4 Days in Niagara Falls, Canada and USA
Niagara Falls has been on our travel list for quite a while and when another trip fell through because one of the boys could not fly, we decided to do the drive and see the falls. We explored both the Canada and USA sides over the course of 4 days. We had a wonderful time and feel like we did everything we wanted to do.
Itinerary
- Arrival
- Day 1:
- Day 2: Best of Niagara Falls Tour
- Day 3: Clifton Hill
- Day 4: Niagara Falls State Park
Arrival: Where to Stay
We stayed at the Embassy Suites Niagara Falls Fallsview Hotel, which is on the Canadian side, in a partial falls view room. We drove into Canada then parked out car in the hotel’s off-site parking lot and mostly walked to get around. Our room on the 28th floor had 2 queen beds and a sofa bed. The view was AMAZING (the photo was taken around 11PM after we checked in). We arrived pretty late at night, so Day 1 started the next morning.
Day 1: Niagara Falls History Museum
We spent our first day in Niagara Falls exploring the Niagara Falls History Museum. We learned about the history of the area and about the battles that took place here during the War of 1812. The museum had very informative displays, but we enjoyed the displays that were more hands on and the kids scavenger hunt.
We timed our visit to coincide with a kids “Mad Scientist” live show. We pre-registered when we arrived, and by the time we finished touring the museum it was time for the hour long science show. The scientist did experiments involving chemical reactions, air pressure and the states of matter.
Niagara City Cruise to view the Falls Illumination
We chose to do an evening Niagara City Cruise to view the Falls Illumination light show from the water. Every night the falls are lit up with an evening light show that goes into the wee hours of the night (1 or 2 AM depending upon the season). It is mesmerizing watching the falls change colors. We had this view from our room every night, so we didn’t need to do the boat tour but it was fun.
If you happen to view during the Winter Festival of Lights there are fireworks on Friday and Saturday nights in addition to the light show.
NOTE: Niagara City Cruise is the boat tour from the Canada side. Maid of the Mist is the boat tour from the USA side. Both boats take you past American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and into the Horseshoe Falls basin to turn around.
Day 2: Best of Niagara Falls Tour – Canada
On our second day we did a Best of Niagara Falls Tour through See Sight Tours. I wanted an easy way to see everything in Niagara without having to figure out public transit.
The tour group picked us up and dropped us off at our hotel. Is is a small group tour with about 8 people (5 of which were my family). The 4-hour tour included:
- A Niagara City Cruise Voyage to the Falls boat tour.
- Journey Behind the Falls entrance with skip-the-line access. From the tunnels directly beside & under Horseshoe Falls you can see the water crashing to the bottom of the basin. This is also a wonderful location for pictures of all three waterfalls.
- Visit to Skylon Tower Observation Deck with skip-the-line access. There were great views of Niagara from the top of the tower. Our tour guide also suggested the picture package here – the pictures we selected made wonderful Christmas cards. I never got so many complements on the fun photo on our card.
- A driving city tour around Niagara, including the International Control Dam and Whirlpool Rapids. Some places we just drove past, but others we were able to look around and take a few pictures during short stops.
Day 3: Clifton Hill
We spent our third day in the family friendly Clifton Hill area. We walked over from our hotel, which took us about 20 min. We purchased the Fun Pass to save a bit of money because we definitely wanted to do the SkyWheel, Dinosaur Adventure mini-golf and the Movieland Wax Museum. Also included in the pass was a Zombie Attack laser game/ride in the arcade a Ghost Blasters laser ride, and a short 4D movie. The kids enjoyed all 3 of these, but the youngest found the Zombie Attack game scary. The view from the Skywheel was incredible! There are a lot of other attractions in the area such as bowling, a Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, and plenty of restaurants. We spent most of the day exploring the area, including lunch.
After Clifton Hill we did a little shopping on our way back to the hotel, stopping at the shops in the Fallsview Casino Resort.
Day 4: Niagara Falls State Park
On Day 4 we checked out of our hotel, got our car out of the parking lot, then headed back to the US. We started early to avoid traffic across Rainbow Bridge at the Canada/US border. Over the past 3 days we had seen long lines of cars waiting to cross and definitely wanted to avoid sitting in traffic. It took us about 20 min to cross into the US. This last day we wanted to see the view from Niagara Falls State Park in USA.
The view is much different from the US. You get a great panoramic view of all 3 falls from Canada, but can really appreciate the sheer volume of water going past from the US side since you are much closer to the falls. Within the state park we saw American and Bridal Veil Falls from close up, but only partial view of Horseshoe Falls. We were able to take a short hike through the park before heading back to our car for the long trip home.
We considered traversing the Cave of the Winds wooden walkway while at the park, but it was just too cold and windy with waterfall spray in the air. In the end, we thought the Journey Behind the Falls from our tour was probably a very similar experience
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