My trip to Toronto and Niagara Falls took place in May 2007. Flying direct from Dublin we arrived in the afternoon and transferred to our hotel, The Delta Chelsea. My room was very spacious with a balcony and views towards Lake Ontario. The hotel is in a prime location in the city centre and a fantastic base to explore this beautiful multi cultural city.
We spent a few hours on the first day wandering around the city finding our feet and getting a feel for the place. We discovered The Eaton Centre literally on our doorstep! A huge shopping centre with hundreds of shops and restaurants, a trip here became a daily ritual!
One evening we booked a table in the CN Tower, with a revolving restaurant close to the top and a glass floor in the viewing lounge, not for those with a fear of heights! This was a fantastic experience and one I would definitely recommend. We found so much to see and do in Toronto, there just didn't seem to be enough time to cram it all in. We took in a walking guided city tour for $20 for a two hour tour, we felt it was a bit long but our guide was very informative and we did find it interesting. He told us about the tens of thousands of Irish people who arrived there in the 1840's in extreme circumstances escaping the famine in Ireland, and how thousands died from illness. There is a memorial park dedicated to the Irish emigrants who died.
At night we went from Jazz Bars to Hooters and we found a variety of night clubs to suit all, including international DJ's to smaller more intimate venues. The locals are very friendly, genuine and laid back.
After a fantastic few days and nights in Toronto it was on to Niagara Falls only an hour and a half from Toronto, we stopped along the way at a vineyard and winery to do some wine tasting. Then it was on to Niagara on the lake, a very picturesque town, but we did find it a bit of a tourist trap and very high prices for tea's and coffees! We arrived at Niagara Falls, what a spectacular sight and sound! The roaring sound of the falls could be heard from miles away! We checked into the Sheraton on the Falls, we got a falls view room which I highly recommend, the view is amazing. The falls are lit up with changing coloured lights at night and this just made them even more magical. We had dinner at the restaurant in the Sheraton on one of the top floors with views of the falls. That evening we spent in the bar of Planet Hollywood, it seemed to be the place to go and was always packed. The next day we found Canada One Factory Outlet with all the major designers and brands at real bargain prices! There wasn't really much nightlife, a few bars with live bands open until 2am, filled with American youngsters who come over the border from Buffalo as the legal age to drink in Canada is 19 years old.
We took in a trip on the Maid of the Mist, it's about $14, it's a boat that takes you right up to the falls and just into the huge mist cloud generated by the falls itself, you get a light plastic Mac when you board but you still get soaked but I would definitely recommend this. On the second day we took a helicopter trip over the falls, it's about $60 each but well worth it. It's a spectacular sight from above.
I would definitely recommend Toronto and Niagara Falls, I would probably stay a bit longer in Toronto, 4 nights wasn't quite long enough and the 2 nights in Niagara Falls was just long enough to see everything, all in all I will definitely go back and will plan a trip in the not too distant future!