FROM TORONTO: Niagara Day Tour w/ Niagara on the Lake & Boat Ride

I'll start by giving a good review of our courier Mel, who was faced with a difficult situation but handled it professionally with the aim of satisfying all parties to the best of his ability. More on this anon. Mel was also a wealth of interesting and engaging information, delivered with dry wit, that entertained us during the long drives. He was detailed in his handling of the group, navigating varied bookings and requirements to ensure we all had our needs met. He was also flexible and democratic in getting our consensus on pushing back our return so that we had more time at Niagara Falls, due to delays along the way. For reasons unknown, our bus contained passengers who had booked different tours. Nine of us in two families had booked the "Niagara Day Tour w/Niagara on the Lake & Boat Ride" for the express purpose of having an hour's stop at Niagara on the Lake. The others didn't have this stop. But when we arrived, Mel announced only a toilet stop. We had to inform him of our itinerary, promising an hour here. He responded well by letting us walk back into the town for the hour, and explained to the passengers who didn't book the tour with the stop, the situation, and allowed them the same time to explore the town as well. This was very flexible and well handled. But there were other variations. Our itinerary promised a stop at the Floral Clock and the Sir Adam Beck Generation Station, but these became drive-bys. We were also to have had "the best view of the day" venturing out onto the Niagara Gorge Platform overlooking the Niagara Gorge & Mighty Whirlpool rapids, but this was only a carpark stop, which was disappointing. On the other hand, we were not to have done the Skylon Tower. But because many passengers were on a tour that included this, Mel let us buy tickets from him to go up as well if we wanted to, and we did, so it was a bonus stop, which we really enjoyed. Of course, the highlight was the cruise into the spray of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. Due to all these variations, we were quite delayed and Mel was good to offer an extension of time so that we could see more of the falls from the promenade. All in all, this was a good tour, even though we had the confusion of different tour groups on different itineraries on the same bus, and we did miss out on some promised stops. I hope the operators can be more careful in future not to mix up groups with different itineraries in the same bus, leaving the poor courier in a difficult situation, causing concern to some passengers and having some of us miss some promised stops at important attractions.

The guide-driver was fun and very helpful. It was a great experience. I only wish we’d had q bit more time.

Great tour Alex is so funny and informative Well worth it Niagra on the lake town is the really lovely to visit

Magnificent tour. Had a ball. Would recommend to anyone. Michael was a great guide, marvellous work!

Everything very good, Alex the guide was very pleasant. The only thing we didn't like was the vehicle we were transported in. The seat backs were very uncomfortable and since it is not new, it made a lot of noise when it went over bumps. It was not comfortable. The rest of the tour was very good.

I am giving a 3* because of the driver. The tour itself was really nice. However, the tour guide Michael was very rude. When I reached meeting point, he told me rudely to wait somewhere further from the other passengers who were boarding the bus. After a while, when I saw many other passengers boarding, I came back to him and asked him politely which bus should I board (there were two). He rudely told me that they were settling all families and couples first and I would board after everyone else and wherever there was a seat available ! I was so shocked. He saw my expression and then told me to board the second bus if I WANTED TO! He said « go ! You can go ! » I took a seat in the second bus. When all passengers were seated in both buses, he came back to me and pointed his finger at me and said «  you ! come, come with me ! , I knew it! I knew it ». I didn’t say anything and when I got down, no sincere apologies, only mumbling and I couldn’t understand a word. I then entered the first bus and he told me to sit in front next to another solo traveller. Mind you this traveller was seated in that bus right at the beginning. On reaching Niagara-on-The-Lake, when I got down the bus he offered me ca$ 5!!! He said coffee is on me !! Buy yourself a coffee!! I was dumbfounded !! The rudeness was astounding !! I of course refused !! And he replied « I offered! Don’t say I didn’t ! » did I ask for money from him ? Or coffee ? Never ! I expected a decent and sincere apology but not once did he apologise to me personally. He only apologised in the bus to everyone who had to switch buses, well I was the only one who switched. And it was not over, after the tour, when we were nearing our dropping point, he went on and on about tipping him, he didn’t stop asking for tips until we reached. It felt like we were forced to tip him. I have booked tours with Viator before and never encountered such a rude driver/guide. I have gladly tipped the drivers /guide. I felt so humiliated on that tour! So from what I understood, solo travellers are not treated the same ? Even though we pay the same ? Sometimes even more than families and couples !

Wow! This was the best for guide experience we have ever had. Alex is the best tour guide ever and absolutely made for the job. We loved every second. Thank you so much. Our hearts are so full!!!

Andy’s 60th birthday Canada trip. Great guild very friendly lots of information and some good memories

Excellent trip to view Niagra on the lake with a 45 minute stop to look around. Niagra falls is a must see, with the boat trip up to the falls well worth it. Overall very good trip with a knowledgeable driver as your guide.

Eddie was a fantastic guide, great info & recommendations for our trip! The tour was scheduled well, we felt like we got to see everything we wanted to. Highly recommend!