Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls became one of North America's most enduring honeymoon destinations almost by accident. In 1804, Jerome Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger brother, brought his American bride Elizabeth Patterson to see the falls following their wedding, an early, high-profile visit that helped establish the site's romantic reputation well before organized tourism infrastructure existed there at all. By the 20th century, that reputation had solidified into one of the most recognizable honeymoon clichés in North American culture.

The falls actually comprise three distinct waterfalls, Horseshoe Falls, the largest and most powerful, straddling the Canada-US border, along with the American Falls and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls, both sitting entirely on the US side. The Canadian side generally offers the better overall view, since it looks directly across the gorge at both Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls together, a perspective the American side, positioned closer to its own falls, simply can't replicate.

Journey Behind the Falls, an attraction accessible from the Canadian side, takes visitors through tunnels carved directly into the bedrock behind Horseshoe Falls, ending at viewing portals that look out through the base of the falling water, a genuinely disorienting perspective on a landmark most visitors only ever see from above or directly in front.

Boat tours, run under names like Hornblower Niagara Cruises on the Canadian side, carry visitors close enough to the base of the falls to feel the spray directly, following a route pioneered by the historic Maid of the Mist boats that have operated in some form since the 1840s, among the oldest tourist attractions in North America still running in a recognizable version of their original form.

Niagara Falls sits within easy reach of Toronto, roughly 90 minutes by car, making it one of the most accessible major natural landmarks from a large North American city, and that convenience, combined with its long-standing romantic reputation, has kept it a consistently popular weekend and day-trip destination for well over a century.