Back to top

Niagara Falls Trip

niagara-falls-views
niagara-falls-on-boat
niagara-falls-trip
niagara-falls-travel
niagara-falls-under-fall

Travel time

I visited the Niagara Falls at the beginning of summer. The Falls are located between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York. For my boyfriend and me the travel to the Niagara Falls was one day trip by car. We headed there in the early morning and comeback in the evening, but I used to live at that time in the neighboring state to New York State. So, for us it wasn’t long to get there at all. After our arrival there, we parked our car on one of their paid parking lots and went across the street to buy tickets on a bus tour. We could’ve traveled ourselves which would be much cheaper for us and time saving, but we didn’t know that area well enough to do that. In addition, we didn’t know how everything works there. Therefore, we decided to go with all other tourists who came to see the famous Niagara Falls.

I mentioned time savings above because we wasted some of our time on waiting for the bus to come. In addition, according to the tour program there were some stops which allow visitors to explore the area a little bit which was nice and not that good at the same time. After each destination, we had to wait each time for all other people to come back to the bus. In addition, some of those places I would skip if we went alone. On the other hand, the positive side of our bus tour was that we didn’t have to worry about where to park our car each time after we would go somewhere ourselves.

Niagara Falls overview

Our adventure started when our bus driver took us to a few parks and famous places which have views on the Niagara River. We were lucky that our driver was very nice and funny person. He informed us about the Niagara Falls overall. He also told us that the Falls are located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario.  Also he mentioned that Horseshoe American and Bridal Veil Canadian Falls when combined are form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world. The Falls have a vertical drop of more than 165 feet (50 m), which make it not exceptionally high, but very wide. Honestly, for us it was not much of a difference whether these Falls are the highest in the world or not. We just enjoy this gorgeous wonderland beauty.

On the boat

According to our tour program, we climbed on the bridge from which we could see remarkable views on the Niagara Falls. There we took many pictures of the Falls and the river. This place is one of most photographed in the world. From that spot we could especially see how much wide, fast, and powerful the Niagara River is. It is also deep enough to allow even pretty much big boats to sail there even a few at a time. After being on the bridge, we went down and hike a little bit near the American Fall. Then we went to take the boat ride with our group. We were provided with blue ponchos in order to protect us from being wet. I cover my purse with the poncho as well. However, it is fine to put your valuable things in water-proof packets.

The boat took us to both American and Canadian sides of the Niagara Falls. We also took lots of pictures on the boat. When we got very close to the Canadian Horseshoe Fall, there was everything like in a white mist and/or drizzle. It was very fun and exciting experience. In addition, it was even refreshing in hot summer days. I was only afraid about my camera. I thought that it won’t survive such wet trip because it wasn’t water-proof one. There these boat rides are pretty much often, where you don’t need to wait a long time because they leave about every 30 minutes from the U.S. and/or Canadian docks. We didn’t have to show passports anywhere for such matter despite the fact that we crossed the Canadian border. This is mainly because we didn’t leave the boat anyway. However, you do need to have a valid passport in order to get on the other side of the river to observe the Falls from Canada. People can get the most satisfaction from the trip to the Niagara Falls by viewing them from both sides.

Places to visit

After that we visited their local museum, where I saw so many interesting things and hear about the stories of the Falls. The museum wasn’t big, but it is definitely the place where tourists should go in order to know better the area, its history and culture. Then my bus tour headed to the Goat Island where we took the Cave of the Winds trip. It was no actually cave there any longer, but this trip took us even closer to the waters of the Niagara Falls than the boat ride. When we got there they provided us with yellow ponchos and special footwear. A glass elevator took us 175 feet (53 meters) deep into the Niagara Gorge where we could get as close as 20 ft (6 meters) from the billowing torrents of the Bridal Veil Fall. Then we went to wooden walkways to the famous "Hurricane Deck". It was an exciting and a little bit scary adventure because the rushing waters from the Bridal Veil Fall loomed above us, dousing with a generous spray of cold water. We climbed the stairs in order to get even closer to the Fall. On the deck we face the thundering Fall’s head-on.

From the beginning I didn’t understand and even complain why they wanted us to wear those special shoes, but when we got to the deck, there was really slippery because of water. In addition, water could even potentially push us from that stairs. This is the place where most of the water falls. We even could feel the powerful wind caused by the falling water.  I touched the water with my hands, but mostly we just held tight to the railings there in order not to fall for the deck. We got soaked wet regardless of wearing those ponchos because there everyone was like in a rain. Therefore, for us it would be better to wear shorts instead of long jeans in order not to feel some discomfort by wearing wet pants. I ruin my make-up because of water as well.

This place is so wonderful that we even could see a rainbow from the “Hurricane Deck”, but I guess that was just because of reflecting light from billions of water drops, but not as a usual phenomenon after rain. I was very surprised there that even handicapped people can visit such sort of dangerous place. The area has been especially designed not only for regular visitors, but for handicapped and adults with children as well. On our way back from the cave of the winds, we had an option to keep the poncho and sandals or donate the shoes to charity and recycle the rain coats. We decided to give away and put them into their large bins at the exit.

I liked there a lot and I will never regret that we spend our money and time that way. There was interesting and fun. I will definitely come back there someday again.