If you are thinking about visiting Niagara Falls I have a lot of information for you while it is still fresh on my head. I know I was looking for a post like this before I went and couldn’t find anything good so I hope this helps!

This post will be tailored to the Canadian side as that is where my family and I stayed this past weekend. It was an amazing trip even though we only had two days, I highly recommend going if you get the chance.

First things first is where to stay… We stayed at the Marriott on the Falls, not to be confused with Marriott Fallsview like we did. Something confusing is they are located literally right across the street from each other and both have great views of the Horse shoe falls, and well… my bad.

I booked on travelocity and like I said we booked Marriott on the Falls but after reviewing all of the reviews for Marriott Fallsview. Our room itself was not impressive, the bathroom door was a slider with tinted glass and did not lock which was not good because my husband and I were there with our two children.

We stayed on floor number 3, which was fantastic because it is the only floor that has a deck that you can access right from your room balcony door and has fantastic views of the Horse Shoe Falls. I am sure if you stay on the higher up floors, they are great as well for the view. Even if they do not have a viewing deck you are able to access it from floor number three.

Another downside to this hotel specifically is it seems to be infested with moths. Although I did not see any downstairs, there were plenty in our room crawling on the wall, the ceiling, the light fixtures and even the hallway.

For the price and being in a great spot it’s still an ok hotel, but do not expect what you see when you read the reviews of the Marriott Fallsview because it is not the same. When you stay at either of these hotels you get complimentary WEGO bus passes which are great because it takes you anywhere in the city and leaves from right in front of the Hotel. They also gave us some additional coupons that included a sample flight from Niagara Distillery and Niagara Brewery.

We wound up going to the Niagara Brewery and I highly recommend it! Not only do you get a sample flight of some delicious beers (try the peach one!) they have some awesome brisket burgers that are huge and 2 adults can split just one. Be careful because once again, the names are alike and the Niagara Brewery and Distillery are literally right across from each other. The difference is, the distillery does not have the kid friendly chicken tenders and fries option that the brewery does, but more about that down below.

If you stay at either Marriott hotel they are closest to the Horseshoe falls but still easy to walk from to get to all of the attractions like Clifton Hill and the Niagara Parkway walk along the railing. The walk from here to Clifton Hill takes approximately twenty five minutes but it is a very nice walk.

It is a must do to visit Clifton hills, especially if you are there with children. But even if you are there without children I recommend you visit this area. It looks to me to like a mini time square type atmosphere filled with restaurants and attractions. There are some homeless people, so don’t be alarmed however it seemed much cleaner than New York City and very family friendly.

We were going to do the Maid of the Mist boat ride on the USA side and take the rainbow bridge over to avoid any large hill walking , however, we wound up staying on the Canadian side and did the Hornblower boat ride instead.

I cannot brag enough about how simple they made it and how well organized it was. We went at 10 AM on a Monday so that may have been the difference, however It was very organized and took less than fifteen minutes for 600 people to load onto the boat.

To be prepared, what you do is go to Niagara city cruises purchase your tickets, they’re about twenty five dollars in USD or thirty three canadian at this moment and a bit cheaper for child tickets. You then walk down a path that brings you to an elevator and they load you in about ten people at a time. Then you walk down another path that goes to have your photo taken, and then another path that you load directly onto the boat in which you can choose the upper or lower deck as long as it is not filled. You are given a red poncho which I do suggest you put it on.

The boat is very safe and it goes around the falls and almost all the way into the horseshoe, which is where you will get wet. The ride itself is only about fifteen to twenty minutes. They have no age limit either. If you are bringing children just be aware that they will get wet especially if on the upper deck. Shockingly, I thought we would get more wet than we did. If you wear the poncho properly and have something in your pockets you will not get it wet. Mainly your face, your hair, your arms, your hands and your feet are what gets wet.

We did go to the Movieland wax museum in Clifton Hill and it is what you’d expect from any smaller wax museum. The kids loved it but it is fairly small. Maybe about fifteen minutes to get through.

One thing I forgot to mention when I talked about the hotel is you also pay for parking in their lot. I do highly recommend this as parking is limited throughout and it costs about $35-$50 dollars to park in the lots and only $45 to park at your hotel lot which you can go in and out of.

We went to the Niagara Brewery which was very nice and had great brisket topped burgers. The chicken tenders my son got looked really great as well and the french fries were good. This was one of the cheaper selections around that was seated and the beer was great.

There are fast food places as well like burger king and popeye’s and even a two story wendy’s.

I would also recommend heading over to Niagara on the lake section of the town. This is a bit farther and it is maybe a 10 minute drive when driving your car or a twenty minute bus ride. Again you have the passes if you stay at the hotel and could take the bus for free to any of these locations.

We visited the 2024 floral clock which is changed out annually and a very nice site. It is free with free parking which is great as well but nothing much to do but take pictures of the clock and shop the little gifts store they have there which I felt was decently priced compared to the ones in Clifton Hill so check it out.

We also visited a winery the Ravine Vineyards Winery. This was the closest to the floral clock and was only about a ten minute ride up the road. It was very peaceful and they have a great selection with a wonderful staff who was helpful.

If you’d like to go to different vineyards they’re all within a ten minute distance of each other and i’m sure you can walk to them as well but we only tried the one.

Another thing we did not get to visit and wanted to but ran out of time is the botanical gardens in niagara on the lake. From the photos they look beautiful but I am just unsure about how parking is there since I saw a lot of paid parking spots in that area but not easy walking trails from one to another.

Lastly, try and stay up long enough to see the fireworks they do nightly right above the American falls. It is beautiful with the falls all lit up and the loud fireworks, it just makes the vacation vibe that much sweeter. The best spot to view them from is at the railings along the falls and you’ll see many people lined up for the spectacular view. Not the best photo but look how pretty! They light the falls themselves up too, this was when it was rainbow.

Overall, if you’re planning a trip there, you’re going to have a great time. Just make sure that the weather looks good.l because when it is raining it is very very windy from the falls.