Niagra Falls/Ontario Vacation

May14TXbride · June 2017

My husband and I are flying in to Buffalo next month, and crossing in to Ontario to do Niagra Falls for a couple days, planned a day in Toronto. But we are renting a car and want to see the countryside? Any recommendations on what we should do or see? I've heard about checking out maple syrup farms/cranberry bogs?

Any must see places? Or restaurant recommendations? We only have our first 3 nights booked, so the next 4 nights we are open to where to go and stay.

CMGragain · June 2017

I am assuming that you have passports? You need them for Canada these days.

May14TXbride · June 2017

CMGragain said:

I am assuming that you have passports? You need them for Canada these days.

Yes, we have passports in hand.

charlotte989875 · June 2017

Wine tasting at Niagara on the Lake is amazing. If you can stay a night or two there it's definitely worth it. I grew up in Buffalo so happy to give you any recs on the American side, but it's been a while since I've gone across the border for anything but wine tasting.

southernbelle0915 · June 2017

Up to you, but I would spend more time on the upstate NY side/finger lakes area. Great wine, fun hiking and beautiful waterfalls. On the Niagara side, there's some wine tasting too, but I'm not really sure what else.

ernursej · June 2017

Niagara wine tasting is fantastic. Drop by Inniskillin for some amazing ice wine.

May14TXbride · June 2017

Thanks all. The first full day we are there we are hanging out more in Bufffalo area and going too see Chris Stapleton that night.

We will defintely have to check out some wineries while we are at Niagra and will look in to the Finger Lakes in upstate NY as suggested.

SP29 · June 2017

There is tons to do on the Canada side! Just have to ask your resident Canadian friends

.

Niagara Falls itself you can do in a day/afternoon.

The falls themselves are nice to see and you can walk a few kilometers (or slightly less miles

) up/down the river/falls. The falls are lit up at night. You can pay to do a "tour" of a walk behind the falls, or take a ride on the Maid of the Mist. The built up area right around the falls is very touristy, very Vegas-like. There are tons of hotels and restaurants, and the casino. The restaurants are mainly chains, but if you've never been to the Rainforest Cafe, it's a pretty cool place to go for a meal. There are also 2 large outlet malls in Niagara Falls if you want to do some shopping (Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Coach, Michael Kors, among many others). Niagara Falls also has the Butterfly Conservatory.

Niagara on the Lake is lovely! Very quaint little town with lots of small independent shops/cafes (the BEST fudge shoppe). Many B&Bs there that are great to stay at. You could do NOTL in a day, or an overnight.

Stratford is also in the Niagara region and is also a great small town, it's been kept quite true to it's roots. It's main thing is theatre and there are always live performances going on. Lots of Shakespeare plays but other plays and musical performances as well. Also lots of B&Bs if you wanted to stay the night.

The whole Niagara Region is full of wineries (from Niagara Falls up to Grimsby). Just drive down the highway and you'll see signs for wineries down every exit. Some are small little set ups where as others are large properties with restaurants and summer events outside. Inniskillin is a great winery- their ice wine is excellent, and their Autumn Riesling is a great white! Hildebrand is a larger, fancier one with a great restaurant and they also have lots of small tours available in a day where you could do a few in a row. Peninsula Ridge is in Grimsby and is a great venue with a great restaurant (I recommend a wine tour then lunch). There are many, many others.

All of the above is along Lake Ontario (as well as Hamilton, Burlington and Toronto) and there are lots of places you can go to walk on trails or the beach. Confederation park in Hamilton has a water park if you're into that.

Hamilton is a great city for food! You can't go wrong with just about any restaurant on James Street (Charred Chicken, Mezcal, Radius, The Burnt Tongue and Wicked Chicken are some of my favourites, oh and the store Chocolat, and Mulberry cafe). Hamilton also has quite a few micro breweries if you are into craft beer. There is also Bayfront Park, on the bay where there are many paved paths for walking/biking/roller-blading. Part of that same stretch, if you walk over to Pier 8 there is a cafe/restaurant and you can grab an ice cream cone. You can easily get to the beach in Hamilton. The Royal Botanical Gardens are right on the boundaries of Hamilton/Burlington. You can tour Dundurn Castle in Hamilton if you like a bit of history. Hamilton is also the waterfall capital of the world, and there are lots of places you can go for trail walks to see them (Balls Falls, Tews Falls, Albion Falls). Dundas Valley Conservation Area is also a nice place to go for trails and/or a picnic lunch.

Toronto is great for many things- one of Canada's largest cities, you can do just about anything. Tons of hotels and restaurants. My favourite restaurant so far is Beer Bistro (amazing french fries that they cook in duck fat!). You can go to the top of the CN Tower and walk out on the open glass. There is a restaurant at the top, but I don't think it's worth the price, there are other better places you could go. Baseball games for the Jays are pretty cheap. The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is really good. Ripley's Aquarium is very good. I've heard good things about the Hockey Hall of Fame. You can take tours or do an escape room at Castle Loma (old castle right in the city). There may be events going on at Ontario Place in the summer. The Distillery District is a great place for restaurants, beer and shops (it's open more during they day/early evening), and it has some really cool architecture/original buildings. There is a theatre district that consists of 4 main theatres which feature Broadway shows. Lots of shopping at the Eaton's Centre.

Enjoy your honeymoon! If you have any questions or narrow down your plans a bit more and want more specific details on an area, let me know. I am from Hamilton and know this area fairly well.

charlotte989875 · June 2017

May14TXbride said:

Thanks all. The first full day we are there we are hanging out more in Bufffalo area and going too see Chris Stapleton that night.

We will defintely have to check out some wineries while we are at Niagra and will look in to the Finger Lakes in upstate NY as suggested.

I have tons of Buffalo suggestions! If you're looking for quick, easy, and on the cheaper side food check out Lloyd's Taco Truck (or the brick and mortar storefront Lloyds Taco Factory) if you're into sports at all go to 716 even just for drinks. Thin Man brewery and Pearl street brewery are also great (Pearl Street did our wedding catering so I'm biased). If you're looking for something fancier Hutch's is the best meal in town (but definitely pricey) also Tempo, but again $$. For nice, but not as expensive try Left Bank or Seabar. Mulberry has excellent Italian food.

If you're looking for stuff to do during the day Canalside is great, you canrent kayaks, there are boat tours, or just wander along the canal. Also the Navy ships are really cool. If you're there on a Thursday night there are free concerts (usually pretty good bands). If you're in to architecture the Darwin Martin house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and does daily tours. There's also a ton of walking tours of historic buildings. Buffalo is pretty cool and there really is tons to do.

The Chris Stapleton concert is out at Darien Lake right; not in the city? Given yourself extra time to get there, traffic is always backed up heading into (and back out of) the parking lots since there's only like one entrance.

knottie6f05dc9f7907d7da · December 2017

Finger Lakes area definitely great for wine tasting. We are also planning our honeymoon for the Canadian side of the falls in July. Must have is a falls view from the hotel and ride the Maid of the Mist

Niagra Falls/Ontario Vacation

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