Niagara Falls, Toronto

4 more images

A half-hour late from our departure time, a stout man in a red tie appears. "Are you Mr. Edward? Come please with me. I am not kidnapping you." My companion and I hesitantly get into a limousine and are dropped off at an undisclosed location. I think it's a hotel lobby.
A white van is parked outside with "King's Tours" written on the side. It's entirely full of people.
A couple from Manchester is also waiting. He paces nervously. "Well, this is all a bit shady innit?" he says, "I'm ready to rent a car, I am!"
After an eternity, a tall, dark man appears and takes us to a black SUV parked behind the van. The Britons are suspicious, "Wot? In that!?" I'm secretly having the time of my life.
We all get in. My girl's put in the back seat with the British couple and I'm riding shotgun.
The tall man explains that the tour was overbooked and they needed to get this vehicle for us and we'll be following the van. He's from Sri Lanka; he's clean cut, articulate, and knowledgeable.
We stop at a winery. I'd envisioned an old man showing us oak casks and grapes on vines. Instead, we're in a fancy shop where we're given wine samples while a pimply teenager explains how to taste them. He lists brands and prices ad-nauseum. We pay $4 extra to sample the ice wine. Bored, I sneak around back to take photos of the vineyard.
The SUV whisks us off to "Niagara on the Lake," a storybook town of old buildings and gorgeous flowers.
The next stop is the "Floral Clock", which is just a giant metal clock stuck into a flowerbed. I'm the only person who bothers to get out and take a photo.
We finally reach Niagara Falls. This tour includes the "Maid of the Mist" boat tour in the ticket price. The boat ride is fantastic! Sitting at the base of Horseshoe Falls, the water forms a giant white curtain around us and the craft feels very small.
We have three free hours to walk closer to the falls or around town. We ate lunch, met our driver and the Mancunians, and headed back. I realize that I like having our own private driver; I'm glad I'm not in that crowded van.

4 more images

On the Niagara River, straddling the Canada-US border, Niagara Falls is probably the most notable natural attraction near Toronto. The falls are generally divided into two: the narrower and shorter American Falls and the much wider and taller Horseshoe (or Canadian) Falls.
One of the favourite ways to experience Niagara Falls would be to take the Maid of the Mist. This enables visitors to get closer to the falls, and enjoy getting sprayed. On the day that I went it was raining, so we actually got pretty soaked! I also read about helicopter rides which would offer a bird's-eye view, but didn't get to do it this time round, which's a pity.
The city of Niagara Falls is a popular resort area with something to delight every member of the family. I only wish I had more time to explore the various attractions here such as Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Believe it or not, in 1.5 months I've gone to 2 places which have Ripley's (the other being Genting in August) and I've yet to go inside any!
Souvenir stores galore everywhere here. There's a pretty extensive one where you get off the Maid of the Mist. Prices seem to be about the same everywhere, so you might as well buy here if you find something you like. They seem to have thought of everything possible, from the usual postcards (very pretty!), fridge magnets, T-shirts (somehow I found these tacky), mugs, photo frames, notebooks, coffee table photo books, to the more unusual (or unique) bottles of Niagara Falls water! Couldn't resist buying a bottle of that, a notebook, plus some postcards and fridge magnets to give away to friends back home.
Further out, somewhere between Niagara Falls city and Niagara-on-the-Lake, is the Niagara Whirlpool where you could take an aero car above the roaring Niagara River. Yet another experience that's on my to-do list should I come back to this part of the world.

4 more images

Here are few great happy experiences we had during our short weekend trip to Toronto.
As we arrived in Toronto, Ontario right by the Niagara Falls, the sight of the flashing of water at the Niagara falls was just spectacular! We joined the water tour falls and it certainly was all worth the enjoyment. We enjoyed the maid of the mist boat ride, it was an excitement drive through the lake and there we had few wine tasting.
Will down load photos and write more of our trip!

1 more image

After absorbing the natural beauty and enjoying watching the cascading water at the Falls, my boys of course needed to let off steama bit more! So the next day we let them play a round of mini-golf at the Great Wolf Lodge Resort's 18 hole mini-golf.

It didn't take very long for the boys to get the hang of golf but the added attraction was the dinosaur
statues around the park. The weather was absolutely wonderful- very sunny and not a trace of the cold weather the day before. It was surprisingly warm that time of the year we were told by local Canadians we had a chat to- the ones from the souvenir shops lining the busy Victoria Road, the main road near the Falls. Thus, it was perfect for a game of mini golf for the boys!

2 more images

No trip to Toronto will ever be complete without visiting the superb and majestic Niagara Falls. We looked at both sides of the falls and were inclined to agree that the Toronto side was really more beautiful! After all we came from nearby Buffalo airport after flying from Chicago. We took a cab that brought us to our hotel near the falls.

We were absolutely impressed with the views- the falls and the surrounding abundant natural beauty! There are lots of viewing areas where you can actually feel the cold water on your face especially on a windy day. We arrived in late afternoon there so it was naturally colder despite the sunny weather earlier in the day.

The falls at Toronto has a nice restaurant adjacent to it so we naturally had our meal there. There's also a souvenir shop and other attractions related to the falls. In summer, there are more activities on offer too. Around Niagara, there's a casino, heaps of other amusements, resorts, countless hotels,restaurants, cafes, etc, etc. After all, Niagara Falls are a very popular venue for weddings as well!

4 more images

A group of friends and I made a day out of a visit to Niagara Falls. It was a first for them, and a rare visit for me. All of us had a good time though, and decided that May is a good time to go there.

4 more images

Straddling the Canadian-United States International Border and both in the Province of Ontario
and the State of New York, Niagara Falls attracts some 12 Million tourists to her majestic awesome beauty each year. Niagara Falls is a set of massive waterfalls located on the Niagara River, straddling the international border separating the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. The falls are located 17 miles (27 km) north-northwest of Buffalo, New York, 75 miles (120 km) south-southeast of Toronto, Ontario, between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.

Niagara Falls is a massive cataract located on the Niagara River in Western New York and South Eastern Ontario. It consists of two waterfalls, which are separated by Goat Island. The larger cataract is the Horseshoe Falls, which is located in Canada. The Horseshoe Falls is 2600 feet wide and 173 feet high. The American Falls, which is located in the state of New York, is 1060 feet wide and 182 feet high. The Horseshoe Falls carries 9 times more water than the American Falls, approximately 194940 cubic feet of water flows over the brink each second. The Falls were given its name by the area’s first know inhabitants, the Neutral Indians. They called it “Niagara,” which means “thundering waters.” The Neutrals were the first know inhabitants in the Niagara region.

Niagara Falls is comprised of two major sections separated by Goat Island: Horseshoe Falls, mostly on the Canadian side of the border and American Falls on the United States side. The smaller Bridal Veil Falls also is located on the American side, separated from the main falls by Luna Island. Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly-formed Great Lakes carved a path through the Niagara Escarpment en route to the Atlantic Ocean. It is the most powerful waterfall in North America.

3 more images

As part of the Magic Bus Tour I was on that day we visited Niagra Falls. It is very impressive and b i g (of course) I was suprised how close you can be to it. The town of Niagra is an appauling mess of Capitialist mush but just keep your back to it and you'd never know it was there :)

A group of us decided to be adventurous and walk over towards the Yanky bridge but it looked bit dodgy so we kept on going.. and going ... we passed some Motels that looked abandoned, a huge imitation Chinese Temple Hotel thing(!) a really big souviner shop.. until we decided we had better get back to the bus. On the bus we went all the way to where we had walked anyway!