Ontario experience 2018 part 1

I was overjoyed to receive this phone call as I have never been to Niagara, and it was on my bucket list. I decided to take this wonderful trip in October with my wife Becky. When we arrived at London Gatwick, we were treated to a lovely surprise of being upgraded to Club World, British Airways’ business class with airline lounge access. Neither of us had flown business class from London Gatwick since British Airways moved to South Terminal. We were both very impressed with their new lounge.

Whilst onboard, the service was amazing especially with the flat beds as you could sleep on the flight. The other nice thing seated in business class was Club Kitchen during the flight, which meant you could help yourself to any snacks like crisps, chocolate, sandwiches and drinks which were served in the galley. We thought the flight went very quickly, a flying time of 7 hours and 55 minutes, which makes a good option for a long weekend city beak to Toronto.

When we arrived at Toronto, we cleared customs and immigration fairly quickly. Before entering Canada, you require an ETA which must be done online before you go. The cost is CAD 7.00 per person and lasts up to 5 years or if passport expires within the 5 years. We had a short wait for our shuttle bus to Niagara Falls from Toronto Airport as the shuttle works on a timetable. Journey time is around 3 hours, as it drops people off at their homes and hotels plus feeder service.

The journey was interesting as we saw lots of countryside with the autumn leaves colours on the trees. When we finally checked into our hotel Best Western Cairn Croft, where we were staying for 2 nights, we were given a free room upgrade which had a jacuzzi bath and large spacious bedroom.

We also received a lovely welcome pack from Christina at Niagara tourism which included maps, discount vouchers and ice wine. We thought this was a lovely touch to the start of our 8-day tour of Ontario. This hotel has a Irish bar, which is very popular with the locals plus an indoor swimming pool. Nearby there are shops and restaurants. Outside the hotel there is a bus top to the lakes taking around 15 minutes’ drive. The bus service in Niagara Falls is called Wego with 4 bus routes and a 24-hour pass starts from CAD 8.00 per adult.

The first night we took a walk near to the falls for something to eat and we found lots of restaurants, souvenir shops plus an amusement park, Niagara Skywheel. On the way to the falls we went past The Battle of Lundy's Lane which was an interesting place. The Battle of Lundy's Lane was a battle during the Anglo-American War of 1812, which took place in present-day Niagara Falls. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, and one of the deadliest battles ever fought in Canada. We were really surprised how lively Niagara Falls is, we were expecting a small sleepy town with not much going on.

The next day, we were treated by Niagara Tourism to a lovely winery tour which included sampling ice wines and ciders. It was amazing to see how ice wine was made, and to see how many grapes are used. We now know why ice wine is so expensive to produce and sell, as it is made when the grapes are naturally frozen on the vine. In order to be Ice wine certified in Canada the grapes must be harvested at -8c or colder, have no artificial refrigeration and no added sweeteners. The winery that stood out for us was Small Talk, we thought it had a great name.

We had a lovely stop for lunch at Niagara on the Lakes, a nice small town with lots of character. We would love to visit this place again maybe staying a couple of nights. After lunch we visited another winery, it was a great day out and we learned loads about ice wine and table wine. I would recommend this tour. My wife made a purchase of ice wine at all 3 stops. We both love the taste of ice wine; it has a sweet taste to be served with deserts.

Later in the evening we decided to take a trip down to the Niagara Falls. It was breath-taking to see the falls in full view and the changing of colours at night-time. You could hear the water from miles away along with the mist. We both stood as close to see the water flowing from the falls. Seeing Niagara Falls at night is a must!

The next day we did an amazing tour called Journey Behind the Falls which is a year-round attraction that offers a unique view of the falls from below and behind. Visitors descend 150 ft. by elevator, where a short tunnel (150 ft.) gives access to two outdoor observation decks and two portals located directly behind the falls. On this tour we had great views of the boats entering the falls and feel the vibrations of the falls.

Our next tour which we were both really excited about was Hornblower Niagara Cruises. We experienced the 30-minute boat tour of the great gorge, American Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and of course, up close and personal connection with the thundering water, awesome power and amazing mist of the mighty Horseshoe Falls. Niagara Cruises has taken this legendary experience to a whole new level. State of the art, 700 passenger catamaran boats feature all new on-board passenger comforts and conveniences including tiered decks for 360-degree unobstructed viewing, dry viewing areas and on board seating. You are given a poncho free of charge. Our tip for this trip is to head upstairs for great views and make sure you have a waterproof camera. It was lovely to see both American and Canadian sides by boat. Doing Hornblower Niagara cruise is a must do and of our list in Niagara’s was the highlight of our trip.