Travel brain-picking

[tiggymalvern]

Mum's decided she wants to go to Niagara Falls later this year. So, anyone been? Thoughts on US vs Canadian side? Much else interesting to see around there? Worth staying four or five days and hiring a car? If I can get some useful hints out of you lot, it'd be easier than trawling the web and I'm inherently lazy that way XD.

If I were God over LiveJournal... by shinikami
Username
Jesus would be	evildrem
The four archangels would be	k_julia
and	jambery
and	moonriddler_mim
and	angstymcgoth
The Blessed Virgin would be	kickair8p
Satan would be	wax_jism
The antichrist would be	janecarnall
And YOU would be	A sinner
Quiz created with MemeGen!

Em! I'm so sorry! Though any religion founded on you would be more my kind of thing, I suspect *g*. At least it's got me pegged right....

Comments

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Worth staying and renting a car SO YOU CAN DRIVE TO VERMONT, BITCH.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Mum, wanna drive the width of NY state so I can go and talk gay porn with Renet?"

Why do I get the feeling any meeting between you and I would be better achieved without my mother, my sister and her two kids in tow? XD

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

We could sneak off! It would be very...Project Blue Rose of us.

[hidden-hero.livejournal.com]

From a Canadian perspective:

Both sides of the falls are nice to see...the US side you can walk down and the Canuck side there is the Maid of the Mist boat tours to the base of the falls where you get to stand in the...well mist.

Niagara Falls the town is CHEESY. The US side is....industrial. I go when forced to and yep...it IS worth walking up to the edge and feel the rumble of water surging over the shelf..

HOWEVER if you come all that way do the following

Go to NIAGARA ON THE LAKE on the Canadian side and stay at a lovely B&B...nice old town with pretty shops and restaurants.

ALSO depending on the time of year you should also drive the half hour east to Hamilton to see the ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDENS...It's not England, but my children love the Lilac Dell and we make return visits for the peonies and roses....

^_^

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Ah, exactly the kind of info I wanted, thanks! I knew my flist would supply XD. So how long's the drive from Toronto airport to Niagara, roughly? Couple of hours?

[hidden-hero.livejournal.com]

oops....sorry took so long to get back here (not opened hotmail on hubbers laptop in days...)

It's easier and quicker for you to fly to buffalo airport so the drive is only a half hour IF that..you can just drive over the bridge to Canada if you are interested in this side.,

From T.O. to Niagara ....well that can be 2 hours if you are dealing with rush hour. Our HWY traffic is second only to the insanity in L.A. as far as N. America is concerned....(I kid you not...statistically we've got the crappy numbers)

^_^

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

No problem, I know your computing life is curtailed! Thanks for the info - it'll probably come down to flight prices on the Buffalo vs Toronto thing.

Meme

[mace-m.livejournal.com]

The part of Satan being Wax totally cracked me up. She looks just like cherub, but her mind works in devious ways worthy of fallen angels. *g*

Re: Meme

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

That was just way too appropriate for someone whose writing could almost make me go for necrophilia XD

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I've been to Niagara Falls with friends from Buffalo and it's about half-a-day's worth of trip. We went over to the Canadian side, which is much nicer. If it's hot, it could be pleasant to take a boat ride on the Maiden of the Mist or whatever that boat's called, but it's not a full day.

I agree with the suggestion of Niagara-on-the-Lake. You could spend a full day visitng the town and driving around to visit the surrounding wineries. Skip the reds, but the ice wine is terrific (esp. Iniskillin.) You will definitely need a car to get anywhere, and make sure ppl have their passports handy. You could always go into Buffalo if you have time to kill, I suppose. To go anywhere else besides that area of NY State, it's at least 2-hour haul east to Syracuse, so be warned.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Mum and I could definitely do wineries - I could get my sister to drive that day! No offence, but if we do cities, we'd probably pick Toronto over Buffalo ;-)

[podpaws.livejournal.com]

Niagara Falls the town is CHEESY. The US side is....industrial.

I'll second that and raise horrendous. The Canadian side is tacky and fun, definitely do the 'Maid of the Mists' and if you can eat in the Skylon tower after dark - breathtaking views.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Tacky and fun will appeal to my niece and nephew, and I can stomach it for a few days XD. Hmmm, not sure if the Skylon tower after dark will be do-able in August.

[hidden-hero.livejournal.com]

When in August would you be going??

Thing is that there are lots of things to do in and around Toronto if you are going that far East and summer up here is pretty nice if you really need to go into the big city.

Wineries....between Niagara Falls and Hamilton there are a LOT of wineries and places you can go for tastings.

As for Summer in Toronto....ferry ride out to the Islands and just rent bikes to zip around or see what is playing at Ontario Place (on Lake Ontario) if you feel like catching an open air concert. Try this to see what is up:

http://www.torontotourism.com/Visitor/CalendarOfEvents/EventsCalendar.htm?month=8

[bandita.livejournal.com]

Well, I'll just have to second and third most of what's been said. I actually visited about ten years ago, when I was still living in New York. So, of course, I don't know much about the Canadian side of the falls. But where we were was fairly industrial, though we did take time out to see a few of the little colonial villages scattered about the area.

The only thing that was unpleasant about my experience was the boat ride that takes you under the mist. The 'Maiden of the Mist' tour is much waiting for a pretty quick trip, but the worst part was the raincoats you had to wear. They reeked of sweat and humidity and mold. But, things may have changed since I've been there last like, cleaner non-foul raincoats! XD So, I'd go ahead and check that out.

Overall though, the Falls are just beautiful. =D

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, nobody else has mentioned repulsive raincoats, but I'll bear the detail in mind. Maybe everyone else just blocked out that aspect of the experience in favour of the good parts XD.

[bandita.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I found that strange too. Like I said, it's been a decade, so it's entirely possible that they've since done away with the things.

Or, like you said, everyone else just doesn't want to remember. I couldn't ever forget. :O

[nekojita.livejournal.com]

Yep, stay on the Canadian side, from what I've seen and heard, it's better than the US side.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

That seems to be the general opinion, yeah - I'll definitely be going with it.