Category: Niagara Falls Hotels

The tradition of afternoon tea can be placed solely upon the British, which is why its popularity still holds sway in places like Canada, the United States, India, and even Burma. Its history harkens back to the early 19th century when the Duchess of Bedford needed something to tide her over during the late afternoon.

The advent of electric lighting had recently transformed such mainstays as eating so that the second of the two meals people used to eat during the day had been moved — for the aristocracy at least — until after dark so as to make use of the technologically advanced lighting. As that long expanse of time between the first meal and the second proved too much for the Duchess, she requested tea and a snack, and the tradition of afternoon tea was born.

The Niagara region is home to many high-quality and varied afternoon tea experiences, and if you’ve never taken time out with a friend or family member to enjoy tea, it’s a simultaneously relaxing and invigorating experience. Just as your energy is beginning to languish after a nearly full day sightseeing, you sit down to a light and delicious snack accompanied by a refreshing beverage that often contains caffeine. As you rest, eat, and drink, your blood sugar is restored. Your rushing about is paused. You are given a chance to reconnect with a loved one or traveling companion and yourself. Afternoon tea is truly a fabulous mini meal, and if you’re planning a Niagara Falls vacation, you should reserve some space in your itinerary for these two excellent tea rooms.

The Drawing Room

Located in Niagara-on-the-Lake, The Drawing Room boasts one of the most regal and traditional forms of afternoon tea available. A space of undeniable Victorian finery and charm, the tea room is laid out with meticulously set tables covered in cloth that feature fresh rose bouquets and Minton China. An excellent selection of tea is offered, and the accompanying food and condiments are superb. Warm scones, lovely finger sandwiches, Devonshire cream, and pastries are all served on shining silver stands as attentive wait staff meets your every need. You can add to the more traditional tea offerings by choosing different menu items including Canadian cheeses and wine as well.

The Savoy Room

For another high-end tea experience, choose this St. Catharines tea room. The elegant Victorian setting features fine bone China, a wide variety of quality teas, linen tablecloths, and sweet and savory snacks. The Savoy Room offers a variety of tea types and times, including:

• Elevenses. Taken mid-morning, this tea break is served with a simple snack.
• Afternoon Tea. The most common type of British tea time, The Savoy Room offers three distinct styles: Cream Tea, Light Tea, and Full Tea
• Royal Tea. Afternoon tea served with either champagne or sherry.
• High Tea. Also called “Meat Tea,” this tea is actually a robust meal that includes meats, cheeses, meat pies, desserts, bread, and teas. It is generally taken in the early evening.

Come to Niagara, and eat and drink like the British by enjoying tea at The Drawing Room, The Savoy Room, or both.

Almost any trip to the Niagara region includes much more than just marveling at massive waterfalls, which is as it should be: In addition to its stunning and eponymous cataracts, Niagara is home to world-class entertainment, history, culture, and wine. Especially for the true and budding oenophile, the Niagara Peninsula’s wines are a major draw.

Some of the finest in all of Canada, Niagara wine attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to our wineries every year for the unforgettable experience of touring our vineyards first-hand, meeting winemakers, and enjoying vintages and varietals that can’t be found anywhere else. In addition, many of our wineries offer events and learning opportunities to assist wine-lovers on their quest for further knowledge and appreciation. One such offering takes place the first Saturday in June, when Reif Estate Winery gives a class in pairing wine with food.

Pairing food and wine is as much science as it is art, and for newcomers to the effort, it can feel overwhelming. How do you bring out the raisin and coffee notes in an older cabernet sauvignon? What can you eat with an unoakaed chardonnay that will coax out the wine’s more subtle notes for a fuller experience? What wine should you serve with a particularly stinky blue cheese? What wine is best alongside pot roast?

For the food and wine lover, these questions are of extreme importance, and it’s only with guidance and experience that the answers can be discovered. For the uninitiated in the process, the class at Reif Estate Winery is a great way to start putting together the world’s oldest dining pair: food and wine.

Part of their Start Living the Reifstyle series, the class is held on June 6th at 2 p.m. in the Reif Estate Winery Sensory Garden and Winemaker’s Loft. Reif’s Wine Sensory Garden is the only one of its kind in the vineyard- and winery-heavy Niagara-on-the-Lake, and it exists as a tool to enable guests to consider the many colors, flavors, and aromas that are often used to characterize the wines made in the area.

For example, the riesling and sauvignon blanc section of the garden boasts delicate flowers and includes aromas of coriander, mint, honeysuckle, grapefruit, and more. The icewine and chardonnay section is located in the yellow quadrant of the garden, and there you will smell peach, sage, pineapple, and vanilla to name a few. Likewise, cabernet sauvignon and merlot are represented in the red section with oregano, mint, and chocolate plantings. In every way, the Wine Sensory Garden is an invitation to experience wine anew by increasing your understand and engaging even more of your senses.

In addition to your time in the Wine Sensory Garden, the class will also include a tasting of four estate-bottled wines that have been paired with four local, herb-inspired samples. As you taste each pairing, the principles of matching food to wine and vice versa will be discussed. The cost is $30 a person, and it’s the kind of experience that can only be had in Niagara’s wine country.

Poutine is a Canadian food that is so well-loved and ubiquitous, it’s hard to remember a time when it wasn’t readily available and eaten by all. French fries covered in fresh cheese curds and gravy, poutine isn’t for the overly health-conscious, but as far as Canadian comfort foods go, it’s hard to top.

According to legend, the first batch of poutine was ordered from and served by a small restaurant in Quebec back in the late 1950s when a trucker ordered the menu’s French fries and cheese curd in a bag with a side of gravy. Today, the dish is a favorite among Canadians and anyone else lucky enough to try it. If you’re planning a visit to Niagara Falls, and you’d like to experience poutine, here are a handful of restaurants that do it right.

Syndicate

Syndicate Restaurant and Brewery serves up gourmet fare that makes use of local farms’ produce, meats, and cheeses as much as possible. While poutine is usually considered pub food or fast food, Syndicate flips the script with duck poutine and manages not to alter the gooey goodness of the dish one bit. Available on their bar menu, fresh-cut fries are smothered in house gravy and fresh cheese curds before being topped with duck confit.

Smoke’s Poutinerie

Smoke’s Poutinerie is on a mission to bring the wonderful world of poutine to everyone. With scores of locations in almost every Canadian province and Berkeley, California, Smoke’s is slowly putting restaurants dedicated to poutine everywhere. With over 30 different kinds of poutine to choose from, and countless options to invent your own, the poutine you’ll get from their Niagara Falls location probably won’t be anything like what you’re used to. Here are just a few of the options:

• Chicken fajita poutine
• Philly cheesesteak poutine
• Perogy poutine
• Pulled pork poutine
• And many more!

Flying Saucer Restaurant

If you ever wanted to eat poutine inside a restaurant shaped like a flying saucer, now is your chance. Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night, Flying Saucer Restaurant is a favorite with locals and visitors of all ages. Order their poutine for a slightly different take on the classic — instead of fresh cheese curds, they use fresh, shredded mozzarella.

Taps

Taps on Queen is known first and foremost as a brewery and brewpub that serves up some of the area’s finest craft beer. From bright, satisfying ales to hoppy IPAs, they have a rotating selection of brews that are definitely worth trying. While it could probably go without saying, one of the best accompaniments to excellent beer is excellent poutine, and Taps has six kinds to choose from, including:

• Classic poutine
• Chicken club poutine
• Vegetable curry poutine

Michelle’s Fries

Michelle’s Fries started out as a food truck, and because they specialize in fries, you can bet their poutine is exceptional. Winner of the “Best Fries” award in Niagara Falls for multiple years, they make a good thing even better. From classic poutine to poutine with hamburger and onions, every variety they serve is delicious.

So, bring your fry-loving appetite to Niagara Falls, and indulge in a Canadian classic at one of these five restaurants.

Beer doesn’t hold quite the hallowed place that wine does in the hearts of the people of Niagara, but it’s certainly climbing the ranks on lists about why people love visiting the area. From light crisp ales to sweet and earthy stouts, a handful of breweries have popped up in the region in recent years, and the beers they brew are starting to garner some much-deserved attention.

Whether you’re a beer lover on a perpetual tour of the earth’s finest brews or you’re just a guy who likes to drink good beer when you’re away from home, here are some of the best places to grab a pint of beer the next time you visit Niagara Falls.

Syndicate Restaurant and Brewery

Syndicate Restaurant and Brewery blends the best of the farm with excellent food and beverages — just one of the many time-honored traditions visitors to the Niagara Peninsula have enjoyed for decades.

Fresh, local, gourmet food is served with elegant simplicity, and it’s accompanied by excellent beer made on-site. Order the Niagara’s Best Brown Ale, the Taps Rye Knot, or the Niagara’s Best Blonde Premium Ale, and pair any one of them with the duck poutine or a local, dry aged steak.

Syndicate boasts three locations: Niagara Falls, St. Catherines, and Grimsby, but the Niagara Falls location is where the beer is made if you want to take a gander at their operation.

Taps Brewhouse and Grille

Now in its 11th year, Taps Brewing Company — who also makes the beer served and enjoyed in Syndicate — features and perfects small batch craft beer using only the most basic of beer ingredients: pure filtered water, malted barley, yeast, and select hops.

As with almost every libation in Niagara, the beer is made alongside an excellent restaurant whose award-winning chef’s menu includes better-than-basic pub fare. They boast six different types of poutine, including vegetable curry and Philly steak, and a handful of hamburgers worth writing home about.

The beer taps change regularly, but if you’re able, knock back the Taps Charleston Lager and the Taps Red Cream Ale. Besides being a great pub with good food and beer, they also have live music and other entertainment throughout the week.

Niagara Brewing Company

Opening up in May 2015, Niagara Brewing Company is the area’s newest beer maker. Firmly planted in the tradition of Canada’s burgeoning craft brew scene, Niagara Brewing Company promises to make and serve one-of-a-kind beers using the best in locally sourced ingredients.

At the helm of this new enterprise is Gord Slater, a brewery and brewpub developer whose roots in the business go down and back 30 years. With more than 60 breweries and pubs under his belt and plenty of awards for the beers he’s made, it’s likely his newest endeavor also pass muster. The Niagara Brewing Company is located in the center of the Falls View Resort.

Whether you love beer as a companion to food or you love it in its own right, accompanied by good friends or a ball game, the beer in Niagara’s breweries continue to get better and more local with each passing year.

There are a number of great farmers markets in the Niagara region, and they all showcase the wealth and variety of fruits, berries, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and more that the area’s farmers produce.

The St. Catharines Farmers Market, located at the corner of James Street and King Street in the center of the town next to the Courthouse and City Hall, has been in operation since the early 1860s, and it has been an important part of the town’s social and economic life that entire time.

For residents and visitors to Niagara who want to get the freshest, local food and wares from area farmers and artisans, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays should include a visit to the St. Catharines Farmers Market. Here is a look at just some of what you can find at the market.

• Fruit and Vegetables. From asparagus and eggplant to apricots and apples, Niagara is a fertile place. Here are a few of the farms you can find at the St. Catharines Farmers Market and a smattering of what they grow and sell:
  o Bartel Farms. A seasonal participant only, Bartel Farms specializes in organic produce, raspberries, and cut flowers.
  o Chez Nous Farms. A certified organic farm, Chez Nous grows everything from potatoes
  and kale to heirloom tomatoes. You can find them at the market all year long.
  o Porpiglia Farms. You’ll want to try their apples during the late summer and fall.
  o Bry-Anne Farms. A conventional farm that specializes in letting consumers pick their own fruit, this seasonal farm brings everything from pumpkins to strawberries to the market.
• Baked Goods. Whether you need a loaf of bread, a dozen sweet rolls, croissants, cakes, or beaver tails, the St. Catharines Farmers Market boasts a wide selection from many of the area’s best bakeries. Bakeries that are usually in attendance all year long include:
  o de la terre bakery. This Vineland, Ontario bakery specializes in organic artisan bread and pastries.
  o Sweet Potato Johnny. If you’re looking for a baked good made out of sweet potatoes, they have it.
  o Vanessa’s Cupcakes and Confections. Makers of sweet treats, who spend the bulk of their efforts on cupcakes, Vanessa’s is at the market on Thursdays and Saturdays.
• Meat and Cheese. From plucked, whole chickens to fresh-cured bacon and just-layed eggs, you can get locally raised meat from places like Bessy’s Poultry and Kasha’s Sow Farm at the market. There are also plenty of imported meats and cheeses available from places like Maria’s Deli.
• International Cuisine. From Perogies to Middle Eastern food, there are a handful of vendors offering international prepared food for sale. Saturdays are the best days to catch this market fare.
• VQA Wine Sales. It wouldn’t be a market in Niagara if there wasn’t high-quality, local wine for sale. There are about a dozen wineries on a weekly rotation at the market. Some of what you’ll see includes:
  o Cave Spring Cellars.
  o Creekside Estate Winery.
  o Chateau des Charmes Winery.
  o Pillitteri Estates Winery
  o Megalomaniac
  o And more!

Regardless of what brings you to the Niagara region, be sure to spend some time — preferably on a Saturday — perusing the many offerings at the St Catharines Farmers Market. Not only will it give you a hearty sampling of the fecundity of the region, but you’ll get plenty of chances to taste Niagara’s bounty as well.

Staying active while on vacation is a goal most people have and few people meet. Between jam-packed itineraries and how amazing it feels to sleep in, finding time to hit the gym or the streets to work up a sweat can seem like more trouble than it’s worth. However, research has shown time and time again that regular, daily exercise keeps us healthy in the long-term and in the short-term, which means that even while we’re far from home enjoying a much-deserved break from our regular routine, exercise should still play a role in our vacation plans. If you’re planning on coming to the Niagara region for a vacation, here are some exercise tips well-suited to a holiday in Niagara.

Pick a Hotel With a Gym

One of the easiest ways to make sure you get some exercise while you’re on vacation in Niagara Falls is to plan your stay at a Niagara hotel that has an exercise and fitness room. Whether you prefer weightlifting or cardio workouts, a good hotel fitness room will be able to accommodate you. When you make having access to a hotel gym a priority, you more easily set the stage for making sure your vacation includes some sweating, hard work, and an elevated pulse.

Schedule It

The Niagara region is rich in sights and events, which means: If you’re serious about exercising when you come for a vacation, you’re going to have to schedule it in your itinerary each and every day. Whether you pencil it in before you grab breakfast at one of Niagara’s great bakeries with your family, or you reserve an hour right before dinner at one of the area’s finest restaurants, treat exercise the way you would treat the start time of a vineyard tour, and you’ll have no trouble fitting in exercise amidst all the sights and sounds of Niagara.

Choose to Walk

Walking is one of the best exercises you can get, and there are plenty of ways to build a good, solid walk into a day’s outings around Niagara Falls. For instance, if you stay at the Falls Avenue Resort, you’ll be between a 20-minute and 30-minute walk from the Maid of the Mist. Or, drive to the Botanical Gardens, and walk to the Floral Clock, which is just 2.2 kilometers away. However you do it, build an itinerary that includes travel by foot, and you’ll save on gas and get exercise that won’t tire you out too much, preventing you from enjoying yourself.

Take a Hike

There is a lot of good hiking in the Niagara Falls region, especially in the Niagara Glen Nature Reserve. Whether you’re an avid outdoors person or someone who only ventures onto a trail when dragged, consider getting the exercise you need during a mid-morning or afternoon hike on the Niagara Glen’s many trails. Not only will you get your heart rate up, but you’ll also be enveloped in the lush flora of the Niagara region. The trails at the Glen have many unique point of interest, too, so your mind and senses will be as engaged as your legs and lungs.

Visiting Niagara Falls doesn’t have to keep you from maintaining your fitness regimen. From walking to your destinations to booking a hotel with a gym, follow these tips, and you’ll easily stay in shape in Niagara.

Niagara Falls, like most vacation destinations, will probably require you to pack clothing that’s a bit different from the items you normally wear when you’re at work or play, and for the tourist visiting the Niagara area during the spring months, this is especially true.

While the winter snow and ice are certainly in retreat, the warmth of summer can’t yet be relied upon, which means packing will need to accommodate a range of options that include warm, cold, muddy, wet, and windy. If you’re looking to book a stay in Niagara during the spring and early summer, here are some items you’ll need to bring along.

1. A Quality Coat

During the month of March, the temperature sits around the mid-30s, and while April and May routinely bring sunshiny days in the 60s, the temperature — especially at night — can still dip into the 40s or even lower. Even if your weather app suggests your springtime vacation will be balmy, bring along a coat that will keep you warm should you need to walk back to your hotel after a late dinner in temperatures that are downright cold.

2. Snow Boots

It isn’t unusual for a snowfall to hit the Niagara region as late as mid-April, and while these storms rarely result in massive accumulations, if the forecast for your time in Niagara does call for snow, you may want to pack your snow boots. Especially if your itinerary includes any hiking, bird watching, or other outdoor activity, a pair of waterproof boots with stable and solid traction that can handle uncertain footing may turn out to be a godsend.

3. Galoshes

In the spirit of keeping your feet dry, spring in Niagara, like spring in most places, often includes rain showers that are more easily endured with a good pair of galoshes. From running out from your hotel room to quickly pick up a bagel for breakfast to standing on the deck of the Maid of the Mist, rain boots or shoes will come in handy from March through May.

4. An Umbrella

Nothing ruins an outing like being caught in a rainstorm or snowstorm, and even if you do pack galoshes, you’ll want to make sure you have a small umbrella that’s easy and convenient to carry with you wherever you go to keep your clothes and head dry.

5. Layers

Because spring temperatures in Niagara can be so inconsistent, pack and wear clothing that’s easy to layer so that when you’re chilly, you won’t lose valuable body heat to shivering, and when the day gets warmer than you’d anticipated — or you step into an unusually warm museum, restaurant, or winery’s tasting room — you can swiftly remove a layer or two to remain comfortable. Long sleeve shirts made from thin, moisture-wicking fabrics are great for layering, and while it might not be necessary to employ them, be sure to pack a couple pairs of lightweight thermal tights to wear under jeans or slacks for any especially cold days that might crop up.

Spring weather’s volatility and unpredictability can make traveling and staying comfortable a bit of a gamble if you don’t prepare ahead of time. Keep an eye on the weather, and pack the items listed here for a springtime trip to the Niagara region that will keep you warm, dry, and happy.

St. Catharines sits just 20 kilometers from Niagara Falls and is the Niagara region’s largest city. Home to some excellent restaurants and breweries, St. Catharines also boasts Ontario’s largest, indoor and outdoor flea market. While the term originated from marché aux puces — a name given to a marketplace in Paris where tired, used items were sold, ostensibly with fleas — the St. Catherine’s Factory Outlet Flea Market is tidy, clean, and filled with such a vast assortment of items and wares that on Sundays seems to offer nowhere near the time necessary for the die-hard second-hand treasure hunter. The next time you book a stay in the Niagara region, be sure to leave your Sunday wide open for an unforgettable trip to the St. Catharine’s Factory Outlet Flea Market.

How it Works

Today’s flea markets are usually made up of individual stalls or booths, where different purveyors set up shop and sell their goods. While at some flea markets, each booth’s owner receives payment at his or her space for whatever it is a customer wants to buy, other markets have a centralized checkout area, where customers can purchase all they’ve found within the entire market in one fell swoop as they’re leaving the building. The St. Catharines Factory Outlet Flea Market utilizes the latter method, which makes it simpler for guests to peruse their over 250 stalls stocked by 125 different sellers. The variety of items available is truly impressive, which is why over 2,000 people descend upon the market every Sunday, which is the only day it is open.

What You’ll Find

It can be difficult to adequately categorize all the items you can find at a flea market, and the St. Catharines Factory Outlet Flea Market is no exception. Kitchen utensils, sports memorabilia, books, furniture, homemade knit children’s clothing, records, preserves, and antiques of all stripes, shapes, and sizes are all par for the course, and they’re just the tip of the iceberg, too. Whether you need a one-of-a-kind gift for your college-aged son, a vintage dress for a costume party, or you collect a certain style of pottery from the early 20th century, this flea market is the perfect place to try and find exactly what you need, especially since it’s also the kind of place where you might get lucky and happen upon all three. From the moment you step into the market until the time you leave, you’ll find you’re always at the perfect shopping intersection of the hard-to-find, the truly nostalgic, the incredibly useful, and the reasonably priced.

What Goes On

In addition to being a storehouse of a little bit of everything under the sun, the St. Catharines Factory Outlet Flea Market also hosts a number of events. Every Sunday finds plenty of locals in the cafeteria at 1:30 p.m. to try their hand at winning Bingo, and anyone is welcome to join in. They also host photo contests and coloring contests of different kinds throughout the year. And every May finds the market hosting their annual Community Swap Meet where, for $20, people set up their own little yard sale alongside the many stalls and booths, transforming the space into an even more impressive bargain hunter’s dream.

Spend your next Sunday in Niagara at the St. Catharines Factory Outlet Flea Market where you’ll find all sorts of items you need and plenty that you don’t in one unforgettable space in the heart of Niagara.

Niagara Falls is a remarkably popular holiday destination, even during the bleaker winter months. Not only are the waterfalls a stunning sight even when it’s cold and icy, but hotel accommodations are less expensive, and the Winter Festival of Lights is underway from November through January, routinely attracting over 1 million people to its lush and luminous displays.

As the days begin to lengthen and the weather slowly warms, however, other holidays enter the calendar, and it turns out that spring has its own reasons for visiting Niagara Falls that rival winter’s. In particular, Niagara Falls hosts a couple of separate Easter egg hunting forays: one for kids and one for dogs.

For Kids

While no one is certain when the first Easter egg hunt took place, the fun and competitive tradition has been around for at least a few hundred years, and children, it seems, have always been the primary participants of the hunt. Niagara Falls has its own version of the egg hunt that takes place every year on the Friday before Easter at Fireman’s Park. Put on by the Stamford Volunteer Fireman’s Association, the day’s events start at 11 a.m. and include face painting, a coloring contest, a bouncy castle, visits with the Easter Bunny, guessing games, Boy Scouts, 400 pounds of chocolate, and, of course, Easter egg hunting. Children from ages 4 to 6 can hunt for eggs at 11 a.m. and noon.

Children ages 7 to 9 can hunt eggs at 11:20 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. Kids from 10 to 11 can hunt at 11:40 a.m. and 12:40 p.m. Children 3 and under can look for eggs at any time. Admission to the day’s events is just $3 per child or a food donation to Project SHARE, a nonprofit organization in Niagara Falls that supplies emergency food and support services to people in the area living at or below the poverty line.

For Dogs

Hosted by National Service Dogs (NSD), an organization that works to provide specially trained Golden Retrievers and Labradors to families and individuals in need regardless of their ability to pay, this Easter egg hunt for dogs and their owners is a fundraiser for NSD. Each year, NSD trains and graduates roughly 30 dogs, and this Easter egg hunt fundraiser and others like it are one of its primary means of funding. Participants collect donations and pledges related to the number of eggs (plastic eggs filled with a dog treat) their pooch can find. There are multiple hunt locations on the Friday before Easter, and this year, each location will give out a grand prize of a Bissell DeepClean Lift-Off carpet cleaner package worth over $350. Bring your dog or just go for the fun. The hunt takes place at Burgoyne Woods in St. Catherines. Registration is at 10:00 a.m., and the hunt starts at 11:00 a.m.

Spend Easter in the Niagara area this April. Whether you have children or dogs, or you just like to watch a good egg hunt undertaken for a good cause, these two Easter egg hunting events make being in Niagara in early spring an ever more attractive option.

March is National Women’s History Month, which serves to remind everyone of the important women of the past and present. Niagara Falls has long appreciated the power women wield to shape history; in fact, some of Niagara’s most significant developments occurred because of the wits and wisdom of women. If you visit Niagara Falls in March, make sure you remember these four women while you enjoy Niagara’s amazing attractions.

1. Lelawala

You have likely heard of the Maid of the Mist, the must-see boat tour that takes tourists up close and personal with the mystical water at the base of the falls. However, you might not have heard about the legendary American Indian woman who gives the boat its name.

According to the Ongiaras Tribe (the group that lent their word for “thundering water” to the entire Niagara region), long ago a young woman name Lelawala was wholly distraught by the loss of her husband and decided to throw herself off the edge of Niagara Falls. Instead of crashing into the water below, Lelawala was caught by Heno, the god of thunder, who invited her to live with him and his sons behind the Falls’ veil of water.

Lelawala is said to have lived for several decades with the gods, mothering several children and saving the nearby human tribes from certain ruin, including from pestilence, flood, and famine. Without Lelawala’s diligent eye, the native peoples around Niagara may not have been around to enlighten European explorers of the region’s fertility.

2. Theodosia Burr

Despite the natural romance in the misty air, Niagara Falls wasn’t always the Honeymoon Capital of the World. For much of history, Niagara Falls was simply a magnificent wonder enjoyed by a handful of local colonists and native American Indians. However, around the beginning of the 19th century, Theodosia Burr — noteworthy daughter of America’s third vice president, Aaron Burr — decided to travel to the rumored waterfalls with her newly minted husband, and a worldwide tradition was born.

Following in her footsteps, millions of newlyweds flocked to the landscape. Today, countless thousands of couples make the pilgrimage to Niagara Falls every year to experience the natural ardor of the region, and it is all thanks to Theodosia.

3. Laura Secord

While the War of 1812 may pass through the sieve of American memories, it remains one of the fiercest military skirmishes that Canada has ever fought, especially on its own turf. Situated squarely on the border between America and Canada, Niagara Falls was a contentious zone filled with bloody battles. American and Canadian families alike were torn apart on the battlefield.

One woman sought to end the troubles of her family by intervening in the military efforts. Laura Secord, a Niagara local, by chance overheard the military strategy of the American armies on the Niagara peninsula. Frustrated and frightened by the frequent war activity that threatened the livelihood of her and her husband, Secord refused to wait for a military messenger; she walked 20 miles through the Niagara wilderness spotted with enemy camps to deliver her news to the closest Canadian military company. As a direct result of Secord’s heroism, the Canadians were able to ambush the Americans and push them out of peaceful Niagara.

4. Annie Edson Taylor

It is difficult to imagine Niagara Falls without thinking of the long legacy of daredevils that flock to this astounding place. It is even more difficult to imagine that these risky stunts were all inspired by the work of one 63-year-old woman looking for fame and glory.

In 1901, Annie Edson Taylor realized late in her career as a schoolteacher that she had not generated enough savings to keep her housed and fed for the duration of her retirement. Instead of resigning herself to the poorhouse, she designed a large, oak barrel, stuffed herself into it, and threw herself off into the rushing water of the Niagara River and down the plummeting Falls. While she suffered little injury, she gained little fortune from her act. Still, despite Taylor’s admonitions against others attempting the feat, dozens of copycats have tried (and succeeded as well as failed) to survive a trip down the Falls.