36 Hours in Niagara Falls

36 Hours in Niagara Falls
By BARBARA IRELAND
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: May 26, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/travel/36-hours-in-niagara-falls.html?hpw


AT Niagara Falls, the United States is the poor relation and Canada is king. Nature gave Canada the wide-angle view of the majestic waterfall that straddles the border between the two countries, and the Canadians’ commercial bet on tourism landed most of the visitor comforts on their side of the Niagara River. American reliance on industry, however, ended in Rust Belt ruin. Yet the story isn’t so simple. Casinos, high-rise hotels and hucksterish come-ons have so proliferated in Niagara Falls, Ontario, that it risks feeling like a tired amusement park. Meanwhile, in Niagara Falls, New York, the visitor who ventures inside the shabby, underfinanced state park is surprised to discover vestiges of something like a natural landscape. The party is in Canada. The real feel of the river, in all its awesome power, is more accessible in the United States. Hop back and forth to get the best of both Niagaras and see for yourself.

Niagara Falls

Friday

5 p.m.
1) FEET ACROSS THE BORDER

Cars sometimes line up for hours to cross the international border at the Rainbow Bridge, a few hundred yards downriver from the falls. But on the walkway it’s a breeze — a 10-minute stroll for two quarters, American or Canadian (niagarafallsbridges.com). Customs agents at each end are pedestrian-friendly, though you must have your passport. If you’re staying on the American side, make your first crossing now. If your hotel is in Canada, wait until tomorrow. Either way, this is one of the most scenic saunters you will ever take.

6 p.m.
2) BRINKMANSHIP

Push into the crowds on the riverfront walkway in Canada and see the whole geological spectacle at once. The imposing cascade on the left, 850 feet wide, is the American Falls. The supercharged one on the right, nearly half a mile wide, is the Horseshoe, often called the Canadian Falls although it touches both countries. Stop at the Horseshoe brink and wait your turn to be doused at the rail by spray from thousands of tons of water plunging down every second. Impressed? This thundering mass is only half of the river’s natural flow. The other 50 percent (75 percent in the off-season) is channeled underground to hydroelectric plants.

7 p.m.
3) WINE AND BACON

From the terrace at Edgewaters Tap & Grill (6342 Niagara Parkway; 905-356-2217; niagaraparks.com/dining), the tourist hordes below seem far away. Relax and sample one of the Niagara Region wines, like the Inniskillin Riesling (35 Canadian dollars a bottle, about the same in U.S. dollars). For a casual dinner, try the hearty Great Canadian Sandwich “EH” (14.49 dollars), made with the meaty and flavorful Canadian bacon hard to find south of the border. Afterward, explore the surrounding shady Queen Victoria Park, where gracious landscaping reflects the English style.

9 p.m.
4) OVER THE TOP

You want to hate Clifton Hill, a garish strip of fun houses, glow-in-the-dark miniature-golf palaces, 4-D theaters, wax museums and noisy bars. But tackiness on this level cries out to be experienced. So watch a multinational crowd shovel tickets into blinking game machines at the Great Canadian Midway. Observe the story-high monster chomping a hamburger atop the House of Frankenstein. Shop for maple candy and a moose puppet. And pay 9.99 Canadian dollars at the SkyWheel Ferris wheel (4960 Clifton Hill; 905-358-3676; cliftonhill.com) for five vertiginous revolutions and a wide-angle view of the colored lights projected nightly on the falls. (Oh right, there are waterfalls here. Remember?)

Saturday

10 a.m.
5) THE CENTRAL PARK

Frederick Law Olmsted and Frederic Church were among the 19th-century champions of a radical idea: public parks at Niagara Falls that would erase a clutter of factories and tourist traps (at some locations, visitors paid to see the falls through a peephole in a fence). The Free Niagara movement succeeded in both Canada and the United States, and on the American side Olmsted designed landscapes at the crest of both waterfalls and on Goat Island, which separates them. Explore the woods and walkways of the resulting Niagara Falls State Park (716-278-1796; niagarafallsstatepark.com) to find what remains of the original Niagara, breathtakingly close to the river’s edge and with commercialism pushed back. For an enticing mix of quiet glades and furious rapids, venture out over charming pedestrian bridges to the tiny Three Sisters Islands above the thunderous Horseshoe.

1 p.m.
6) WINGS OPTIONAL

Buffalo chicken wings were invented just 20 miles away in the city of Buffalo, and the menu at the Top of the Falls restaurant (in the state park; 716-278-0340; spicy wings $11.50) won’t let you forget it. Partake or not; alternatives include salads, burgers and wraps.

2 p.m.
7) WHY THE WATERFALL?

You’ll hunt in vain on both sides of the river for a straightforward geological explanation of Niagara Falls. At the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center in the park on the New York side ($3), look selectively at the displays and ask questions to tease out the basic facts. What’s falling is the water of the Great Lakes. The falls are on the move upriver, receding as much as six feet a year. There’s a giant whirlpool where they took a sharp turn 40 centuries ago. A Canadian attempt at explaining Niagara, a film called “Niagara’s Fury” (niagarasfury.com), which is shown in a building near the Horseshoe’s crest, is entertaining for children but not especially informative, mixing cartoon stereotypes with snippets of textbook language. Outside the Discovery Center, a trail heads toward the Niagara Gorge, where hikers get within a few feet of the largest standing, river-rapids waves in North America. Don’t bring the kayak: these rapids are Class 6.

3 p.m.
8) THE CLOSE-UP

Many of the contrived attractions at Niagara Falls are overhyped and disappointing. But the Maid of the Mist tour boats ($13.50 from the American side; 16.50 dollars from the Canadian; maidofthemist.com) have been satisfying customers since 1846. Chug out to the base of the Horseshoe on one of these sturdy craft, struggle to look up 170 feet to the top through the splashing torrents, and you’ll grasp the power of what brought you here. Go from the American dock. Not only is the wait likely to be shorter, but at the end of the ride, you can hang on to your flimsy slicker (included in the fee) and take a wet but exhilarating hike to the base of the American Falls.

7 p.m.
9) CULINARY CANADA

AG, the soothing, upscale restaurant in the Sterling Inn & Spa (5195 Magdalen Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 289-292-0000; sterlingniagara.com) serves imaginative dishes using seasonal Canadian ingredients, paired with local wines. One summer menu included basil-and-potato-encrusted Lake Huron trout and pork tenderloin stuffed with macerated Niagara orchard fruits (each 28 Canadian dollars). The desserts are good, but if you’re not up for one, you can get by on the eye candy of the red, white and crystal dining room.

Sunday

10 a.m.
10) VINEYARDS HAVEN

Leave the falls behind and drive north in Canada on the lovely Niagara Parkway. Beyond placid Queenston, where an American attack was turned back in the War of 1812, the Niagara River turns relatively tame, and wineries, peach orchards, manorlike houses and an inviting bicycle path line the road. The tasting rooms pour chardonnays, pinot noirs and the regional specialty, ice wine. At Inniskillin ( 1499 Line 3, Niagara Parkway; 905-468-2187; inniskillin.com) tours and signboards explain grape-friendly local conditions; Reif Estate (15608 Niagara Parkway; 905-468-9463; reifwinery.com) has a gimmicky but pleasant Wine Sensory Garden. Peller Estates (290 John Street East; peller.com) pairs its vintages with an elegant restaurant. At Kurtz Orchards Gourmet Marketplace (16006 Niagara Parkway; 905-468-2937; kurtzorchards.com), you can munch enough free samples of breads, tapenades, jams, cheeses and nut butters to take you all the way to dinner.

IF YOU GO

Sterling Inn & Spa (5195 Magdalen Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 877-783-7772; sterlingniagara.com), a former dairy building transformed into a boutique hotel, is an oasis of quiet and style at the edge of the tourist maelstrom. Its 41 spacious rooms start at around 200 Canadian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars.

Doubletree Fallsview Resort & Spa (6039 Fallsview Boulevard, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 905-358-3817; niagarafallsdoubletree.com), an attractive six-year-old hotel on a hill overlooking the falls, has 224 rooms starting at 199 dollars.

The Giacomo (222 First Street, Niagara Falls, N.Y.; 716-299-0200; thegiacomo.com), in a renovated Art Deco office building near the Niagara Falls State Park, has butler service and 38 rooms starting at $199.