Nature’s Splendor Tour

Start off your day with a stop at the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, featuring a tri-domed “Crystal Palace” conservatory set in a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park.

Visit the Buffalo Zoo to see the M&T Bank Rainforest Falls exhibit. The exhibit replicates the habitat of Venezuela’s Canaima National Park and includes a wide variety of free flight birds as well as other rainforest animals.

The Bard comes to Buffalo! Visit during the summer to enjoy a performance of Shakespeare in Delaware Park.

Visit during June & July and participate in the National Garden Festival, featuring garden walks, open gardens, lectures and workshops.

Art and theater mix with nature at Artpark, a green space of 150 acres on the Niagara River Gorge and one of Western New York’s premier visual and performing arts destinations.

Hike, swim, attend a nature program, or just pause to take in the scenery as you make your way through Letchworth State Park.

Ride the Virtual Gorge Elevator at the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center to see the rock layers formed millions of years ago and learn how Niagara Falls was formed.

Explore Niagara Falls State Park, experience the Falls from an arm’s length away at the Cave of the Winds, and take a scenic ride on the Maid of the Mist Boat Tours.

Then get ready for the thrilling ride down the rapids of the gorge on Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours.

Feed a seal and tour the Aquarium of Niagara.

Take in a breathtaking aerial view of Niagara Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, while you dine at the Top of the Falls Restaurant.

Learn about wildlife and geology as you investigate the ecosystems of Lake Erie and the Niagara River on an Ecological Discovery Tour from Grand Lady Cruises.

See nature in a whole different light on a “night walk” at Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve.

Visit the Penn Dixie Paleontological and Outdoor Education Center and choose from a variety of fossil collecting, geology, birding, and astronomy programs.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

Dine in style at Templeton Landing as you overlook the picturesque Buffalo Waterfront.

In the mood for more waterfront scenery? Choose from one of four cruises: Buffalo Harbor Cruises – Miss Buffalo, Spirit of Buffalo, Buffalo River History Tours and Moondance Catamaran.

Tour the Burchfield Penney Art Center, one of only four LEED certified buildings in Buffalo.

Pause to admire the peaceful atmosphere complete with the stone bridges, a creek, and gentle hills at Forest Lawn Cemetery in downtown Buffalo. Include time for a tour when costumed characters from the past come to life.

Take a break from walking to enjoy a 1900s style train ride through countryside and farmlands aboard the Arcade & Attica Railroad.

Visit Spring Lake Winery, Freedom Run Winery, or another of Niagara County’s wineries for a tour and tasting.

See the Holland Land Office Museum, where 3.3 million acres of Western New York were surveyed and sold.