zanzibar138
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2007
SO, a couple of comments. We just spent a weekend in Toronto, and I printed out directions to the various locations we were heading to. One thing I noticed with Google Maps is they tried to get us to travel on the 407 highwayexpress toll road through Toronto. This is a toll road, which in itself isn't bad, but it is a "no ticket" toll road. In other words, you have to have your car equipped with a sensor, or if you don't they photograph your license plate and send you a bill. In your case, they likely would send it to your rental car company, who would then retroactively charge you. My advice is, avoid this road even if your map/GPS tells you to take it. The charge is 30 cents / KM, so the fees can really add up.
Second, you will be fine with that location in Niagara Falls. You may not get a view of the falls, as there are hotels that are between you and the falls, but the location is very central. I personally think a falls-view room is a tad overrated, it's awesome for about 30 seconds, and then you realize that you aren't going to spend a lot of time standing by the window looking out at the falls.
There's lots to do in the falls, but of course definitely do the the boat ride (Used to be the Maid of the Mist, but Canada got an alternative one call Hornblower cruises.) The "Behind the falls" tour is pretty cool too! The WEGO shuttle/bus system is convenient if you want transportation without having to move your car all around, it's only $7 per person per day. There's lots of cheesy tourist stuff to do along Lundy's Lane / Stanley Ave, I wouldn't recommend any of it, but it can be a fun evening walking up and down the strip and trying something that interests you. Obviously there is plenty of other stuff to do, you can find out about it on the internet. If you have any specific questions, feel free to send me a message.
Thanks so much for your comments! They are all super helpful! We'll probably instruct our GPS to avoid toll roads for our road trip, but I'll definitely make sure it doesn't take us on the 407. The toll roads over here are all like that - no booths, just sensor/photograph. I've often wondered how tourists go with that. Great to hear your comments about our accommodation too - I think in the end a good location will be more important than a pretty view. Will definitely make sure we do the cruise and the Behind the Falls attraction.
We've actually discovered that there's a free music festival in Hamilton that weekend, which features one of our favourite singers as the headliner on Sunday night! Originally we were planning to get to Niagara Falls at about lunch time, and start our sight-seeing there, but we're going to have to divert via Hamilton to catch Sharon Jones. Apparently they're expecting her to start at around 5pm and do about an hour set, so it still won't be a late night, just a little later than we were originally anticipating. We'll have to try to figure out more detailed logistics (like directions, parking etc) a bit closer to the time, as there's so little information around at the moment. I actually had to message the festival committee on facebook to get an idea of when Sharon Jones would actually be on.