Niagra Falls
 

My husband and I (50+) will be flying into Buffalo NY this summer, and will drive to Niagra Falls (1st visit). We will have about 5 days to spend in the country. What are some other "must see" places/cities to visit? Since it's our first, and probably only trip to Canada, we'd like to get a good flavor for the country, as much as one can in a short visit. Thanks !

Okay, Canada is huge and there's enormous variation. Where are you from? US? (It's Niagara, by the way, not Niagra.) What are you interested in?

If you are only driving, consider Niagara Falls, Toronto, Montreal,Ottawa, and Quebec City as choices... 5 days is not enough to see all, but you could do two or three...

Is there a reason why you are flying to BUF instead of Toronto(YYZ)? Where do you live?

From Toronto, you cld so a "day trip" to the Niagara region.
You can take the train (Via Rail) from downtown Toronto to Montreal or to our nation's political capital which is Ottawa. Of course, you can also fly if that interests you. There are lots of daily flights from Toronto to Ottawa & Montreal. Check Air Canada & also Westjet airlines. You can drive or take the train or fly between Ottawa and Montreal.

Can you stretch your 5 days into 7?

When planning, keep in mind that July 1st is Canada Day & a national holiday.

do a day trip

Obreeze... some flights to BUF can be up to 70% cheaper than Toronto...

I used to fly out of BUF to Palm Beach,(PBI) Florida all the time. But, got I fed up w/ having to change planes & getting stuck somewhere. So, now I only go direct/nonstop from Toronto on Air Canada. It's usually about $400 return. I just checked BUF/PBI return for late April/early May. It's almost $600!!

As I'm sure you realize, Canada is awfully big and diverse, it would be difficult to get a flavour of the "country" in 5 days. Southern Ontario (where Niagara Falls and Toronto are) is one of the most densely populated and industrialized regions. You would see very different scenery if you travelled to northern Ontario, the East Coast, the prairies, the Rocky Mountains or the West Coast.

Soooo..... what are your interests? Being close to your age category, I would probably not plan more than a night or 2 right in Niagara Falls. The Falls are spectacular, but it's a touristy area. Nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake (a 20 minute scenic drive down the Niagara Parkway) is a quite charming Victorian town, famous for live theatre in the warmer months (the Shaw Festival), situated in the middle of Niagara wine country (some excellent wines, many wineries for touring and tasting) and offers some high end Inns and a good number of restaurants.

Toronto is a "Big City", but offers some very good attractions. These include the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), the Art Gallery of Ontario, Harbourfront which in summer has weekend music and culture festivals and open air dining overlooking the boats and islands. Also high quality Live Theatre, interesting ethnic neighbourhoods and eateries, many restaurants of every type you can think of.

In 5 days, you're probably not going to get much farther than Toronto-Niagara-Niagara-on-the-Lake. But if you can be somewhat specific about your interests perhaps we can target some other possibilities instead of these.

1st things first. Sorry about the typo with the spelling of Niagara....We're flying from the US into Buffalo because of suggestions I'd read about the higher prices flying directly into Canada. As far as interests, typically big cities are big cities wherever you go, so they're not a big draw for me. I'd prefer to see landscapes, quaint towns (NOTL)-things that make Canada CANADA. My husband is a big fisherman, but doubt he'll bring equipment with him. Perhaps we need to think of 2 trips-a 2-3 day to Niagara & towns close by, and then a separate trip another time to other regions.

ok well that changes things. In your OP you said you wanted to see cities!

NOTL is no longer "quaint". It certainly does not make Canada "Canada"! There is nothing Canadian "quaint" near Buffalo.

You shd fly to Toronto. Rent a car & drive north to Algonquin Park if you want to see "Canada". Your DH can rent fishing equipment.

I think that you have to think about the size of Canada-it is physically bigger than the US.
So if you think of the variation in types of places in the US, there is much diversity here too.

Ontario has beautiful lakes, small and large. The Muskoka and Kawartha areas have lots of things to see and do. Algonquin Park is very beautiful too. There are good fishing lakes within a 1 1/2 hour drive from Toronto (Rice Lake being one).

You could fly in to Buffalo (or Toronto) see Niagara and Niagara on the Lake and then head up to see some beautiful natural places north or east of Toronto.

OK. I tend to agree about Big Cities (although Toronto is also known for being exceptionally "multicultural), but landscapes in Southern/southwestern Ontario offer a bit of a challenge. It's relatively flat (except for the Niagara Escarpment) and what isn't covered by industry and urban/suburban development is mostly farmland.

Quaint towns - NOTL is already discussed. Nearby in Wine Country is the village of Jordan - a winery, a few interesting shops and a couple of dining options. Most of the other "quaint" towns I can think of would be a 2 or more hours drive away (perhaps Stratford - another theatre town with many shops and restaurants, many owned by graduates of the local famous Chef's School).

As suggested by irecommend, I also thought of Algonquin Park, probably my favourite place to get away into nature and scenery in southern Ontario. But, it's about a 4 hour drive from Niagara. Maybe that would work, 2 nights in the Niagara area, drive up to Algonquin area for 3 nights then back to Buffalo (although maybe this sounds too marathon-like, you'll have to let us know). If it appeals, we can provide more information.

To elaborate a little more on the Algonquin thought - this park is situated within the vast "Canadian Shield" (also called the Precambrian Shield) - which would definitely be considered a quintessentially Canadian landscape. Ancient granite bedrock, exposed by the glaciers, have created a landscape of rock outcrops interspersed with mixed hardood-coniferous forests and thousands of lakes. The northern shores of Georgian Bay offer some even more dramatic examples of this landscape (e.g. Killarney Provincial Park) as does Lake Superior Provincial Park - but these are starting to get rather far away.

Also, continuing on with the Stratford thought - there are in fact 3 charming villages within about 1 1/2 hours of each other which would be Stratford, St. Jacobs and Elora. St. Jacobs is situated just north of the small city of Kitchener-Waterloo in a region where many Mennonite farms dapple the landscape and their buggies are often seen. Elora is situated along a scenic River Gorge. These 3 towns would be between about 2 and 3 hours drive of Niagara. Although I do agree somewhat with OceanBreeze1 that the "quaintness" of NOTL and others could be debated (after all, they're all geared to attract tourism), but I think that could be said about most one-time "quaint" towns in the more developed parts of North America. (and I just realized that she also recommended Algonquin, so that makes 3 of us!)