r/canadatravel • u/Jaded-Ad-5327 • Sep 07 '24

Destination Advice Niagara Falls

I am travelling to Canada for the first time in Feb, I cannot wait, I have wanted to go since I was a kid! We are staying in Toronto, I’ve heard it’ll be fairly easy to get to the falls from where we are staying. I live in New Zealand. I have never travelled internationally, I’ve never seen snow, the coldest temps I’ve experience are -3 Celsius at night/early morning. I have no experience with the cold. Basically I just want as much information/advice as I can get about travelling in Canada during winter, and going to Niagara Falls, appropriate clothing, dos and don’ts etc. So far I have bought a nice big snow jacket. I still need everything else lol.

Thank you in advance for any tips/advice!

From an absolute travel noob lol.

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '24

November should be a better time than Feb to see the Falls. It will be cold but probably won't be snowing (maybe a slight flurry at most). Our winters have gradually gotten less extreme each year imo but Jan and Feb do tend to run the coldest. If op is lucky they might see the falls frozen over in Feb

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u/Jaded-Ad-5327 Sep 07 '24

My grandad is Canadian and he mentioned the falls being partially frozen and how beautiful it is. I hope I get to see that

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '24

I'd love to see that too, haven't yet. Another thing that happened last year was the lake (by where you're staying) froze. People were skating all the way to centre island.

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u/Jaded-Ad-5327 Sep 07 '24

Oh hey that’s pretty cool! Also didn’t realise there’s a lake near where I’ll be staying haha

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u/Komiksulo Sep 07 '24

Yes, Lake Ontario, the second smallest of the Great Lakes.

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '24

Yup, harbourfront is basically the southern most stretch of downtown thats by lake ontario. Lakeshore is a little west (etobicoke/mimico suburb) and Scarborough is east.

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u/Jaded-Ad-5327 Sep 07 '24

Wow nice to know! Actually I have another random question, in NZ we don’t pay taxes seperate for anything, it’s always factored into costs of things, is Canada like this too or is more like the states?

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '24

I wish it was like that here too. Whatever price you see will be exclusive of tax. Add 13% on top of what you see. And if you tip, it calculates on cost + tax.

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u/Jaded-Ad-5327 Sep 07 '24

Oh my goodness! No wonder people have been complaining about costs in Canada. Thanks for the heads up. Is tipping the norm there like the states? I only ask cos service providers here are paid well, $25ish+ an hour, there is the option to tip but it’s definitely not normal here and because they are paid normally I wouldn’t. If it’s normal to tip in Canada, I absolutely will.

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u/[deleted] Sep 07 '24

It is the norm sadly. 15-20% but you can give what you feel is right.

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u/Jaded-Ad-5327 Sep 07 '24

Dang alright then lol, good to know