We’re spending a few days on the Canadian side of Niagra Falls. Other than the touristy stuff located in and near the falls, what else is there to do - let’s say within a 30 to 45 minute drive? (Toronto is out - just because we’re already been there several times.)
Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. I’m pretty sure the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum is on the Canada side, if you want to look at five-legged calfs and such.
Don’t know if it counts as “looking at the water” but there’s a boat near the bottom that takes people as close to the falls as possible (it’s cool on clear days, foggy days suck because they have to turn around sooner to avoid going too far). I think there’s a cable car over the whirlpool also.
Well, if you bring a barrel …
Hello K.V.S. some non-touristy stuff you can do:
- www.niagaraonthelake.com On the way (from Niagara Falls), there are several wineries you can stop into.
*Casino Niagara is right on Clifton Hill (Touristy area)
*On the American side:
*Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House (Buffalo)
www.darwinmartinhouse.org
*Forest Lawn Cemetary (President Millard Fillmore, Bell Aerospace founder Lawrence Bell, etc.) www.forest-lawn.com
Closer to N.F., N.Y.:
*Niagara Aerospace Museum www.niagaramuseum.org
*Seneca-Niagara Casino is located in the old Convention Center.
This is just off the top of my head. I hope it helps a bit!K.V.S.
Not to mention the Shaw Festival at Niagara on the Lake. If you’re a theatre type, this one is not to be missed. I prefer it to Stratford.
Not to mention the Albright Nox Museum in Buffalo. It’s an especially nice small art museum.
What, the falls aren’t enough?
There are a lot of cheesy wax museums and the like.
But if you’ve got kids, they have a Butterfly Dome on the Canadian side. Out daughter MilliCal, who was two at the time, loved it. It’s the biggest butterfly “zoo” I’ve ever seen.
Gotta agree about the Shaw festival. I’m a big Shaw fan, and I’ve been there.
Niagara Falls?!
Slooooowly I turned . . . Step by step . . . Inch by inch . . .
Eve, you’re not my stepdad, are you? He does that thing all the time. And it still cracks me up. 
Yes, I guess it’s time to 'fess up—I am your stepdad, Necros . . .
I go there monthly (business) so here goes:
First off, stay on the Canadian side.
There’s a lovely drive from Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake, very pretty scenery, and N-o-t-L is a pretty town.
Along that drive, you’ll pass a butterfly conservatory. Pretty neat visit. Also botanical gardens, if that’s your thing.
In Niagara, you can actually walk behind the falls (they drilled out a tunnel). also, there’s great golf, if you like that. (especially Legends of the Niagara - 45 holes) There’s a revolving restaurant at the top of the tower, food’s not bad, neat experience. Need reservations during summer.
There’s also Marineland in the area:
I have been to the falls a couple of times now and I must have done all the touristy things available. The falls are subject to every possible trick to separate a tourist from his money - it can get to seem a bit tawdry after a while.
The Maid-of-the-Mist boats are fun - if you don’t mind getting wet and the tunnels from behind the falls are rather impressive. The helicopter rides are exciting, but a bit expensive. I think I make those my top three falls related activities.
I think you can take a tour round one of the hydoelectric stations nearby. I did not do this one, but it sounded interesting.
The butterfly consevatory is well worth a look. I went there in mid-winter and struggled to shed enough clothing so as not to boil in my own juices.
Niagara on the Lake is definitely worth the drive. One of the best cigar shops in the area is there, just off the main drag. Don’t get sticks in Niagara Falls, they’re all overpriced for the tourist trade.
Since you’re looking for suggestions more than hard facts, I’ll move this thread to IMHO.
bibliopahge
moderator GQ
I have to say, though, the falls are pretty damned impressive by themselves.
All that water. After a while, even though I understand how rivers work and everything, I was just stunned that it just. keeps. going. You almost expect it to run out of water while you’re watching it, but of course it doesn’t. That only happens when nobody’s around. 
Given that Niagra Falls was once a sterotypical honeymoon destination, I’m sure people can think of something to do other than watching the falls…
Except that we have 3 pre-teens coming with us.
What can you do at the Falls? Curse the fact that you can hear. The sound of any fucking waterfall is enough to kill me.
there is this really cool jet boat thing on the niagara river. it takes you very close to the devil’s whirlpool.
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/niagara_falls_whirlpool_jetboat_.htm
i really want to go on that boat.