possible Niagara Falls trip

[rowerwet]

planning my anniversary trip with the TD and lovely wife, while I can find many campgrounds near the falls, I was wondering how many have camped there,
the questions I have:
is it worth it to camp/visit the Canadian side? (I would have to get passports for both of us)
any reports on the campgrounds from members here? I can find reports using google, but none that are specific to TD.
What is in your top "must visit" list? (I don't gamble, no casino)
from what I can read, the US side is rather city like and the Canada side is more park like.
we would bring our bikes for sure.
we would be there mid August for three days two nights if we go.
any thoughts from those who have been there are welcome.

[pete42]

I have been there many times over the past 40 years before the need for passports there is a card you can get to visit canada I just can't recall what it's called.
the Canadian side is the side to visit they have the best view, boat ride, cable car, under the falls, tower and lots more to do
I always visit the US side and take the walk that goes out over the gorge to view the falls but like I said the canadian side is the one to get the most of your visit.
One year I made the mistake of visiting on a holiday bad Idea.
don't know if there is enought things for three days or night maybe you can camp day at a time instead of booking all three days.

[danlott]

I went there a few months ago for work. The US side is mostly a park, while the Canadian side is mostly city. You can see the falls from both sides, but the best views are from the Canadian side. At night they shine lights onto the falls that you can really only appreciate from the Canadian side. I had a great dinner in the rotating tower restaurant on the Canadian side and wish that I would have had more time to spend exploring the Canadian side. You should visit both sides as there is stuff to see and do on each side. Plan on spending at least one day on the US side and 2 to 3 days on the Canadian side. There are casinos on the Canadian side, it even reminds me of a mini Las Vegas, but there is a lot more to see and do then gamble.

You should get your passports, you will be disappointed if you do not. The passport card is cheaper then the passport booklet, the only difference is that you can not use a passport card for air travel.

You can get discounts on multiple attraction tickets: Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, etc...

Here is a link to a discount site. I have not used it, but it should give you an idea of what things there is to see and do. http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Attractions_in_Niagara_Falls.htm

The main picture from that website is a good overview of the Falls. The left side of the picture is the US side and the right is the Canadian side.


Dan

[rowerwet]

thanks for that info, I guess I really want to know the best campground to go to, I would like to be within biking distance of the falls, as I hear there is a bike trail along the Canadian side of the river, but don't know if a campground within or on the bike trail is worth it as we will have the car and can park and ride.
If we go it will be three days two nights type of deal. the in-laws are about 5 hours away and will watch the kids for us.
I also wonder if it would be worth bringing our mouseboats for a few hours on the water nearby (obviously not the niagara river!)

[mezmo]

Hi rowerwet,

You MUST go on the Canadian side to fully experience the falls.
Canada decided to make their side more of a park land whereas
the U.S. went for full industrialization on their [our] side. The Canadian
side is thus much more appealing to visit, especially in the spring -
early summer [May - June] The general landscaping and plantings
are gorgeous then, still very nice thereafter. You do need to go to both
sides to see everything. But, if you are short on time, go to the Canadian
side first, then the U.S. side.

So get your passports, it'll be worth it. We plan to do so, as we want to
visit the Niagara Falls area again this summer when we go up to NYS for a couple
months to escape the SC summer heat - haven't been there in a long
time.

I grew up in SouthWestern NYS and graduated from Niagara University,
which is down river from the falls in Lewiston, NY, going north towards
Lake Ontario [The Niagara River flows northward]. The Niagara Falls area
itself can be very touristy, but if you know what you want to see you can
avoid the tourist things you don't want as well as some traffic.

You can basically get into Canada from the Peace Bridge in Buffalo,
from the Rainbow bridge in the city of Niagara Falls, NY and the Lewiston-Queenston
bridge further north for general traffic.

Very Good website for Niagara Falls info:
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/attract ... _falls.htm

These are things that I'd want to see/do while in Niagara Falls:

I'll talk about this later:
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/old_fort_niagara.htm
If you only do one thing, take the Maid-Of-The-Mist boat ride:
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/niagara ... e_mist.htm
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/cave_of_the_winds.htm
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Prospec ... w_York.htm
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/goat_is ... w_york.htm
This is new to me, one reason we want to go to the falls this summer:
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/niagara ... tboat_.htm
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/niagara_on_the_lake.htm
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Whirlpo ... w_York.htm


Niagara Falls New York area campgrounds - just Google results, 'don't know details:
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/camping- ... 15231.html
http://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/accommo ... try_id=803
http://www.woodalls.com/campground/defa ... ured=False
http://www.niagara-usa.com/
http://www.niagara-usa.com/places-to-stay/campgrounds/
http://www.niagara-usa.com/places-to-st ... ls-region/
http://www.niagarafallscampground.net/
http://www.niagaracamping.com/
http://www.branchesofniagara.com/rv-cam ... 4Aod6HkA2A
http://koa.com/campgrounds/niagara-falls-new-york/

Niagara Falls Ontario Canada campgrounds - just Google results, 'don't know details:
http://www.niagarafallstourism.com/
http://www.niagarafalls.ca/visitors/default.aspx

MY VIEWS:

I haven't been back there for @ 20-some years now, but I lived in Ransomville, NY
and worked at the Niagara Falls IAP weather station while I was going to Niagara
University. My view is: to avoid alot of the tourist traffic and congestion, I'd try to
stay north of it all and drive down to see what I wanted from there. I always went
into Canada via the Lewiston-Queenston bridge and never had any problems with
traffic tie-ups if I stayed on NYS/local roads and the Ontario Provincial/local roads, once
over the bridge. Staying on the limited access roads [NYS Interstates & the Ontario
QEW] will get you in traffic jams as it is the main border crossing for traffic between
Toronto and New York City.

Lewiston-Queenston Bridge [only choices for average motorists is this or the Rainbow,
the Whirlpool is restricted to only the ez-pass type set up]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewiston%E ... ton_Bridge
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/rainbow_bridge.htm
http://niagarafallsbridges.com/ - traffic conditions
http://niagarafallsbridges.com/traffic_conditions.php3 - traffic conditions with photos
from each direction
http://www.niagarafallsbridges.com/which_bridge.php3
http://www.ezbordercrossing.com/list-of ... on-bridge/

I'd recommend you stay either in NYS or Ontario in the Lewiston-Queenston bridge
area. If you don't want to deal with any possibility of tie-ups on the bridge, stay in the
Niagara-On-The-Lake/Queenston Ontario area and drive down to the sites on the local/provincial
roads. If you want to stay on the U.S. side - less money changing needed when you head
home - then stay in the northern Niagara County area [I think the towns are, Youngstown,
Lewiston, and Wilson.] and use the local/state roads to the bridge and then the local/
provincial roads when in Ontario to the Falls.

I would also recommend you stop and see Old Fort Niagara too. It is a Pre-Revolutionary War
era, French built-turned British-turned American stone fort used in the Revolutionary War,
located where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario, at the extreme northwest point
of NYS. It is very interesting and quite compact. It doesn't take long to see and was never
over-crowded with tourists.
Old Fort Niagara:
http://oldfortniagara.org/
http://nysparks.com/parks/175/details.aspx -Fort Niagara State Park, looks like no
camping there.

Here are some campgrounds from Googling that looked possible, I have no idea of their
conditions, just investigate them further if you are interested:

In Wilson, NY
http://www.daisybarncampground.com/
In Youngstown, NY [I think]: Four Mile Creek S.P. [NOTE ! Call early for reservcations
in all NY State Parks}
http://www.reserveamerica.com/campgroun ... kCode=four

Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario - a very nice place to visit - across the river from Old
Fort Niagara:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara-on-the-Lake
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g154 ... tions.html
http://www.shalamarlake.com/ - Canadian side campground - it looks good from its website
http://www.trailerlifedirectory.com/tra ... ountry=CAN - Canadian area campground
listing for the area

Good luck with your planning and enjoy yourselves when you go.
Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[mallymal]

Cant comment on the camping side of things, but as a Brit who recently visited the Canadian side for a vacation, here's some thoughts....
The Canadian side looks like it has way more going on, The down side is, rather than just peering over the edge of Niagara and going "Wow", you get drawn into the whole Disney style visitor experience, where a combined pass offers 4 different ways of expereinecing the fallls:
* Maid of the Mist boat
* Rapids boardwalk
* 3D cinema
* Walk behind the falls (no big deal, more like a concrete tunnel with an opening onto a wet misty terrace!!!!)

We found the hotels spectacular but reasonably good value compared to UK for equivalant standard.

Canadian side also has a bizarre tacky attraction area called Clifton Hill, with Ripleys, etc:


Great if you like that kind of thing, sleazy if you don't.

Also the whole 'resort' is built on one big hill sloping down towards the waters edge.... if you arent fit enough or long in the tooth, its a slog getting back up. "hint" there's a incline railway thingy.

PS: away from the actual falls, just a couple of miles downstream, is NIAGARA ON THE LAKE which is charming:



Enjoy!!!

[vaddisonme]

We went a couple of years ago, and thought the park on the US side was just lovely. The only downside was the seagull or huge bird that pooped on my husbands head.....

[rowerwet]

based on what I've read I plan on the maid of the mist (got to to that before it is possibly gone forever) (they lost the lease on the Canadian side where they store the boat, some company in CA won that side of the river and the company doesn't have a safe place to store the boat for the winter on the US side)
the skylon tower (great night views, or so I've heard)
the whirlpool/cable cars
the Island on the US side

has anybody stayed at a campground near the falls?