Tripalot wrote: What sort of activities does your family enjoy? what are the ages of your children? That might help with suggestions of where to go/see etc.
empty nesters(kids gone), we enjoy hiking and sightseeing. prefer stuff sorta off the beaten track (rustic) boondocking trails,etc.
any/all suggestions appreciated,thanks.
In that case, I HIGHLY recommend you guys find Whirlpool State Park and hike down by the river and the whirlpool. The majority of people stand at the top, take a few pictures, and then move along. If you hike down, you'll get a great view and have an adrenaline rush being so close to such powerful water.
This is the area that the whirlpool boats go to and there is also a cable car overhead. I personally think we had the best time for free(: We totally found this place by accident and were poorly dressed for the hike. Make sure you have at least tennis shoes on - something with tread for going over boulders.
Our Adventures
2011 F150 4x4 Ecoboost 6.5 SCREW 3.73 Max Tow
2011 Lacrosse 296BHS video tour
Hensley Arrow
Me '77 DW '78
DD '04 DS '07
Since you enjoy hiking, you might like to investigate the hiking trails down in the Niagara Gorge along the river. The Bruce Trail (a long distance trail in Ontario, along the lines of the Allegany Trail in the US)also starts around Niagara Falls and goes for approx. 600 miles.
You might also want to consider the boat ride on Maid of the Mist which goes up to the base of the falls - simply awesome. Dinner atop the Skylon Tower (a revolving restaurant) is a nice treat especially if you time it right to see the lights come on to illuminate the falls.
The town of Niagara on the Lake is very quaint and most people enjoy strolling around there. It is a short drive from the Falls. There are also a couple of forts with history pertaining to the War of 1812 that might be of interest.
Also some excellent theater productions and lots of wineries to visit.
If you have never seen a large ocean freighter go through a lock, a visit to the Welland Canal is another idea. Also there are some hiking trails in that area - approx. 30 minute drive from the falls.
This should get you started.
If you enjoy bicycling, there are some wonderful paved off road bicycle trails.
thanks a bunch for the great suggestions,some of which we will definitely use.
Tripalot wrote: What sort of activities does your family enjoy? what are the ages of your children? That might help with suggestions of where to go/see etc.
empty nesters(kids gone), we enjoy hiking and sightseeing. prefer stuff sorta off the beaten track (rustic) boondocking trails,etc.
any/all suggestions appreciated,thanks.
In that case, I HIGHLY recommend you guys find Whirlpool State Park and hike down by the river and the whirlpool. The majority of people stand at the top, take a few pictures, and then move along. If you hike down, you'll get a great view and have an adrenaline rush being so close to such powerful water.
This is the area that the whirlpool boats go to and there is also a cable car overhead. I personally think we had the best time for free(: We totally found this place by accident and were poorly dressed for the hike. Make sure you have at least tennis shoes on - something with tread for going over boulders.
On the Canadian side a hike down in the gorge from the Niagara Glen to the Whirlpool and then a leisurely stroll back to your vehicle along the Parkway at the top of the gorge would be worthwhile too.
There will be good salmon and rainbow fishing in the whirlpool in Oct-Nov.
Take a least a whole day to do the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and wine tasting and tour. Try the Icewine, it's unique to the areas vintners.
Have fun!
Don
Just returned from NF this past week. The Canadian side is well worth the passport money. A must see at night as they light up the falls and can only really be seen from the Canandian side. Much more to see and do on the Canadian side... we had a blast!!
ssgwsmith wrote: Just returned from NF this past week. The Canadian side is well worth the passport money. A must see at night as they light up the falls and can only really be seen from the Canandian side. Much more to see and do on the Canadian side... we had a blast!!
which cg did you stay? just wondering. I might be headed up that way.
thanks
MUST take the Maid of the Mist. Well worth the trip.
Interesting to watch from above, it doesn't seem like it goes very close to the falls. When you are on the boat, the whole world turns into roaring water.
Don't worry about getting candian money, they take US or candian, ie a dollar is a dollar.
You will get hit on credit cards or atms for the conversion fee, so find out from your cards what it is.
We stayed at the Niagara koa. Nice facility away from the town hype. Can catch a city bus right there and get down to the falls and not worry about a car, good public transportation.
Ditto to the nights they light up the falls, also find out the fireworks nights and go, very nice. You should also hit the off hours for the falls, ie after 10 pm, they divert the water for power production and its a different falls at night after hours.
On the ca side take the tour behind the falls, very different perspective and really feel the power of the falls. If you get a chance also take the trail past the whirlpool to the power plants and beyond, some very nice city parks out that way.
Do look up the rules of customs both ways to make it simple. Both are unique and can trip you up if your not ready, like fruit/vegi limits, meat limits, etc. They have the dame good food as the states, so buy local and make the crossings very easy. .
2006 Gulfstream Ultra 6331
33' Super C
8.1L V8 Gas
mister_d wrote: Children (<16)are NOT required to have passports when traveling by land across the border into Canada. The passports ARE required by air.
Is there some other form of identification you need for them?
How do you convince them that your 15 yr old is not 16 or 17...hard to tell nowadays!
Brian RVing Illustrated
2010 Keystone Sprinter Select 31BH
2001 Coleman Santa Fe
Offline
