Living in New York City doesn’t require you to have your own car, mostly when you have one, its more of a hassle with the high parking fees (Manhattan has rates up to 8 dollars an hour) and complicated parallel street parking. Unlike other cities in the US, most New Yorkers don’t have cars and just rely on the 24 hour subway and buses that covers the five boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island. That’s why, when we went to Niagara Falls, we just took the subway to Penn Station and boarded the Greyhound bus that would take us to the magnificent falls. It was one of our first trips while living in New York that made it so memorable.

GETTING THERE:

Commute to the falls is easy. It is advisable to book tickets online through the Greyhound Bus website. We placed a round trip ticket which is very advisable. The place of destination should be Buffalo, New York. It would give you certain times of departure. It would be an 8 hour ride so we chose the midnight schedule so we would just sleep on the bus and when morning comes, we are already in Buffalo. Its a nice choice for those on a time constraint. From Buffalo, we took the NFTA Line 77 Bus to Niagara Falls. Keep in mind too that Niagara Falls is actually a town where the actual falls is located. The bus from Buffalo to Niagara falls would cost around 4 dollars each and would take 40-60 mins to get there. In our case, google maps was our navigator as it would tell us which stop to take to get to our hotel.

WHERE TO STAY:

We stayed at the Hyatt Hotel thru booking.com which is just a walking distance from the falls. They also have free breakfast which was a plus. Our total for a 1 night stay with 4 adults and 1 child is 181 usd.

NIAGARA FALLS:

Niagara falls is the result of glaciation thousand of years ago. It is considered to be a cataract fall meaning it contains great volume of water rushing thru the precipice. Not only it is very magnificent but its flow is also very powerful as it is a source of hydroelectric power. New York’s free household water has been attributed to the bountiful source of water from the Niagara falls.

The falls is actually a group of three waterfalls, the largest is the Horsehoe falls which straddles between Ontario, Canada and New York. The 2 other falls are American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls which are in New York territory.

THINGS TO DO:

There are a lots of things to do in Niagara. The Niagara State Park serves as an entrance to the falls. Here, one can sit down and enjoy the greenery while listening to the rustling sound of the great falls.

MAID OF THE MIST:

The Maid of the Mist is a boat ride that would take one closer to the falls. The lines could be long so its better to do this first, we were lucky since we went there when NY was just opening after the pandemic. Adult tickets are around 25.25 usd and children 6-12 yrs old is 14.75 usd. Coming closer to the falls was a surreal moment for me. We were so happy seeing it closer, hearing the rush of water so loud and soaking us wet with its mist. It sure does feel like rain and not mist! haha. Mind you, everyone on the boat was just so happy and excited being there.

CAVE OF THE WINDS

If the Maid of the Mist takes you closer to the falls, the Cave of the Winds would place you at the bottom of the crashing Bridal Veil Falls. Entry is time stamped so one has to book tickets earlier on the trip and will be given a time for entry. Entrance for adults is 14 usd and children is 11 usd. Ponchos are provided just like in Maid of the Mist. You will be entering underground beneath the falls where one will travel back through time with photos of the falls taken years ago. From there, there will be wooden decks going up until the Hurricane Deck where one can experience storm like conditions. It was exhilarating!

BIRTHDAY DINNER AT RAINFOREST CAFE

Did I forget to tell that it was also my daughter’s 6th year birthday? The reason why we embarked on this trip actually. And to celebrate it for dinner we went to Rainforest Cafe which was a walking distance from the falls. It was a long wait for us to be seated though so its really best if you come in early.

Also, be sure to check out the falls at night. The lights are amazing!

Going home was as easy as visiting the falls. We just took the same bus to Buffalo and from Buffalo, we made a little detour before hopping on the Greyhound Bus. We took uber to take us to where the original Buffalo Chicken Wings started at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York.

It was such a memorable trip especially after the pandemic. Right now we are on the planning phase of getting to Niagara Falls again but this time on the Canadian side. :))))))