Niagara Falls was the last big trip we took as an engaged couple. We wanted to go for years, but the pandemic kept us away until 2023. It was worth the wait. Long known as the honeymoon capital of the world, Niagara Falls was a magical winter getaway before we said our vows.

Niagara Falls also has a reputation for being overdeveloped – kitschy, or touristy. I’m originally from East Tennessee, near Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains – another overdeveloped, kitschy, touristy place. But in 2023, after years of social distancing, mandatory testing, and quarantines, crowds of tourists flocking anywhere felt like a comeback.

Trip Overview

• When did we go? January 2023
• Duration: 2 nights, 1 full day at Niagara with a full travel day before and after
• Travel time: A 7.5 hours drive from DC (8.5 including pitstops)
• Cost: About $750 for 2 people, including meals, gas, parking, tickets to attractions, and our hotel
• What to pack: All your winter gear, including snow boots, hats, gloves, and long underwear. (I like the silk-synthetic base layers from Land’s End.)

The Secret to a Successful Roadtrip

We started planning in mid-December 2022, less than a month before. At least once, maybe twice before, we made reservations and cancelled them due to the pandemic (a surge of the virus in 2022, lingering travel restrictions in 2021). With our research already done, we double-checked the travel time, requested a January Friday off work for the drive, and booked our hotel (Hilton Niagara Falls/Fallsview, on the Canada side).

All we had to do was drive.

We’ve been together seven years and have been on countless roadtrips of varying length. That was the winter we figured out our recipe for the longer drives; the magic ingredient is audiobooks.

For shorter trips (6 hours or less), we download hours of our favorite podcasts beforehand: Radiolab, This American Life, Freakonomics, No Stupid Questions (unfortunately discontinued), various Ted Talks and other one-offs. But for the longer trips, it gets old asking each other “what’s next?” every hour. We experimented over the drive down to Tennessee for the holidays with an audiobook, and it worked like a charm.

On the trip to Niagara Falls, we listened to Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton. I will forever associate the long drive through Pennsylvania – the snowy hills, the city of Harrisburg, the winding miles along the Susquehanna River – with the post-apocalyptic adventures of S.T., a domesticated crow, and Dennis, a bloodhound, two orphaned pets learning to survive in a world without people.

There’s something about sharing a long story that turns 16 hours in a car into a shared experience and adds flavor to the memory. I’m curious what works for you; sound off in the comments and let me know!

Cozy Romance

Our romance has redefined the word for me. When I was younger, my idea of love was quite different than my eventual experience of it. As a young woman, I thought romance was pretty words, stylishly-dressed attractive people in fancy restaurants and hotels, and an instant-soul-level-connection between two people who magically agree on everything and yet don’t get bored. Our real love is frank and simple words of love, two sometimes-stylishly-dressed average-looking people growing into middle-age, with a deep level of understanding that you only reach after years of hard work at trust and honesty. (My younger self’s visions of restaurants and hotels turned out to on track for us, only they don’t need to be fancy to be romantic.)

When I look back on that frosty January weekend, I remember my then-fiancé’s smile at dinner the night we arrived. He sat across from me in a high-back chair in front of the fireplace at Weinkeller, jewel-colored glasses of wine on the table between us. We wore our warmest winter gear: sweaters, snow boots, hats and gloves on the table, puffy coats slung over the arms of the chair. His smile alone warmed me.

For that trip we chose restaurants with a lodge vibe – a fireplace and a casual dress code. However, there is plenty of fine dining and luxury at Niagara Falls if that’s your preference. The Hilton has several restaurants on-site that looked wonderful, though we didn’t get around to trying them.

For other cozy indoor activities, I recommend reserving a room with a view of the falls, especially at the lower winter rates. In 2023 our room cost $135/night, plus tax + parking. Two years later, prices have increased by nearly $100/night, but you may get a better rate with early booking. However, if you prefer to save the money, the best views of the Falls are up close and personal.

Best meal: Brunch at the Flour Mill Scratch Kitchen at the Old Stone Inn. I’m a brunch fanatic and a little biased, but we both have great memories of the rustic tavern decor, blueberry lemon ricotta pancakes, coffee served in a french press, and our window table looking out at the snowy town.

Honorable mention: The previously-mentioned Weinkeller for wine and dinner. Also, the Kasbah Mediterranean, a short-drive from the main tourist area with reasonably-priced, tasty, Greek/Italian food.

Behind the Falls

Is there anything more captivating than the other side of a waterfall? From The Last of the Mohicans to Disney’s Robin Hood, there’s a reason why filmmakers feature lovers disappearing behind a veil of water. It suggests a passageway to a hidden world, however fleeting their time there may be.

The Journey Behind the Falls attraction is a museum with access to the tunnels behind the Horseshoe falls, complete with a stellar souvenir shop. It costs $24 and you can plan to spend 1-2 hours, although with a few more people for company than Cora and Nathaniel had for their waterfall scene. (Even they had Uncas, Alice, and that British guy with them… and bad guys hot on their trail, so you don’t want to be them, anyway.) In our pictures, we are masked and surrounded by other people. But it is worth the crowd to see and hear 168,000 cubic metres of water flowing over the falls at 65 kilometers per hour every second.

Apart from the tour, you can view and photograph the Falls from a park walkway, from the Rainbow Bridge to the American and Bridal Veil Falls (that’s the smaller one on the right in the top picture), and all the way up to the Horseshoe where you can take more pictures from the observation deck. There is no admission fee to look. Even in winter there are crowds, so I would recommend going in an off-season for better pictures.

I remember how it felt to see so many people again, gathered to witness this untameable natural force. Water has a calming effect; that’s why people paint pathways by a lake, and go hiking alongside rivers and streams. And while it would be nice to see a place like Niagara Falls unspoiled, like Kootenai Falls from The Revenant, after COVID I appreciated being one pilgrim in the multitude at the river’s edge where many had stood before, and many would follow after.

Two years later, I am over the crowds already, and many of us are grudgingly returning back to the office. Seasons and chances pass, and that’s why it’s so important to seize every opportunity for adventure with someone special. Whether that’s your best friend and lover, your family, or someone you just met – go see Niagara Falls while you can.

What we would do differently/what we missed: There is nothing I would change about our trip, but I do want to go again. Winter is a gorgeous time to visit; next time, I’d like to see it in the spring or fall.

The famous Maid of the Mist boat does not take passengers from November to May, so we had to save that for another time.

Upcoming: My next blog in March is a big one – our honeymoon trip! I am considering breaking it up into a 2 or 3 blog series, because there will be so much to cover and lots of pictures. I’m not sure which date/s I will publish, so be sure to subscribe to catch it. It’s our best trip together so far and I don’t know how we will ever top it; I only hope the blogs can do it justice.