10 Best Things to Do with Kids in Niagara Falls

Table Rock Welcome Centre should be at the top of your list of places to visit when you arrive in Niagara Falls. Located right above Horseshoe Falls, the largest of the Niagara Falls, it offers great views and is the place from which the famous Journey Behind the Falls tour starts. Table Rock Welcome Centre is also home to restaurants and to a venue that will surely raise the interest of your children: Pop & Lolly’s Candy Shop. The funniest way to get to Table Rock Welcome Centre is via the Niagara Parks Falls Incline Railway.

Sat just north of the city centre, a few steps away from the Niagara River, Fallsview Indoor Waterpark is a 12,000 sq m leisure complex open all year round. Here, you’ll find no less than 16 waterslides, 5 play areas and 2 large pools, including a tidal wave pool. It’s fun for the whole family. Safety first: Note that access to the slides and pools depends on the child’s height. For lunch or dinner, you can take a break at the Beach Club restaurant. 

Hornblower Niagara Cruises give you the exciting possibility to get close – really close – to Horseshoe Falls, the largest of the 3 waterfalls that make up the Niagara Falls. Full Mist, Light Mist, Illumination and Fireworks are the 4 cruises on offer. The former 2 last 20 minutes and the latter 2, 40 minutes. A mist poncho is fortunately included in the ticket prices, and you can find useful accessories such as smartphone waterproof cases at their gift shop before you get on board.

Part of the Botanical Gardens, Niagara Butterfly Conservatory takes you for a journey into a tropical paradise. Filled with exotic plants, colourful flowers and home to over 2,000 butterflies from over 40 species, the park lets you observe these slender insects from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. After a short video introduction, you’re free to roam the 1,000 sq m greenhouse at your own pace. A fun game to play with your children is to ask them to count how many times butterflies landed on your family members.

Clifton Hill is one of the main hubs in Niagara Falls. This tourist promenade, located between the Niagara River and Victoria Avenue, is home to a great range of family-friendly attractions. Wax museums, haunted houses, Niagara SkyWheel, Dinosaur Adventure Golf and video arcades are just a few of the leisure activities in Clifton Hill Entertainment complex. You’ll also find plenty of dining and nightlife recreation options here.

Whirlpool Aero Car is a vintage cable car which takes you for a 1-km ride over the Niagara River. Established in 1916, and upgraded several times since then, you’ll cross the border between Canada and the USA 4 times during this thrilling trip, passing 76 metres over the whirlpools and Class 6 whitewater rapids of the river. Get ready for spectacular views of the river and surrounding cliffs.

Niagara Glen Nature Reserve is a 35-hectare plot of original South Ontario Carolinian forest spread along the Niagara River, 5 km north of Downtown Niagara Falls. Featuring hiking trails and bouldering spots, the reserve is a truly pristine area. You can choose to go hiking on your own or hire a guide who will show you the most beautiful spots. Hiking trail maps and information are available at the Niagara Glen Nature Reserve headquarters. They are very friendly and will tell you which trails are the most suitable for you to enjoy a pleasant and safe hike with your children.

Sat right next to Niagara SkyWheel in the Clifton Hill Entertainment promenade, Great Canadian Midway is a large and lively indoor entertainment complex. This family-favourite compound covers 70,000 sq m filled with video arcades and exciting interactive games such as the Wild West Coaster motion simulator and the Ghost Blasters – a fun laser-gun-fighting game in a mock haunted manor. Great Canadian Midway is also home to a good choice of dining options.

Niagara-on-the-Lake is the town settled at the mouth of the Niagara River, on the shore of Lake Ontario. Located around 20 km north of Niagara Falls, it’s filled with historic remains such as Fort George and Butler’s Barracks, among others. The quaint Old Town is also worth a visit, but it’s in the city centre, on Queen Street, that you’ll find venues to please your children. The Old Tyme Candy Shoppe, Maple Leaf Fudge and Greaves Jams & Marmalades are 3 stores your kids will definitely want to stop by.

A choice of 13-horsepower Formula 1 karts and 2-seater family karts await your children inner racing drivers at this first-class go-kart track. The fastest karts are only for children at least 14 years old, but you can enjoy the circuit in company of your little ones onboard a 2-seater kart. Safety is a prime concern here, so all karts feature roll bars and seatbelts and the staff are very attentive. Niagara Go-Karts is also home to a mini-golf course and to a venue that serves snacks and refreshments.