I Visited Niagara Falls As A Tourist & Here's Why I Hated Almost Every Moment Of It (PHOTOS)

The crowds are wild

It is expected that whenever you go to a popular touristic spot in the middle of summer, you're going to run into crowds.

However, crowds at and near the actual falls were just too much, as far as I am concerned.

At times, it was a struggle to find a spot to get a good view without someone in the way, and getting anywhere meant fighting for your right to simply exist and move anywhere.

If you're trying to walk around, expect to be idling behind a family of 15 who can only walk at a pace of 2 kilometres per hour.

Food is hiked up

I hope you like paying around 30% more to eat because Niagara Falls is the place to do it!

Even while trying to eat on the cheap, nearly everything had a hiked-up price.

Once, we sat down at a popular breakfast chain to see that all the prices have been posted over with more expensive ones. Sigh.

And while we didn't check out any fast food staples like McDonald's or Tim Hortons, I wouldn't be surprised if everything had a special inflated "Niagara Falls price."

Everything was so expensive

Again, this might be a me problem but I'm sure many can relate. If you want to do anything in the town of Niagara Falls, be ready to spend some serious cash.

While going as a broke university student didn't help, there were a lot of things we had to elect not to do because of cost.

So, I, unfortunately, didn't get to sail on the Queen Mary or take the falls zipline.

Regrets, I've had a few …

The Niagara wine region is really fun

In case you didn't know, the Niagara area is where a lot of Ontario's wine is produced. So, we took the chance to cruise around the wine region and try a bunch of great local sips.

This was a whole lot of fun.

Not only did we try some delicious wine, but it was also a great chance to soak up the sun in some gorgeous vineyards.

Even if you can only check out one winery, it's a nice break from the bonkers hustle and bustle of downtown.

There's not a lot of unique stuff to do

Okay, you might be thinking "How is there nothing to do, Tristan? There is so much stuff in Downtown Niagara Falls!"

And, you're right. But not a lot of that feels like stuff unique to Niagara specifically. While, yes, there are the Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum and a few other similar landmarks, none of them feel like, or are, things you can only do in Niagara Falls.

Unfortunately, you can get mini-golf, Rainforest Cafe, arcades, and even The Ripley's museum in lots of other places around the world.

The falls are actually breathtaking

While I have ragged on the city of Niagara Falls a little, it's hard to hate on the waterfall itself. It really is an amazing thing to just sit and take in.

I was blown away by how big and wide the falls were. I spent a good 10 minutes just standing there, staring at them, awestruck by how amazing they were. And that's an experience I highly recommend to anyone.

It makes sense why people call the falls a natural wonder!