Niagara has long been on my 'to do' list, so I was happy for my departure from Mexico to coincide with a stop-over in Toronto and, thus, a trip to the falls. I was lucky to be taken there by a friend I made on my Christmas tour of Costa Rica. As Toronto residents for about 6 years, she and her mother had been there before, but not for some time, and were happy to return.

I had originally planned to take a one-day guided tour from Toronto, which would have cost about $70 and involved an early-ish departure. We left a little later, just after 9am, and this was a good choice since we missed most of the commuter traffic. The drive from the city is quite long - over 2 hours - and the scenery is nothing really special, but that didn't matter. I was just excited to be off to see the falls at long last. As we approached all the usual markings of a North American tourist trap started popping up: cheap motels, all-you-can-eat buffets and numerous tourist information offices. These aren't quite like in the UK, where they tend to be council run, but are independently owned and operated and therefore generally trying to sell you something. That said, the one we pulled into happily gave us a free map and circled some places of interest. They also offered free loos - something people like my mother would very much appreciate - and there was a small shop where you could pay typical touristy things, from ponchos to postcards. If you didn't want to purchase here or in downtown Niagara, most of the stuff could also be bought at the airport and in the city of Toronto.

We drove for a few more minutes and then parked behind the Skylon Tower, in a cheap all day car park. The only problem was, the machines' card readers were all broken, and we struggled to find anywhere nearby to get change as this wasn't any kind of 'official' car park, but just really a gravelly space someone had roped off. From here, we walked round the tower and onto Niagara Parkway where I could finally hear, if still not see, the falls. We passed the Casino, and then stumbled upon the 'Falls and Firkin' which I just had to take a picture of - those firkins get everywhere!

There is a walkway that takes you to the incline railway for access to the lower level, and though it takes barely a minute (57 seconds, in fact), I was very happy to go on this since I'm a sucker for any kind of funicular or mountain railway. It costs $2, or if you have an all day transport ticket for the People Mover system, you can hop on for free. The railway is the world's slowest incline railway, with a maximum speed of 190 feet per minute, though the distance it covers is only 10 feet. It can take 40 people each trip, and you can fit in children's pushchairs, but it's not wheelchair accessible. If you don't want to pay the couple of dollars it costs, you can descend via some steps, though I didn't see any right nearby. We rode down and then walked back in the direction we had come, though now on the water level, stopping for numerous photos of both the Horseshoe and American Falls which had become clearly visible as well as audible by this point. Nothing quite prepares you for your first glimpse of the millions of cubic feet of water flowing over every minute, and when you can only see the top, you do have to wonder where it all goes at the bottom, and why the level doesn't rise quickly given the sheer quantity of the agua. It looks like a Sci Fi movie where the Earth begins to cave in on itself.

People had always told me the Canadian side was better than the American (and therefore to go from Toronto, not New York State). This had led me to believe the whole thing was bigger than it actually was. You can quite easily see the two falls at the same time as you walk along from Canada, and while the American Falls are a bit obscured if you're actually ON the American side, they have a snazzy look out tower that juts out over the water allowing you to lean round a bit. We decided to shun the Journey Behind The Falls walk and head straight for the key attraction: The Maid of the Mist. Again, I'd not got it quite right in my mind, as I somehow thought there was just one. Now with hindsight, it's clear that given the huge numbers of passengers leaving from both countries, they need to have more than one boat in operation, and so they do, but they call them all Maid of the Mist so no one feels let down. The cost is currently $14.50 (Canadian) from the Canadian side, or $13.50 (US) leaving from the American side. We had no trouble getting tickets because though busy they had lots of windows open, and we were soon winding down paths and descending in lifts to get to the dock. On the way we were given free (and stylish) MOTM ponchos and posed for photos they would photo-shop while we were on the trip, ready to flog to us when we returned.

Immediately upon boarding, everyone rushed upstairs trying to get a place at either side of the ship where they could firmly plant themselves and their cameras. This was a little annoying given the size of several families (both in terms of people and waistlines), with everyone apparently needing to be right there at the edge, just like in airports when they all have to be next to the luggage carousel, less they miss a bag as it slowly trundles past. Still, they'd all paid for their tickets so had as much right as anyone. We, on the other hand, were two rather short and small girls, so we wormed our way in among the tubsters without them really noticing. The boat goes quite close to both the Falls, and the amount of spray is amazing, meaning we got quite wet and appreciated those ponchos. At the same time, it was tricky to work out how to take photos without damaging your camera / having every shot ruined by drops of water on the lens, but in the end we either shot through the ponchos themselves, or shielded the cameras carefully. The trip wasn't long but is definitely a must-do, as unless you too fancy going over the Falls in either a boat or a barrel, this is the closest you'll ever physically get to them. In fact, when you look from dry land before or after your trip, it's quite scary how close the relatively small boats get to the relatively massive waterfalls, though it doesn't feel quite so out of proportion when you're down there sailing towards them.

Afterwards, back on dry land, we went to explore the little town centre and have lunch. The main stretch of Clifton Hill, which runs at a right angle to the river, has a distinct Blackpool / poor-man's Las Vegas feel to it, complete with seedy motels and 'interesting' attractions. These included a Guinness Book of Records museum, Brick City (a faux-Legoland set up), a Haunted House, a maze and a big wheel. if you do fancy any of these it's worth getting a free local guide either from a box on the street or a tourist info centre, as almost all attractions have money off coupons on offer. The ones that don't, of course, being the unmissables like the Maid of the Mist and the Journey Behind The Falls, since people will pay for these even at full price. The street also had a few shops and lots of mainly-chain restaurants, and we managed to find lunch quite easily. I would recommend the Dairy Queen, but that's not saying much. I would pretty much always recommend a Dairy Queen.

Done with downtown Niagara but not with our day, we collected the car and set off north. Our first stop was the Ten Thousand Buddhas temple and exhibition, which Linda had been to before and wanted to revisit. It was a bit of an odd thing to find by the side of a main road, but was really interesting inside. We even talked the crazy American curator guy into opening up the temple itself for us, and giving us a quick tour. It was hard to tell what was 'real' and what was the gift shop, but by far the most outstanding feature was the central Buddha made of green bronze and weighing a whopping 7 tons.

On we went, stopping briefly at Souvenir City. This includes a glass blowing factory outlet with mini demos and some fancy ass pieces on sale (though Murano this ain't) and also a Marketplace Restaurant and souvenir shop with Chocolate World. At least that's what they sell it as - in reality, Chocolate World is just a corner of the shop where they, erm, sell chocolate.

Sure, some of it was fancy imported European stuff, but I still think it's a bit of a con to call something a chocolate WORLD and not at least offer free samples.

A few more minutes up the road and we pulled into the Botanical Gardens for a picnic snack. These are beautifully maintained and go on for acres - it was getting late by now and we only had time to explore briefly but you could have spent at least half a day here. Entry is free, and there is a cafe on site. Back in the car we drove a little further up the road to the famed Floral Clock. Exactly as its name suggests this is a working clock made of around 16,000 pretty planted flowers and two massive, non-growing arms. It was great to look at, but difficult to photograph as it's too big to get in many a shot. We solved this by climbing up precariously on the semi-fixed dustbins nearby, for a bird's eye view.

Our final stop was the 'quaint, European style town' of Niagara on the Lake, which could not be more different from downtown Niagara. The main road is lined with antique shops, boutiques, a theatre and many, many eateries featuring fancy ice cream (I had birthday cake flavour, despite my lunch having been nothing more than a monster Cheesecake Oreo DQ Blast), afternoon teas and lush looking lunches. Despite being a clear tourist trap, it seemed rather sweet and had a nice, refined feel to it after the brashness of our earlier destination.

Day over, we headed back into Toronto, arriving back around 11 hours after we left following a lot of traffic. Organised tours tend to promise to get you back by 6pm or as they put it, 'ready for a night on the town', but I'd take this with a pinch of salt, as Toronto commuter traffic can be a nightmare. We did most of the things the tours do (and more besides) with the notable exception of a stop for Ice Wine tasting. It's a delicacy of the area, but something I had absolutely no interest in doing, so I was pleased to be able to bypass this, and throw in more interesting stops like the Temple and (again) Dairy Queen instead. You can stay in Niagara and there's certainly enough stuff to fill a couple of days if you have the time, but if you're a little pushed it is, as we found out, an easy enough day trip from Toronto. We went on the day before a long weekend, and in mid-summer, but it still was not horribly crowded and we didn't have to wait long for anything. There are loads of others things we could have done, from going jet-boating down the river to cruising across in a caged cable car thing, but these would have been optional extras, and in my mind could never replace the perennial favourite that is the Maid of the Mist.

My overall opinion of the town was that it was commercialised but nowhere near as bad as I had feared. Things were reasonably priced (even the boat trip, pleasing after the shocking cost of attractions in Toronto itself), there was a lot of choice, and it was a very attractive place. I can see why it draws so many people year after year, and am so happy I got to tick it off my list.

www.niagaraparks.com/nfgg/firailway.php
www.maidofthemist.com
www.chamshantemple.org
www.souvenirsniagara.com
www.niagaraparks.com/garden/floralclock.php