Niagara Frontier: Difference between revisions

The Niagara Frontier region of New York State consists of 5 counties situated near the Great Lakes of Erie and Ontario, just across the Niagara River from the Canadian province of Ontario and its Niagara Peninsula region. Buffalo, the state's second-largest city, and Niagara Falls, the "honeymoon capital of the world", are the major destinations in the Niagara Frontier, but the eastern areas of the region also offer educational and recreational attractions, focusing on history, agriculture, industry, and the local waterways.

Counties

• Erie County — Buffalo and its suburbs, divided here into the Northtowns and the Southtowns

Genesee County

Niagara County

Orleans County

Wyoming County

Cities

• 1 Buffalo
• 2 Albion
• 3 Batavia
• 4 Hamburg
• 5 Le Roy
• 6 Lockport
• 7 Medina
• 8 Niagara Falls
• Wyoming – The Gaslight Village

Other destinations

• 1 Darien Lake — The roller coaster capital of New York also boasts a campground, hotel, and performing arts center.
• 2 Letchworth State Park — The Grand Canyon of the East, with three beautiful waterfalls

Talk

As well as English, Spanish is spoken.

Get in

Buffalo Airport Shuttle offers service from the Buffalo-Niagara airport to anywhere in Western New York and Southern Ontario.

Get around

The most populated areas are served by a number of highways, including Interstate 90, coming in from directly east of Buffalo, running along the eastern edge of the city, and turning southwest towards Erie, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, as well as its related loops: 190 from Buffalo to the edge of Lake Ontario, 290 through the northern suburbs, 990 through Amherst. The 33 runs from downtown Buffalo and connects to the 90, and continues past the airport before reverting to a regular two-lane road. The 400 provides access from the 90 to the southern suburbs, such as West Seneca, Elma, and East Aurora. The 219 goes directly south from the 90 to Springville, where it becomes a regular road as well.

The area is connected to Canada by way of three crossing points. The Peace Bridge runs between Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario. 20 miles (32 km) north along the river (and just beyond the Falls) is the Rainbow bridge, providing access between Niagara Falls, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario. Another five miles to the north is the Queenston-Lewiston bridge. After the Queenston-Lewiston bridge, there are no more crossing points along the last 8 miles of the river.

See

Niagara Falls. Though less than half the height of Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls), and just under half as wide as Iguazú, Niagara is the world's largest waterfall by average annual flow rate. The Falls can be viewed from the top, at Goat Island (parking fee about $10), or from the bottom on the Maid of the Mist boat ride (about $25). Goat Island offers a 1.5 mile (2.75 km) stroll along the edge of the island, including a pedestrian bridge to the Three Sisters Islands, right in the middle of the Niagara River, just 2000 feet (600 m) from the Falls.

Whirpool State Park and Devil's Hole State Park. Just 2 miles north of the Falls are two connected parks downriver. The rapids are still very intense at this point in the river, and the whirpools make the river flow backwards in some areas. For a better vantage, take one of the two stone stairways to descend some 250 feet (75 m) into the gorge. The 400-step climb back out can be quite tiring. Free.

Buy

Sales tax in Erie County is 8.75%; in all other Niagara Frontier counties, it's 8%.

Eat

The Anchor Bar is a restaurant in Buffalo. The Anchor Bar's main claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of chicken wings, known outside the Buffalo area as Buffalo wings. Alternatively, Duff's Famous Wings claims to have the best wings in Buffalo.

Drink

New York State has a rather late last-call, with bars closing at 4:00 AM. On busy nights, bars and clubs can be packed right up until closing time. On slower nights, establishments close at their own discretion, sometimes much earlier than legally required.

Buffalo and the surrounding areas have no shortage of drinking establishments, and you should be able to find multiple watering holes within staggering distance in any moderately-populated area in the region. A 2005 survey by Scarborough Research found that 50 percent of legal-aged Buffalo residents have consumed a beer in the past month, ranking the city at 4th in the United States by that measure (Milwaukee being the top consumer, at 54 percent). Buffalo also has the interesting distinction of being the only major US market in which an imported beer is the most widely consumed (Labatt Blue, which has its US headquarters in the city).

Go next

See the nearby Finger Lakes Region.