My kids recently had a Friday off of school and we decided to make use of our passports and take a quick trip to Niagara Falls!
Did you know it’s only a 5-hour drive from Columbus?* Before planning our trip, I always thought it was much further away! My kids are currently 6 and 9 years old and a 5-hour drive, while still long, is pretty doable! *Note: Travel time varies due to how long it takes to cross the border. Our trip into Canada on a Thursday afternoon took 15 minutes, but our trip back into the USA took about 45 minutes on a Saturday morning!
We arrived in Niagara around 4pm, opting to stay on the Canadian side of the falls. It was a splurge, but if you can stay in a hotel room facing the falls, it will 100% be worth it! We stayed at the Marriott Fallsview.
Getting to see the falls at all times of the day was so much fun! At night, the falls change colors and the kids got so excited every time there was a new color! This picture above was just one of the beautiful daytime views we had from our room!
The main attraction we planned was taking a boat tour into the falls! We chose to take the one through Niagara City Tours vs. the popular Maid of the Mist as it was closer, on the Canadian side.
The boat ride was my favorite part of the trip! It’s a 20 minute ride, which travels past the smaller American Falls straight into Horseshoe Falls. It then sits in the mist of the falls for a solid 5+ minutes! Despite the poncho, you do get pretty wet! The kids loved it!
After the boat ride, we spent some time in the carnival-like Clifton Hill area. Be warned though, the activities are not cheap and can add up quickly! Considering this was vacation, we obliged our kids with several hours of fun, but just a word to the wise! The kids favorite activities were the SkyWheel, Dinosaur Mini Golf and the Go-Kart Speedway! One way to save some money and bundle together a few adventures is to get the Clifton Hill Fun Pass. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not was very expensive and not worth it in my opinion.
We stopped at the Rainforest Cafe (within Clifton Hill) for lunch, which was a huge hit with my kids! They loved the fun atmosphere and everyone liked their food, which doesn’t happen very often!
You could easily spend the whole day at Clifton Hill, but after a few hours, the kids were in need of a break, so we went back to the hotel to rest and catch some more beautiful views of the falls!
We got pizza for dinner from Zappi’s (excellent, by the way!) and headed back down to the falls for one last up-close view. Our hotel was on a huge hill beside the falls and the easy way down was via an incline railway. It cost $28, but was well worth it with kids!
We packed up and left the next morning, making the whole trip to Niagara just over 36 hours. For my kids, I think it was the perfect amount of time! There are more in-depth tours you can take of the falls, which I would have enjoyed, but I know it would have been a struggle with kids.
Overall, it was a great trip! If you have a passport and a few days to spare, you might considering take a trip too! For trips in Ohio, click here.
