For the second part of my series featuring my favourite places to visit in America, we're heading to Niagara Falls in Canada! Again, I went there exactly one year ago and I am feeling very jealous of my past self as I wish I was there again right now haha!
So what I'm hopefully going to answer here is "is Niagara Falls really that impressive?" and should every one of us take it as a top bucket list must-do?
Now, there are two sides of the Falls you can visit, but which side of the Niagara Falls is the best? I think it is well worth checking out the Canadian side if you are going to go all that way. You can access the Falls from the American side but it is not such a good experience. The only issue that you have to bear in mind is VISA entry, you're gonna need different certificates and approvals for both countries. So if you're in America and fancying popping up to the Falls before you head onto New York or something, you're better off just sticking with the American side as you don't really wanna be going through all the faff of customs twice just for the Falls. However, if you're heading into Canada anyway, maybe you're going into Toronto or Ottawa or Montreal, like I did, then it would be silly not to go from the Canadian side. So that's just a little clear up and pointer on the different sides of the Falls.
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| Niagara Falls from the cruise |
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| The falls is pretty epic |
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| Niagara Falls, Canada |
Prepare to get very wet at Niagara Falls! If you are taking the boat cruise that is. You get given a standard rain poncho, but I tell you, that water gets in every nook and cranny no matter how hard you try and cover yourself up! Tip: don't wear fake tan, it will run. Tip: don't wear jeans, you'll never get them off again. The boat doesn't go under the Falls and drench you on purpose or anything but the Falls are so powerful the spray gets flown at you from all angles.
A downside of going to Niagara
The Falls is such a beautiful place and most often a one off experience for those who visit it and you're gonna wanna capture its beauty in every way you can. Q the Snapchat pic and vid, then the standard phone camera pic, vid and pano, oh then lets get out the camera and try 150 different exposure settings. No chance. Unless you're happy for your gadgets to get soaked, you're gonna need a really good waterproof camera or gadget case to be able to take some snaps right in the heart of the Falls. I managed to take the photos in this post using my normal camera with no case, but they were not taken in the heart of the Falls where it is very wet and basically feels like it is raining! You can still get some great snaps and if you're careful you can try to get your camera inside your rain poncho to take a few quick photos. If you wanna be in the photos, you're probably gonna look a bit rough and weathered too, not gonna lie.
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| Rainbow over Niagara Falls, Canada. |
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| Sheraton Restaurant on Niagara Falls |
If the boat cruise isn't your thing or you are slightly put off, or even wondering "where can I get a good photo at Niagara Falls!?", then I have a few pointers about what else you can get out of Niagara. We, being a large coach group, stayed at The Quality Inn in the heart of the city, about a 20 minute walk down to the waterfall. The little town immediately next to the falls is a very family friendly resort with lots of restaurants and arcades as well as having some good shops, bars and pubs for the adults. After drying off at the hotel and making ourselves look a little nicer, we headed back down to the Falls for dinner in the restaurant overlooking the lovely water. I think this was the Sheraton though I can't quite remember! The sun was going down and it was perfect lighting to have some nice photos taken with the Falls right behind us. We were even lucky enough to see several rainbows going right through the Falls! So cool! So we had dinner which had the best view I've ever had while eating a salad - the Falls light up as it got darker which was very impressive!
After dinner, we checked out an outdoor karaoke bar which had cheap drinks and a nice, local atmosphere with lots of 'talent' on stage. Myself and my tour group were obviously a bunch of 20 somethings so this was fun for us.
I don't think you can ever get tired of looking at natural beauty, especially when it is something so beautiful, elegant and powerful as a waterfall. I loved this experience so much that I'd love to go back and maybe do the helicopter trip over the Falls. I would consider it one of the wonders of the world, it truly is a bucket list must therefore, yes, Nigara Falls really is as great as it is made out to be. It is not a holiday destination though, you wouldn't want to spend a long time here but a must see if you're passing nonetheless.
I hope this has been of interest to you guys and somewhat informative. Have you been to the Falls? Was it as you expected?
I hope this has been of interest to you guys and somewhat informative. Have you been to the Falls? Was it as you expected?
