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While there is no doubt that the best Niagara Falls experience is to be had on the Canadian side, considering it is the site of one of the world’s most beautiful border crossings, you’d be remiss to visit without crossing to Niagara Falls, USA. Crossing …
Niagara Falls is Canada’s most popular tourist destination, and its also visited by many more tourists from the United States and further abroad each year. The Falls straddle the border of Canada and the US, and are known for having the highest flow of water over any waterfall in the world. There’s countless things to do on both sides of the border, but most will agree that to get the most out of a trip to Niagara Falls, the Canadian side is where you want to be. Niagara Falls is an easy day trip from Toronto or Upstate New York, however I recommend staying a night. I spent the last night of my Canadian adventure at Niagara Falls, Ontario and it was the perfect way to cap off my Canadian travels. Read along to find out some of the ways you can enjoy a trip to Niagara Falls as well.
Niagara Falls is a site of natural beauty that is approximately 12,000 years old. As mentioned, the Falls span the width of the Niagara River which divides the Canadian province of Ontario from upper New York State. At nearly 800 metres in width, over 3,160 tons of water rush over the Falls every second, giving Niagara the distinction of being the waterfall that has the most water gushing over it in the entire world. Its also often regarded as the 8th Wonder of the Natural World.
The Falls were formed by the melting of the Wisconsin Glacier, which in turn created the Great Lakes of America. As water rushed from Lake Erie down into Lake Ontario, this natural phenomenon came into being. The wider Great Lakes system is now the source of one fifth of the world’s fresh water supply.
Niagara Falls is actually comprised of three separate waterfalls. The best known (and most impressive) are the Canadian Horseshoe Falls which plunge some 57 metres and are without doubt the widest. The Horseshoe Falls are capable of generating some four million kilowatts of hydroelectric energy per second. The American Falls are comparatively smaller, though still vast at 290 metres in width. Finally, the Bridal Veil Falls round out the trio, sitting between the two others, with Goat and Luna Islands separating its waters from them.
Getting to Niagara Falls from Toronto is easy. If you’re renting a car, all you need to do is follow the Queen Elizabeth Way out of the city and you’ll reach the Falls in about 90 minutes. Its a very easy drive. If you’re not driving though, there’s no need to worry. I took a MegaBus coach from Union Station in downtown Toronto, which dropped me off right by the Table Rock Visitor’s Centre just under two hours later. The coach cost about $20.00 CAD to book, and I’d highly recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment. From there, it was an easy walk to check into my hotel.
You can also get to Niagara Falls from New York state. While there’s an airport in the town of Niagara Falls, New York just across the border, flights seem to be more limited and expensive. You’re best bet is to fly into Buffalo Niagara Airport in the city of Buffalo. From there you can drive or take the Amtrak train to the Falls, which only takes about 45 minutes. If you’re coming to the Canadian side from the States, you’ll need to cross at the Rainbow Bridge (bring your passport and check entry requirements of course!).
While there’s numerous organised day trips from both sides of the border to the Falls, with it being so easy to get here, I’d make the trip on your own so that you can get the most from your time and spend it the way you want to.
As mentioned, I highly recommend staying overnight at Niagara. You probably don’t need to stay any longer than that, but with the chance to spend the evening at the Falls and wake up to them in the morning, you’ll be able to fully enjoy everything that the site has to offer. Besides, waking up to a view like this is pretty great.
The town of Niagara Falls, Ontario is unashamedly a tourist trap. Its built right along the edge of the Canadian side of the river and is filled with tacky stores, attractions and countless hotels. With that said, it is known to book out, so you should secure your accommodation in advance. I stayed at The Oakes Hotel Overlooking the Falls. Being upgraded to a Falls View room was amazing, and though the hotel seemed a bit dated in its design (it could definitely have used a few more electrical sockets in the room), it was comfortable and did the job.
As a rough guide, you can expect to pay the following prices per night for a hotel room in the area:
Its really easy to get between the attractions on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. While you’ll quickly find out that Uber and other Rideshare apps don’t operate in the area, you don’t really need them. Most of the attractions are within walking distance, and with views like those along the Niagara River, you’d be crazy not to just take it all in. Some attractions are a little further out however, so another option is to use the great shuttle bus system. You can buy a day pass for the WE GO Visitor Transportation for $10.00 CAD a day (upgrade to a 48 hour pass for a total of $15.00). The bus network has three different routes (though I only ended up using the main one) which can get you pretty much anywhere you could want to go in the area.
The Falls Incline Railway also connects the main viewing area by the Table Rock Visitor’s Centre to the area above a steep hill where most of the hotels are located. Buying a day pass for this is also advisable if you’ll be coming and going a fair bit. A day pass costs just over $6.00 CAD and can be purchased at the funicular entracnce.
When you first arrive at Niagara Falls, you’ll want to head over to the Table Rock Visitor’s Centre. This is the tourism hub where you can purchase attraction tickets, do some souvenir shopping, eat, and of course, admire the beauty of the Falls. Some of the best views of the Horseshoe Falls are from right outside the Visitor’s Centre, so its definitely a great place to start. Afterwards, there’s an assortment of attractions you can check out to fill in your day at Niagara. I’ll be focusing on the ones I actually did, as I really enjoyed all of these.
Getting on a boat and sailing out to the Falls was the best part of my trip to Niagara. If you only have time to do one thing at Niagara Falls, you should definitely make this it. The Voyage to the Falls is a 20 minute cruise getting close to both the American and Horseshoe Falls. There’s no better way to appreciate the force of the water that pounds over the Falls than getting this close to the spray. You’ll be given a free poncho as you step aboard – that should be an indicator that you will get absolutely SOAKED from the mist and water coming off the gigantic waterfalls.
While you can book your cruise on the day, I recommend booking in advance, especially in peak season, so as to ensure you don’t miss out. Lines to buy tickets in person are quite lengthy. When your time slot arrives, show up at the cruise terminal and you’ll take an elevator down to the river below for boarding. After getting back from the cruise, you’ll disembark in the same area, where you can hang around at a cafe and bar while enjoying some live musical entertainment.
The Journey Behind the Falls is a self guided tour that takes you exactly where it says – behind the powerful waters of the Horseshoe Falls! You start this tour at the Table Rock Visitor’s Centre. While booking online will save you from lining up in the big queue, the fairly outdated system means you still have to line up at a separate ticket booth to swap your receipt for a real ticket before you can go in. Once you’re poncho-ed up (I’m sensing a theme here, though this one won’t get you AS wet), you’ll board an elevator and ride nearly 40 metres deep into the bedrock before emerging in a series of tunnels built into the cliff face.
The tunnel leads to two separate viewing portals that emerge right behind the waterfall (yes, at the backside of water, Jungle Cruise fans!). You couldn’t get closer to the waters of Niagara Falls without going over the edge – which I definitely would not advocate! One thing I did notice was that there will be a large queue of people waiting to get a glimpse from the second portal. Pro-tip: the view is basically the same as the first one, so don’t bother getting in line after stopping at the first.
While getting behind the Falls is cool, I think the best part of this experience is getting access to the outdoor viewpoint right at the bottom of Horseshoe Falls. Aside from being out on the water, this is probably the best spot to get your Niagara Falls photos. Take your time admiring it in all its wonder.
The White Water Walk is a fair distance away from the main attractions by the Table Rock Visitor’s Centre. You can either walk along the main road downstream for about 50 minutes to get to the entrance, or you can otherwise get on the main (green) WE GO Bus route and get off at the station by the gift shop. Located about 4 kilometres from the site of the Falls, this is one of the roughest sections of the Niagara River. After taking the elevator down to the boardwalk, the trail takes you past a wild stretch of whitewater rapids created by the power of the Falls.
The Whirlpool Rapids that rush through the gorge consist of numerous three to five metre waves, making it the largest series of rapids in North America. Unlike many rapids caused by rocks and other obstructions, the rapids here are solely due to the sheer force of water channelled through the gorge. It really has to be seen to be done justice.
The rapids terminate in the Eddy Basin Whirlpool, and while the trail doesn’t go that far, you’ll get a lot out of taking this self-guided experience. You’ll learn a lot about the Niagara River, the Great Lakes, local plants and animals, and even the escapades of dare devils who have careened over the edge of the Falls, starting with teacher Annie Taylor who barely survived the drop in a barrel with her pet cat on her 63rd birthday in 1901!
I definitely splurged on dinner during my time at Niagara Falls, dining at the Table Rock Restaurant. Overlooking the Canadian Falls, this world class restaurant is pricey, but with a view like no other. The food is also excellent, with both local and international dishes. Depending on what you order, expect to pay around $40 CAD for an entree (I had the Stuffed Ontario Chicken Breast and it was delicious if you’re curious). With an excellent range of beverages on tap, it was a great final meal in Canada.
If you’re planning on dining at the Table Rock Restaurant, definitely reserve a table in advance. If you miss out, don’t worry, there’s plenty of places to eat along the Niagara Parkway and heading up into nearby Clifton Hill.
Every night at around at 10.00pm you can catch fireworks near the American Falls. Grab a spot by the river (if you’re struggling to get a view, head further up back to the Visitor’s Centre). While many will camp out for a good view, I arrived only around 5 minutes beforehand and was able to see the whole thing. After the fireworks, the Horseshoe Falls are lit up by a series of coloured lights, an amazing visual (which I watched for a good hour back at the hotel as well before they were turned off for the night).
There’s a lot more things to do in Niagara Falls that appeal to tourists. One of the more popular ones that I didn’t get time to do was the Niagara’s Fury attraction. This is a high tech 4D simulated experience that takes you through the story of how Niagara Falls was formed many thousands of years ago. The film is accompanied by water splashes and rapid temperature changes. You can find it at the Table Rock Visitor’s Centre and its especially popular with children.
If you don’t have a Falls View hotel room (how elitist of me, I know!), you can head to the Skylon Tower. Standing at 150 metres tall, this mini-CN Tower provides visitors with a birds eye view of the Falls. It also houses a rotating fine dining restaurant.
If you’ve got money to spend, you can even take a helicopter ride over the Falls!
For tacky attractions, Clifton Hill has you covered. Here you’ll find wax museums, haunted houses, mini-roller coasters and the Niagara Skywheel. While I wouldn’t recommend wasting too much time here, its good for a quick stroll. I also visited the Bird Kingdom aviary, but it wasn’t that great (hence why I haven’t recommended it in this post).
While there’s tons more to do on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, this guide will hopefully give you a run down on some of the best ways to spend a short trip. Niagara is the very definition of a tourist destination and you’ll never run out of things to do. I haven’t even mentioned the US side in this post, but there’s more to do over the other side of the river as well. If you’ve been to Niagara Falls, let me know what you enjoyed doing the most on your visit!
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The Royal Ontario Museum features on most Toronto itineraries. While the city is filled with museums, this is the museum to check out if you’ve only got time for one. Affectionately referred to as the ROM, the Museum opened in 1914 and provides a multifaceted array of exhibits that run the spectrum of human civilisation and the natural world. With galleries spanning over 3 main levels (there’s actually 4 if you include the temporary exhibitions), the Royal Ontario Museum is the largest museum in Canada. Its instantly recognisable today, thanks to its modern Crystal structure, which bursts out from the entrance of the original building. Since its the most visited museum in the country, you may as well add to those numbers on your Toronto trip.
You could spend the better part of a day doing a comprehensive tour of the Royal Ontario Museum. I didn’t have enough time to do that when I was in the city. In this post, I’m hoping to give you an overview of the ROM’s permanent galleries so you can choose which parts you want to focus on during your visit.
First of all, be prepared for crowds when you visit the Royal Ontario Museum. I visited on a weekday afternoon in the middle of the summer holidays. It was also raining. Needless to say, the ROM was PACKED. While I wasn’t able to as I had dedicated my early morning hours to other attractions, I’d highly recommend getting to the Museum around opening time for the best odds of seeing it without too many crowds. If you do this, go to level two FIRST. Its where the dinosaurs are, and therefore thats where most people go.
Also, save time and book your tickets in advance. When I arrived, there was really long line for people wanting to purchase museum tickets. You can buy your tickets on the official website, but if you’re going to be in Toronto for a few days and checking out a number of the city’s attractions, buy the Toronto CityPass instead – it’ll save you money in the long run. For more details, visit the CityPass website. You’ll need to choose your day to visit the Museum beforehand if you use the CityPass, but you can do it moments before you go in.
With so much to see inside, I highly recommend taking a guided highlights tour. Running multiple times through the day, you’ll see some of the best parts of the museum, which will help you decide where you want to spend more time. They meet in the entrance hall. My tour started in the Canadian exhibit, went up to the dinosaurs and ended in the hall of ancient civilisations and my guide was really knowledgeable.
When you enter the Museum, you’ll pass through the main entrance on the first floor. The first thing you’ll see is the massive skeleton of a dinosaur. Its not a t-rex or a triceratops, or any other dinosaur you’ve heard of though. This gigantic behemoth was called the Futalognkosaurus. Yeah, that’s a mouthful, but there’s no doubting how impressive of a way seeing its skeleton is to start your journey through time. The huge herbivore is one of the largest dinosaurs ever found and lived in Argentina over 80 million years ago. Its notable for being found in a relatively complete fossil form. I didn’t know this before my visit, but most dinosaur fossils contain very few remaining bones, so scientists have to piece the rest together to create a realistic image of the dinosaur. Futalognkosaurus bucked that trend, with over 70% of the skeleton in tact on its discovery.
Beyond the entrance to the Museum, you’ll pass into the Currelly Gallery, which serves as a main hall. From here, you can head upstairs, but for now we’ll stay on the ground, where part of Museum’s World Culture focus comes into view.
One of my favourite galleries in the Royal Ontario Museum is the First Peoples Gallery. After all, being in Canada, I wanted to learn about its local history. The gallery contains over a thousand pieces of artwork and cultural heritage that gives you a real insight into the customs and heritage of the first Canadians. The objects on display here provide a wide ranging look at traditional First People life, including displays on travel, family life, spiritual beliefs and more. There’s totems and traditional wear and a whole lot more. One of my favourite displays in this section was the assortment of bark canoes that tribes used to traverse the waters of their sprawling homeland.
On the opposite side of the Currelly Gallery, you’ll be transported across the globe to East Asia, where the Museum focuses on Chinese (and to a less prominent degree Korean) culture. As someone that has always been fascinated by Chinese customs and history, this was another part of the Museum that I found really interesting. The Chinese collection covers almost 10,000 years of history and is actually ranked in the top ten collections of Chinese artefacts outside of China. The objects on display range from prehistoric times all the way to the Qing Dynasty of the 20th Century. Did you know that the Chinese were responsible for the development of paper, gunpowder, porcelain and even the compass? You will after visiting this gallery.
While the Korean collection is smaller, here you’ll learn how the Koreans were the first in the world to develop the woodblock text printing system and other aspects of their historical legacy.
There’s tons to see in these exhibits, but if I had to pick only one thing to see, it would easily be the spectacular reconstruction of the Imperial Palace Hall from Beijing’s Forbidden City. One day I’ll make it to the real thing!
When you go up to the ROM’s second floor, you’ll be leaving the realm of human history behind for a bit. The second floor is almost entirely dedicated to earth’s natural history, and the myriad of species that have lived on our planet over the course of time. While the Natural History Galleries can be broadly grouped together, there’s a number of distinct themes here, so we’ll continue our tour of the Royal Ontario Museum by breaking down the main ones.
The ROM’s Biodiversity Galleries explore life on earth, both today and from times long past. In this part of the Museum, there are tons of taxidermic specimens on display, covering different of animals from various parts of the planet. You’ll see a tiger, a polar bear, a rhino and everything else in between, while learning about the various adaptations that allow them to survive in the wild, and the important role they play in their ecosystems. The impact of humans on the environment is also a major theme in this part of the museum, as the information pulls no punches on the devastating impact human behaviour has had on numerous species, some of which have become endangered or extinct.
While technically a separate exhibit, the Gallery of Birds is adjacent to this section, and contains over a hundred species of birds displayed in full flight. Its one of Canada’s most comprehensive bird collections (I’m sensing a theme here at the Royal Ontario Museum).
One of my favourite parts of the Biodiversity displays though is the themed diorama of a Canadian woodland in the Fall, filled with local wildlife such as deers and bears.
Linked to the Biodiversity halls but deserving of its own mention is the Royal Ontario Museum Bat Cave. Sorry Bruce Wayne, its not your lair. The Bat Cave is an incredibly cool immersive exhibit where you’ll actually walk through a replicated version of St Clair Cave in Jamaica. The exhibit came about as a result of fieldwork carried out by ROM scientists in 2011 and is a really unique way of putting this habitat on display for all to see. The “cave” is filled with limestone formations, dim lighting and of course, the bats. Many of them. Don’t worry, they’re not real, but the cave contains over 800 models of bats (you think that’s a lot – the real thing contains over 50,000!). Whatever you do, don’t miss the Bat Cave on your tour of the Royal Ontario Museum.
This is the definitely the most crowded part of the Museum. These two halls focus on the massive species that ruled the earth in a time period millions of years ago. Those species were of course, the dinosaurs, and subsequently the megafauna (think mammoths, sabre-tooth tigers et al).
Everyone wants to see dinosaurs when they come to a natural history museum, so while its packed, you should definitely spend some time in their hall. If you thought the Futalognkosaurus in the lobby was huge, wait until you see the 27 metre long Barosaurus – one of only three fully assembled skeletons of this massive dinosaur in the entire world! You’ll also come across the usual suspects here – Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Parasaurolophus and more. Unleash your inner palaeontologist as you inspect the fossils and replicas throughout one of the world’s most comprehensive dinosaur collections.
Following the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, the megafauna came into being. In this adjacent hall you’ll see some of these species. While you’ll recognise some right away (thank Ice Age for that kids), there’s others you may have never heard of, such as the appropriately named Torontocerous, a giant deer that called the Toronto area its home a very long time ago.
The Dawn of Life Gallery is one of the newer additions to the Natural History halls of the Royal Ontario Museum. Unlike many of the galleries that you can explore in any order you see fit, this one follows a distinct pathway, taking you through the epic journey of earth’s creation and the evolution of life over the course of more than 4 billion years. Its the first exhibit of its kind in North America, and my tour guide spoke very highly of its addition to the Museum.
While I didn’t have time to go through this gallery comprehensively, it really provides a detailed look through time. There’s animations, fossils and even hands-on exhibits where you can learn about Canada’s rich fossil paleontological history and the technologies used today to understand what came so many, many years before us.
There’s a few other galleries on the second floor of the Royal Ontario Museum that are worth a quick stop. Directly across from the Dawn of Life, you’ll find the Earth’s Treasures Hall, which is all about rocks, meteorites and beautiful gemstones spanning over 4.5 billion years of history. Among other samples, you’ll find a giant pure gold coin (worth a lot more than a Canadian dollar!) and the spectacular purple interior of an amethyst geode.
Rather strangely (and basically at odds with the rest of the floor’s theming), there’s also a small gallery of Toy Soldiers on this level. This exhibit hosts a collection of soldier figurines that were donated to the ROM back in 1991 by Henry NR Jackman, a former Lt Governor of Ontario.
The third floor of the Royal Ontario Museum picks back up right where the first floor left off – back to the history of human civilisation. There’s an extremely large collection on this level, spanning centuries across many regions of the globe. As you duck in and out of the various galleries, don’t miss the stunning Byzantine style mosaic over the ceiling of the Eaton Court entrance hall. Made from carefully crafted venetian glass, it contains symbols across cultures from all around the world.
I’ve grouped a number of the halls together here to refer to the highlight of the ROM’s third level. This area is made up of the Museum’s Egyptian, Roman and Greek collections (with a bit of Cyprus, Byzantium, Nubia and the Aegean mixed in). Of these sections, I found the Egyptian gallery to be the most fascinating. No matter how many times I see them, I can’t get enough of the Ancient Egyptian sarcophaguses and hieroglyphics. There’s even a full scale reconstruction of the 2nd century Tomb of Kitines that you can step inside. There’s over 5,000 years of history in this gallery alone.
When you’re finished learning about the Ancient Egyptian afterlife, spend some time with the Emperors of Ancient Rome. This gallery houses the largest Roman collection in Canada. You’ll see busts and sculptures of all the most prominent Romans and even see a collection of coins each bearing the image of a different ruler.
When you make your way to Ancient Greece, you’ll come across an impressive scale replica of the Acropolis in Athens, further depictions of deities, and of course, the classical Greek tapestry art (think the muses from Hercules).
With so many artefacts in these halls, I only barely scratched the surface on my visit.
The Middle East gallery takes you right to the cradle of human civilisation. At the meeting point of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, this is where ancient societies first flourished. In these halls, you’ll see relics from civilisations such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Sumerians and more. One of the more notable displays here is the Lion facade from the Babylonian Palace of King Nebuchadnezzar II, creator of the legendary Tower of Babel.
Adjacent to this gallery is the section dedicated to the Indian subcontinent and its surroundings regions. With objects spanning across the South Asian region, here you’ll gain an insight into the origins of Buddhism as well as more contemporary art depictions. The gallery is especially significant due to Toronto’s significant South Asian population.
The ROM’s collection of objects from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, the Americas and Oceania is an excellent overview of the various cultural and spiritual lives of these different groups of people from distinctive regions of the world. Broken up into a number of sub-sections, you can see artefacts from civilisations ranging from the warriors of Mesoamerica, to the island tribes throughout Polynesia. Separate to all these historical objects and costumes is the centrepiece at the gallery’s entrance. The massive Straying Continents wall sculpture welcome guests into the gallery and was specifically created for the Museum by the Ghanaian artist El Anatsui. At 12 by 5 metres, its worth stopping to take this unique display in.
The Royal Ontario Museum also contains a renowned collection of European objects, icons, artwork and furnishings. Taking you on a time warp from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, in this gallery you’ll learn all about the innovations and developments that changed European lives throughout history. There’s lots of different sections in this gallery, but the one I enjoyed the most contained an assortment of rooms done up from different historical periods. It provided a way to visualise the everyday lives of different eras as civilisation flourished and progressed from humble beginnings.
With so much to see at the Royal Ontario Museum, there’s no way you’ll get to see everything on a single visit. The description I’ve given you should definitely seem overwhelming and you’ll feel rushed if you cram it all in. With that said, hopefully this post has given you an idea of what areas you’re most interested in. Focus on them on your visit, and you’ll get a lot out of your trip. If you’ve been to the ROM, let me know all about your favourite gallery or display.
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