Niagara Falls

Thundering across the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the US state of New York, the Niagara River drains four of the five Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron and Erie) over a 57-metre dolomitic limestone cliff on its journey to Lake Ontario. While the waterfall system consists of three distinct cataracts, namely the American Falls, delicate Bridal Veil Falls and the colossal, 790-metre-wide Canadian Horseshoe Falls, ninety percent of the river's volume plunges over the Horseshoe Falls, sending more than 2,800 cubic metres (680,000 gallons) of emerald-green water per second crashing into the misty amphitheatre below.

Because the American and Bridal Veil Falls face west and the Horseshoe Falls curves toward the north-west, the Canadian shoreline commands the uninterrupted, head-on panoramic view of all three waterfalls along the car-free Niagara Parkway promenade and Table Rock. Beyond riding into the spray aboard Niagara City Cruises and descending through the 1905 Niagara Parks Power Station Tunnel, following the river downstream reveals the turbulent Class 6 rapids of the White Water Walk and Whirlpool Aero Car, the 1812 heritage town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the world capital of Icewine. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls, Ontario is 130 kilometres (90 minutes' drive or an easy weekend GO Train journey) south of downtown Toronto via the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), and 45 kilometres (40 minutes across the Rainbow or Peace Bridge) north of Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) in New York State. Once you arrive at the Niagara Falls Train and Bus Terminal, the colour-coded WEGO Bus system (Blue, Red and Green Lines) carries visitors straight down to Table Rock, Clifton Hill and north along the gorge to the Whirlpool and Butterfly Conservatory. See getting to Niagara Falls and how WEGO buses and Adventure Passes work.

To wake up looking straight into the roaring cauldron of the Horseshoe Falls from your bed, book an upper-floor 'Fallsview' room along Fallsview Boulevard (connected to the river promenade in 60 seconds by the Falls Incline Railway). For families on a tighter budget who want arcades, casual restaurants and a 10-minute downhill walk to the boat dock, stay around Clifton Hill / Victoria Avenue. For couples and wine lovers seeking historic 19th-century charm away from neon signs, base yourself 25 minutes north on the shores of Lake Ontario in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Compare all three zones in where to stay in Niagara Falls.

Stand two metres from the roaring brink of the Horseshoe Falls at Table Rock, pull on a recyclable red poncho aboard the Niagara City Cruises 'Voyage to the Falls' catamaran, walk through the 670-metre subterranean tailrace tunnel of the Niagara Parks Power Station and Journey Behind the Falls, stroll beside 48 km/h Class 6 rapids at the White Water Walk and ride the 1916 Whirlpool Aero Car, take in the 236-metre view from Skylon Tower, cross the Rainbow Bridge on foot to Goat Island, and taste liquid-gold Icewine around Niagara-on-the-Lake. Full list in things to do in Niagara Falls.

Niagara's unique microclimate between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, sheltered by the limestone wall of the Niagara Escarpment, makes it Ontario's fruit basket and wine capital: orchard-fresh peaches, cherries and strawberries, farm-to-table tasting menus at winery estates like Peller, Two Sisters and Trius, Fallsview dining overlooking the illuminated cascades, and world-famous sweet VQA Icewine pressed from grapes frozen naturally on the vine at -8°C. Read more in our Niagara food and wine dining guide.

From the Neutral and Haudenosaunee Indigenous nations who named the thunderous strait Onguiaahra, to the pivotal 1812 Battle of Queenston Heights and Nikola Tesla's pioneering alternating-current hydroelectricity plants, the Niagara River corridor has shaped North American history for centuries.