Niagara Falls

We love the Canadian side. There are some beautiful wineries on the Canadian side too. Thirty Bench Winery was small & welcoming. Touring some of the bigger ones was interesting (& I don't ever drink)

mickey48 wrote:
what about campgrounds or rv parks?

I think the yogi bear on the canqdian side is the closest to the falls. Thats where we stay.

kohldad wrote:
We aren't tourisity type so just did one day on the US side. Would have like to walk to the Canadian side but my wife was having issues so we only made it to the middle of Rainbow Bridge. One days was enough for us, but we did go back in on a second day early in the morning to try and catch the rainbow.

If staying on the US side, will recommend Four Mile Creek State Park. Looks like a bit of a drive but it's actually pretty short and almost no traffic to the falls. Was very nice and quiet place to stay.

X2 for Four Mile Creek SP. As an added bonus, your receipt allows you to park free at Niagara Falls SP for the day.

Those who have passports should definitely visit the Canadian side as there's lots more to see and do. We don't care for the carnival-midway aspect of the Clifton Hill section of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and instead concentrate on the Falls themselves. A side trip to Niagara-on-the Lake is worthwhile, and if you have bikes, the path along the Niagara River on the Canadian side is certainly a good way to spend a day.

mickey48 wrote:
what about campgrounds or rv parks?

Several in the area on both sides. KOA probably closest on US side. Right next to the high way and amusement park..too noisey for old man like me. KOA north is up near the border...quiet and about a 30 minute drive to the madness.

what about campgrounds or rv parks?

One day.

We drove up on Friday...did a bit of sight seeing on our own, set up the tours through the hotel for:

Saturday...US side by guided tour in the a.m., ate lunch, took a nap, guided tour of Canadian side by evening (pre-passport days when a license would do)

...chilled a bit Sunday morning before the drive home.

The only thing we didn't do that trip was the cable-car or the whirl pool jetboat. I have been back since....rode the jet boat. Not interested enough in the cable car to justify getting a passport.

OK, maybe a long weekend would be best. Bit more if you are a trinket, junk store, tourist trap kinda person.

We just returned from there. We stayed five nights at Branches of Niagara RV Resort on Grand Island which is a nice place though there is a toll to travel the bridge to the island. Four nights would have been plenty to see everything.

I could spend a week just watching the water.

Clifton Hill is a midway at a carnival - go there knowing that and expecting that and you won't be disappointed.

Over 100 years ago, a female journalist came to see Niagara Falls. After a few days of running around doing everything, she went back to Europe and wrote that it was all a waste of time. But she kept hearing people ooh and aah over it, so she decided to try it again. This time, she found a nice quiet spot and just watched the water go over the edge. When she went back to Europe, she wrote that it was a must see and an amazing place.

What I learned from her experience (and I have seen repeated in others all the time) is that you really need to just sit and watch the water for a while to "get it". If you just take a quick look or run around trying to do everything in a short time, you miss it. The awe is in watching the deceivingly peaceful flow of water going over that edge and realizing how much power it really has. There is something very hypnotic about it (many people who were rescued before going over the falls have said they just felt an urge or a need to go in the water and feel it around their feet).

So, plan what activities you'll enjoy and then spend time just experiencing it. I usually estimate 2 activities per day - so if there are 6 activities I want to do, i'll spend 3 days there. That always gives me enough time to just experience the location and/or to add in something I didn't expect. If you try to fit those 6 activities in one or two days, you'll miss so much.

Also, check out T.W. Kriner's books In The Mad Mad Water and Journeys To The Brink of Doom. Lots of true stories of people and animals who have gone over the Falls throughout the years.

We aren't the touristy types either. We don't need to see or do every nook & cranny of a place. We more or less just get the flavor of an area. So, we went to US side one day & looked around for a couple of hrs., and then went to Canadian side the next day & did same. We didn't do any of the extra activities. We enjoyed going to Niagara on the Lake and having lunch.

So, it really depends on what type of "tourist" you are. If you want to see and do everything, I would think you'd need 4 days to have time to enjoy and not exhaust yourselves.

We biked to the US falls and spent about an hour which included buying and consuming a lunch. Lots of water but little else to interest us. Others might spend several days riding the Maid etc.