12 Best Sights in Niagara Falls and Western New York, New York

Dive into Niagara's other water wonder. This is a close encounter with more than 1,500 aquatic animals, including sharks, piranhas, sea lions, octopus, and moray eels. The aquarium has sea-lion demonstrations and penguin feedings daily, and an outdoor harbor-seal exhibit.

A guided-missile cruiser, destroyer, and a World War II submarine are on display at this 6-acre waterfront site, the largest inland naval park in the nation.

Exhibits cover everything from anthropology to zoology. One exhibit uses the stories of three mummies to explore what daily life was like for ordinary citizens in ancient Egypt.

Endangered Amur (Siberian) tigers, Asian elephants, and Indian rhinos are among the nearly 1,000 wild and exotic animals found in this natural setting in Delaware Park. The grounds include an interactive, mock, field-research station, and a rain-forest exhibit. There's also an on-site children's zoo, which features farm animals historically found in the Erie Canal area.

The Ride of Steel will have your heart racing faster than the 70 mph this roller coaster reaches. It's one of six coasters at this theme park, which has more than 100 rides in all. The Viper coaster turns you upside down five times. The water park has the Big Kahuna—a more than 700-foot-long, twisting tube ride—the Grizzly Run rapids, a log flume, a wave pool, and various twisted chutes and slides. The complex includes a 20,000-seat concert amphitheater, eateries, a hotel, and a mammoth campground with 1,200 sites.

More than 200 sculptures by prominent local, national, and international artists are displayed in a variety of natural settings at this 400-acre park. Kids enjoy touching and climbing on the pieces, which actually is allowed here. About 10 mi of hiking trails vein the park, which is 7 mi north of Ellicottville. Ask for directions at your hotel or bring a map of the area, as it's a bit off the beaten path.

The old factory contains two operating carousels—one from 1916 and a smaller "kiddie carousel" from the 1940s—as well as a menagerie of hand-carved carousel animals, some quite elaborate.

Martin's Fantasy Island has more then 100 rides, including a wooden roller coaster, a 140-foot-tall swing ride, and a petting zoo, and a water-park area with a wave pool, swirling slides and chutes, and a log-flume ride.

Niagara Falls generates power at one of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world (the largest in New York State). The visitor center, 4½ mi north of the falls, has more than 50 hands-on exhibits, including an operating model-size generator, and educational displays on energy efficiency and hydroelectric power generation. Atop the Robert Moses Power Plant, the visitor center has sweeping views of the Niagara Gorge.

More than 400 rare and unique bicycles and related antiques and memorabilia are on display at one of the largest bicycle museums in the world.

Photos, exhibits, and memorabilia pay tribute to western New York's steel workers and what was once the largest steel plant in the world, Bethlehem Steel. The museum is open only three days a week from 10 to 2.

Rare and one-of-a-kind toys are on display at this museum, which also houses a collection of Fisher-Price toys from 1931 to the present; a huge fully furnished dollhouse; circa-1970 puppets from the locally syndicated Commander Tom Show; and changing exhibits. The Fisher-Price toy store is next door.