Last week my mom and bro and I went down to Niagara Falls. Usually my dad plans our family trips but he couldn’t get any time off from work so I was next in command. It was the first family vacation that I ever fully planned so there was some researching on my part. Here’s the breakdown of our trip on a post-undergrad-entry-level-job salary.
The Commute
Greyhound Bus –we took the Greyhound bus from Boston (South Station) all the way to Niagara Falls, NY (3rd and Rainbow St). We spent about 12 hours on the road one-way. On the way to Niagara Falls we stop about 5x (bathroom breaks or bus changes) the three major stops were at Albany, Syracuse and Buffalo. On the way to the Falls the layaway at Syracuse was about 2 hours, which was slightly relieved with food choices at the station. There was a Subway and Dunkin’ Donuts, and a souvenir store that sold overpriced snacks (I said slightly relieved).
(4 hours into the drive and still smiling!)
The bus was relativity empty and each of us could’ve sat next to vacant seats. The drivers were nice and we kept on schedule if not arrived earlier at our check points. I spent an average of $80 per person for one a round trip ticket (between Boston, MA and Niagara Falls, NY)
Looking back though, I wish we rented a car instead of taking the bus. The the rental car and gas might have been a little more costly, however, we probably would’ve gotten to our destinations in half the time. I guess my logic when deciding between the two, well, was because I didn’t want to drive…laziness (and a healing herniated disc) got the best of me.
The Hotel
Days Inn –If you plan on being outdoors for the most of your trip and can do without the shmancy hotel, I recommend the very modest Days Inn. The Inn is 3 blocks from the Falls, the Casino, and Wilson Farms (food market). The rooms are normal, just enough for the usual –beds, desk, TV, AC, night stand. There was nothing extra from the conventional hotel experience that I thought we needed so I guess the $277 for three nights sufficed.
Oh yes, there is a Denny’s inside the Inn that is opened 24/7. Menu is the same as all Denny’s, but the food tasted different. We ate there twice for the sake of convenience.
The Food
Being noobs in the small town we mistakenly ate at the Niagara International Food Court also out of convenience. With their plethora of ethnic foods that included Chinese, Indian, Italian, American, and Greek, we were drawn. As vast the choices were menus all had one thing in common –overpriced.
The most popular food stations at the International Food Court was the Indian food and the Chinese food. I’m almost guarantee the reason being because there were a lot of Indians and Chinese people at Niagara Falls. My mom ate Chinese noodle soup, I had a Greek pita wrap, and my brother had fish and chips. My brother had the cheapest out of the three dishes at around $9 something, and was probably the most aperitive dish.
Wilson Farms –Instead of overpaying for mediocre food we decided to venture to Wilson Farms food market and bought fresh fruit, sandwiches, drinks, and snacks. I think we paid about $30 in groceries for an entire day.
Casino Buffet –The last night of our trip we walked to the only casino in town and ate at their buffet. The buffet was pretty good. For $22 (none gamblers) there was a pretty decent food option. Foods included rime rib, cold shrimp, salad bar, noodles, pizza, pasta, fish, corn on the cob, soft serve ice cream, fried rice, fried noodles, broccoli and beef, rolls, etc. The food was actually pretty decent. The prime rib was good.
The Falls
Niagara Falls was an amazing sight.
One the first day we walked around the Niagara Falls State Park and it took us about 2 hours to stroll around half the park. There we saw the three Falls and were able to take closeup pictures with all three of them. Being on the American side where the falls began its drop-off our views of the entirety of the Falls were limited to only from a top perspective.
Niagara Majestic –We took a tour that drove us to all the highlights of Niagara Falls. The first part of the tour included going to the Canadian side where we got to see all three Falls in one gander. As our tour guide cleverly commentated, “The American side is the stage and the Canadian side is the audience.”
Crossing the Canadian boarder took a while since we traveled there in a van and had to wait behind other vans and buses. We had to get off our van and get in line to be individually inspected at the boarder. We needed our passports to cross the boarder and of course we needed our passports to get back into the US.
The tour included the Journey Behind the Falls, which was an elevator ride down behind the Horseshoe Falls where we got to see the waterfall from the bottom up.
Prepare to get a little wet!
We saw other sights on the Canadian side such as the world’s largest whirlpool.
Don't let the seeming calm water fool you. Beneath the surface are dozens of vortexes!
Lit Falls and firworks!
Taken from the Skylon Tower
Fireworks start at 10pm on weekends and holidays
Maid of the Mist –On the second day we took the latter part of our tour where we saw basically the same sights but from the American side.
We went to the Watch Tower and took an elevator down where we hopped on the Maid of the Mist Boat Ride. The best standing position would be Starboard (Right), Bow (Front) of the boat. The ride was a total of probably 20 minutes. Stopping in front of the Horseshoe Falls, we got to experience the magical Mist.
The boat stopped right in front of the Horseshoe Falls. As we were looking directly at the Falls, even though the boat was fasten, seemed like we were drifting forward.
Cave of the Winds –This was probably the most exciting of all the sights. We took an elevator down near the Bridal Veil Falls and walked up the decks which were lodged into the rocks at the bottom of the Falls. The higher we climbed the deck the closer we stood to the plunge pool, and the more we felt the falls.
Watch Tower
Maid of the Mist
Why the poncho?
Cave of the Winds
The entire tour ran about 9 hours (split into two days). Cost for the tour totaled $467 for all three of us. The tour was pretty legit especially if you want to see EVERYTHING. Besides the big attractions we saw attractions on the inner parts of the Falls such as a Buddhist Temple, Fudge souvenir store, giant flower clock, abandoned energy plants, Skylon Tower, whirlpool, and more that I don’t remember.
Lena, our Canadian tour guide was phenomenal. She was professional, a good story teller while implementing facts and humor. Lena pointed out all the clean public restrooms and made sure everyone was having a good time. Our American tour guide wasn’t as fun or professional in my opinion. She seemed disengaged with the group.
Perks of the tour was that the admissions for all attractions we went to were covered. We were also comfortably driven around a small van with 20 others and were able to cover more grounds without getting off our butts.
The Niagara Falls town is rather small and all major sights are easily accessible by walking. So instead of taking the tour we could’ve gone to the following attractions at pretty reasonable prices for a major tourist attraction: Journey Behind the Falls ($9-12), Cave of the Winds ($9-11), Maid of the Mist Boat Ride ($9-13.50), Skylong Tower (Free if you eat at the tower and $10 if you just want to go up the tower).
If I could go back again I would bike the Niagara State Park, take the Whirlpool Jet Tour, stay in a hostel (if I were going with friends), rent a car for my trip, stock up on water, and explore the Canadian downtown.
The Experience
I felt small and powerless standing near the Falls. The energy projected from the water was unyielding, which made me remember the unchangeable things in life. Nature is intense.
And that ends my sentimental speech and a very long reflection of my trip. Hope someone can find this useful if you decide to visit this extraordinary park.
