fiona

We will be visiting NY in August and want to drive to Niagara Falls. How long do you think we should allow to do this and how easy is the access from NY and route? We have two boys of 17 and 15 what sites would we all enjoy and are their any skateboarding spots for them? Also is family accommodation easy to find in Niagara or should we pre-book?

Paul Rabe

If you get out your map, you'll see that New York City to Niagara Falls CAN be driven in one day of non-stop travel, but a two day trip would (with a few stops along the way) would be better. The route is simple -- New York Thruway the whole way.

Cheryl

I agree with the above poster ... you can make the drive in one day, but it will pretty much be a non-stop drive(except for brief rest stops)on interstate highway. You may want to give yourself extra time for side trips. Also, you will probably want a couple days in Niagara Falls to see and enjoy the area. I highly recommend staying on the Canadian side of the Falls. This is where most of the activities, attractions, and better accomodations are. Since you are going in August, a busy tourist time, I would definitely recommend getting accomodations ahead of time.

Owen O'Neill

Just a suggestion - do not take Route 87/90 (NYS Thruway) the entire distance. It's faster, cheaper and offers better scenery if you follow Rte 80 West (direct from the George Washington Bridge heading through the Delaware Water Gap, then take Rte 380 West to Scranton PA and pick up Rte 81 North which leads to Rte 90 West in Syracuse. The entire drive can be completed in 7 hours, about 1 1/2 hours faster than going through Albany. If stretching the drive out to two days I'd encourage you to head northwest shortly after leaving Binghamton to drive through Ithaca NY and the Finger Lakes region along your way. Southwest of Rochester just past the Finger Lakes is Letchworth State Park. It's not well known outside of the region but is a spectacular site with an enormous gorge many miles in length and many scenic waterfalls, some quite large. Well worth a visit and once one gets on Rte 90 West from there, it's only a few hours to Niagara Falls (I mention this because Rte 90 from Albany to Buffalo is mostly falt and not scenic).

ellen

If you split the trip into 2 days, consider stopping in Cooperstown to see the Baseball Hall of Fame.

me

Absolutely, make a reservation.