It was my husband’s and my first solo trip in the two years since parenthood had clipped our wings. I wanted to go where water parks and playgrounds didn’t top my list of requirements.

I had always been intrigued by Niagara-on-the-Lake, a picturesque Canadian town with a triple draw of history, theater, and a true British afternoon tea. The town is the perfect place for grownups to play. Its biggest draw is the annual Shaw Festival, a seven-month run of a dozen or so plays by George Bernard Shaw and his contemporaries.

Equally as attractive to me is the town’s Royalist heritage. Originally settled as Butlersburg in 1784, Niagara became a destination for American settlers who remained loyal to the Crown during the American Revolution.

We stayed at Sea Cloud Cottage, a 15-minute walk from the center of town (no longer in business). The B&B's decor was nautical, in keeping with the owner's heritage as the grand-niece of the skipper of the Sea Cloud, the windjammer that E.F. Hutton bought for his wife Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1931.

After unpacking, we headed out on foot to The Epicurean, an upscale cafeteria on Queen Street, the town’s main thoroughfare. My order was a mishmash — gazpacho, moussaka, Caesar salad and a glass of Riesling — but I savored the freedom of ordering exactly what I liked, without considering whether it could be split with a child. We ate on the large outdoor terrace.

On the way home, we window-shopped. Niagara’s shopkeepers cater to people with a love for the British Isles—Irish lace, Scottish woolens, English china.

The next morning, we sipped our coffee and planned our day. Of course, we wanted to attend a play. We also wanted to see the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory, and afternoon tea was a must. But first, John and I wanted to bike around town.

The B&B owner arranged a three-hour bike rental from a local hotel. She also mentioned to us that the Shaw Festival box office offers 20 percent discounts for plays showing that evening if seats are available. We found the hotel and the bicycles and headed for the festival box office. On the discount blackboard, our play was listed, so we got our tickets and headed out.

Niagara’s streets are crammed with lovely homes. It was a thriving town in 1791 when the country was divided into Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec). As the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, a British cavalry commander during the American Revolution, chose Niagara as the capital.

Six years later, Niagara lost its role as capital to York (now Toronto) and on December 10, 1813 it was burned to the ground by a retreating garrison of American and Canadian forces stationed at nearby Fort George during the War of 1812. The townspeople rebuilt, but by the 1840s the town’s role as a thriving trade center at the mouth of the Niagara River was superseded by the opening of the Welland Canal that allowed ships to navigate between Toronto and New York.

The town is all the more charming for having been spurned by progress. We pedaled through streets with the evocative names of Queen, King, Byron, Johnson, and Victoria and ogled one beautiful home after another.

The town was also once a destination on the Underground Railroad. Simcoe, who knew the British abolitionist William Wilberforce, passed the world’s first anti-slavery legislation here in 1793, a law that made the importation of slaves illegal and freed the children of slaves on their 25th birthday. By the mid-1800s, free slaves counted for as much as a fifth of the town’s population.

Cheek-by-jowl with stately homes are saltbox cottages and one-and-a-half story clapboard homes. One area bounded by Mary and Anne streets and King and Mississauga streets was known as “Little Africa." There, tiny cottages nestle in the shadow of more imposing homes that reflect the success of many free blacks.

We eventually found ourselves on a path at the rebuilt Fort George. Pedaling across town, we came upon another bit of Canadian history. In the late 1800s, across Lake Ontario in New York State, the Chatauqua Institute had spawned a movement of lectures, classical concerts and other forms of high-brow entertainment. For a time, Niagara housed a 4,000-seat amphitheater ringed by a circle of streets with names like Luther, Wilberforce and Wesley. On cramped tent lots, early tourists rented or bought summer bungalows.

We stopped to catch our breath at lakeside Ryerson Park. Climbing up onto some rocks, we looked out over Lake Ontario to the spires of Toronto in the distance before heading back to lunch at Donna's and return our bikes.

We headed out for the Butterfly Conservatory, about 15 minutes south of town by car at the Niagara Botanical Gardens. It houses more than 2,000 butterflies in a tropical setting with a winding walking path. The constant motion and fanciful flight of these delicate creatures mesmerized us, and we spent more than an hour there.

We returned to town, debating the merits of our options in the hour we had until our afternoon tea reservations. We decided on that most adult of pleasures—a nap!

Afternoon tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel is an elegant affair. The building is an opulent, restored brick Victorian hotel that has served tourists since 1882. In an airy solarium overlooking the flower-bedecked sidewalk, we sipped our tea and managed to polish off our finger sandwiches, fruit tarts, opera cakes, éclairs and scones. I had a Royal Tea, with a glass of champagne, and my husband chose the Prince of Wales Tea that added a selection of cheeses, crackers and fruit.

With an hour before curtain, John and I shopped a little, walking off our excesses. Naturally, I wanted some chocolate. At The Nutty Chocolatier, on King Street in an old building with squeaky wood floors, I got some dark chocolate bark and that British favorite, wine gums, which are neither gum nor contain wine but are fruit-flavored candies similar to gummy bears.

Next door, we were beckoned into The Wine Rack, a cooperative venture of four local vintners. I wanted to try Icewine, which I had seen on almost every menu in town. I sampled a vintage from The Brae Burn Estate in Inniskillin. It was sweet, light and lovely. (Shop may or may not still be there.)

Our play ("Time and the Conways," J.B. Priestley) was showing at the Royal George Theater, one of the three Shaw Festival theaters, which was built in 1915. We enjoyed our seats, a single pair off to the side with no seats in front of us, as well as the play itself.

Too soon, it was time to go home. Already I was compiling a list of things I wanted to do on our next visit: among them, have a pub dinner at The Angel Inn, walk through Queen’s Royal Park, and stop in at the Historical Society museum.


Getting There

We drove to Niagara-on-the-Lake on Route 18, crossed the border at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and headed north on the Niagara Parkway; it was about a two-hour drive from Rochester, N.Y. The closest airport is Toronto, an hour’s drive via the Queen Elizabeth Way.

Where to Stay

As far as I can tell, Sea Cloud Cottage is no longer in business. Try these alternatives:

Vintage Inns owns many of the luxury hotels in town — The Prince of Wales Hotel, Queen’s Landing Inn, The Pillar and Post Inn and The Oban Inn.

The Chamber of Commerce has a reservations service, 153 King Street.

Where to Eat

The Epicurean, 84 Queen Street. This cafeteria-style restaurant has indoor seating and a large outdoor patio.

The Drawing Room at the Prince of Wales Hotel, 6 Picton Street. Afternoon tea reservations recommended.

Donna’s Restaurant & Old Towne Ice Cream Shoppe, 61-63 Queen Street.

What to See

If you want to wade into the sea of humanity at Niagara Falls, it’s only a 20-minute drive south on the parkway.

Shaw Festival, 10 Queen's Parade.

Bike rentals, Queen’s Landing Inn, 155 Byron Street.

Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory, 2405 Niagara Parkway.

Inniskillen Winery, Line 3, Niagara Parkway. The winery is in a 1920s prairie barn.

Niagara Historical Society Museum, 43 Castlereagh Street.

Now I see why it was rated high on Trip Advisor's poll. Very nice little town. The horse carriage ride was about $40 for 15 minutes and $60 for 30 minutes. The parking lots away from the main street (Picton Street, aka Queen Street) charge $1 per hour while the main street charges $1.50 per hour. You pay a meter either in coins or credit cards. After 6:30pm when the majority of the shops start to close, parking is free. There are still some stores and several restaurants open after 6:30pm. I first arrived at 10 am, but by lunchtime, ALL parking spaces were taken, and people were frantically searching for a spot. Get there early. If you're visiting Niagara Falls, it would be a waste to not visit Niagara-on-the-Lake. I noticed that some people had booked shuttle tours from Niagara Falls (15 miles away) to bring them here. Hopefully, they were able to stop at the Floral Clock and Aero Jet cable car along the way. There are also several wine vineyards along the way as well. I envy the people who stayed at the several historic bed and breakfasts. The visitors center is in the basement of the Old Courthouse on Picton Street. Enjoy!

We took a side trip here as part of a visit to Niagara Falls. What a disappointment! The shops were all overpriced and many were filled with cheap junk. We had hoped for some unique and interesting finds but most of the trinkets are available in local malls. The community is beautiful with a rich history so this is a saving grace.

If you want beautiful landscape, quiet atmosphere, wonderful wines, fabulous food, lovely little shops, theater, and a variety of other things to do, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada is the place you'll want to go. It's only a short drive North of Niagara Falls too.
We just returned from a week in this area and had a fabulous time. We stayed at Abagale's Victorian B & B - a perfect place! Lovely and immaculate house - looks like 100 years old, but is really only 10 years old, so it has modern conveniences including wi-fi. Their breakfast and hospitality are perfect - but if you're allergic to cats, they do have one that roams the house pretty freely. Only a few blocks to the lovely downtown section where you can browse the shops and find great little restaurants. I would definitely stay here again and recommend it to others.
My favorite restaurants include The Old Winery and Riverbend (which are NOT downtown), but we didn't have a bad meal here.
You MUST visit all the wineries and especially experience Icewine.
Can't wait to go back...