The Most Famous Waterfalls in the World?

Niagara Falls from someone who wasn’t expecting much

When I packed up my bags in December 2022 to spend a year in Canada, I didn’t have any concrete plans. There were locations I had heard about, such as Banff, Toronto and Vancouver Island, but I didn’t have a “bucket list” per se.

The only concrete plan I had was to work at a ski resort there. So when I arrived in Calgary where I have distant family, I felt a bit like a fish out of the water. Not because my family wasn’t great — they were so welcoming and kind.

But it was shortly before Christmas and I needed to decide where in the country to spend it. Why did I fly out just before Christmas you ask? Honestly, it was one of those “if I don’t go now, I’ll never go” situations.

In the end, I went to Toronto. Hostels there were still on the affordable side and I could travel up the East Coast while applying for jobs at a ski resort.

To this day, that was one of my best decisions. I met the most incredible people at my accommodation in Toronto on the very first day, who spent Christmas with me and I am still friends with to this day.

Now, you may rightfully be asking what this has to do with waterfalls. Well, during my time in Toronto, everyone told me about their trip to Niagara Falls. It was described as fun but a bit cliche. I had heard of the name before but honestly had no real connection to it, nor had it ever made my travel bucket list. I can’t even explain why, after all, it is often described as one of the most famous waterfalls in the world.

Still, I booked a trip there for the days after Christmas. It was only around 2 hours by train from Toronto and the Airbnb was cheap.

On my first day there, I walked to the falls. That’s the day I learned that a lot of Canada isn’t actually built for walking, so pavements aren’t a thing. That was a fun journey, let me tell you.

Seeing the falls for the first time was much more breathtaking than expected. As you can see below, I went in the winter so half of it was frozen, and the rest of the water was rushing down and creating huge spray clouds.

The closer you got to the edge of the waterfalls, the more apparent their sheer size and power became. You could watch blocks of ice just disappear in its depths:

At night, the falls transformed into a playground of colour, music and fairy lights. Seriously, the surrounding area was covered in fairy lights. They lit up the American and Canadian sides with their respective flags, they portrayed fun patterns in time with the music and every few minutes they came up with something new.

It felt very on-brand for the countries — boredom isn’t something they are fond of. I mean, have you been to an ice hockey game there?

I loved the falls at night. They were stunning, the atmosphere was so fun and everyone was in awe of what they were seeing. My expectations were officially exceeded.

As for the city of Niagara Falls, well, I think “bombardment of the senses” is the right way to describe it. There is a casino, wax museums, fun parks, light mazes and so much more.

Is it a little cliche? Yes, at least in my opinion. It felt quite American in that way, with casino towns like Vegas, but I had a bunch of Canadians already tell me it would be like that.

The city never went dark. Which was fun, but at the same time, it gave me an eerie feeling. I think it was the cold, combined with the borderline “creepy” amusement park music most establishments were playing. It made me feel like I was in that scene in Percy Jackson, where time slips in the casino.

Overall, I would recommend seeing Niagara Falls at least once. I’ve heard it’s cool in the summer as you can take one of the boats that go right under the falls and visit the caves behind the falls.

In winter, it has the appeal of fairy lights, dark evenings which make the light shows on the falls so much more impressive and it is off-season, meaning accommodation is cheaper.

As for the actual waterfalls, they are gorgeous and impressive, but not my favourite I have ever seen. It always feels a little weird to see waterfalls in such urban environments. To me, they belong in the mountains, forests or anywhere surrounded by nature.

Should they be as famous as they are? I think that just depends on what you are looking for. I asked while there and the reason they are so famous is the sheer amount of water that goes over the edge every second. So they are not only tall but also have much more volume than other comparable waterfalls. It is also the fact that the waterfalls span across the border of Canada and America, making it possibly one of the most interesting border crossings in the world.

I think I am going to go back in summer one day and see the falls from a boat, maybe it will put them higher on my list of most impressive falls. I’ll always cherish my Christmas experience there though — the memories have a dreamy haze to them, I think it was the amount of fairy lights.

Check out Julia A. Keirns experience of the American side of the falls, it is fascinating to see how different the views are from there and how much it has changed over the years:

Claire Elizabeth Levesque has put together an interesting list of cities in Canada worth visiting, for your next trip inspiration: