Niagara City Cruises
Niagara City Cruises is a boat tour in Niagara Falls, New York, that carries passengers through the gorge to the base of the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. The tour is accompanied by audio narration, and every passenger receives a poncho to stay dry from the heavy mist near the falls.
Niagara Falls took shape after the last ice age, when melting glaciers carved out the gorge and set the river on its current course. Boat tours to the base of the falls were later developed as a way to give visitors a closer look than any viewing platform on land could offer.
The boat ride draws visitors from around the world who want to feel the water up close rather than watch it from above. On board, people from very different places stand side by side, soaked by the same mist, sharing a rare moment of closeness with the falls.
The boat departs from the Lower Landing in the Great Gorge area, and arriving early is a good idea since lines can get long during summer months. Evening cruises are also available and run on a separate schedule from the daytime departures.
The ponchos handed out before boarding are collected and reused rather than thrown away, which is easy to miss if you are not paying attention at the end of the ride. The section of the tour near Bridal Veil Falls tends to be the loudest part of the journey, though many visitors focus only on the larger American Falls nearby.
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