How to see Niagara Falls in one day from Toronto
Is a day trip from Toronto to Niagara Fall worth it? What is the best way to travel from Toronto to Niagara falls and is there a bus to Niagara Falls from Toronto or do you have to get a car? This post addresses these are other practical concerns we had before we took a day trip to this natural wonder.
Our day trip from Toronto to Niagara Falls was one of the highlights of our summer in Canada.
I had always dreamed of seeing the falls, but I had always worked on the assumption that they were a remote natural wonder requiring preparation and planning to be visited.
As it turned out, I was wrong.
Niagara Falls are within easy driving distance from Toronto and they are reachable by car or with organized tours.
We visited Niagara Falls with the kids and the kids and opted for a day tour by bus from Toronto. It was an excellent choice however, you can easily follow this same itinerary on your own, with some planning.
This is our one day Niagara Falls itinerary
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What is the best way to travel from Toronto to Niagara falls?
If you drive, the most comfortable way to reach Niagara is by car.
The falls are about 130 KM from Toronto and the roads are excellent.
If like us, you prefer not to drive, there are many services offering organised day trips by coach or mini bus.
The bus tours have several advantages if you want to explore also attractions on the way between Toronto and the Falls.
The one we took for instance stopped at Niagara-on-the-lake, which is a super pretty town worth a stop and also got us to a winery where we were able to taste the local ice wine.
You can plan both these activities yourself however, the winery stop was much better not having to drive as it meant we could both enjoy it!
The organized buses from Toronto to Niagara Falls tend to all follow the same itinerary and tend to always include a stop in Niagara on the lake, a local winery the floral clock, the vortex and of course the falls themselves.
Some also have additional stops: you can have a look at prices and exact itinerary here
The bus tour we chose was a well-run, not-too-packed with activities tour that suited us and the kids. If we were to drive, we would follow the same itinerary with only one modification: I would leave the winery at the end.
Toronto to Niagara Falls one day itinerary
Bus tour to Niagara Falls from Toronto stop 1: Wine tasting
Until we went to Canada, we had no idea about the wine production of this region, but Ontario is the home of over 100 wineries and its production is as varied as the number of producers suggests.
I like wine, but my (limited) knowledge mostly covers Italian wines, so I was delighted to widen my wine appreciation horizons, especially since I heard of wine with a name that intrigued me: icewine.
Icewine is one of Ontario’s treasures.
It is a wine produced from grapes left to freeze naturally on the vine and the experts described it as luscious, aromatic, sweet but with a backbone of acidity that makes it perfectly balanced.
My non expert taste would define it as: delicious!
We learned all about this wine on our first stop, which was at a local vineyard and included a wine tasting.
The bus tour dropped us at the winery shops, an elegant outlet surrounded by a beautiful vineyard, where they treated us to a taste of their best wines (the kids got grape juice).
We sampled three varieties: I truly enjoyed them and probably would have even ordered some bottles for shipping, if I hadn’t found them badly matched with my morning latte.
The visit was our first stop of the day and I can’t help but thinking how much better it would have been to get there at the end of the day.
I imagine the vineyard would have been beautiful at sunset and a glass of wine shared with the companions of a day at the falls, would have been a great way to wrap up the trip.
But that’s what happens with pre-scheduled tours: the comfort sometimes means a compromise on your ideal running of the day.
Our party anyway seemed to have different views on this and, orders placed for worldwide shipping, we were on the go again.
The following three stops included the flower clock, a non-descript fast food/restaurant and the lovely town of Niagara on the lake.
Toronto to Niagara falls bus tour, stop 2: Niagara on the lake
I had first heard about Niagara on the lake during a casual conversation with a woman sitting next to me on a plane journey in Europe.
We were chatting about my upcoming trip to Toronto and she said I had to see Niagara on the lake as it was ‘Christmas town’.
As soon as we got there, I saw was she meant. Niagara on the lake is a super cute town that seems to have jumped out of a postcard.
Quaint shops selling crafts, old-style ice cream parlors, white fences: you almost imagine white horse carriages to come from around the corner.
The kids enjoyed it immensely and reacted to it as they would to a fairy village, with the added advantage of an abundance of (delicious but overpriced) ice cream and delicious-looking macaroons.
We adults also enjoyed the cute surroundings, even in the short 20 minutes we had.
Niagara on the lake is a pretty, picture-perfect town, and the adjective that comes to mind to describe it is the same often used in its official tourist materials: lovely.
Our eyes full of flowery windows and stomach of delicious ice cream, we got back on the bus, finally ready to see the waterfalls and their uncompromising power.
Toronto to Niagara highlight: Niagara falls
As you get closer to the falls, the bus stops become more frequent and you start slowly perceiving how powerful nature is in this beautiful of the world.
The first glimpse of the falls’ might is at the vortex, where you can stop for photos but nothing prepares you for a close encounter with the falls themselves!
Eventually, you the bus tour arrives at the highlight we have all been waiting for: Niagara Falls
I had heard many things about the waterfalls: some friends said they were ‘beautiful’, others told me there were underwhelmed. But this is what I thought.
For me, Niagara Falls are one of the most, if not the most amazing natural feature I have ever seen.
I found them beautiful, powerful, awe-inspiring and I know that if I could see them every day I would never tire of them.
We caught a first glimpse of the falls from afar, at the drop off point of all bus tours.
There, two roads meet: on your right the one leading to the city, with its skyscrapers, bars, hotels and entertainment joints.
On your left, you have a long scenic walk along the high banks of the river, at the end of which the waterfalls beckon, glimmering in the sunlight.
How to visit Niagara Falls
The name Niagara Falls comprises three different falls: American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls (divided by a strip of land called Luna island) and Canadian Horseshoe Falls, the biggest of all, at the far end of the photo above.
The Horseshoes Canadian fall moves 2,271,247 liters of water per second, but this number didn’t mean much to me until the moment I first set my eyes on the fall and the cloud of water its power lifts over the river.
The enormity of this number only started to make sense to me as I walked towards the belvedere and then when I found myself face to face with the water.
By far the best way to see the falls and appreciate their power and magnitude is to get a ride on the ferry.
Our ticket was included in the cost of the bus tour and so, after seeing the falls from above, we were ready to get wet (literally) and joined the cheerful crowd of tourists ready to board the ferry.
The ferry has the evocative name of Hornblower.
It has open decks and when you board you are given colorful plastic overalls. I can’t urge you enough to wear them: they are not the most protective of gear, but looking at the soaked, laughing faces of the crowd who got the tour before us, we knew the falls would touch us in more than one way.
The boat ride was the highlight of our day. Slowly, the ferry brought us at the bottom of the first two falls, the ‘small’ ones.
Then it slowly moves to get close to the bigger one, the horseshoe one.
Here is where the soaking really begins and for the first minute, in our case, where the screaming of the children reached its climax.
Our boy screamed and laughed at the same time (‘Guarda mamma!’), while his little sister screamed in terror and calmed down only burying her head in my chest.
Reassuring her meant that I got distracted while we were approaching the fall and when I suddenly lifted my head up to see where we were, the falls was towering over me, its might so vast it took me a while to take it in.
It was so beautiful, so powerful and so all-encompassing that despite the crowds I felt that, for that moment, it was me and the fall alone. If I could, I would have bowed to it. The only other place that evoked a similar feeling was a smaller yet stunning waterfall: Gullfoss, Iceland
I left the ferry giddy with excitement and humbled by the power of the water.
I knew no other moment could match the power of that ferry ride, but the rest of the day was nonetheless pleasant. The waterfalls area is made for tourists and it’s easy to enjoy the view, rest on the lawn and browse the souvenir shops.
Soon, it was time to get back on the bus.
Just before boarding the bus again, we noticed a flight of marked with a small, inviting sign: ‘to the US’.
We climbed and found ourselves in front of a locked door marked with the same words, opening onto a long bridge crossing the river into American territory.
We had no time and no visa to cross over, but the seed of another family adventure was planted (you can find our many family adventures in the USA here.
We had a fantastic time at Niagara Falls and whether you decide to opt for a self drive adventure or a bus tour, we believe the falls will capture your heart as much as they captured ours. Safe travel planning!
