Hi All,
Has anyone done a New York to Niagara Falls return trip in one day? There are companies that do one day tours but not sure on which one is worth going with.
There is also the option of booking the flights myself and visiting the attractions I want once I am at Niagara Falls.
Would love to hear your thoughts for people who have done it themselves or been on a tour.
Thanks :)
Thanks greenpossum,
Have you been on a tour yourself? If so what tour company did you go with?
No, many eons ago I drove all the way down to NYC, so I know how far it is.
Edit: To be honest, I wouldn't pay $300 or $600 to see NF, knowing now what it's like.
Were you expecting a lot more than a waterfall?
The point is I would not spend that amount of money going that far out of my way for one day to see one attraction. You could almost have a holiday in SEA for $600. If seeing it on the way to say Toronto then it would be fine.
Since my years living in that part of the world I've visited other waterfalls. Iguazu beats Niagara IMO.
I highly recommend organising it yourself. My parents went with a tour group last September , booked through Viator,and paid over AU$600 each. The company picked them up at around 6am via a coach and took around 90 mins stopping at other hotels to pick up others. They got on a commercial flight from La Guardia airport at around 10am for the short flight, and then another bus to Niagara Falls. They arrived around midday and then got to wander freely to see the falls- no actual "tour guide". Maid of the Mist was at their own expense. At 4pm they were picked up and bused to the airport- with stops at a local bar and a souvenir shop where the company no doubt get kickbacks for the pressured purchases tourists make, then another commercial flight back and a bus to the hotel.
Hubby and I went to New York for a conference two weeks later and I organised the whole thing myself. Taxi to La Guardia was around US$50 (and we got to sleep in because we didn't spend 90 minutes in the bus picking up other passengers), return flights via JetBlue at a similar time in the morning (better commercial airline than my parents had) were US$177 each, then another US$50 from Buffalo airport to Niagara Falls. We spent the same amount of time at Niagara Falls too. Obviously another $100 in return taxis. But it still cost around $300 per person for exactly the same itinerary, plus I think we had a better overall experience. BIG savings and it really wasn't hard!
One day is really not practical.
we flew to Buffalo (and stayed two nights there).
stunning place - probably stay just the one night.
you'd definitely want to visit the canadian side rather than NY - you just walk over the bridge a pay a small fee.
don't bother with any tours/packages while you're there - it is all in a small space - you can just walk and do whatever attractions suit you :)
from the airport we just caught a public bus to niagara falls - took about an hour or so from memory
as other have said. You can catch a public bus from Buffalo to Niagara Falls for not very much.
On the USA side lots of rubbish, industry and outlet shops, cross the border to Canada and lots of greenery and falls related museums, info etc.
Its pretty awesome standing next to around 1-2 metres of crystal clear water heading over the brink of the falls. Such awesome power and you can see the lip/edge of the falls through the water it is so clear.
I studied in Buffalo for 6 months and took many trips to the falls. I was there just 2 minutes before a guy went over on a jet ski, I could had the money shot but had to make way for the 100 other people waiting to get right next to the lip.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1995/oct/02/jet-skier-kille…
There are two falls, the american falls and the Canadian (horseshoe) falls. The Canadian ones are the ones depicted on movies etc. The american ones don;t have a huge drop, more like cascades.
well worth a visit due to awesomeness.
you could drive and make it a 2 night trip or fly and do it as an overnight-er. anything less will be rushed.
Try the buffalo wings if you make it to buffalo, tasty.
I arrived in Canada then took Amtrac train to NY central station - so cant comment on your transport needs.
You'd want to see from the Canadian side where the observation area at the top of the falls is metres away. You can actually see through the clear water as it passes over the falls.
At that point the height of the water is about 1 metre "thick" as it falls over. It's an incredible amount of water without seeing it first hand.
You can also go down through tunnels and come out "behind" or "inside" the waterfall. Obviously you see nothing but solid water in front of you. (It's cold and wet so bring your gear)
There is also a observation tower further back to give you a panoramic view of the area…
and then there's Ripely's Believe it or Not and other sideshow alley tourist stuff.
I was there in autumn and the trees etc in the parklands were stunning.
I went in 2005, We caught taxi to airport in NY and flew to Buffalo then hired a car, drove to Canada side -stayed in motel 1 night - we got to see the both sides as we did the Bridal falls /hurricane walk that afternoon (this was great as you walk right next to the American part of the falls, spent some time walking around the park - you can actually step into the water that will shortly go over the falls-.
Then came back to the Canadian side to do Maid of the Mist (also fantastic). That night we spent some time walking around watching the light show the do to highlight the falls. Checked out next morning and drove back to airport.
My sister that lives in NY did arrange the flight, hire car and hotel herself from NY. We all loved it and i am glad i did it, though i doubt i would go back.
We just did a 3 day 2 night tour from New York City with take tours. We left New York at 8:30 am and got to the falls about 4:30pm. We did maid of the mist , IMAX and a Native American show. We then got taken back by bus to the night illumination of the falls. The next day we went to the corning glass factory and Watkins glen and the day after Washington, D.C. and philledelphia.
The tour cost $264 for my two children and I plus admissions and tips of about $300. The hotels we surprisingly good and we packed show much into those 3 days ( but they were very long days). I was worried it was going to be terrible due to the price but we really enjoyed it.
I went via the Canadian side (Hired a car in Toronto) Its 2 different perspectives of view…
And the canadain side has like a fun fair permanently set up there… Worth crossing if you can in my opinion, And one of the hotels on Canadian side have a free Observation deck…on the weekends (not sure about other times) at night have an awesome lights display over niagra …
I did a day trip in January this year. It was a few days before the falls froze over.
Caught a train to the airport from Manhattan, flew Jet Blue US$65 ea way, hired a car from Buffalo Airport US$50 for the day with insurance (rentalcars.com), did all the sights & had lunch in the tower.
Even the delays for both flights due to the horrible weather in NY, it was a really nice very easy day.
I can't see the value in doing a paid tour.
Also keep an eye on the internet for coupons for the various attractions you want to do.
I drove there. It is too far for a return day trip. But NF a good experience if go for a couple of days. Especially going over to Canada, Maid of the Mist boat ride, and also the chopper flight over the falls. If you want a day trip from NY, plenty of organised return bus trips go to Atlantic City, and lots of free vouchers given out by Casinos to get you into their Casino including food & drink vouchers, 1 for 1 betting vouchers etc. etc. The paid trip ended up costing nothing by the time I used up all of my vouchers.
You realise that NF is in upstate NY at the Canadian border so it's about 350 miles away as the crow flies so that's why the tour is by plane. Doing it yourself means looking for commercial flights, working out the transfers at both ends, and figuring out how to visit the falls, US and Canadian sides. If you have the money, take the no stress option.