There are two sides to Niagara Falls. No, not the US side and the Canada side. I mean the “Gosh isn’t nature amazing!” side and the crazy fun side. We enjoyed both, although the crazy fun side of Niagara falls, Clifton Hill, came as a complete surprise to us, we weren’t expecting that at all.
Clifton Hill, Niagara Falls, Canada
We could have handled it in one of two ways, stuck our noses in the air and tutted at the blatant commercialism or do as we did, get stuck in and have a really good fun at Niagara Falls.
Clifton Hill and Canada, seen from the US side of Niagara Falls.
There are loads of attractions to see on Clifton Hill and it’s a great place to visit with kids. Here are a few of the things to do on Clifton Hill that we enjoyed as a family.
Temperatures in Niagara in January (winter) were well below freezing so we kicked off with some indoor mini-golf.
Not just any mini golf, glow-in-the-dark mini golf. After all the mini golf practice we had on our Atlantic Crossing cruise the kids whizzed around like pros and loved the glow-in-the-dark concept. I don’t think they’d ever experienced anything like that before.
Next stop was the huge, indoor Canada’s Midway amusement arcade, this one took us right back to Barry Island, the kids couldn’t get enough of the arcades there and this one was much bigger.
We played about feeding tokens into machines for a while before trying the two big indoor attractions.
First up, a ride that crossed a ghost train with a target shooting ride ( similar to our favourite ride at Legoland Malaysia) with the added bonus of the boys’ new favourite, glow-in-the dark. Chef and I get very competitive on these things. He beat me this time, I accepted defeat graciously.
Our final fun of the afternoon and one that had all four of us laughing and screaming out-loud was the 5D Cinema ride. I won’t spoil the surprise, but it was really good fun being part of the action on screen.
The last stop of the afternoon was the wax museum, Movieland, next door. It was WAY better than we expected. OK, so the likenesses weren’t great, but we had such a good laugh.
The kids recognised all sorts of characters, from Michael Jackson to Darth Vader. There was no mistaking this family.
There was a scary horror walk towards the end, Chef took it on, we 3 stayed out and screamed a bit at the noises we heard.
What a lovely change! Clifton Hill was something different and totally good fun for all four of us. You can buy tickets individually or as a bundle with a Clifton Hill fun pass, it includes the Sky Wheel which we highly recommend.
There are loads of other attractions on the Canada side of Niagara falls to try, the main street, Clifton Hill looks like this.
There are plenty of family-friendly accommodation options near Clifton Hill and Niagara Falls Ontario. One solid choice is The Country Inn and Suites by Radisson, this hotel is also extremely good value and has rooms for families. Enjoy your time at Clifton Hill and at Niagara Falls!
Winter, we thought, was a great time to see Niagara Falls and Clifton Hill. There was snow on the ground and Niagara Falls was all but frozen solid. It was very cold, but we were still able to enjoy the indoor fun attractions on Clifton Hill and the Sky Wheel.
We found cosy places to eat and try Canadian speciality foods like poutine. We had a great time at Clifton Hill and we hope you do too. It would be great to see Niagara Falls in summer too, and take that famous boat ride into the mists of the falls. Look out for special Christmas and Holiday things to do at Clifton Hill. Check those out here.
We’re really disappointed we couldn’t get further into Canada and have a good look around, but we learned a few facts about Canada in our short time there and really enjoyed Clifton Hill and Niagara Falls from the Ontario side. I didn’t see my moose, but time is short, we have to be in New York tomorrow and in Florida in just 3 weeks. This is quite the road trip, Canada to the keys. We’ll be back!
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About the author
Alyson Long
Alyson Long is a British medical scientist who jumped ship to chase dreams. A former Chief Biomedical Scientist at London's West Middlesex Hospital she started in website creation and travel writing in 2011.
Alyson is a full-time blogger and travel writer, a published author, and owns several websites. World Travel Family is the biggest.
A lifetime of wanderlust and over 6 years of full-time travel, plus a separate 12 month gap year, has given Alyson and the family some travel expert smarts to share with you on this world travel site.
Today Alyson still travels extensively to update this site and continue her mission to visit every country, but she's often at home on her farm in Australia.
This is so timely and so useful! I’m planning a trip to Canada and I’ll be stopping in Toronto for a few days, and of course I will be visiting the falls. Bookmarking it! Thanks for sharing ????
What an unexpected bit of fun! Sometimes the unplanned trips are the ones that create the loveliest memories. Now forever, your family will say, remember that day we just popped over to Canada? 😉
Wow, I just found your site, and am interested to read more of your story. We are in Australia (permanent home), but planning to spend the 2nd half of this year road tripping around the States, where my husband has a lot of family (and I lived there in my early 20s). Can’t wait.
Hi Kirsten, looks like you found the right place! Our USA road trip will probably be only a month, but as Australians used to driving stupidly long distances, we can cover a lot! Have fun 🙂
You will have to spend some more time in Canada there is so much to see from the Canadian Rockies that go through BC and Alberta, beautiful northern Ontatio with its amazing lakes and parks to the Bay of Fundy and beautiful beaches in our eastern provinces. I love this country and still have not spent the time I should exploring its beauty. Reading your blog makes me have an itch to do some more travelling though. Hope your family continues to have a wonderful time and glad your short time in Canada was a good one.
Peace and love
This is so timely and so useful! I’m planning a trip to Canada and I’ll be stopping in Toronto for a few days, and of course I will be visiting the falls. Bookmarking it! Thanks for sharing ????
What an unexpected bit of fun! Sometimes the unplanned trips are the ones that create the loveliest memories. Now forever, your family will say, remember that day we just popped over to Canada? 😉
Wow, I just found your site, and am interested to read more of your story. We are in Australia (permanent home), but planning to spend the 2nd half of this year road tripping around the States, where my husband has a lot of family (and I lived there in my early 20s). Can’t wait.
Hi Kirsten, looks like you found the right place! Our USA road trip will probably be only a month, but as Australians used to driving stupidly long distances, we can cover a lot! Have fun 🙂
You will have to spend some more time in Canada there is so much to see from the Canadian Rockies that go through BC and Alberta, beautiful northern Ontatio with its amazing lakes and parks to the Bay of Fundy and beautiful beaches in our eastern provinces. I love this country and still have not spent the time I should exploring its beauty. Reading your blog makes me have an itch to do some more travelling though. Hope your family continues to have a wonderful time and glad your short time in Canada was a good one.
Peace and love
We were really impressed with what little we saw of Canada Nikki. We’ll most certainly make it a priority to come back.
I’ve never been to Niagara Falls. This was a great article. Now I’ll have a plan for when we DO visit. =)