Thanks for the update, OP. Appreciate the details, especially since I'd like to go. I'm always curious how trips went for posters who ask questions on the Travel forum.

Op again. I forgot to mention that we did make it to St. Catherines and saw the church where Harriet Tubman worshipped when she lived in Canada. They did a nice job of retelling the story on plaques outside the church. There's also a really nice memorial dedicated to those who fought against slavery in Niagara-on-the-lake. It's called Voices of Freedom. I think I mentioned that we had been reading a book about Harriet Tubman with our boys prior to the trip, so seeing both of these sites meant a lot to all of us. The book was fron the childhood of famous American series, which I highly recommend: Harriet Tubman: Freedom's Trailblazer (Childhood of Famous Americans) https://a.co/d/6wjOmgP

OP here. I wanted to thank everyone for all the advice shared on this thread. We had an awesome trip to Niagara Falls area, mostly as a result of all the great suggestions we received here. We actually drive back to DC tomorrow. Here's a synopsis of our trip.

We drove directly to Niagara Falls from DC. We stayed at the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel on the Canadian side from Saturday night through Tuesday. We loved the hotel, the location, the views, and the food. Even the pool had an amazing view of the Falls.

Restaurants in Niagara Falls: We had great dining experiences in Niagara Falls. Table Rock restaurant had amazing views and great food. Sheraton Fallsview restaurant had fantastic views and really good buffet dinner and brunch. Prime restaurant at the Crown Restaurant had amazing food and ok views. The ambiance there was a bit stuffy, but the food was superb.

Activity wise we did the Canadian voyage on the Falls, journey behind the falls, skylon tower, and Clifton hill activities.

Toronto: We only stayed in Toronto for one night. We stayed at the Delta Marriott hotel to catch a Lakers vs. Raptors game. Thanks to the poster who suggested we make dinner reservations at the CN Tower. The food was nice and the rotating view of Toronto was incredible. We also had brunch the following day at a restaurant called School, which was delicious.

Niagara-on-the-lake: We stayed here for three nights. Talk about beautiful. I loved it. We also needed the down time from all of the hustle of the previous days. We stayed in an airbnb walking distance from the town. We took long walks along the water. They have an incredible walking and biking path called the Niagara Parkway Rec trail. We enjoyed it immensely. We also had reserved a wine tasting in a private dome at Konzelmann Estate Winery for us and our 2 boys. It was delightful. The kids devoured their charcuterie boards and juice and we adults enjoyed ours with wine.

Thanks again for helping make our trip such a success. I hope that sharing these details will help others in planning a similar trip to this area of Canada.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the great suggestions. I've made reservations at the CN Tower and a winery in Niagara on the lake area (one of those private enclosed bubble igloos so the kids can come). Does anyone have any restaurants they'd recommend in either Niagara Falls or Niagara-on-the-lake area?

Smoke’s poutine is fun in Niagara Falls. Can’t say we had any other good food there

OP here. Thanks for all the great suggestions. I've made reservations at the CN Tower and a winery in Niagara on the lake area (one of those private enclosed bubble igloos so the kids can come). Does anyone have any restaurants they'd recommend in either Niagara Falls or Niagara-on-the-lake area?

Anonymous wrote:I've done this drive twice in the last few years and both times it took me 7.5 hours to get there. Left at around 7:30am and made it there by 3pm - didnt even have to stop to get gas. Took an hour nap at the hotel and then walked around the Falls and Clifton Hill. If you have time during your trip, I suggest making the drive to Toronto and spending a day there. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from Niagara, but less with no traffic.

Exactly what we did. Everything in Clifton Hill is open really late so we stayed out until 1 am with our tween, then did a second day in Niagara and headed to Toronto in the evening (traffic was terrible)

Anonymous wrote:OP here - one more question for those who have been to the area. We plan on visiting St. Catherines as I understand Harriet Tubman lived there at some point, and the church she attended may still be there. We are learning about Harriet Tubman with the boys and so plan on making a visit out to the town while there. Is there anything else unique about the town or fun that we should be aware of?

She don't live there anymore.

Anonymous wrote:Wayne gresky vineyard was pretty cool for both kids and adults

Is that a play on the name of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky?

Wayne gresky vineyard was pretty cool for both kids and adults

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were just there. Maid of the Mist open April 4.

Yep, we saw that. We are staying on the Canadian side so we'll do their version of Maid of the Mist, which opens on March 28th.

https://www.cityexperiences.com/niagara-ca/city-cruises/voyage-to-the-falls-boat-tour/

When we went a few years ago in April, they didn't open till May 1. We missed it because I hadn't checked opening dates.

We did go a few years later in July.

Wonder why they are now opening early.

Western NY, including Rochester and Buffalo, and Niagara Falls are in the path of the total solar eclipse this spring, which is why everything is planning to open early.