Milwaukee to Niagara falls

Starbrite

What is the best way to get from Milwaukee to Niagara Falls?

I will be staying in Milwaukee end of May Beginning of June and thought while I am there I could pop over and see the falls. Alas it is proving harder than I initially thought!

I do not mind seeing Toronto while I'm there, or staying 2/3 nights

richardw

Flying non stop to Toronto and getting a bus/car transport from there may be easier than going indirect to BUFfalo airport.

Duckyduck

Flying is the best way by far. There's plenty of options - you could also drive (it's a long long drive), take a train (Amtrak, think it's overnight) or take a bus (Greyhound or Megabus)

You could either fly from Milwaukee to Toronto then hire a car or take greyhound or Megabus for the 2 hr drive to Niagara. Or train (Go Transit will be cheaper but perhaps slower than ViaRail), but honestly, Megabus or greyhound are the quickest, simplist, probably cheapest options, and the newer buses are actually really nice!

The Megabus and greyhound services from Toronto to Buffalo Airport are the ones that stop in Niagra Falls so getting from Buffalo to Niagra Falls is really easy, it's also closeby.

It's likely a lot cheaper, or certainly more options to fly from Chicago to Buffalo (or to Toronto - Porter Airlines is awesome if you want to go to Toronto first).

Playing around with skyscanner will give you a good idea of various options and prices.

Have you booked your flights yet? Probably worth looking at multi city - say flying out to Chicago/Milwaukee then to Toronto/Buffalo then Toronto/Buffalo back home. If you plan to rent a car at Niagara Falls then it's probably best to fly in/out of the same airport as dropping it off in another country will cost a fortune if it's allowed at all.

If you haven't already planned to do so definitely visit Chicago while you're away - it's pretty close to Milwaukee and an awesome city.

For Niagara Falls the views are much better from Canada but the town is unbelievably tacky. Niagara on the lake is a nice town a short drive away, plus there's vineyards in the area. Toronto sis a really cool city too. 2/3 nights would be enough to see it. In fact you could do Niagra Falls as a day trip from Toronto and it'd be enough.

John259

Have you tried the Rome2Rio web site for this? Even if you don't trust its results, they can be interesting to show possibilities that you might not have considered:
http://www.rome2rio.com/s/Milwaukee/Niagara-Falls

If you want to drive, here's the route that Google Maps suggests:
https://goo.gl/maps/iJqwok5W1rH2
Driving through the Chicago area is notoriously hideous but generally driving in the USA outside of cities is very easy.

Starbrite

Thank you I will look into those options/channels

Flights to and from the USA are already booked, I've not booked anything for this leg of my trip yet.

I just thought while in Milwaukee for almost two weeks it will be worth seeing the falls, so close yet so far! Chicago is on my list, I'm staying with friends in Milwaukee so while they are at work I will be heading into Chicago ticking of my list of to sees....

How far away are the falls from Toronto? Driving in Canada will be a piece of !!!! compared to Cuba!

I've never heard of Rome2Rio I will check it out thanks

John259

Starbrite wrote: »

How far away are the falls from Toronto?

About 80 miles (or should I say 130 km since it's in Canada):
https://goo.gl/maps/SMGmRBSWYWK2

michele-p

For hotels when you get to niagra, we stayed at The Oaks on Canadian side, its a bit older than some hotels, but we had a falls view room on 12th floor, wow!!! It's right on the falls, and we planned our trip to be there a night the fireworks were on, watched from our room.

We were supposed to fly to Buffalo, but got re routed to Toronto arriving at midnight, had to hire a car to drive to pre paid hotel in Buffalo, then pick up our plans next day and drive to niagra. Easy motorway driving all the way.

nickcc

Can I just mention that the exchange rate for the Canadian Dollar is far better than the the USA rate. We visited the USA and stayed for two days in Canada ( at the falls) our rep told us not to bother with Canadian dollars and just use our US dollars which all the shops and restaurants accepted, bad mistake on our part.

stevie11

Firstly I would say it is not a 'pop over ' to Niagara Falls


I have driven Chicago to Toronto and had to break the journey over two days, that was 550 miles approx, the return took 12 hours drive on the same day. from Milwakee it will be further therefore I would recommend flying but that will depend on the additional costs and time you want to incur. On the plus side the drive is all motorway, gas is cheap but on the negative the scenery was nothing to write home about.


As far as the falls are concerned the Canadian Falls are the side to stay and has more choice of accommodation and better views of the falls.


As already mentioned the Canadian dollar is now better when exchanged for sterling. I have just returned home from vacation in the US and Canada and it is the first time in about 20 years that I found more spending power in Canada.


Good luck with your travel plans.