Niagara on the Lake

Niagara on the Lake: one of Canada’s prettiest towns

Photo by David Cooper (Courtesy Shaw Festival).

Horse-and-buggies trot down the street. Flower baskets hang from old-fashioned lamp standards. Shoppers bustle from boutique to boutique, pausing to admire 19th century storefronts. Theatre-fans whisper at wine-bar tables, jogging elbows when they think they’ve spotted an actor from the Shaw Festival Theatre at the door. At the waterfront, where the Niagara River runs into Lake Ontario, a charming park and beach welcomes families toting picnic baskets.

This is Niagara on the Lake, a well-preserved heritage town known throughout the country as one of Canada’s prettiest towns. Being just across the border from United States, it also attracts regular visitors from the New York region. Busloads of international tourists stop here on their way to Niagara Falls Canada and the vineyards of the Niagara Region. Many visitors, including me, treat themselves to a visit at least once a season.

There are many reasons why Niagara on the Lake is so popular.

The Setting

The setting is a big part of the appeal. If you have a weakness for water, then you're going to love this place. The town is situated on a tract of land bordered by Lake Ontario and the Niagara River, just a short (and beautiful) drive north of Niagara Falls. From here you can literally look across the water and see the shore of the United States. You can take a steamship cruise that visits both bodies of water, and you can follow along the edge of the river by car, bike, rollerblade or foot, thanks to the lovely Niagara region waterfront trail that hugs the parkway.

In fine weather you can stroll the beach or dip your toes into chilly Lake Ontario. The kids don’t like sand in their toes? Try the outdoor wading pool in Simcoe Park.

Photo by David Cooper (Courtesy Shaw Festival).

Architecture

Another big attraction is the amazing historic architecture.

First there's the fort – historic Fort George. How many towns have a restored 19th century British fort in their back yard?

Then there are the houses. According to the Parks Canada Agency which protects nationally significant structures, Niagara on the Lake possesses Canada’s best collection of heritage homes from the period following the War of 1812 (1815 to 1859). Many were built in the Georgian style so popular at the time in England, the Mother Country of many inhabitants.

You’ll find well-preserved heritage homes on the side streets running off Queen (which is the main shopping street). Baskets full of flowers in the summer, carved pumpkins in the fall, urns with serious plants, wicker rocking chairs, and the occasional quirky garden sculpture decorate white Georgian clapboard homes with wrap-around porches. This is the kind of leafy picture-perfect neighbourhood you usually only see in the movies.

In fact, if some of the buildings look familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen them on the silver screen. The former courthouse and several of the houses and hotels have been used as film settings. Down at the lakeshore park, you’ll even find a Victorian-style gazebo facing the water. This gingerbread confection blends perfectly with the rest of the town, but – surprise! – it’s much younger than everything else. It was built for the movie The Dead Zone when it was shot here in 1983.

The main shopping street, Queen Street, is probably one of the most photographed streets in the country and a great glimpse into what small Ontario towns looked like over a hundred years ago. The Clock Tower Cenotaph, built to commemorate local lives lost in World War I, is a Niagara-on-the-Lake icon. Many of the shops along Queen Street feature brick walls, gingerbread trim, wood floors, and tin ceilings. Some of them even have lighting fixtures from years past.

If you’re keen on architecture, this site offers a great self-guided walking tour with a downloaded map: http://www.infoniagara.com/attractions/notl/walk.html.

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