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Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

Written April 2002

How did Niagara Falls become the World's Honeymoon Capital? There must be something in the water. Just-marrieds have been honeymooning in Niagara Falls for almost 200 years. Niagara Falls is the widest waterfall in the world. The Falls straddle the U.S./Canadian border, with the Bridal Veil Falls and Rainbow Falls on the American Side and the curvaceous Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. Thanks to the lights installed under the water in the 1920's, the falls are even more beautiful at night. If you stand at the railing and stare at the falling water, you can get the sensation that you're floating upwards. It's mesmerizing, it's breathtaking, it's inspiring, it's...water. It gets boring in about 20 minutes. What are you going to do for the rest of the trip?

If you're really taken with the water, you can get closer by taking a boat ride on the Maid of the Mist or taking a walking tour in the caves behind the falls. Raincoats are provided for both. There are also plenty of places you can go for different views of the falls. In Maple Leaf Village, you can ride the world's tallest Ferris wheel. You can dine in Minolta Tower or the Skylon Tower for a good meal and a revolving view of the Falls and surrounding countryside. If you want a bird's eye view of the Falls for a bargain, I once paid $1.50 (Canadian) for a ride up a shorter, spinning tower about a block and a half from the Falls.

The best place to stay in Niagara Falls is the Skyline Brock on the Canadian side. It has a beautiful view of the Falls and is connected via a walkway to the Casino Niagara. Marilyn Monroe and the rest of the cast and crew of Niagara stayed in the Skyline Brock while they were filming the movie. Besides the Skylon and Minolta Towers mentioned above, the best places to eat include Skyline Foxhead's Japanese Restaurant and the Renaissance's Rooftop Dining Room.

There's no shortage of things to do in Niagara Falls, so long as you aren't too picky. Niagara Falls is the capital of tacky. It's probably the most "touristy" place you can visit. It's packed with all the things that you can do in almost any other touristy place like Planet Hollywood, the Rainforest Café, the Movieland Museum of Stars, the Guinness Book of World Records Museum, and my personal favorite, Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. You just haven't lived if you haven't done these things once.

There are also plenty of theme parks, including Six Flags Niagara and MarineLand. If you have extra money to spend and like gigantic roller coasters or well-trained whales, the parks might be a good choice.

But if you travel a little ways outside the city of Niagara Falls, there's lots of better quality entertainment. Just north of Niagara Falls there's a small city romantically named Niagara-on-the-Lake. Shaw Festival, the only theatre in the world dedicated to performing the plays of George Bernard Shaw, can be found there. Theatre season runs April-October. You can attend multiple wine tastings on the Wine Trail of Ontario and visit the Butterfly Conservatory, located in the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens. If you start to crave peace and serenity in the midst of the crowds, try the Ten Thousand Buddha Temple for World Peace, which was built to "expound the Dharma and propagate Buddhism."

There's something about Niagara Falls that seems to bring out the daredevil in visitors. On October 28, 1901, Annie Taylor, a 63-year-old schoolteacher from Minnesota, was the first to go over the Falls in a barrel. She survived the trip, but upon emerging from her barrel, said, "No one ought ever do that again." Unfortunately, her advice went unheeded, and over the years, several more people have attempted, several perishing in their endeavors. During the 1950's, the Niagara Parks Act was passed, making it a crime to attempt a trip over the Falls, so don't try it unless you want to pay a hefty fine.

Once, on a visit to Niagara Falls with my baby sister, I picked up a tourist brochure. "Beth," I said, "Did you know that 100,000 gallons of water go over the Falls every minute?" She looked at me wide-eyed and said, "That's such a waste. Do they at least turn them off at night?"

You don't need a passport to visit Canada, but it's always a good idea to take your birth certificate with you when crossing the border. There's no need to exchange your cash. All the businesses in and around Niagara Falls accept U.S. currency, but you will receive Canadian currency as change. Keep the exchange rate in mind when you're looking at price lists, which are almost always exclusively in Canadian dollars. At the current exchange rate, something priced at $40 Canadian will only cost about $25 U.S.

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© 2006 Natalie MacLees

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