How to Spend 24 Hours in Niagara Falls

With a van, a twin mattress, and a lot of willing and kind family members to host us along the way, my partner and I traveled the eastern United States for a month last summer, seeing sights and experiencing our first bit of adult freedom together.

From our starting point in the middle of Texas, we drove east until we reached my hometown in Georgia, all the way up to Maine, and then looped back around through Kentucky to get back home. There was one stop on our list, however, that didn’t involve family or nostalgia, and that was Niagara Falls.

We knew that Niagara Falls was a stop that we absolutely could not miss if we were going to be driving by that area, and it is probably one of the most famous sites to see in the US and Canada. My partner had been there before as a kid, but I had never visited, and we were both very excited to go.

Since we were running on a tight schedule, we only had 24 hours, and this is how we chose to spend it in Niagara Falls.

Lodging

Trusty Airbnb had us covered with an almost-perfect accommodation for our stay in Niagara Falls. We stayed on the U.S. side of the border since we forgot our passports, and we were happy to find a room in a cute Victorian-style house fairly close to the falls.

Our favorite perk was that breakfast was included, so we could get right into our activities as soon as we headed out the door. We had an assortment of fruit and pastries along with other basic breakfast amenities. The AirBnB also had a great location for us because we had a car and were only a short distance from the falls. The host even provided us with a map of how to get to the various activities from the house.

Other than the fact that the host lived in a room next door and seemed to always be in the common areas to greet us, we were very lucky to find a well-located, affordable option for our short stop at the falls.

Festivities

After we ate our breakfast, we made our way toward the main event: Niagara Falls. The first, and really the only, thing on our checklist was riding on the Maid of the Mist, but there were quite a few steps we had to get through to do it.

When we approached the area after finding parking, we bought our tickets and got into the queue. It turns out, we were being led into a small theater room decorated with gadgets, watermills, and waterfall mist. As we and the other guests filed in, a short film played about the falls and also about Nikola Tesla, who designed the first hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls. Though we weren’t expecting a movie showing, we certainly enjoyed the interesting history lesson from the creatively directed documentary.

Our next obstacle came when we got out of the theater and got our ponchos on. This obstacle turned out to be an adventure on its own. The cliff by the side of the falls had slim decks sprawled down it with people winding their way to the bottom while being sprayed by the downpour of mist from that part of the falls.

We made the grave mistake of wearing shoes, socks, and jeans instead of sandals, and we paid dearly for it. But we still got all of the classic photo opportunities as we trekked down to the bottom, where we at last caught site of the boat that would take us on our short trip to see the falls from below.

We boarded the boat, cramming in alongside all of the other matching blue ponchos, and before we knew it we were off. We circled around the lake basin that the falls poured into, the power of the falls drowned out any speech below a yell. Any angle that the boat turned was like a scenic landscape painting waiting to happen. It was a challenge trying to find the right balance between taking pictures to remember it and taking in the breathtaking views all around us. The Maid of the Mist is an absolute must-do if you are going to Niagara Falls.

After we disembarked, we headed back to the car to give our poor shoes some time to dry. We set them up in the windshield of the van and started walking back towards the park—there was still much to be done.

When we made it back to the area in our sandals, we walked alongside the beautifully clear and powerful river that led to the falls. Just watching the water rush toward the edge without even seeing it fall was a beautiful sight and a wonder of nature in itself. The area around Niagara Falls is also highly commercialized, to a fault but also to an advantage. It was advantageous to us because we love gift shops, and we had plenty of time to mess around and look for Niagara Falls-themed souvenirs. We ended up getting a couple of beanies before the store closed and we headed back to the car.

Winding Down

After such a long day of hiking around, taking in the sights, and buying overpriced souvenirs, a relaxing evening was just what we needed to prepare us for the long drive the next day.

Even when on vacation, it can be nice to eat comfort food, and on this trip, we struck gold. Subway is one of our classic spots, and there just so happened to be one in the town of Niagara Falls. We were greeted by a very charismatic and friendly sandwich artist, who told us that he was worried we were going to be a full family of people when he saw our van pull into the parking lot.

To his delight, we had two identical sandwiches, which made his job very easy. He also entertained us with lively conversation about where we were from, where we were headed, and how our travels were going so far. To put the cherry on top of our enjoyable dining experience, the sandwich he made just so happened to be the best Subway sandwich we have ever had. I don’t know what it was—maybe it was the hunger, maybe the ingredients, or maybe just the human connection we made while we ordered—but that is one Subway sandwich that I will never forget.

Afterward, we got another parking spot back at the park as the night fell. We found a huge crowd of people gathered around the railing to view the falls. Unfortunately, the view from the American side isn’t quite as good (we could only see the top of the falls and the mist as it rose instead of viewing the falls straight on), but we were able to see that the Canadians were projecting colors on the falls. We also stayed just late enough to watch the fireworks show before it got too cold and we had to retire for the night.

So, if you are planning on visiting Niagara Falls and you only have one day to do it, your best plan of action is to know what you really want to do and prioritize that. If you are lucky, there should be plenty of time to get a plethora of activities done without exhausting yourself. For us, prioritizing the Maid of the Mist and then also getting to experience walking the falls, the documentary, the river, the lights, the fireworks, and some easygoing and quick meals made for the perfect melody for our adventure in Niagara Falls.