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Niagara Falls in Winter
(Plus: Inside the Floral Showcase)
What's it like in Niagara Falls in winter? More tropical than you'd imagine!
There’s something unsettling about standing in the midst of a sticky rainforest and peering out through a window at a winter day. Inside, all around me, tropical songbirds flit about, singing courtship tunes and playing hide-and-seek amongst the leaves and hairy trunks of palm trees. Outside, the wind rattles the limbs of naked trees, whips the snowflakes in one direction, and stirs up the frothy white surface of the river. My mind panics, tottering between two realities, desperate to reject one as unreal. The truth is, though, both are real. Visiting Niagara Falls in winter gives travellers the chance to experience two distinct biospheres - the frozen North and the tropical South - for less than the price of a taxi to the airport. The secret? The Niagara Parks Greenhouse, part of the Floral Showcase, one of the great but overlooked Niagara Falls attractions. Managed by the Niagara Parks Commission since 1945, this venerable institution provides bedding plants for the 53 km of continuous parkland along the Canadian side of the Niagara River. Although it’s primarily a working greenhouse, it appeals to local residents and tourists in the know.
From the outside, with its clipped pyramid in the front, and low rectangular sun rooms in the back, the Greenhouse looks like something built by visitors from an advanced but quirky planet. As soon as you walk through its doors, the scent of damp soil, greenery and a thousand flower blossoms hits you in the face. The humid warmth will have you peeling off your coat in no time. Here you’ll find Jurassic-Park-style palms and Boston ferns on steroids, delicate hanging plants with blossoms resembling red caterpillars, potted trees sheared and dressed in ribbons like prize poodles. In a Victorian-style fountain, plaster cupids cavort with a sea monster. The flower beds change frequently so, depending on when you go, you could find tulips, birds of paradise, or roses, as well as a hundred other varieties.
When you’re tired of basking in the hothouse surroundings, it’s time to trek off to the “other” reality: winter at the Falls. Since most of the 14 million tourists who visit each year come during the summer months, winter is a great time to visit if you like a lot of elbow room. The best viewing spot for the Falls is the Table Rock Complex, which sits like a giant eagle’s nest on a precipice between the Canadian and American Falls. This centre houses a tourist office, currency exchange, shops, eateries, and a site-seeing attraction called the Journey Behind the Falls. The central hall leads directly to an outside viewing platform with protective railing and coin-operated viewfinders. On a winter day, you might find a dozen excited tourists braving the cold: teenage girls squealing as their flimsy nylon pants flap in the wind against their legs, toddlers clinging to their parents’ necks, seniors and honeymoon couples taking turns posing for pictures. The view from Table Rock is justifiably famous. To your right is the Horseshoe Falls, considered lucky because of its shape. To your left is the American Falls, so straight and sheer it almost looks like a hydro dam. Beyond the American Falls is the Rainbow Bridge, which spans the Niagara River and joins Canada and the United States. Icicles as big as bungalows cling to both banks of the river. Although Oscar Wilde called the Falls “the second major disappointment of American married life”, most visitors are less cynical and tend to use, finally with some justification, words like “awesome”, “hypnotic” and “breathtaking”. While it might be tempting to stay outside and enjoy the view, it’s much wiser to go back inside as soon as you start to lose sensation in any body part, no matter how trivial. If you want to warm up but still gaze, try the Elements on the Falls Restaurant upstairs (this is the closest restaurant to the falls) with a floor-to-ceiling view of the Falls -- not recommended for those with vertigo. Major Event: The major winter event in Niagara Falls in winter is the Christmas lights displays and the associated concerts, parties and other activities. Read more about it here: Winter Festival of Lights.
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