toronto places to stay::I would go ahead and book a flight to boston.
Then, i would look into renting a car versus flying to niagara falls.
Niagara, however, you would need a car.
So, for niagara, i would look into roundtrip flights from boston to buffalo.
I think someone mentioned there is a direct flight.
Then, rent a car in buffalo.
And i would compare that to the total cost of renting a car all those days, the price of gas, and maybe figure in the cost of a hotel for 1 night each way.
You might find the cost of flying from boston to buffalo to be not much more than driving.
And it would save you a lot of time too.
Then, you could just rent a car there and drive the 20 miles from buffalo to niagara falls.
If there is any issue of taking the rental car accross the border, then if youre in good shape, then you can just walk accross rainbow bridge into canada.
However, that being said, the falls can also be viewed on the american side.
Check out niagara falls state park.
I ll give you a quick run down of each side.
The canadian side has panoramic views of the falls from a distance, it is very touristy, but has a european feel to it with manicured gardens.
There is maid of the mist, which is the boat that goes up to the falls and its a must.
There is also journey behind the falls, which takes you down to a platform close to the falls and takes you in tunnels behind the waterfall.
But, basically the canadian side has better facilities and the views are different in addition to much more crowds.
However, that being said you could most certainly take a trip to niagara falls and never leave the us.
Theres a lot to see and do on the us side and it is much less crowded.
The views of the falls are different on the us side though.
They are more up close and personal rather than panoramic.
But, i believe the views are every bit as good as the canadian side, just different.
I liked the us side a lot.
Cave of the winds on the us side in my opinion is the best attraction at niagara falls.
Its not actually a cave, but it takes you down right down to the base of the falls and basically gets you right up to it.
Its amazing to look up at the huge waterfall coming down on you.
It is so much better than journey behind the falls on the canadian side.
Its not like your actually walking behind the waterfall and its open.
Cave of the winds gives you more a experience than that and is much more up close and personal and not confined.
In addtion, i would take in the views at the state park.
And cave of the winds is on the american side and maid of the mist like i said can be done from the american side.
Another place i would reccomend is if you drive 23 miles north out of town is whirlpool state park.
It gives you good views of the whirlpool and canyon downstream and recieves little crowds.
There is also a hiking trail you can take down to the river, which is very neat with the roaring river and you find solitude.
And this is free.
If your into history, continue 8 more miles or so up the same road to fort niagara on lake ontario.
You can see toronto from here.
Its a very interesting fort that was owned by the french and one of the strutures is almost like a castle.
If i were you, i would focus most of my time in the niagara area.
The only reason i would go over to canada would be for like i just said a different view of the falls or nightlife.
Other than that, you can make a visit to the falls and stay on the american side, no problem.
When i was there, i stayed on the canadian side and found myself doing most of my activities on the american side.
Now, if you drive from boston to niagara, there are mountains.
Theres the berkshires in western massachusetts.
You cross them on the interstate but id reccomend taking route 2 farther north into albany, much more scenic.
Theres also the adirondacks in ny, but theyre a little bit out of the way.
You also got the finger lakes region of ny closer to niagara, which is pretty with lots of gorges.