A few days ago, my mom and I decided to take a short trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. This small town is just above Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. I was immediately charmed by the shops, restaurants, and stunning views which were a close walk or drive away from NOTL’s historic district. This was considered Niagara-on-the-Lake’s low season so there were hardly any other tourists and our time there became a relaxing little getaway. Niagara Falls is a short thirty minute drive away from NOTL which we made sure to see on our way out of town.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Eats & Treats:

• Coffee: Balzac’s Coffee
• Breakfast: Sunset Grill
• Lunch: The Epicurean
• Dinner: Bistro six one
• Ice Cream: Gelato di Carlotta and COWS

Niagara-on-the-Lake Things to Do:

• Visit Queen’s Royal Park to view Lake Ontario. This is where I took most of my pictures of Lake Ontario. There’s a great sidewalk right along the lake that gives you the perfect view of the water. From the historic district, Queen Royal Park is only two blocks away!
• Walk along Queen and King Street. These are the two main streets in the historic district of Niagara-on-the-Lake. This is also where you will find the cute stores and a few restaurants. Since this is low season, some stores opened later in the day or were completely closed on a break, but window shopping was still enjoyable!
• Try ice wine at one of the many wineries in the area. I didn’t get a chance to visit a winery but my mom and I passed by countless wineries on the way into town and also on the out skirts of the historic district.
• Drive or walk around the streets surrounding Queen and King street. The neighborhood surrounding the historic district is where most of the locals live and it’s also where the bed and breakfasts are. My mom and I loved driving through the streets to look at all the beautiful old cottage style houses. Every cute house made me want to move to Niagara-on-the-Lake!
• Check out the Old Niagara Bookshop. This charming bookshop is right in town with several books to look through.
• Drive to Niagara Falls. From Niagara-on-the-Lake, the falls are only thirty minutes away. We decided to stop at the falls on the way out of town but next time I’d love to visit the falls at night when they are lit up!

Niagara-on-the-Lake Tips:

• If you’re visiting from the USA, use your credit cards instead of cash. All restaurants and shops take credit cards and it will give you a better exchange rate. Most shops and restaurants except US cash, however, they will give you Canadian money in return as change.
• Niagara-on-the-Lake is strict about street parking, if it would have been warmer my mom and I probably would’ve walked instead of driving into the historic district from our bed and breakfast.
• All the bed and breakfasts in the town are adorable, I don’t think you could go wrong with any. We stayed at the Kia-Ora, which was wonderful! It was also only four blocks away from Queen and King street.