niagara falls Archives - 2bearbear Singapore Travel Blog: Travel | Stay

There are so many things to do in New York! Here are the top things that you should do right here in New York!

New York Attractions and Things to do

1. Times Square New York

You know when they talk about “a city that never sleeps”? Times Square in New York City is exactly that place to feel the pulse of the city. You can really feel the live of the city even at 2am in the morning! The city is just full of live and raring to go!

Hey, if you’re lucky enough (and have Bieber Fever), you might even catch one of the stars such as Justin Bieber at the Ruby Red Stairs of Times Square!

2. Statue of Liberty – Liberty Island

The Statue of Liberty as seen from the Ferry

How can you say that you have visited New York, in that case USA, if you have not visited the most iconic symbol of freedom – the Statue of Liberty! It is really surreal when you finally lay your eyes on her as you have heard so much about her and seen so many of her image in the movies and US shows. This is especially so after contending with the throngs of tourists at the ticketing office and the queue up the ferry to Liberty Island!

Long Queues for Ferry to the Statue of Liberty

3. Visit to the Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock

Dont believe them when they say that you must visit the Empire State Building for the best views of New York! Instead, head a few blocks down to Rockfeller Center’s Top of the Rock! In addition to the splendid views of New York City, you can also have ESB (Empire State Building) in your pictures as well! Imagine going up ESB and not being able to have ESB in your photos…

View of Empire State Building from Top of the Rock

4. Visit actual scenes from Hollywood Movies!

In New York, you will be able to visit MANY actual sites of scenes taken out of the movies! Remember Serendipity Cafe in the movie of the same name? How about Tom Hanks in the movie “BIG” playing chopsticks on the Big Piano @ F.A.O Schwarz , 5th Avenue? You can reminiscence many a movies right here in New York!

Actual Big Piano from the movie "Big" that starred Tom Hanks — Actual Big Piano from the movie “Big” that starred Tom Hanks

5. Breath Taking Niagara Falls

Approaching Horseshoe Falls Niagara Falls via Maid of the Mist Ferry

Need we say more?

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There are indeed so many things to do and attractions in New York! Do take your time to enjoy these attractions and unforgettable photo moments the next time you visit these attractions in New York!

“Yay! The motel we are going to stay is super near the airport! We can walk there and save money!”

To our horror, we arrived at the “wrong” airport at Niagara Falls, NY! (I blame the auto-complete function on most websites these days). Our trips have usually been well-planned and without hiccups, but this time round, we got to experience the mistake possibly many travellers made when they choose to fly to visit Niagara Falls.

I knew Niagara Falls was in Buffalo…so when I had to select the flight from Las Vegas and did not know which airport to go, I typed in “Buffalo”, and the auto-complete function “told” me that I will land in Buffalo Airport. We arrived there and was looking forwards to the walk to our motel when we discovered that we are more than 70km away from it!!!

The nice old man at the information counter produced a map and gave us our bearings. We were supposed to fly into Niagara Falls International Airport, not Buffalo Airport!!! He then told us there was a bus that comes every 45mins and it would cost us about USD20 per ticket to get to Niagara Falls State Park. We panicked as we happened to miss the last bus (and it was already 4pm). So we did some calculations and we decided to rent a car instead.

But it wasn’t easy either. Tom had to go from counter to counter to check what were the available cars left for the day. Thank the Lord there was a economy car at Hertz going for USD50/day! It was the only small car left at the airport. Phew~

We quickly loaded our luggage and relied on the GPS to get to our accommodation for the night – Swiss Cottage Inns. We drove across this bridge…

before we arrived at our motel…

Swiss Cottage Inns enroute to Niagara Falls

The motel “boasted” of an outdoor swimming pool, a microwave in the room (that is how we heated up our leftover buffalo wings; see Original Buffalo Wings post), and provided pastries for breakfast.

Decent bed with microwave and fridge @ Swiss Cottage Inns

Outdoor Swimming pool @ Swiss Cottage Inns

The friendly owner told us about the fireworks on Fri/Sat nights during the summer months. As we arrived on a Friday and we rented a car, we were excited to catch the fireworks!

We parked at Seneca Casino, hoping to enjoy the buffet dinner but we were denied entry because we left our passports in the motel. Tom was totally devastated and we made our way to the State Park. We managed to grab a bite at the food court.

Seneca Casino @ Niagara Falls (USA side)

With a full stomach, we leisurely strolled down to the Falls. We could hear the loud roar and we enjoyed the cool breeze and mist as we approached it. The rapids looked amazing and mystical with the special lightings. Finally, we reached the Falls, and hurried to get a good spot for the fireworks. What a great way to end our first night at Niagara Falls! 🙂

Illuminated American Falls (Niagara Falls at Night)

Niagara Falls Lights Up with Fireworks!

Day 2 @ Niagara Falls

We were planning to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist, and as “kiasu” (scared of losing out) Singaporeans, we woke up early to ensure that we were the first few at the ticketing counter. The ticket costs USD13.50 for each adult ticket. We thoroughly enjoyed our ride even though it left us cold and wet. The Falls was truly majestic and we felt energized as we left the boat.

Maid of the Mist (USA side of Niagara Falls)

Tourists @ Maid of the Mist (Niagara Falls USA)

Awesome American Falls (Niagara Falls as seen from Maid of the Mist)

We then spend the morning lazing on the grass, having a small picnic (ice cream and chips!) and challenging each other in a round of word game that cannot be named. We even managed to catch a pretty rainbow! (where is my pot of gold? :P) Visiting the Niagara Falls in the day and in the night indeed allowed us to experience two unique and wonderful aspects of the majestic Niagara Falls!

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