Niagara Falls in two hours

How to visit Niagara from Toronto quickly and affordably

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We had thought several times about visiting Niagara Falls—Canada’s number one attraction—at some point. We even once calculated the cost of a trip that would involve flying from Alberta to Kitchener-Waterloo and then driving a rental car to Niagara Falls. We ended up there quite by accident, having simply gone to explore Toronto during the long September weekend known in Canada as Labour Day. Once in Toronto, we discovered that the famous waterfall was just a two-hour trip from Union Station, and that a one-way ticket with Megabus cost only 4.99 CAD if purchased in advance. Union Station gets its name because all of central Toronto’s transport converges there, and there is no more convenient place in the metropolis to transfer between different modes of transport. Near the subway station entrance, you get a view of Toronto’s main landmark, the CN Tower.

View of the CN Tower in Toronto from Union Station

We quickly found the Megabus station. We had about half an hour before departure, so we treated ourselves to some delicious coffee from the café on the ground floor.

We planned to set aside seven hours for the visit to Niagara Falls: two hours for the trip there, three hours on-site, and two hours for the return journey. Our flight was departing at 12:30. Boarding was very quick.

Buses pull directly into the bus station building itself. This is likely due to the high cost of land in this part of Toronto; it is easier to build tunnels for buses to enter the building than to set aside dozens of meters for street-level boarding platforms. This is what our departure from the station toward downtown Toronto looked like.

The Megabus departs the bus terminal and heads onto the streets of Toronto.

As soon as we drove out onto the street, we passed the CN Tower, and I even snapped a photo of that slender beauty through the bus's tinted window.

We are driving past the CN Tower in Toronto.

Traffic in Toronto was very heavy. Because of this, our travel time kept shrinking by the minute. We were supposed to arrive in Niagara Falls at 2:00 PM, and our return ticket was for 5:00 PM. But we were moving so slowly that the GPS estimated we wouldn't get there until after 3:00 PM...

On the way, we were entertained by a plane trailing beautiful red smoke—likely part of an airshow marking Canada's Labour Day. We took photos of it through the bus's front window, having paid seven dollars for those specific seats. On the Megabus website, all seats are free except for the ones directly behind the driver, which cost two dollars; however, the best seats—the seven-dollar ones—are located to the right of the driver, offering a forward view through a massive panoramic window. We couldn't resist treating ourselves to that experience. And it is also very important for our blogging activities.

Automobile traffic in the city of Toronto

Another striking landmark that I wanted to photograph—located on the right side of the road—resembled a huge Christmas tree ornament painted to look like a globe.

The sign indicates that this is the turnoff for Niagara Falls—the last chance to exit the road and avoid entering the United States. We managed to turn off just in time. 😉

And here we are at the bus station in the town of Niagara Falls. We are looking forward to seeing the famous landmark.

The first thing you see here is the Hotel Europa, with its windows boarded up.

We called an Uber and arrived at the waterfront just a few minutes later for only 10 CAD.

First encounter with Niagara Falls. The view is impressive. And there are actually three waterfalls.

Letters Canada on the Niagara Falls waterfront

On the left is the famous bridge where you can walk from Canada to the US and back. Nearby, you can see funicular cars carrying tourists down to the river.

Bridge from Canada to America across the Niagara River

The first two waterfalls are shown in the next photo (yes, there are two of them here). The first one on the left is the American Falls, and on the right—separated by a wide gap—is the Bridal Veil Falls.

American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls on the Niagara River

You can zip-line past these waterfalls. We can’t say just how thrilling it is (we didn’t try it ourselves), but we did take a photo for the blog’s readers.

The casino on the American side of Niagara Falls was luring tourists with a concert by the legendary

Boyz II Men. Nice try, but no. We only had two hours for everything.

Another funicular was spotted descending toward the river. It is called the Falls Incline Railway, and the fare is 8 Canadian dollars.

It was very wet near the Niagara Falls, Canada commemorative sign, and there was a line of people waiting to take photos. But we managed to achieve our goal and get a picture.

Our first selfie at Niagara Falls. We’ve posted a video of the moment on our YouTube channel, as well as on Instagram and TikTok—feel free to follow us on whichever platform you prefer. And if you’d like to ask a question or just chat, drop us a message on our Telegram channel.

Red boats (Canadian) and blue boats (American) were ceaselessly storming the "Horseshoe" of Niagara Falls. There were noticeably more people on the Canadian boats.

However, while the blue ship was sailing, the sun came out, and we managed to take one of the most beautiful photos: a waterfall beneath a rainbow.

After just the first ten minutes by Niagara, we were wet but absolutely happy.

And down below, another crowd of tourists in red ponchos was drifting toward a thorough soaking, stowing their phones and video cameras in transparent plastic bags.

In just a couple of minutes, the passengers on this boat will be immersed in the mist of the cascading Niagara Falls. Someone is bound to drop their phone here—unofficial statistics show that four mobile phones end up at the bottom of the falls every day. Be careful when taking out your gadgets near this attraction.

Below us, we spotted a group of tourists in yellow "swimsuits"—people who had walked through a special underground tunnel right up to the cascading tons of water.

Moving a bit further away from the main waterfall, we managed to capture the column of water rising above Niagara. This column of water truly reaches high up into the sky.

Height of the water column at Niagara Falls

The Table Rock Bistro fast-food spot offers a spectacular view of the American Falls. Some visitors don't even buy food; they simply sit at the tables by the windows and gaze out at the falls. Plus (here’s a pro tip) you can use the free restroom at this café.

This is what the sign for those famous cruises on the ships with red sails looks like. Tickets for this adventure are usually purchased here.

After finishing our tour of all sections of Niagara Falls, we called a taxi again; while waiting for the car, we took a close-up photo of the Skylon Tower, which features a revolving restaurant at the top. A yellow elevator takes you up to the restaurant, where it completes a full 360-degree rotation every hour, treating guests to a panoramic view of Niagara. We visited a similar revolving tower restaurant in Vilnius, and you can watch a video from that visit on our Instagram via this link.