Niagara Falls Day Trip from New York, with Lesley & Frankie

We caught an 8am flight from New York LaGuardia Airport to Buffalo, close to the Niagara and Canada border. The flight was less than one hour from New York City, so it was a very easy journey.

As we only had hand luggage, it was simple to disembark, collect our hire car and drive around 30 minutes to Niagara. The drive was very straightforward and took us to the location of Rainbow Air, a helicopter company offering flights over both the USA and Canadian sides of Niagara Falls.

Rainbow Air is based in a large hangar building and the team were extremely friendly and helpful. They got us into the air very quickly and it was such an amazing experience. The ride was very smooth, the pilot was great and the views from the helicopter were incredible. The panoramic windows gave us simply the best views, and the 15 minutes were over far too quickly.

Back on the ground, the centre has lots of information about the helicopters and their history, including some Vietnam War helicopter memorabilia. They also have Niagara Virtual, a multi sensory VR parasail experience over the falls, which we went on. It was great fun, although a little disorientating.

We could have stayed at Rainbow Air for much longer, but we were limited on time and wanted to explore Niagara further. We drove the short distance to the Canadian border crossing, then continued into Canada to see the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

There is plenty of parking at the end of the Niagara River Parkway, close to the Niagara Parks Power Station and tunnel. From there, it is just a short walk down to the walkway along the falls. I would definitely recommend taking wet weather gear, as the spray is constant. Even though the weather was decent, we still got soaked.

The Maid of the Mist cruise was operating, but sadly we did not have time to go on it. We could see it getting close to the falls, circled by a rainbow, which looked incredible.

The town of Niagara on the Canadian side is a little bit like a small Blackpool, which feels quite strange when there is so much natural beauty around you. However, if you have time, Niagara on the Lake is also worth visiting. It is around a 30 minute drive from Niagara, and is a historic town with 19th century buildings, sitting on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Then it was time to drive back to Buffalo for our 5pm flight back to New York City. We arrived back at the hotel just in time for dinner.

It was a brilliant day out, much better than the long coach excursions you can do from New York, and very easy to arrange. I can definitely recommend it.

Lesley & Frankie