Niagara Falls US vs. Canada Side

[amblt]

Originally Posted by grumpy0374

Left the Falls area today after spending 5 days in the area. Stayed at Branches RV Park on Grand Isle. Beautiful park, huge sites, Xtra clean. No wifi but hot spot at office. No cable, but 25 or so OTA channels.
Visited falls on US side. Aside from falls Mist cruise was very disappointed. Entire area is in need of some serious up-grades. Streets crummy, boarded up store fronts all over the area. Lousey food and resteraunts. Center at entrance to Maid of Mist dirty, filthy, needs repair.
Went to Canada side two days later. What a night and day difference. Busy, vibrant, clean. Didn't see any boarded store fronts. Name brand and some good independant resteraunts.
Canada should be praised for what they have done to the area. US should be ashamed that such an area with such a popular draw as the falls is in such disrepair. Looks "shoddy" when compared to Canada.
Did have a good time visiting Lockport/Erie Locks, Fort Niagara, large very nice outlet mall just off I-190 at exit 23...200 shops and not one vacancy.
If you do go to the area, definately go visit the Canada side.
Grumpy

Thanks so much for the kind review. Some of our side is a little less desirable, but for the most part very nice.

[oldsmasma]

Glad you enjoyed your visit Grumpy. Next time come to Northern Ontario and we can let our Lexingtons have a play date.

[grumpy0374]

Originally Posted by oldsmasma

Glad you enjoyed your visit Grumpy. Next time come to Northern Ontario and we can let our Lexingtons have a play date.

Already planning our mid April into mid May trip to the N.E. Canada Provinces.
Looking at 4-5 weeks just traveling around the entire area.
Grumpy

[NJKris]

Grumpy's observations were exactly consistent with my friend's description when she visited a couple years ago. Run down and depressing. She never got the chance to visit the Canadian side, and was so turned off I guess she'll never go again. She even cut her trip short to get the heck out of there.

[A32Deuce]

Canada side is very nice. Much to see and do there.

[HESN22]

Thank you for the kind words ... the Falls area is a source of pride for us Canadians ... if you are ever in the area again, highly recommend visiting Niagara On The Lake ... beautiful spot.

[A32Deuce]

Been there, done that! Didn't get the shirt though![emoji3][emoji3]

[kenandterry]

Originally Posted by grumpy0374

Already planning our mid April into mid May trip to the N.E. Canada Provinces.
Looking at 4-5 weeks just traveling around the entire area.
Grumpy

Grumpy......

The Canadian Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island)
are very laid back and incredibly scenic. We did 6 weeks ourselves last summer, and I mean August into September, and would’ve stayed longer if we could.

However.....In April and May, the camping season hasn’t typically arrived yet, and it’ll be almost impossible to find any campgrounds at that early in the year. You’re taking chances RV-ing that early. Not sure where you’re planning on staying at night.

[grumpy0374]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

Grumpy......

The Canadian Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island)
are very laid back and incredibly scenic. We did 6 weeks ourselves last summer, and I mean August into September, and would’ve stayed longer if we could.

However.....In April and May, the camping season hasn’t typically arrived yet, and it’ll be almost impossible to find any campgrounds at that early in the year. You’re taking chances RV-ing that early. Not sure where you’re planning on staying at night.

We can postpone that trip till Sept into early Oct. We usually take two longer 6 week trips a year, and it really dosen't matter if we go there early in year or later in Sept. We're very flexible as to times and length as we're both retired and can travel anytime it suits us.
Would we have any problems going in late April and entire month of May, or still too early?
We generally try to avoid any long trips in late June, July August as we enjoy traveling and camping in cooler weather.
Grumpy

[SilverbackMel]

American side has been the “not chosen” side for at least 50 years. Everyone travels x to Canada and enjoys the beauty.

[Sgfrye]

Originally Posted by SilverbackMel

American side has been the “not chosen” side for at least 50 years. Everyone travels x to Canada and enjoys the beauty.

Wife and I visited Niagara Falls this past September Labor Day week. Camped. At branches of Niagara. Beautiful park. We visited Niagara fall on the us side and Canadian side. Canadian side was much better. Well worth the drive up to Lake Ontario and the small town of Niagara on the lake. FYI you need a passport to travel back into the United States.

[randman132]

Originally Posted by grumpy0374

Left the Falls area today after spending 5 days in the area. Stayed at Branches RV Park on Grand Isle. Beautiful park, huge sites, Xtra clean. No wifi but hot spot at office. No cable, but 25 or so OTA channels.
Visited falls on US side. Aside from falls Mist cruise was very disappointed. Entire area is in need of some serious up-grades. Streets crummy, boarded up store fronts all over the area. Lousey food and resteraunts. Center at entrance to Maid of Mist dirty, filthy, needs repair.
Went to Canada side two days later. What a night and day difference. Busy, vibrant, clean. Didn't see any boarded store fronts. Name brand and some good independant resteraunts.
Canada should be praised for what they have done to the area. US should be ashamed that such an area with such a popular draw as the falls is in such disrepair. Looks "shoddy" when compared to Canada.
Did have a good time visiting Lockport/Erie Locks, Fort Niagara, large very nice outlet mall just off I-190 at exit 23...200 shops and not one vacancy.
If you do go to the area, definately go visit the Canada side.
Grumpy

Being from New York State, when you visit the Falls,, you definitely go to the Canadian side. Getting there is easy driving over the Peace bridge, getting back over the Rainbow bridge is a nightmare. Always seems busy...REALLY busy!

[6forgram]

I agree. The Canadian side is so nice. I would never go back to the US side.

[justcruisin58]

Toronto is an hour away from just over the border on the Canadian side. Its Niagara Falls that you will be in.

[Clark Miller]

We were just there in June. We drove our small class C motorhome pulling a small car. We drove across Canada from Detroit just to see the falls on our way to the east coast. As we came into town on the Canadian side it was much like Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve day. We drove along the main road that parallels the falls. There were throngs of people walking along the sidewalk observing the view. We were for the most part looking over them and the view was pretty spectacular. I was trying to find a place to pull over and park. There were a number of pay parking lots that wanted $25 just to park a car. We drove around for some time looking for a place to park and finally gave up and went across the bridge to the New York side. The US border official directed us to Niagara Fall state park. We followed the signs and parked in an RV lot in the park, took the trolley to the drop off point for the Mist boat ride, took the elevator ride down to the water level and rode the boat up the river to see the falls. It was pretty spectacular. We got back on the trolley and took it to a number af other viewing points and then back to the motorhome. We were very much pleased and satisfied with our viewing of the falls from the US side. So if you are in a motorhome and don’t have days to see or want to see commercial attractions the Niagara Falls state park on the US side works great.

[Treadltly]

So we planned a trip to the area this summer and during the research of what boat to go on I came across some interesting articles about the two boat operators and their contracts. One with a history of the boats is:

The inside story on Glynn, Maid of the Mist and Hornblower Cruises

I can't help think that the NY side could be much better if the State Park received more of the money from the Maid of the Mist revenue and invested more in the park. We decided to go to the Canadian side and we had a great time. Stayed at the Niagara Falls KOA and used the Go Pass for the couple of days by the falls... Went to visit Toronto for a few more days staying at the Glen Rouge Campground. Train to downtown was an easy bike ride from the park. The only negative I can think of is the Toronto traffic. Ended up leaving real early in the morning while the rest of the family slept in order to avoid the stop and go on the highway...

[desuhu]

It was the same way in 2008 when we visited there. We stayed on the Canadian side at Jellystone Park RV park, had a rally there. Then we crossed the Rainbow bridge to the Niagara NY side and couldn't believe how dirty that town was. Didn't go back.

[itat]

IMO, everything in Niagara Falls, Ontario is nice except for 2 things - Clifton Hill (tourist trap) and restaurant prices. In addition to the Falls there is a nice casino and quite a few wineries. I agree with Clark Miller that you should not take a motorhome and expect to find a place to park it close to the Falls. The drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake is beautiful. Parking a motorhome in Niagara-on-the-Lake will also be challenging.

[gforgot]

Decided to take the grandkids to the falls this year, having been there many times in the past with our kids. Always stopped at Goat Island before hitting the falls. Tried this year also. Big mistake. The NY side is definitely not RV friendly anymore. Driving a 38 foot A around there was no fun. Couldn't park anywhere. Left for Canada. They have huge lots. Cheap (especially when you factor in the exchange rate). The lot at the rapids is enormous, and they offer free trolley service to and from the main falls area. Only $10 to park for the day. Canadian side was also sooooo much cleaner. I am pretty much done with the NY side. Had a great time as did the kids.

[ENE]

Like someone said the it's like night and day, the Canadian side was beautiful and the USA side was the poor side of town like Johnny Rivers said.
The the Canadian Sid we stop and split a cheeseburger w/fries and 2 beers $85 plus tip