Overview

The Niagara Region has always managed to captivate travelers young and old. During the earliest European forays into this part of North America, one can only imagine how speechless ... how stunned those first explorers must have been by the humbling power and magnitude of the Falls.

As the years and decades rolled by, though, the governments of Britain and France began to covet the Niagara Region for far more than her aesthetic quality. In essence, whoever controlled the Niagara River, controlled the trade and commerce on the Lakes.

History tells us that the British ultimately won supremacy in the region and successfully superimposed their language and culture on the landscape and people. Fortunately, a healthy modicum of French flare was allowed to seed and, over years, flourish. What is it? Venture beyond the Falls area and take Queen Elizabeth Way along the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario. This, you'll discover, is the birthplace of Icewine ... the Niagara Wine Country.

Tours and tastings at these charming, locally-owned vineyards are available throughout the year, but it's during seasonal celebrations that the vintner community really seems to polish its finery and make an effort to impress. If possible, try scheduling your trip during one of these festival times � in January, the Icewine festival is the talk of the Peninsula; in June, spirits rise again with the start of the New Vintage festival; and the anticipation of September's Niagara Wine Festival attracts thousands of thirsty tourists from as far away as Toronto and New York.

If sipping Niagara vino isn't your idea of fun, there are the region's more "traditional pursuits." Here, along the Niagara River's north shore are first-class hotels, terrific dining options, casinos and plenty of high-end merchants. And while each of these has an appeal that's hard to resist, it's the Falls themselves that remain the primary draw.

The "Canadian side," of course, has always held privilege over the US side because the former provides a much better panoramic of both Horseshoe and American Falls. Indeed, on a warm summer's day, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more inspiring � or more romantic � walk than through Queen Victoria Park with the falls in the backdrop.

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