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Niagara Falls In The Winter Isn't As Bad As You'd Think

December 10, 2009 at 12:29 PM | by | Comment (1)

Even though the winter storms have started to blow across North America, believe it or not that now is a great time to visit Niagara Falls. Ideally you's want to drop by one of the nation's biggest tourist traps during warmer weather, but if you’ve already been during the tourist season, then you'll discover a new side of the place when things chill out a little bit. The Falls are obviously still doing their waterfall thing, but the Winter Festival of Lights helps transform the area into Canada’s largest lights festival.

Grab a cup of coffee from Tim Horton’s—there’s a huge one right on Clifton Hill—and head down to where the water is flowing. The falls are illuminated in rainbow colors for the holidays, and on certain nights, they even shoot some fireworks to close out the evening. Away from the falls there are over three million lights decorating trees, shrubs, and everything in between. They have over 100 animated displays dedicated to all kinds of Disney magic, just in case a trip down to Florida isn’t in Santa’s sleigh this year.

In Niagara Falls you'll also find the world’s largest illuminated Canadian-American flag—just to show that the two countries are BFF. The light displays are up and down Niagara Parkway for about three miles, so if you get tired of checking things out by foot, just hop in the car. One of our favorites was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police display, because everyone loves some Mounties during the holidays.

We made the trip to Niagara's winter wonderland recently and have to say it was a pretty good time considering how cold it was. Our suggestion is to wear boots or some other winter-proof shoe, because the mist from the falls is everywhere and before you know it, you have some soggy frozen sneakers. Also, water plus cold weather means lots of ice. The maintenance people do a great job of keeping things dry, but we definitely bit it once or twice on a couple slick spots. Admission is free, but they wouldn’t mind a donation or two if you’re dropping by the area.

Related Stories:
· Winter Festival of Lights [Official Site]
· New Niagara Airport Has Free WiFi But No Flights [Jaunted]
· Holiday Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: noelweathers]

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In Winter?

I love Niagara Falls and having family there, having been there at all times of year throughout my life. In mid-winter, my best recollection is shoveling snow and the up to 10' high snow tunnels along streets. I prefer to be there in late Spring and early Fall thanks. Aloha, Jeff http://beatofhawaii.com
beatofhawaii com on December 10, 2009 at 5:02 PM #Permalink

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