I’m finally back with the details from our trip to Niagara Falls! I sort of worked my way backwards with the posts from this trip – I’ve already shared our fun at the Dr. Seuss Experience in Mississauga and our weekend in Toronto, but we actually started the whole getaway with a night in Niagara Falls.
Quick recap: In December, Zach and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary which gave us the perfect excuse to take a road trip up to Canada (something I’ve been wanting to do ever since we moved up to WV!).
Niagara Falls was about a 15 minute drive from where we crossed the border into Canada, so it only made sense to start our adventure there.
The city of Niagara Falls is pretty small and as you might have guessed, everything is pretty much focused around the falls themselves so it was the perfect destination for one-night stay.
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Where We Stayed
Since we were only going to be there for one night and it was the night of our actual anniversary, we splurged on our hotel and it was definitely worth it.
We stayed at the Hilton Niagara Falls/Fallsview Hotel and I would definitely recommend it. They have rooms that offer views of both the Canadian and American falls, have multiple different restaurants in the hotel, and it actually has a casino attached by a walkway so there’s no excuse for boredom here.
Our room was superb. Like I said, we decided to splurge here so we upgraded to a room with a view of both falls on one of the higher floors. The room itself was great – very clean, very nice, but it was the floor to ceiling windows with this unparalleled view that really made it spectacular.
Also noteworthy: the bathroom.There was basically a window in the bathroom wall the separated the bathroom from the bedroom area so that you could raise a shade on this bathroom window and be able to look directly out through the bedroom windows onto the falls. I’ve never seen anything like it and had a good laugh when we first checked it but can you image soaking in the tub and enjoying that view?? Utter bliss.
*Note: Be sure to look at the hotel package options to get a good deal on your reservation. We booked with the Fallsview Dining package which gave us a great way to splurge without breaking the bank.
Dinner
For our anniversary dinner we opted for one of the hotel restaurants and with 5 different restaurants we had plenty of options. Wanting to dine with an exemplary view, we chose The Watermark – the “signature restaurant” at the hotel boasting a locally inspired menu and panoramic views.
I think The Watermark is the fanciest (i.e. most expensive) of the five restaurants at the hotel and the food was good, but not exemplary. The view is definitely the biggest selling point here.
Breakfast
Breakfast at the hotel is another story. We don’t typically pay for hotel breakfast since it’s usually way overpriced, but it was included with our package and I’m so glad we got to experience it.
The restaurant itself is beautiful (same space as the hotel’s Italian restaurant, Corso), and the breakfast buffet is no average buffet. Once seated at our table, a waitress came over to get our drink orders and egg orders (fancy, right?), and then we descended upon the most lavish breakfast buffet I’ve ever experienced.
Everything was fresh and delicious and there was such a wide variety of food choices. Breakfast goals for sure.
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Visiting the Falls
Technically, winter is the off season for Niagara Falls but don’t let that stop you from visiting this time of year!
Here are some of my best tips after our visit:
You will have to pay for parking. We found two parking areas right by the falls, one on the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian falls) end and one on the American falls end. Both cost the same ($15 Canadian) so it really just depends on which falls you want to start at.
Bundle up. This seems like an obvious tip for a winter trip to the falls but don’t be fooled by “warmer” forecasts. My phone said it was 40-ish degrees and sunny, so I didn’t think I would need all those super cozy winter things like gloves or a scarf.
I was a fool.
It felt at least 10 degrees colder along the walkway by the falls and the mist didn’t help either.
Your hair will get wet. Even if the forecast is clear, sunny skies, the falls produce their own misty rain atmosphere. I thought that since we weren’t doing the boat thing or going behind the falls we wouldn’t have to worry about getting wet…and I was wrong.
As you can probably tell from these pictures, my hair became wetter and wetter the longer we were there. Thankfully I found a cute beanie in the gift shop to cover up my wet dog looking hair (and to keep me warm!).
You don’t have to pay for a boat tour to get a good view. I was a little worried that we wouldn’t have as great an experience because we couldn’t do a boat tour (which don’t run in winter) but honestly, the view from the walkway is so incredible I never felt like we missed out on anything.
View from Rainbow International Bridge. When we were on our way home we crossed the border at a different spot than where we entered, this time going over Rainbow International Bridge, i.e. the bridge right next to the falls. And as we crossed I realized that you can actually walk across that bridge!
Maybe this is common knowledge, but I didn’t read anything about it in all my searching before our trip so here’s my bonus tip: It only costs $1 to cross the bridge on foot so if you have some extra time, walk across and see what kind of view you get of the falls from here! Could be a great photo opportunity.
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