Piff Poff

Can anyone recommend a hotel at Niagara on the lake? And is Niagara on the lake worth it or should we stay at Niagara Falls?

We actually need to go to Churchill but according to Mapquest that's only a 2-3 hour drive so we thought we'd stay somewhere touristy

dbd33

Had never heard of Churchill but it seems to be just around the corner. Niagara Falls as a town is like Blackpool. NOTL is a genteel tea-room type of place. I suppose it depends on how much you value having a heart shaped bed that vibrates and/or a view of the falls.

While around Churchill you might want to look at Elora and/or the Rockwood Conservation Area. They're the local beauty spots. I suppose you could use some pastoral beauty after Niagara.

iaink

Prince of Wales is "the" NOTL hotel isnt it?


Personally Id stay in one of the Niagara Fallsviews if you havent done that neck of the woods before, its a view you are unlikely to tire off. From there you can walk to the falls and restaurants and use the parks busses to get to other attarctions.

3 hours might be optimistic to Churchill if you catch bad traffic on the QEW/400/401. Lots of nice places to stay in the "near" Muskokas.

ultrarunner

There are many b&bs along the way once you leave the falls going to NOTL, before you get to the floral clock. If you stay at NOTL, there isn't much to do apart from the main drag and the waterfront.

You are better off staying in the Niagara area and then drive into NOTL or unto Buffalo for a day trip. It comes down to a matter of choice

JamesM

How long are you in town for? You could quite easily do a couple of nights in both.

The answer lies in the Nightlife. If you like strip bars and lap dancing clubs then Niagara is better than Vegas.

If you want more sedate cozey venues then it's NOL.

ultrarunner

Wooooooow....you don't even know if the poster is a female/male, and you start talking about strip clubs

To the OP...if you have kids tagging along, great wolf lodge is a nice place to stay in Niagara even just for a night or two

Bill_S

My wife and I have stayed at the Post House Inn (B&B in Niagara-on-the-Lake) a couple of times. Nice place.

geo4

Niagara-On-The-Lake is very quaint. In a good way.

Oakvillian

If you're only here for a short time and don't know when you'll next be around these parts, Niagara Falls is a no-brainer. NOTL is quaint, sure, but no moreso than any number of small towns in the UK - it's a sleepier version of Stratford or Leamington, IMHO. The falls themselves are a must-see, and you might as well - as somebody suggested up-thread - get a hotel room with a falls view. Take in the sights and the sounds amongst the tourist tat, then retire to your hotel and watch the light show in air-conditioned comfort.

I'm sure there are other BEers in and around Acton, just down the road from Churchill. They may have local recommendations beyond dbd's for Elora - though that's a good one if you're into artisan crafts and eclectic galleries. I don't know Rockwood, might have to investigate that...

Auld Yin

NOTL is quite nice by Canadian standards. It is strictly developed as a tourist trap. It has one major defect and that is there's too many people roaming around, and too many cars and buses.

Piff Poff

The little pink thing next to my name should give you a clue Why would I not like a strip club??

Anyhow, thanks for the advice everybody, we have been to Niagara before (our first trip that made us think about emigrating to Canada). We are around for three nights, flying in Friday morning and out Monday night.

Going to see what deals we can get, so far I have found flights, hotel and car hire for less than $2.5k. Bit more looking tonight and then I'll book something - might even end up in Toronto, but I think I'd prefer Niagara with a day trip into Toronto.

iaink

Dont you have to be north of toronto in Churchil?

Wouldnt somewhere up there in "Cottage Country" be better if you have already experienced Niagara?

$2.5k for three days away is a good example of the cost of travel in Canada isnt it!

dbd33

I thought it was a typo. $250 seems a little low but more reasonable. At that price I'd never go anywhere.

Google thought Churchill was near Acton which makes Niagara a reasonable place to stay.

iaink

I had it as the one up by Lake Simcoe/ Killarney beach... Makes sense now.

Piff Poff

Don't tell me there are other touristy bits now I have just booked for Niagara falls, $2100 for three nights and a hire car. I had wanted to go to Victoria, if we were going to fly anywhere, but the car that was just bought is in Churchill...

What's really strange is just a couple of nights before the car was on ebay, OH had mentioned his desire to revisit Niagara, so there we have it.

Looking forward to it now, only a couple of weeks away, it's all been a bit of a shock really, I thought we were going to end up in Canmore again for our romantic weekend whilst teen is away at camp

Just read your new reply Iaink, is the traffic really going to be horrendous, we will need to be in Churchill on the monday to watch the car being loaded onto transport and then make it back to Toronto Airport, Oh I suppose we'll get an idea as we're (read that as OH) is going to have to make the car transporter ready before the transporter can take it anyway.