Niagara Falls-One Dudes Perspective

Flew into Buffalo last weekend and took the family to Toronto and Niagara Falls. But this review will be about Niagara Falls. I had been to Niagara Falls about 30 plus years ago when I was in my early twenties. And quite honestly, I could not remember if I went on the Canadian side or the US side. Well, after this trip, I can tell you not to waste your time on the US side unless it is along the way and you just want to get a different perspective. Bottom line, there is no comparison between the Canadian side and the US side. Canadian side has everything where the US side looks like they forgot that that they were attached to one of the most visited attractions in the country or 2 countries for that matter. But I am getting ahead of myself. Here is how I did it. Take the good the bad and the ugly below and make your decisions accordingly.

We flew into Buffalo which was great. Nice small airport. Easy access to rental cars right outside of baggage claim. Easy in and easy out. The drive from Buffalo airport to the border is less than 25 minutes. It is quick. Keep that in mind. We actually drove to Toronto first for 2 nights, but I will discuss that in another review. We spent our first night at the Niagara Falls Marriott on the Falls. Could not have been a better pick. I am a Bonvoy card holder and was able to redeem points for the night at this hotel and pay a little extra for a high floor room overlooking the falls. Let me say this, it did not disappoint. We were on the 30th floor. Only one floor above us with the most amazing view of the falls. See picture from room below. If you have the chance to stay here, don't hesitate. It is the best view of the falls from the Canadian side. There is another Marriott right next door, but it is not as tall as this one. Check out the view.

It was hard not to look out the window while sitting in the hotel as you can imagine. Spent a lot of time just staring out. At night, they light up the falls with different color lights. Really cool view. And in the summer they have fireworks on weekends.

This hotel was on the far end of the strip if you want to call it that but still only a 15 minute walk or so to where the main attractions are including go carts, haunted house, many restaurant choices, a Dave and Busters like place, etc.. Clifton Hill is what it is called. This is where you will most likely go when you are down staring at the falls. Back to the hotel. As an elite Bonvoy member, I was able to get free breakfast in the morning and access to the 19th floor concierge suite. Which provides free bottled water, snacks, sodas, coffees and such. Nice perk to run down there and grab some drinks and such. If you are a Bonvoy member and looking to stay in Niagara Falls, I would suggest this hotel. Easy parking as well made it a seamless stay. We left our car and walked everywhere. No need to drive.

Getting to the Falls. When you walk out the front or side of the hotel, you can walk right down Fallsview Blvd until you hit the Embassy Suites and right behind it is the Falls Incline Railway. This is a very very short incline transportation that takes you to the Falls level. They charge $2 a person to go down. It's a money grab and nothing else. It's not an event or a awesome experience. It is just a way to get down to the Falls level and they charge you for it. Plan and simple. From there you walk over to the crosswalk that takes you the Falls Welcome Center and from there you get to the overlook points of the Canadian side of the Falls. This is where all the action is. Walk around and get your pics, check out the great view of the American Falls and get close up to the Canadian Falls. This is where you can walk all the way down the Falls side taking pics and enjoying the view.

What else should you do while you are in Niagara Falls.

Niagara City Cruises- this is the boat that takes you into the Falls first hand. Poncho provided for free to keep. I booked mine directly thorough the website. You will have to pick a time and a day that you want to go. They are 1 hour intervals and the entire experience takes about 45 min max. Don't go to Niagara Falls and not do this experience. The power and the feeling you of being so close up is amazing. You will get wet. Keep this in mind, but it is so worth it. Check out this pick below.

This is just a sample of what you get though. This is the American Falls. They take you right in there.

In this same area where you catch the boat, there is a tent that you can hang out in before or after your cruise to grab a drink or a bite to eat. It's a nice little area to chill and grab a beer or wine. I recommend taking advantage of this little sitting area before your cruise time. If you ride is at 3pm, you can walk down to this area and hang out and grab a drink a 2pm or 2:30. After the ride, at the top where the elevator takes you back up, there is a gift shop as well as another little snack bar where you can grab a drink and sit with a great view of the Falls afterwards. This is also where you can buy tickets for the zipline experience, but this books up quick. In fact, when we were there they were sold out. People must be booking this the day before. Keep that in mind.

From here, we walked to Clifton Hill which is just up the street through a nice park. As I said before, Clifton Hill is where all the restaurants and entertainment is including Ripleys Believe It or Not. One place worth mentioning was Boston Pizza. This is the Dave and Busters like place. Took my young daughter there, gave her a loaded game card and the wife and I sat at the bar and drank wine. Neat little place and food looked good. We did not eat there, but the food looked good. We did eat and drink at Niagara Brewing Company. Neat little place with good homemade brew and live music both nights we were there. Check it out if you are a beer drinker. Big Daddy burger was good. Everything else was your typical touristy type scenario. Pick and choose as you please between putt putt, haunted house, Ripley's, SkyWheel overlooking everything, etc.. you get the idea. The last thing we did was get a Beaver Tail. What is a Beaver Tail you ask? Well, think of a funnel cake but flatter. We got one with some kind of chocolate and bananas on it per the recommendation of the employee and it was pretty good. Didn't disappoint.

Clifton Hill Skywheel and putt putt.

If you still have time while visiting Niagara, I will tell you to head over to Niagara on the Lake. Neat little town with a main street with shops and restaurants and the like. Sits on Lake Ontario and it is quaint little place with a nice chill atmosphere. They have B&B's there that you can book for a night if you want. It is very laid back and does not have a Ripley's or Boston Pizza. If you know what I mean.

Now I will tell you what not to do. Short list here. If you have a passport; stay on Canadian side. I made the mistake of booking a hotel on our final night on the American side to be closer to the airport and I wasn't sure what the lines would be like crossing the border in the morning and didn't want to mess with that if there was a lot. But anyway, nothing wrong with the hotel, it was Fairfield Inn. But there is literally nothing to do on the American side. We drove to the Falls area, paid the $10 to park the car and walked around looking at the overlook areas and such. But after that, there is very little happening on this side. And I mean nothing. We walked to Hard Rock Cafe to have a bite and a drink. What a let down. I have never been a fan of Hard Rock Cafe, but with no options and a hungry crew, you do what you have to. Server was very nice, food was terrible. I mean terrible. After that, we walked around to see if there is anything else to do in the area and there is not. Now maybe in the summer they have what look like booths for arts and crafts and things like that. There is also a building right next to Hard Rock that is supposed to be a gift shop, food court, game room of sorts. But it is sad to say the least. Nothing against anyone that works or owns a business in this building, but it is literally depressing to go in there. So don't. There is a casino for the adults on this side as well. Needless to say, we crossed the border back over to Canada on our last night leaving the American side behind to eat, drink and be merry. And I am glad that we did.

A note to the USA. Have some pride in your Niagara Falls viewing area. Add some entertainment. Some bars and restaurants. Anything. Man up!