We’re going on vacation in a couple of weeks, and MrWhatsit has expressed a desire to see Niagara Falls, since he’s never been.
My recollection from my trip there as a kid was that the NY side was kind of lame, and the Canadian side was much better. Unfortunately, you now need passports to travel between the US and Canada, and I’m the only one who has a valid passport right now, and you can’t get a passport in just two weeks.
So my question is, would Niagara Falls be worth seeing if we can’t visit the Canadian side? If anyone has been there recently (as in, the past few years or so) I’d appreciate your input.
I vote yea, but would encourage you to roll something else into the trip, like Chatauqua or (a stretch) Cooperstown. Upstate NY is pretty this time of year.
I went to Niagara last summer and also was stuck on the US side due to lack of passports by others in my family. We did the Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds in one afternoon. It’s something everyone should see once, but not enough to plan a whole vacation around.
I think you can have a nice day at Niagara Falls if you’re planning on spending it only on the American side. It’s been a few years since I was last there, but I do recall the US side as having a nice park (maybe plan on having a picnic), plenty of places to get close to the falls and to see the American and Horseshoe Falls, and attractions like the Maid of the Mist.
I cannot speak for any restaurants or similar on the US side, so others will have to help with those. But in my experience, you will enjoy your visit even if you are restricted to the US side.
Da Falls looks nice from this side, yes. You’ll have to take a trip to Goat Island and on the Maid of the Mist to really experience it. You can go up to Lewiston to take the Jet Boat from there through the Rapids, which is loads of fun (although take the covered boat unless you want to get really, really wet).
There are a lot more restaurants than there used to be…lots of Indian restaurants, which I like, but it might not be your cup of tea. And then there’s the casino, which has a good Chinese buffet and an expensive steakhouse, but it’s a casino.
I used to work for the son-in-law of the owner of the Maid of the Mist, I could have gotten you free tickets!
Yes, the falls are more impressive on the Canadian Side, but yes, they are still worth seeing just from the American Side, and yes, the Maid of the Mist gives you a nice view of both.
I think my last visit was five years ago, and I stopped for a couple hours in the afternoon, and did the thing where you can go down behind the falls.
My last trip before that, we’d walked across the bridge to Canada, had dinner, walked around, dealt with crossing the border, walked back to our motel, and checked out the view from the American side first thing in the morning. Lots of Rainbows, not so many tourists.
I have fond memories of the Maid of the Mist, but those are older.
I went in 2008 and thoughtit one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, and I didn’t even get to do the Maid of the Mist. The surrounding park is lovely. I would love to go back some day.
I would say the falls themselves, and the surrounding greenspace, is nicer on the US side. The Canadian side has much more development, and more “touristy” stuffy, if you’re interested in that.
OK, I think we’re decided in putting the falls on our itinerary. Thanks! We’re also tentatively looking at seeing the Brooklyn Bridge and Mystic Seaport in Connecticut on this trip. I’m also checking out some of the other suggestions that people mentioned in this thread.
I think the trickier problem is getting back into the US afterwards. From lower down on that page:
All of those things take more than two weeks to obtain. We checked into getting passport cards, and there’s just not enough time. Thanks for looking that up for me, though!
What are they going to do though, not let you come back home? I don’t buy it. It may be a hassle in each direction without a passport, but you could still try it. Like I said, I seriously doubt the USA would make you wallow in poutine purgatory for the rest of your life.
From the American side you get a close-up view of the falls (you can get within a few feet of them). From the Canadian side you get a more distant view which lets you see the entire falls at once.
They’re very vague about what can happen. My understanding is that they’ll probably let you back in to the United States with no problem. And ultimately, they have to let you back in if you’re an American citizen. But you can get caught between these two - they can spend several hours checking on your citizenship and theoretically make you apply for an emergency visa through an American consulate in Canada (the closest of which is seventy miles away in Toronto).
Yeah, in an emergency situation (like, I don’t know, one of my kids got lost and wandered across the border without us somehow?) I’d chance it, but as it stands, a border crossing just bears too much risk of really screwing up our vacation.
What is the deal with all the Indian restaurants in Niagara Falls, New York, anyhow?
Like I said in another very thread, check out Buffalo; the Elmwood Village and Allentown neighborhoods, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Darwin Martin House in Parkside, and the multitude of Italian restaurants along Hertel Avenue on the north side.