Niagara Falls – New York and Ontario

Niagara Falls! The Falls, there is actually 3 of them, sit in the USA and in Canada. The American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are on the US side of the border in New York and can be visited via the Niagara Falls State Park which offers several great viewing areas. The Horseshoe Falls (which are the widest) lie in Ontario, Canada. The age old question is “Which side of the border should you visit?”. We decided to visit them both.

We were staying at Darien Lakes State Park east of Buffalo and drove into Niagara Falls and parked on the US side and visited Niagara Falls State Park. We have planned to park at the State Park parking lot but it was closed due to renovation so we parked on the street for a mere $20 USD (ouch). It was a cold and rainy day and we managed to get soaking wet before even getting close to the falls. We walked around the park, visited the Observation Deck, and also the Visitor Center.

Phone charging stations on the street in Niagara Falls, New York

Niagara Falls State Park

View of falls from US side

Observation platform on US side

Under the observation platform on US side

View from observation platform – American Falls on left and Horseshoe Falls in the distance

View of top of American Falls from Niagara Falls State Park

Looking over to Canada side of Niagara Falls (Hornblower Cruises)

Rainbow Bridge connecting US to Canada

Selfie on US side

Our plan was to walk across the border to Canada and visit the Canadian side and then walk back to the US. We had read so much about the long lines with driving across the border that we thought the walk would be faster and nicer. BUT since it was such a rainy, wet day we didn’t want to take the walk and get even more wet and cold. After visiting the US side we drove over Rainbow Bridge (using our E-Z Pass for the toll) to Canada and didn’t have any wait at immigration. We then parked near the falls in a parking area ($20 CAD for the day). It ended up working perfectly.

Welcome to Niagara Falls, Ontario

The Falls Welcome Center – Canada

Welcome Center

Lots of tulips around

Statue of Nikola Tesla

Horseshoe rapids

On the Canada side

Horseshoe Falls

Niagara Falls Ontario

View of American Falls

View over to American Falls on the US side

Ride up to Falls Incline Plaza

Selfie on the Canadian side – Horseshoe Falls in background

Since we were so early in the season and the boat tours were not operating yet we decided to visit Journey Behind the Falls. After paying an arm and a leg we descended in an elevator into the depths of the rock behind Horseshoe Falls. We could then peek out some small openings to hear and barely see the rush of water. It was kind of cool but we didn’t really see much. There are also 2 observation decks where we could go outside and see the side of the falls from down below and get even more soaking wet and cold! We were laughing so hard cause we were drenched!!