we will be in NY in september and have a few days to spare. i have always wanted to see niagara falls, and thought maybe we could squeeze it in to our trip. my big concern is that it's a lot of driving for a short visit. we are 2 adults, 2 kids (ages 7 and 4), and a baby (6 months). we are pretty adventurous travelers, and always cram too much in to our trips, but we like it that way! here is my idea, and maybe you can persuade me one way or another...

sunday night - leave family in westchester in evening (6pm or so), drive to corning and stay the night there.

monday - corning museum of glass in morning, watkins glen SP in afternoon, then in early evening drive to buffalo/niagara area

tuesday - "do" niagara falls (see the falls, maid of the mist), then drive to rochester for the night, with an early morning flight out on wednesday

obviously, we'd miss out on a lot in the finger lakes, but we can't realistically do wine tours, etc with the kids. i would like to check out ithaca a bit, and i saw something about the strong museum in rochester, but given our flight options and other restrictions, that's what we have to work with.

ew have successfully done road trips with our kids by doing driving in the evenings like that, although i suppose we'd miss a lot of scenery by driving at night.

also, this would be mid-september, so i think we'd be missing out on foliage.

if you have any other ideas about scenic nature spots in the NYC vicinity, we might consider that alternative, and just fly out of LGA instead of ROC. i looked into the catskills (my guess at the best chance for leaves turning that early), but it didn't seem good for my kids' ages. i could be wrong though. we have 2 days to work with.

thanks in advance!

With half a day or more, I'd say "Go for it!".

Long ago, we used to drive straight through from Chicago area to New England while the 4 kids slept. One time we did a brief detour to Niagara Falls and woke the kids around 5am just to spend half an hour beside the falls. They talked about that for years!

Yes, we did eventually go back later for a proper visit.

thanks for the quick response! and it sounds like you've done quite a bit with your kids, so that's encouraging. i'm glad we're not the only ones who do road trips through the night. it's dark and tiring for us, but the kids sleep, and the quiet in the car and lack of fighting and "are we there yet?" is really worthwhile

I truly think you and your kids will get a lot more out of adding time to Niagara Falls (even staying overnight on the Canadian side) than Watkins Glen and the Corning Museum. Can you adjust your timing?

LJ, you are probably right, but i didn't want to do such a long drive in one shot...

If you do stay overnight the town of Niagara on the Lake is a neat place to stay. Lots of shops, nice restaurants etc. Just a short drive to the falls. We stayed at a b&b in NOTL.

The Maid of the Mist is the best attraction to do. The other ones were so-so although there are some who would like the jet boats.

For parking go to the furthest parking lot from the falls on the Canadian side. It is so much cheaper and there are people movers to take you right to the falls.

Not sure what was decided on Passports. Do you need them to get back into the USA?

You should be in fine shape for your agenda... The drive from Westchester to Corning is a few hours so you will get a full nights rest... when you get to Watkins Glen SP you have a great option of parking in the lower lot and taking the shuttle bus to the top of the trail and walking back to your car...the trail is downhill, beautiful, and manageable but be prepared for a possibly cranky "carry me" 4 year-old...

Once the kids do the Hike, they will possibly nap in the car on the way to the Falls... you could be there at dinner time and start your Falls "Doing" by taking them down to the viewing area along Canadian gorge... If they are rested, consider a walk up Clifton Hill, just for the colors and sights...

The Strong Museum is highly recommended, however only the 7 year old would get the full benefit...

I say go for it, If your kids are anything like mine were, they recharge quickly and will pick up energy as you go along... Have Fun!

Watkins Glen is supposed to be a beautiful area. My dad lived just outside of there (he passed on last week).

To change the subject, Niagara is worth any miniscule time you have. It IS better from the Canada side, but whatever you can get in is great. Do NOT miss going on Maid of the Mist tour. My husband had to be DRAGGED on that (he HATES touristy stuff!) and after that experience, he actually apologized, saying he will never queston again my taste in sightseeing.

Our family, including 3 11-13 year old girls, loved Niagra Falls, Maid of the Mist and Watkins Glen. The Horseshoe Falls of NF are enormously impressive-the mist rises hundreds of feet at times. Watkins Glen can be hiked comfortably in a couple hours. Its paths carved out of the rock and falls are first rate.

meab
Will you just be on the American side? If so, you will catch Maid of the Mist from Goat Island. Time permitting, you can also do Cave of the Winds from Goat Island and it is great. Be sure to walk the island, you can get so close to Horseshoe Falls! The better view is from the Canadian side IMO but if you don't have time the offerings from the American side also make it so worthwhile. Of course go for it!

If your plans change and you can spend more time at the Falls, I disagree with the above poster about staying at Niagara on the Lake. Your kids would be sooooo bored. It's a cute little town but unless you're going to the Shaw, there is nothing to do but shop. If your plans change and you get to stay at Niagara Falls for the night, I recommend the Canadian side with a Fallsview room. Have a great trip!

We went in July, thougtht it was nice. Did maid of the mist, more maid of the shower....but fun and great pics. Amazing crowds of people...

Very nice time, I think you should go for it.

thanks for all of the positive responses. i thought for sure i'd get at least one comment about leaving the kids home/they'll never remember it/why are you traveling with an infant, etc. so the fact that every response was a "go for it", it's good ammunition in convincing my better half

garyt22, thanks for the tip on the shuttle at watkins glen. that is a great idea.

surfergirl, sorry about your dad.

hmmm, thanks for the perspective of your girls on the same itinerary points.

cd and others: i think we'll definitely attempt to see the falls from both sides, not sure where we'll stay yet. i don't think we can do the cave of the winds because of my 4 year old and the baby. i thought i read somewhere that you had to be a minimum height. we'd definitely do maid of the mist though! my friend went with her baby last year, and it was fine.

thanks for all the input everyone!

We really loved Cave of the Winds, I'm not sure how the baby would do because you will have to hold him/her and you need to wear the plastic "raincoats" you will get wetter here than on Maid of the Mist. If your 4 year old is adventurous he might like it. If you cannot make it to the Canadian side, you will get a great view from the Maid of the Mist if you take it from the NY side. I'm not quite sure how you will do at Watkins Glen. The baby will definitely need to be carried and your 4 year old might get exhausted. If you go, you MUST take the shuttle up (about $3 a person) and walk down. I would not recommend walking round-trip with your children. The Corning museum has several demonstrations that your 7 year old will enjoy. You can get a AAA discount at Corning.

thanks debsnj...

we have a baby bjorn carrier that we use for the baby all the time, so that's no problem.

thanks for the 2nd heads-up on watkins glen. i didn't realize the hike was going to be that strenuous. from what i read, you could walk behind a waterfall, and i thought that would be neat. our 4 year old will probably be ok hiking, but my guess is that someone will end up having to carry the 7-year-old!!!

anyhow, once we take the shuttle to the top, any idea on how long it takes to hike down? do we pass a waterfall?

meab
If you are staying at the Falls and want a recommendation let me recommend Embassy Suites. Their cooked to order complimenty breakfast is really good and their fallsview suite is wonderful. We've stayed there twice and will do it again. Check out their packages: http://www.embassysuitesniagara.com/

The hike is not that strenous and if you take the shuttle it is all downhill or flat and you will be walking on a slate path. Try to google the park. I was just there in July and if I remember correctly it is 1.5 miles. It is very pretty, you will see waterfalls and get a little wet. I am an overly cautious mother about these things in the fact that I would make my kids wear sneakers (my daughter was in camp so we went childless). Growing up in Brooklyn it was very unique to me.

Good advice here.

bratsandbeer's take on Maid of the Mist re being the best attraction is the same as mine.

If you only have time to do one, do that one- from the Canadian side if possible.

I do agree too that with kids the ages of yours, the touristy and funky trappy Canadian side jumble of "stuff" might hold some activities that they would like.

We did the Maid of the Mist, Cave and all the rest, everything but the jetski- from the Canadian side. And Maid of the Mist at another time from the American side.

And Maid of the Mist, IMHO, was the only one which lived up to its price and hype. And if you are there for a short time, that's the one to do.

Having kids your kids' ages, I would definitely stay on the Canadian side, IN Niagara, not outside, and go to one that also had a waterpark admission.

There is a fabulous waterpark WITHIN the old, old hotel (actually built around and connected to this old, old hotel-used to film Marilyn Monroe's Niagara)-and I can remember a man with a baby on his chest floating away there. LOL!

It's a touristy jumble of stuff that most high end travelers hate, LOL, but for 1/2 a day or a day with kids your kids ages- that's exactly where I would go. Take water and snacks with you. A small bottle of water is about $5 and a very inferior stand for hot dog or any sandwich or fudge is literally a higher price than Disney right there.

And park where bratsandbeer details, if you are just coming through for about 1/2 day or so.

If you want to stay there- this old, old hotel is not expensive, and has no air conditioning (it was 95 and hottest week in 3 years when we were there and we had top floor with balcony looking at falls- night lights etc.)for very, very little. The elevator was from 1930 something and was hard to manage for the top two floors. The name started with a B. I'll try to look it up if you are interested.

From there you could walk right into the connected waterpark and casino on the other side.

I got wet every time I got on/off the elevators from people with tubes etc.

Cave of the Winds is only on the NY side.

There's another Cave venue on the Canadian side where you can walk out, within, onto and behind the falls of water- you do get wet. It is not Cave of the Winds. When it is really windy, they have the cave pathways/walks blocked in ways that doesn't let you get the full skin soaking brunt of oversplash- so I thought it was super wrong to charge that kind of price, when much of it was blocked.

IMHO, the views from the Canadian side are much better.

thanks for all of the great responses. jj5, i think we'll probably skip the hotel with indoor waterparks, although i've read a lot of good things about them. i just don't think we have the time to really devote to that. (anyhow, we are floridians and do plenty of swimming, etc.!)

now i'm off to research this whole canadian vs. US cave thing.

i'm also contemplating possibly skipping watkins glen and getting to niagara earlier to take more advantage of that area.

at least our tickets are now booked!