Any must sees driving from Toronto to Niagara Falls?
 

Hi there,
we will be staying for 2 nights in Niagara Falls and will be leaving from Toronto. What detours should we make along the way?
We will be there in July.
Thanks
Donna

There's a little town called Niagra-on-the-Lake that is along your way...you'll see if it you look on the very northeast tip of Ontario right across from the New York border. There are cute little shops and eateries there, and a nice view of Lake Ontario. It's very nice!

I will be in Toronto next week (the second week of August) and plan on spending a day or portion of a day in Niagara. I will probably end up going to Niagara on Friday. I was considering renting a car to get there. The friend I am traveling with heard there was some road construction on the way and is freaking out and considering canceling the Niagara portion of the trip. How bad is the road construction realistically this year, and what times would you recommend leaving Toronto and Niagara to avoid the worst traffic times?

There is construction in Oakville and in St. Catharines. I live in Oakville and the construction here does not affect things too much but rush hour is to be avoided if possible. Relatives drove through St. Catharines at 1 AM today and had a major delay. This web site might help:
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/ You can look at live traffic cameras and see where the construction is on maps. It's hard to predict the impact of construction at any given time.

If you can wait until the weekend you can take the GO Train and not worry about traffic. These are commuter trains, nothing fancy but not expensive. www.gotransit.com

Check the Toronto Baseball schedule and anticipate massive delays along the Lakeshore if you are going during the CNE week.... To avoid that... take the train from either Niagara Falls USA or Canada... Its cheaper than the car, and Toronto is a great Walking City...

I read that wrong... but take the train anyway...

Are the Maiden of the Mist and other attractions within walking distance of the Niagara train station?

We drive from Michigan and enjoy driving around the Niagra wine country, stopping in for a wine tasting here, a fruit and vegetable stand there. Once we happened across a wedding at a winery with a string quartet providing the music. As midlohokigirl suggested, Niagara-on-the-Lake is also worth a trip.

If you purchase a peoplemover pass or adventure pass, you can travel using the multiple shuttles and stops at all of the attractions near the falls... If you dont have a car, you can get a wine bus tour through many of the hotels or they have great bike tours to the wineries...

Try www.niagaraparks.com for info. Look for the PeopleMover pages.

The GO Train / Via Train Station is a short cab ride from major attractions, and from there you can get on the Peoplemover buses that go everywhere interesting. (they may go to the station, but the maps are not clear.)


It's Maid of the Mist, not Maiden -- that may help on searches. This is the absolute best tourist thing to do in Canada, so don't miss it.

Intreresting things between Toronto and Niagara Falls -- it depends.

In Burlington / Hamilton, there is the Royal Botanical Gardens, great for flower lovers. Hamilton harboutr has the HMCS Haida ship open for tours. The Canadian Warplane Heritage museum at Hamilton airport is a great place. (warplane.com) (Some planes are away for a couple of days)

Near St. CAtharines, the St. CAtharines Museum has a viewing deck and lots of info about boats in the Welland Canal.

Assorted wineries once you get past Hamilton.

TRAFFIC: it's awful past Oakville most of the time, but don`t let some stick-in-the-mud use this as an excuse not to see one of the world`s most spectacular sights.

That said, forget weekends. Leave Toronto Monday to Thursday after 9 am and before noon, and you should be in good shape. I went to St. Catharines at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday July 4, and the traffic was sparse, but when I left at 2 heading back towards Toronto, the Niagara Bound was very busy.

Heading back to Toronto, lNiagara Falls or Niagara on the Lake mid-evening or later, and traffic wont`be bad.

I go from Oakville to the fork in the road in Burlington where traffic turns towards Niagara, two or three times a week, and avoid the Queen Elizabeth Way after 4 pm. anyday.

Going west is always worse than coming back eastbound.

When all is said and done, go to Niagara Falls, and go on the Maid of the Mist.

BAK

They posted that they were going in July... they must still be stuck in Traffic!!!

Garyt22, just noticed that :-) :-) :-)

From the third posting in this thread: >I will be in Toronto next week (the second week of August)<

BAK