
But what do visitors do when it rains?
Weather is always fickle and it’s hard to tell if your visit will include a rainy day, but there are plenty of indoor activities to chase away the rainy day blues during a trip to Niagara Falls, and these are just a few of them.
Bird Kingdom
This local treasure is the largest free-flying aviary in the world and is the perfect way to while away a few hours during a rainy day. Kids and adults alike will love the many colorful bird species that call Bird Kingdom home, and the Lorikeet Landing is especially popular as these little beauties seem to love posing for photos on the arms of visitors.
In addition to the birds several varieties of reptile live here, and there are various special habitats to explore. Bird Kingdom also offers a cafe and gift shop.
Butterfly Conservatory
Another great way to forget about gray skies is to visit the wonderfully colorful Butterfly Conservatory. Over 2,000 butterflies live here amongst their native, tropical plants and flowers. The greenhouse-like atmosphere will transport you to the equatorial jungle as you walk through the paths surrounded by butterflies.
The Butterfly Conservatory lies within the confines of the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
IMAX Niagara

IMAX Niagara is currently showing “Niagara: Miracles, Myths, and Magic” and you can also visit the Daredevil Exhibit which houses the barrels, boats, and other vessels in which 16 people attempted to go over the falls. Even if it’s a bright, sunny day this is definitely an experience you don’t want to miss.
Casino Fun
For those adult visitors who might wonder what to do on a rainy day, why not visit one of the casinos? Even if you’re not a gambler casinos are vibrant, lively, fun places to be and a rainy day spent here will not be a day wasted.
The Seneca Niagara Casino offers great evening entertainment, or you could try the Casino Niagara or Fallsview Casino which are both open 24 hours a day for all of your entertainment needs. Shopping, dining, gaming, and more are available at any of the area casinos and are sure to provide you a fun respite from inclement weather.
It’s never ideal when rain or other types of bad weather occur during your vacation, but rest assured that your Niagara Falls vacation won’t suffer. Choose one or more of these activities if you wake up to a rainy day, and everyone can have some fun.
When most people hear the words “Shaw” and “Niagara-on-the-Lake” in the same sentence, they rightfully think of the city’s fantastic Shaw Festival — a repertory theater event that spans months and dozens of excellent plays each and every year. While the Shaw Festival is definitely one of the region’s most prized attractions, it’s just one of many, and just one of many that shares the same name.
Here is a closer look at the eight gardens on the tour:
Graze the Bench is one of the Niagara Peninsula’s premier wine and food events. A spring celebration of new and beloved vintages, each year’s Graze the Bench features eight select wineries, that bring their favorite chefs and a bounty of food and drink to attendees over the course of the first weekend in June. Live music, unbelievable wine, delectable food — here’s a look at exactly what you’re going to love at 2016’s Graze the Bench.
Enjoy three excellent wines from Peninsula Ridge, including their 2014 Peninsula Ridge Estates Shiraz, a 2015 Wismer Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, and their 2015 Beal Vineyards Cabernet Rose. Food will be offered by the winery’s restaurant and will include a Garden Gazpacho with pesto, a braised lamb shank with a foraged mushroom strudel, and a micro-greens salad to accompany each dish.
One of the many riches of the Niagara region is the thousands and thousands of acres of orchards and fruit farms that yield some of Ontario’s finest berries and fruits. Strawberries, peaches, apricots, raspberries, apples — the variety of fruits grown is vast, and because the growing season for each type varies so widely, fresh, local, and in-season fruit can usually be enjoyed from May through at least October.
Visitors to Niagara Falls come from literally all over. From the United States and other parts of Canada all the way across the pond to Europe, Russia, and Asia, citizens from around the globe see fit each year to make the trek to one of the planet’s most beautiful and entertaining places.
Stay Hydrated
May is one of the most magical months in the Niagara Falls region, and it isn’t just because thousands of visitors are starting to once again throng to the place for holidays and vacations. The warming air, the lengthening days, the arrival of the first season’s fruits, the seemingly never-ending blossoms that line roadways, parks, and ditches — there’s so much to love about May that it’s hard even for locals to keep track of it all.
The Floral Clock
Whether you
When it comes to late-night people watching, New York City is hard to beat, but thanks to the wide variety of visitors and goings-on in Niagara, Clifton Hill is pretty entertaining, too. Niagara Falls’ most famous street, Clifton Hill comes by its nickname, “Street of Fun,” pretty honestly. From moon-eyed lovers to teenagers being allowed a long leash, Clifton Hill is a people watching experience all its own, and you can only have it in Niagara Falls.
The
A classic arcade game that involves a measure of athletic skill, skee ball is fun to play whether you’re squaring off against your best friend or just trying to score points all by yourself. Weighted balls about the size of a grapefruit are rolled one at a time up an incline into a space that has circles of varying size worth different amounts.
For Americans of every socio-economic stripe, April 15th looms large each and every year as a day of hand wringing and infamy. Required by federal law to file taxes on or before that date each year, roughly one third of the United States’ population waits until the last minute to file their taxes. It’s an act that adds stress and drama to a day that might otherwise pass by unnoticed, but still, year in and year out, the act of filing taxes is put off. It’s almost as if most Americans need an extra incentive just to comply with federal law.
The best part of filing taxes for most Americans is getting a fat refund check, and should you book a Niagara vacation to celebrate Tax Day, that refund will be sitting in your bank account, or — at the very least — you will know the dollar amount of your refund as an official check makes its way to you in the mail. Refunds, of course, are nothing more than the government giving you back the money that is rightfully yours, but they feel like a bonus. Take that bonus on a vacation. Whether you stock up on award-winning Niagara wine or hit the casinos, celebrating Tax Day in Niagara Falls will almost always happen when you’re flush with cash.
Eating in and around Niagara Falls is one of the many highlights enjoyed by almost every tourist who travels to the region. From a family of four driving in from Ohio to newlyweds fresh off an airplane, the variety of food available throughout the region and the high quality with which it is source, prepared, and served is sure to satisfy — especially if you know where to go and you choose each meal with care.
Another reason to put Mahtay Café on your vacation itinerary is their robust music calendar. Not only will it give you a sense of the original music happening in and around the region, but most of their shows also happen earlier in the evening, which means you don’t have to be a night owl to enjoy it.