NYC-Niagara-Toronto: a recap

Hi everyone! A couple of weeks back I shared a look book from my long weekend trip to NYC-Niagara and Toronto here. So today I thought I’ll share my itinerary plus a few tips if you decide to visit the best city in the world 😉

I visited NYC for the first time last December and it truly took my breath away! Every single street was lit up and there were Christmas trees around every corner! We also visited Niagara, but the boat tour (Maid of the Mist) was not operating, so we knew we had to visit again during Summer. So this time, we decided to visit Niagara and also cross the border and visit the Canadian Side of the falls and Toronto.

If you ever plan on visiting Niagara, I highly recommend viewing it from the Canadian Side and then going to the Maid of the Mist on the Americ side. All it takes is a little bit of planning ahead. If you have an Indian passport like me, applying for Canadian Visa takes about a month of processing time and around $100-$150 USD including the fee and USPS mail costs. And it’s so worth it! You’ll see it for yourself as you scroll down and see the pictures 🙂

Day 1&2 – New York City 

We flew into Newark International airport and booked our stay at Jersey city for the 2 days that we were at NYC. We stayed in a hotel that was about 10 mins walk from the PATH which made our commute to NYC quick and easy. Inside NYC, we mostly walked to all the different places that we wanted to see and occasionally took an uber.

So on the first day, we visited Times Square, Central park and walked around Midtown Manhattan during the day and headed to top of the Rock for sunset. I’ve been to all the 3 famous viewpoints inside NYC – Top of the Rock, Empire state building and the One World observatory and if you visiting NYC for the first time, I would highly recommend Top of the Rock! There’s a reason why it’s always sold out during the sunset time slot 🙂 It has amazing views of Central Park and Midtown Manhattan which is breathtaking during sunset!

For the second day, we decided to cover Lower Manhattan and visited 9/11 memorial, the 9/11 museum and one world observatory. The one world observatory offered a very unique view of Lower Manhattan along with Brooklyn. You can also spot the statue of Liberty from there. Later that evening, we walked to Brooklyn bridge for sunset.

For dessert lovers – So I read raving reviews (that rhymed ;)) about Lady M Confections Matcha Crepe and I had to try it ( Green tea lover here! ) and oh man, that was the best desert I’ve had till date! So if you are like me, drop a visit to this Matcha heaven and you can thank me later 😛

Day 3 – Niagara, ON, Canada

We rented a car to drive to Niagara on the third day which took about 7 hours in total including pit stops for lunch and rest. We reached Niagara, USA later that evening and crossed the border at the Rainbow Bridge that night. It took about 20 mins to get past immigration and we drove straight to the Skylon Tower to watch the Niagara from the top. It was a breathtaking view of Niagara which was lit up in all colors! We later spent some time in City of Niagara which legit looked like a fair with Mini Golf and a Giant wheel and what not and ended the day with a Funnel cake 🙂

Day 4 – Toronto

We spent this day exploring Toronto which is about an hour and a half from Niagara, ON. We visited all the must-see touristy spots like CN tower, Lawrence Market and the Toronto Eaton Centre and spent the rest of the day walking around this beautiful city. For me, Toronto felt like a fusion of downtown Seattle and NYC in terms of the architecture. I’m already looking forward to visiting this city again and spending more time here 🙂 We drove back to Niagara Falls, ON and spent some time near the Canadian Falls this time mesmerized by it’s beauty 🙂

Day 5 – Niagara, USA

The last day, we crossed the border and came back into the USA and took the Maid of the Mist tour! If you haven’t done the tour during summer, I highly recommend it! It doesn’t matter if you take it from the USA or Canada side, it takes the same route. And it gives the best views of the falls! And you will probably get drenched so dress accordingly 🙂 We stayed at the falls till Noon and started driving back towards NYC. We stayed near the Newark Airport that night and took the early morning flight to California 🙂

Hope you guys enjoyed this post! I enjoy writing travel posts because when I write it I literally relive the moments 🙂

Until next time,

Mal