“No, we are not getting married”

That was the response my three friends (Aileen, Dana, Nicole) and I gave each time we told a friend or colleague we were heading to Niagara Falls, Canada.  I never realized it was a destination for young lovers to run off and marry!

Why did we go to Niagara Falls, you ask?

Well, a few months ago, I was talking to Aileen and mentioning that I’ve never been before.  She’d gone once, with her family years before, and agreed to join me.  Nicole and Dana had never been either so it became a foursome.

We flew into Buffalo, New York on US Air, directly from LGA.  The flights were about $160 bucks each and we were on little crop dusters.  We rented a car from Buffalo and drove the 35 minutes to Niagara Falls.  We stayed on the Canada side, which we heard was much more “fun” and “exciting” than the New York side and stayed at the Doubletree hotel, which was about $135 bucks a night.

The Good

The falls were beautiful!  They are comprised of the American Falls, Horseshoe Falls and Bridal Falls.  Take the Maid of the Mist that is open until the end of October to get the best view.  Also, the time of year was beautiful.. the weather crisp, leaves turning and not a lot of crowds!

Horseshoe Falls

People at the base of American Falls

We did not get to do this, but if you ever go to Niagara Falls, you should stay in Niagara on the Lake.  It’s such a quaint little town and the food and overall atomosphere is much better than either Niagara Falls, Canada or New York

Walking around town in Niagara on the Lake

The Bad

Niagara Falls is full of overly expensive chain restaurants (we actually went to a disgusting Macaroni Grill and IHOP while we were there and spent $20 on omelets, seriously). The non-chain resturants we found were actually much more reasonable – and this is coming from a girl who lives in NYC and is willing to spend money on good food.

On the Canada side, there doesn’t seem like a lot to do and the main downtown area, seems like a depressing Atlantic City or very ghetto Las Vegas.

On Sunday, before we left, we actually drove over the border to try to eat lunch on the American side.  Needless to say, that was even scarier.  We  actually had a restaurant in mind to go to (a recommendation from a Canadian local), but it was closed down.  The rest of the town seemed too depressing and boarded up, so we turned around and just headed back to Buffalo!

The Verdict

We didn’t really expect much, so overall, we had a really good time hanging out together. Despite the sort of kitchiness, I would definitely recommend to anyone who has never been and who want to stay one or two nights.   Just do some better research on where to stay and have some places in mind about where to eat first!

The four of us on the way to Niagara on the Lake

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