travel time in the bus was a bit long but overall a great two days.
Long bus ride, but the tour guides make it a very pleasureable experience. The motel in Canada was excellent, and you can't beat the scenery. We saw two Black Bears, and several Whitetail Deer on the way. The falls are absolutley beautiful. This is a safe, cheap and pleasureable way to see one of the best must see attractions in North America!!!
Our trip on 7-8July started off all wrong. We arrived at the designated meeting point early, but going into the right bus was totally disorganised - we were herded all 4 corners of the road, dragging our bags along. Then, we went into a bus that was only going into the Canadian side, and had to change bus. The staff/guides on floor were disorganised, messy at best.
When we finally took off, after an hour, the bus broke down - on the hottest day in NYC!! ok, that was an unforseen circumstance, nevertheless, it dampened our spirits.
Credit should be given to Beatrice, our guide, who handled the situation very well. The other male guide's (name??) frustration was seen - he was gruff, clearly frustrated and only interested in taking his smoking break. we were NOT impressed with him.
Anyway, 2 hours later, the new bus arrived - with a busted AC. after some adjustments, we FINALLY went on our way.
In summary, this 2 day trip is too long a journey. After spending so much time on the road, the amount of time we spent in Niagara falls was too short. Maids of the Mist was great, but too short. Wished the tour included the other tour at Niagara (the yellow poncho tour - Journey Behind the Falls??)
Feels like we were on the road for too long and seeing the falls for only 1-2 hrs. Very tiring. Though the side trip to Watkins Glen was fantastic but too rushed (again, only 1hr ++ to walk down the gorge and have lunch). The hotel on the US side was spartan, and really budget with a poor excuse for breakfast.
Overall, we felt the trip overpriced - not worth the value. However, kudos to Beatrice, our guide - the only saving grace.