Gita di un Giorno alle Cascate del Niagara — Horseshoe Falls e il Maid of the Mist
Niagara Falls (130 kilometres south of Toronto, accessible by GO Bus, Megabus, or car in approximately 1.5 hours) is the most-visited natural attraction in Canada and one of the most famous waterfalls in the world — the Horseshoe Falls (the Canadian falls, 670 metres wide, 57 metres high, with a flow of approximately 2,400 cubic metres of water per second) is significantly larger and more dramatic than the American Falls across the international border.
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Niagara Falls — The Horseshoe Falls at 2,800 Cubic Metres Per Second
Niagara Falls (the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side and the American Falls on the US side, 130km south of Toronto, 90 minutes by GO Bus or 90 minutes by car via the QEW, ¥35 GO Bus return) diverts 2,800 cubic metres of water per second over the Horseshoe Falls (56m high, 671m wide, the most powerful waterfall in North America by flow volume) — the flow is regulated by the 1950 Niagara Treaty between Canada and the United States (50% of the Niagara River is diverted into tunnels for hydroelectric generation before reaching the falls; without diversion the flow would be 5,600 cubic metres per second and the falls visually twice as dramatic).
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Maid of the Mist — The Boat Tour Inside the Horseshoe
Maid of the Mist (Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls Ontario, ¥25 adults, April–November daily 9am–7:30pm) is the boat tour that enters the basin of the Horseshoe Falls — the blue plastic poncho (provided, necessary) gets saturated regardless; the 20-minute ride approaches to within 30m of the Horseshoe Falls base (the spray zone where visibility drops to zero and sound exceeds 110dB); the experience is unique in the world: no other accessible waterfall produces equivalent immersion; the boats have operated since 1846, making Maid of the Mist the oldest tourist attraction in North America in continuous operation.
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Journey Behind the Falls — The Tunnels in the Rock
Journey Behind the Falls (Table Rock Welcome Centre, 6650 Niagara Parkway, ¥21 adults, daily 9am–5pm) is the tunnel system carved into the rock behind the Horseshoe Falls — the 2 observation portals (at the base of the Horseshoe Falls, directly behind the water curtain) and the outdoor Cataract Point observation deck (at the edge of the Horseshoe Falls, the closest standing point to the crest) provide perspectives unavailable from the standard observation terraces; the tunnel system (38m below the surface, carved in 1889–1908 by Toronto-based contractors using hand tools and black powder) has 45 million visitors since opening.
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Niagara-on-the-Lake — The Loyalist Town and Wine Region
Niagara-on-the-Lake (the town at the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario, 20km north of the Falls, accessible by the Niagara Parkway scenic drive) is the finest intact early-19th-century townscape in Ontario — the Georgian commercial buildings of Queen Street (built after the Americans burned the town in 1813 during the War of 1812 and the Canadians rebuilt in British colonial style), the Fort George National Historic Site (1796 British fort, ¥12 adults, the most complete British colonial era fort in Ontario), and the Shaw Festival (the theatre festival running April–October performing Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries, the second-largest repertory theatre festival in North America after Stratford) define the town.
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Niagara Wine Region — Ice Wine and the Escarpment
The Niagara Peninsula wine region (the 60km strip between Lake Ontario to the north and the Niagara Escarpment to the south, 100+ operating wineries, the largest wine producing region in Canada) is most famous for Icewine (Eiswein, the dessert wine produced from grapes that have frozen on the vine at −8°C or below, hand-harvested in January–February, Ontario produces 75% of the world's Icewine — Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin are the benchmark producers) and Riesling; the Niagara Wine Route (the self-drive circuit connecting the major wineries of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Niagara Escarpment, starting from the QEW at St. Catharines) takes 3–5 hours with tastings.
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CN Tower — The View from 447 Metres
CN Tower (290 Bremner Boulevard, Downtown Toronto, ¥43 adults for the LookOut, ¥195 for EdgeWalk — the hands-free full-circle walk around the outside of the main pod at 356m, the world's highest full-circle hands-free walk on a building) was the world's tallest freestanding structure from 1976 to 2007 (553.33m, now 10th tallest) — the glass floor panel (the 1.5-inch reinforced glass panel looking straight down 342m, a standard feature of any CN Tower visit), the 360 Restaurant (the revolving restaurant at 351m, a full revolution every 72 minutes), and the LookOut observatory (447m) are the main levels; book tickets online to avoid 1-hour queues in summer.