Skylon Tower Niagara Falls > Reviews (1)

The ride in the lift only takes 52 seconds and when you get out you can walk around two sections of the viewing observatory.

The inner section gives good views through glass windows but the outer section is better with views through wire mesh.

I had chosen a very good day to visit Niagara, with clear and sunny skies but you really felt the cold bite you when you ventured out into the outer section of the observatory. The views, however, are spectacular and locations you are looking at are marked at each point as you move around, enabling you to work out exactly what you are looking at.

This may sound silly in light of the fact most people go to see the Falls themselves but of course it’s nice to be told which are the American Falls and which are the Hoseshoe Falls, never mind being told you are looking towards Buffalo, New York and various other vantage points.

You also get a wonderful view over to the American town of Niagara, which with the exception of a casino seems to be wholly less developed than the Canadian town of the same name. There is an observation tower which you can see clearly too, along with bridges which take you from one country to the other.

The only bad thing about the observatory is the fact you can’t really get a clear picture from there due to the wire mesh. You can pay to use telescopes up there to enable you to see the falls more clearly but I don’t think they are particularly necessary due to the sheer scale of Niagara Falls.

We stayed at the top of the tower for about twenty minutes, and I was happy to see even my daughter, who generally doesn’t take the slightest interest in landscapes, was fascinated by the sight of the waterfalls. After taking photos and drinking in the views we headed to the gift shop which is located on the observatory level and bought a few souvenirs before heading back to the elevator for the ride back down. The souvenirs were quite expensive – I paid C$9.99 (with tax extra) for a branded sports bottle for my daughter’s friend and $6 for a fridge magnet for my fridge magnet collecting sister. To be fair however the quality was high and I was glad I had purchased souvenirs here after seeing some of the truly cheap tat on sale elsewhere later on.

The elevator ride once again featured a lift operator who thanked us for coming. Once again there was no queue at the elevators but I can’t imagine it would be a queue free zone in high season. When we got to the bottom there was another souvenir shop but we decided to leave then and head down to the main promenade to get a different view of the Falls.

Conclusion

We both thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Skylon Tower and I would go so far as to say it’s a “must see” attraction if you are in Niagara and want to get a truly unique view of the Falls.

Yes, it’s quite expensive for what it is and if I am honest it is a bit of a tourist trap but it’s worth it for those views.

My only real regret is not being able to visit the buffet restaurant when we were there but that’s down to the timing of our trip. The restaurant must be wonderful in the evening. If I were ever to return to this part of the world instead of spending every night in Toronto I would definitely book a night in Niagara so I could experience the vistas from the Skylon Tower at dusk.

The tower itself isn’t particularly pretty to look at but you don’t go to Niagara to look at the architecture, do you? So instead of worrying about that take a trip up the Skylon Tower and enjoy views which must rank amongst the best to be found anywhere in the world.