekend when the Pagoda is fully opened up. Otherwise, it's a big pass. Not much happening there.

Sounds like you are not ready for any temple but for some ships

I guess, American side park is more adopted for average american. Something like drive-in and walk a little. On Canadian side to get to the real nature you need to be able to hike down and up and hike on rocky trails.
I think, I never seen americans down where.
Even at Falls, all you have to do is to walk a little upstream to get to the parks.
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Ni...d2c56156bda288!8m2!3d43.0895577!4d-79.0849436


It is not tacky, it is busy. It is major attraction in South Ontario region. Every weekend people are driving from GTA which is fourth largest metropolitan in NA. And they are driving on the busiest highway in NA.
So, they need more than just a park with a loo and one mushy casino with so-so hotels. For Americans Falls are something at the end of NY state in the failed to the hole rust belt. For Canadians Niagara Falls is major attraction in less than one hour drive from one of the most multi-cultural and busy regions in the World.

 

[RattyMouse]

Sounds like you are not ready for any temple but for some ships

Incorrect. In 25 years, I've visited over 250 Buddhist temples all across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore. I am always ready to visit a temple and go out of my way to visit even the smallest Buddhist Temple. Because of this, I'm pretty familiar with temples. This one in Niagara Falls was not impressive. It wasn't bad, just not impressive.

It is not tacky, it is busy.

It is very tacky. But hey, if a Las Vegas environment is your thing, that's OK. A lot of people like that stuff. Everyone at I saw at Niagara Falls, including my wife and kids, looked like they enjoyed it all very much. Me? Not so much. But then again, I am hardly an average American.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Visit the Butterfly Pavilion on the Canadian side. You can turn your back to the Honky Tonk stuff.

 

[RattyMouse]

Visit the Butterfly Pavilion on the Canadian side. You can turn your back to the Honky Tonk stuff.

We went there. I enjoyed that quite a lot, although the crowds were pretty large. That whole area of Niagara Falls is much better than by the falls.

 

[BrianShaw]

Drive down to Letchworth State Park, only an hour or so from NF.

+1

 

[Sirius Glass]

See my avatar taken under the Canadian Falls in winter.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Drive down to Letchworth State Park, only an hour or so from NF.

+1

+1

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

That's funny. I had friends visiting from Australia who went to Niagara Falls (late Feb), Canada, and LOVED it. Never did the work "tacky" come up in our conversations. But, I am sorry to hear it wasn't a positive experience for you... at least your family had a good time! Gotta be some brownie points in there for you! Cheers RattyMouse.. and keep taking photos!

 

[Rick A]

+1

+1

The Portageville entrance is closed while they finish clearing away the old "high span" rail bridge at the upper falls. The new arch span is beautiful and doesn't impede the flow of the river.

 

[Photo Engineer]

One of our most memorable meals was on the Canadian side of NF at the then.. Queen's Door Restaurant.

PE

 

[Cholentpot]

I can't believe how tacky the Canadian side of the falls is. As tacky and tasteless as Las Vegas. The view may be better, but i'll take the natural park setting of the US side over the ungodly awful tackiness of the Canadian side. My wife and kids had a great time and that's all that matters to me. But I found the sleaze of the Canadian side very off putting. Why would they do that to such a beautiful and natural place?

I have the same view.

It's cheap and sleazy. There may be a nicer view of the falls but the American side is a park and that's it. I stopped visiting the Canadian side, it's kitschy and getting a bit grubby. However, the Canada side is very nice in the winter when no-one is around.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

My wife and I went to Niagara Falls for our 20th anniversary five years ago during the winter. We stayed on the Canadian side in a hotel overlooking the falls. Gambled a little. But missed the portion of Niagara Falls on the Canadian side where all the other activity was going on. Didn't realize that it was happening. We also spent time in the American side park which was very nice too, my two pictures above and then spent three days in Toronto. We drove from NYC and stopped in Corning at the Glass factory and its glass museum. All good. Very nice road trip.

 

[jtk]

Cross the border and go down to the whirlpool.
Once you down, to the right here is hidden waterfall and accses to where whirlpool starts. On the left here is the trail among the Lower Niagara river.
Ontario winery route starts nearby. Last lock before Ontario Lake is fascinating once big ship enters it. They have observation platform where.
Among Niagara after Falls, big Cheese temple and cute botanical garden with butterflies stuffed house. All on Canadian side.

"Cheese temple" ... Canada's monument to poutine.