My cousin Belik lives in the US, is 15 years younger than me, loves to camp, and had already been to Niagara Falls twice. I’m an Aussie, prefer hotels, and had never made it to the Falls. When our schedules aligned for 48 hours, we had very different ideas about how to use them. He wanted long hikes and camping on Lake Ontario. I wanted helicopter tours and boat rides. Ultimately, we agreed to a mix of both, and honestly, it turned out to be the perfect approach.
I’d always wanted to take a helicopter ride, and Niagara Falls seemed like the obvious place to finally check that off my list. We booked a 10-minute tour through Rainbow Air and paid $180 each for tickets on the day of. Because of some less-than-ideal weather, my cousin and I ended up having the entire helicopter to ourselves. Belik had been hesitant about the price before we took off, but his skepticism faded once we were airborne. Ten minutes doesn’t sound like much, but from up high, you really get to appreciate the sheer scale of the Falls. The Maid of the Mist boats below looked like tiny ants. It cost more than I’d usually spend, but it was the first thing I told people about when I got home. If you’ve only got the budget for one splurge here, honestly, make it this.
The Maid of the Mist tour runs about $30 per person, and boats leave fairly regularly throughout the day. We bought our tickets on the spot without any advance planning. Everyone receives a hooded poncho, so I knew we’d get wet. What I didn’t fully understand was just how wet until the boat turned toward the Falls and suddenly “mist” felt like a dramatic understatement. I felt the full force of water hitting from the front, and it was literally breathtaking. Despite wearing my poncho, I came off the boat soaked through but absolutely glad I’d done it.
Just in case I wasn’t wet enough already, I went straight from Maid of the Mist to the Cave of the Winds, a separate attraction with tickets sold at the entrance. Each ticket cost about $23 and came with another poncho. We walked boardwalks even closer to the water at the base of Bridal Veil Falls. The views were amazing, we got even wetter, and my shoes didn’t recover for the rest of the weekend. Three different perspectives in one day, from the air, from the water, and from the base. That felt like enough to say I’d properly experienced the Falls.
Walking Across an International Border in the Rain
While we waited for the weather to clear before our helicopter ride, Belik suggested we walk across the border from New York to Canada. As an Australian, the novelty of that appealed to me immediately. We don’t share a land border with anyone back home. It was pouring rain, so with our ponchos still on, we crossed on the Rainbow Bridge, which links Niagara Falls, New York, with Niagara Falls, Ontario. Crossing was free on foot going to Canada, and cost us $1 each coming back. The walk took about 15 minutes and gave us a panoramic view of the Falls, plus a chance to eat poutine because, well, we were in Canada.
We spent our first night in Niagara Falls itself, wanting to be close to the city’s biggest attractions. It was convenient, sure. But the city felt pretty crowded and very geared toward tourists, with lots of chain restaurants and souvenir shops that didn’t particularly appeal to us. After a single day there, we both felt we’d seen enough of the immediate downtown area.
One of our favorite discoveries was Lewiston, New York, a small town just 15 minutes away from the Falls. We enjoyed eating a fish fry riverside and watching the sunset at the Griffon Gastropub. After dinner, we had drinks at a local bar in town. We liked the area enough to return the next day to kayak the Niagara River from Lewiston. Our guide told us this stretch was once a crucial part of the Underground Railroad, where freedom seekers crossed into Canada. That historical context made the paddle feel far more meaningful than just a recreational activity.
Another trip highlight was our early morning hike along the Whirlpool Gorge in Whirlpool State Park just north of Niagara Falls. We had the trail almost entirely to ourselves, which was a refreshing contrast to the crowds downtown. Belik got his camping fix, too. We spent our second night in a yurt at Golden Hill State Park, about an hour’s drive from the Falls, sitting on Lake Ontario. It was a peaceful way to wrap up the weekend, even if I wasn’t sleeping in a five-star hotel. At least I was finally dry.
Travelers who visit Niagara Falls and only stick to the major tourist attractions in the city are really missing out. In the end, I believe the key to our successful 48 hours was treating the Falls as a starting point, not the star of the trip. The Falls deliver, absolutely. Book the helicopter, do the boats, walk to Canada, but don’t stop there. It’s easy to get caught up in the main attraction and forget to explore the surrounding region. That turned out to be just as worth our time.
