Niagara Falls: Boat Cruise, Skylon Tower & Maple Tasting

4.89

(160 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I remember is the sound — that deep, rolling thunder of Niagara Falls before you even see it. We were still walking down to the dock when our guide, Sam (born and raised in Niagara), handed out these bright red ponchos. I laughed because they looked flimsy but honestly, by the time we got close to Horseshoe Falls, I was grateful for every bit of plastic. The spray hit my face like cold pins and my glasses fogged up instantly. There’s something wild about being so close — I caught myself grinning at strangers on the boat just because we were all getting soaked together.

After drying off a little (my shoes squelched for hours), we headed over to the Skylon Tower. The elevator is all glass — you shoot up in under a minute and suddenly everything’s tiny: cars, trees, even the falls themselves look different from above. Sam pointed out Toronto on the horizon and some old wine estates near Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was windy up there and I kept losing track of time just watching the mist drift over Queen Victoria Park below. There’s something about seeing both sides of the border at once that makes you feel small in a good way.

I didn’t expect to care much about maple syrup — but at this local spot on what they called “the Maple Trail,” it smelled sweet and earthy inside, almost like toasted nuts. We tried three kinds (the darkest one tasted almost smoky) and there was chocolate too. Li, who ran the tasting, told us how her family taps trees every spring; she laughed when I tried to say “sugar shack” in French — probably butchered it. By then my shoes were dry again and I was sort of wishing I’d bought a bottle for home.