Any one been to Niagara Falls/Toronto?

wassap · 24 Feb 2009 at 21:16

Thinking of going to Niagara falls towards the end of March, just wondering if anyone has been.

Its seems better to go via Toronto rather than NY, just wondering do you need Visa's and stuff if you goto Niagara, it looks to be across Canada and the States.

Anyone got and recommended sights to see?!

mjt · 24 Feb 2009 at 21:18

if you are a british citizen, all you need is a machine-readable passport.
if you have one of the old-style ones, then you have to go to the US embassy for an interview, and then maybe you'll be (un)lucky enough to be given a visa

you're fine for canada

wassap · 24 Feb 2009 at 21:20

I have a Passport with a chip, Im guessing thats the machine readable one?

kinobestew123 · 24 Feb 2009 at 21:23

Yep, i've been, really is a brilliant place. I only stayed on the American side as we had a problem with the passports that was too much hassle to sort (long story). But I have it on good authority that the Canadian side is better (probably because you can see the waterfall that is on the US cliff (if that makes sense), I can't remember the name of it though.

Maid of the mist is a must really, great fun powering into a waterfall.

Stew.

Davinnicus · 24 Feb 2009 at 21:31

The main Horse-shoe falls are on the canadian side, the smaller bridal falls and goat falls are on the US side of the border, but you can see them all from both sides. If I remember rightly, you need to be on the canadian side in order to ride the maid of the mist in to the falls basin and also to take the trip behind the falls.

RDM · 24 Feb 2009 at 22:02

Go to Toronto rather than NY, the Canadian side is a tiny bit less tacky. Also don't stay in Niagara Falls stay just down the road in Niagara on the Lake, much nicer place to stay.

Matt · 24 Feb 2009 at 22:39

RDM said:
Go to Toronto rather than NY, the Canadian side is a tiny bit less tacky. Also don't stay in Niagara Falls stay just down the road in Niagara on the Lake, much nicer place to stay.

You mean it's more tacky on the US side?

I went to Niagra Falls for a day trip whilst i was in Toronto in 2007. The falls are great, and it's fun to get the helicopter trip too, but step away from the falls and wow... you will be hard pushed to find anywhere more tacky than there!

Wicksta · 24 Feb 2009 at 22:45

Matt said:
You mean it's more tacky on the US side?

I went to Niagra Falls for a day trip whilst i was in Toronto in 2007. The falls are great, and it's fun to get the helicopter trip too, but step away from the falls and wow... you will be hard pushed to find anywhere more tacky than there!

Amen. Me and the other half were pretty shocked at the tacky Blackpool-like restaurants/bars/attractions on the Canadian side, not what we were expecting at all and not at all romantic! Still had a nice time though, we took the bus from Toronto which was fairly painless and then took a local bus. We saved quite a bit by making our own way there rather than going on an organised trip.

Didn't see the US side btw and from the description don't think I will do ever if it's tackier than the Canadian side.

Macca · 24 Feb 2009 at 22:56

Most likely will be frozen at this time of the year though (Meaning no Maid of the mist, but falls should still be fine). Last year when I was there last year some friends went to the falls in April but couldn't do the the Maid of the mist boat, may just depend on how bad the winters been. Not sure if this will make a difference to you seeing Niagara falls and go via Toronto, much shorter trip.

Scuzi · 24 Feb 2009 at 23:12

I went in December. Definitely go to the Canadian side rather than the American side. The town of Niagra Falls is really tacky with casinos and hookers everywhere but you don't need to go into it if you want to visit the Falls. It's like a cheap Las Vegas.

I stayed in Toronto for 6 days and towards the end, hired a car and drove down. The drive was fairly simple, freeways all the way and took about an hour and a half going. We viewed the waterfalls from the Canadian side, did all the touristey stuff then hopped in the car with the intention of visiting Buffalo N.Y. for tea.

What a mistake that was. We ended up in a small and smelly Customs & Border protection office for 3 hours! We only needed our passports stamped but there were a load of dodgy Mexicans and whatnot in the queue in front of us and it was taking ages. those 3 hours in the waiting room were probably the most interesting of the whole holiday though. I met some real characters! After being cleared (yay for the Irish passport!) we drove to Buffalo, promptly got lost and ended up slap bang in the middle of the ghetto. It was like an episode of Cops. After almost getting car jacked by a gang of coloured chaps, we found Buffalo city centre, did a few laps of what must be the only roundabout in America and decided that Buffalo was in fact a ****hole and headed back to Toronto.

As for Toronto, well, don't expect anything to raide your heartbeat above normal apart from a cup of Tim Hortons coffee. It has to be one of the most dull cities I have ever been to in my life but it was still a good experience.

Scuzi · 24 Feb 2009 at 23:25

Some pics to whet your appetite

The bonus of driving down was being able to spot cool trucks...

Me posing beside the hire steed at the car park. Driving this car was what I imagine purgatory to be like...

The beautifully tacky town of Niagra Falls...

Niagra Falls is so tacky that you don't get a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. You get a bin!

Me doing the absolutely hilarious

rolleyes

thing that pretty mush every other tourist did. Pretend to climb over the fence beside the danger sign.

Oh yea, wear a coat. Mine was soaked right through but since it was December and about -15C, the water on my coat froze solid so my coat ended up weighing about 20Kg and as stiff as a paedo in a playground.

Macca · 24 Feb 2009 at 23:29

Scuzi said:
I went in December. Definitely go to the Canadian side rather than the American side. The town of Niagra Falls is really tacky with casinos and hookers everywhere but you don't need to go into it if you want to visit the Falls. It's like a cheap Las Vegas.

I stayed in Toronto for 6 days and towards the end, hired a car and drove down. The drive was fairly simple, freeways all the way and took about an hour and a half going. We viewed the waterfalls from the Canadian side, did all the touristey stuff then hopped in the car with the intention of visiting Buffalo N.Y. for tea.

What a mistake that was. We ended up in a small and smelly Customs & Border protection office for 3 hours! We only needed our passports stamped but there were a load of dodgy Mexicans and whatnot in the queue in front of us and it was taking ages. those 3 hours in the waiting room were probably the most interesting of the whole holiday though. I met some real characters! After being cleared (yay for the Irish passport!) we drove to Buffalo, promptly got lost and ended up slap bang in the middle of the ghetto. It was like an episode of Cops. After almost getting car jacked by a gang of coloured chaps, we found Buffalo city centre, did a few laps of what must be the only roundabout in America and decided that Buffalo was in fact a ****hole and headed back to Toronto.

As for Toronto, well, don't expect anything to raide your heartbeat above normal apart from a cup of Tim Hortons coffee. It has to be one of the most dull cities I have ever been to in my life but it was still a good experience.

Dull city? I thought quite the opposite, but it seems you went in winter which I can imagine being dull. The summer was the opposite to dull, so much culture, so many different festivals, some great bars, clubs and the Island is briliant for a BBQ in the summer. I was staying in a part called Portugal village close to Kennsington market which you should go visit for sure. Great just walking about looking at the stalls and such but it's becoming so much more commercialized now.

Scuzi · 24 Feb 2009 at 23:35

Macca said:
Dull city? I thought quite the opposite, but it seems you went in winter which I can imagine being dull. The summer was the opposite to dull, so much culture, so many different festivals, some great bars, clubs and the Island is briliant for a BBQ in the summer. I was staying in a part called Portugal village close to Kennsington market which you should go visit for sure. Great just walking about looking at the stalls and such but it's becoming so much more commercialized now.

It was quite soul destroying. I arrived on the Friday evening and by Saturday evening I was considering getting on a plane to NY it was that bad. For a Saturday I have never seen such a big city so empty. We walked for 3 hours and every bar we passed was a gay bar (heading north on Yongue). After 3 hours of searching we finally found a decent bar (Original Motorcycle co) but it was empty....on a Saturday evening. We walked the length of King and Queen Street on the recommendation of the locals but all of the bars were empty. It probably won't pose a problem for most people but on the Friday night, pretty much every bar became a gay bar.

It was really weird, almost deserted. We eventually ended up in the Rex which had some live big band jazz on the go and it was packed.

I'd like to sample it in summer but in December it was a very strange place to be. Canadians are pretty boring people too. No offence to the Canadians or anything but for Christs sake do something exciting!

Macca · 24 Feb 2009 at 23:39

Scuzi said:
It was quite soul destroying. I arrived on the Friday evening and by Saturday evening I was considering getting on a plane to NY it was that bad. For a Saturday I have never seen such a big city so empty. We walked for 3 hours and every bar we passed was a gay bar (heading north on Yongue). After 3 hours of searching we finally found a decent bar (Original Motorcycle co) but it was empty....on a Saturday evening. We walked the length of King and Queen Street on the recommendation of the locals but all of the bars were empty.

It was really weird, almost deserted. We eventually ended up in the Rex which had some live big band jazz on the go and it was packed.

I'd like to sample it in summer but in December it was a very strange place to be. Canadians are pretty boring people too. No offence to the Canadians or anything but for Christs sake do something exciting!

Everything is underground, they basically have an underground city, it's weird in winter, I can imagine what you are saying. Yonge street is crap for bars, College street had some great bars but the winter will be dead, Queen street is good in the summer, all the bars are packed!

Defintitely try it again in the summer, I did live there for a few months, and met some locals so tasted a bit of the real Toronto, at first my impressions were the same, but there is so much more to the city.

Berserker · 24 Feb 2009 at 23:53

wohoo said:
I have a Passport with a chip, Im guessing thats the machine readable one?

Nope - that's the new biometric stuff. Machine readable passports have two lines of print at the bottom of the photo page and have been issued for as long as I can remember in the UK.

Macca said:
Everything is underground, they basically have an underground city, it's weird in winter, I can imagine what you are saying. Yonge street is crap for bars, College street had some great bars but the winter will be dead, Queen street is good in the summer, all the bars are packed!

Defintitely try it again in the summer, I did live there for a few months, and met some locals so tasted a bit of the real Toronto, at first my impressions were the same, but there is so much more to the city.

Totally agree. I found an entrance to the PATH network fairly early on in my stay so I knew about the underground stuff, and that's only part of it. Ironically, I happened to be there for St Patrick's and 'discovered' the parade (it's somewhat difficult not to discover the parade, though it's not as big as NY).

As for Niagara, definitely go from the Canadian side. Sadly, I think you'll just be too early for Maid Of The Mist, which is a shame.

Bassmansam · 25 Feb 2009 at 00:11

Scuzi said:
I went in December. Definitely go to the Canadian side rather than the American side. The town of Niagra Falls is really tacky with casinos and hookers everywhere but you don't need to go into it if you want to visit the Falls. It's like a cheap Las Vegas.

I stayed in Toronto for 6 days and towards the end, hired a car and drove down. The drive was fairly simple, freeways all the way and took about an hour and a half going. We viewed the waterfalls from the Canadian side, did all the touristey stuff then hopped in the car with the intention of visiting Buffalo N.Y. for tea.

What a mistake that was. We ended up in a small and smelly Customs & Border protection office for 3 hours! We only needed our passports stamped but there were a load of dodgy Mexicans and whatnot in the queue in front of us and it was taking ages. those 3 hours in the waiting room were probably the most interesting of the whole holiday though. I met some real characters! After being cleared (yay for the Irish passport!) we drove to Buffalo, promptly got lost and ended up slap bang in the middle of the ghetto. It was like an episode of Cops. After almost getting car jacked by a gang of coloured chaps, we found Buffalo city centre, did a few laps of what must be the only roundabout in America and decided that Buffalo was in fact a ****hole and headed back to Toronto.

As for Toronto, well, don't expect anything to raide your heartbeat above normal apart from a cup of Tim Hortons coffee. It has to be one of the most dull cities I have ever been to in my life but it was still a good experience.

Tell me about it, my family has friends living in Buffalo , we landed in Toronto when we went to see them so going through the border was a nightmare. I was only 10 at the time i thought they were going to arrest us. So many questions as why we were in Buffalo ect. Not good.

fraps · 25 Feb 2009 at 00:27

wohoo said:
Thinking of going to Niagara falls towards the end of March, just wondering if anyone has been.

Its seems better to go via Toronto rather than NY, just wondering do you need Visa's and stuff if you goto Niagara, it looks to be across Canada and the States.

Anyone got and recommended sights to see?!

been there, recommend the toronto side as they have the lion share of the falls

suggest you try the maid of the mist boat trip

Berserker · 25 Feb 2009 at 01:10

fraps said:
suggest you try the maid of the mist boat trip

Good suggestion, except that service appears to start in April - hence my suggestion that it would probably be too early for that. Worth checking though just on the offchance there's been some exceptionally warm weather.

momentimori · 25 Feb 2009 at 03:58

The Canadian side is better but it is worth crossing to the Sceptics side to go on the hurricane deck.

Vixen · 25 Feb 2009 at 04:32

There's not a huge amount to do around Niagara, it's definitely more of a day trip experience than a whole holiday. I agree with what others have said, try to avoid the town if you can. I would avoid crossing the border unless you plan on staying overnight, as it can take hours.

Try to take in Niagara on the Lake and one of the wineries on your way down. I'd definitely recommend driving if you're staying in Toronto/Greater Toronto Area as you'll be able to take the scenery and small towns

.

I was there in 2006 for a fortnight and only spent 4 days in the city centre, for the rest I was in Markham with a car. I actually got bored staying in the city as there aren't a lot of touristy places to go beyond the CN tower and the island. I loved staying in the suburbs though as there was a lot to see and it gets very peaceful once you're out of the rush of the city.