From the SkyWheel to the Skylon, here’s how to feel on top of the world in Niagara Falls
Most visitors to Niagara Falls take in the view of the majestic thundering waters that drop more than 50 metres into the Niagara River by strolling along the well-worn main promenade route that snakes its way along the cliff. But there are plenty of other hot spots where you can perch to be mesmerized by this natural wonder that draws 13 million people annually from around the world.
For starters, take a seat in the SkyWheel, Canada's largest observation ferris wheel, which rises more than 50 metres above the Falls and offers spectacular aerial views from climate-controlled fully-enclosed gondolas. Evening rides offer dazzling views of the neon lights of Clifton Hill and the twinkling winter wonderland along the Niagara Parkway, which is lit up with more than three million lights and more than 75 large fanciful displays until the end of February. (Visitors to this annual festival of lights can a bundle up and walk or drive through the Parkway route to explore this outdoor, socially distanced, self-guided experience.)
If you're itching to aim a little higher, you can take a tour with Niagara Helicopters and soar 2,500 feet over the cascading waters, hovering in the centre of the curve of the Horseshoe Falls. You're guaranteed to see a rainbow on bright sunny afternoons in the mist created by the falling water. Along with their standard tours, the company offers Chapel in the Sky wedding flights as well as winery flights that will land you in among the vineyards of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Niagara Helicopters operates every day from 9 a.m. until sunset. (Reservations aren't required as it's a walk-in attraction that depends on weather conditions).
Speaking of flight, once your feet are back on solid ground, head indoors for a spell at Bird Kingdom to catch a slew of exotic creatures flying high. The world's largest free-flying aviary, it features 60 species of tropical birds in a rainforest setting, including blue and gold macaws, elegant snowy-white egrets, plump partridges and emerald starlings. The Australian Laughing Kookaburra is particularly entertaining with its distinctive territorial call that begins with a low, hiccupping chuckle before the bird throws its head back in a long stream of raucous laughter.
You can spend almost all your time in town gazing at the world's most famous waterfall - even when you're eating. There are several elegant options for elevated dining where you can watch the continuous spill of the mighty waters as a waiter fills your wine glass. The Watermark Fallsview offers a three-course customizable menu of farm-to-table continental cuisine on the 33rd floor of the Hilton Hotel. At the iconic Skylon Tower, take the yellow bug elevator up 235 metres to the dining room that does a complete revolution once each hour. After a fancy meal of Chilean sea bass, rock lobster tails or filet mignon, be sure to head up to the outdoor observation deck, which offers the highest vantage point in Niagara with a view of that stretches 125 km.
When you're ready to rest your head for the night, you can continue to keep the falls in sight from your pillow. The 42-storey Embassy Suites Fallsview, just 90 metres from the brink of the Falls, is widely considered to have the best views (especially the spacious top floor suites). It's conveniently located close to the double track Falls Incline Railway, an inclined elevator which takes two-minutes to travel up and down the hill from the higher-level tourist area to the pedestrian walkway at the crest of the Falls.
Once you hop off the railway, it's a five-minute walk to the newest attraction in town - the recently reopened historic Niagara Parks Power Station, the abandoned power plant, which was the first large-scale hydroelectric plant in Canada. It's got a new lease on life as an interpretive centre during the day and a showcase for Currents, a 40-minute, 4D multimedia immersive light and sound show where the power plant comes to life through laser effects, projection mapping and reactive technology. It's a moving sensory experience that pays homage not only to inventors such as Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, who were involved in the design of the 1905 Romanesque building, but also to the hundreds of workers, who used rudimentary tools such as dynamite, pickaxes, horses, shovels and lanterns, to build this architecturally-stunning power station that leveraged the power of the Niagara River to produce electricity for 100 years until the building was decommissioned in 2006.
A new addition coming to the power plant in the summer of 2022 will be the chance to travel 70 metres beneath the power station in a glass-enclosed elevator to the Tailrace Tunnel where visitors can walk through a hidden, century-old 670-metre tunnel that connects the power plant to the base of the Niagara River, offering a stunning up-close experience of the mighty Horseshoe Falls.
It will be just one more way to take in a view that's always thrilling and that never gets tired.
Anne Bokma is a freelance journalist and travel writer living in Hamilton.