Journey Behind the Falls, Skylon Tower and a Boat Ride: Is the Combo Tour Worth It?
5 min read
What the combination is
The classic Canadian-side package joins three things: Journey Behind the Falls, the observation deck of Skylon Tower and a boat ride with Niagara City Cruises. Most listings are small-group walking tours led by a local guide, and they take between about 2.5 and 4 hours. They are worth considering if you are visiting once, want the three big attractions in a sensible order, and would rather not queue three times.
What the pages say they include
The Skylon, Journey Behind the Falls and boat tour lists 3.5 to 4 hours and a walking distance of 2.5 km. The itinerary gives 45 minutes at Skylon Tower, a 15-minute ride on the Falls Incline Railway and 75 minutes for Journey Behind the Falls, which the itinerary lists as self-guided. The boat follows last. The tower deck is 520 feet up; the tunnels behind the falls are reached by a descent of about 125 feet.
The premium tour with boat, Skylon Tower and Journey Behind the Falls takes 4 hours, is limited to 7 people and lists pickup in Niagara Falls, Canada. It adds scenic drives and photo stops to the three attractions. The four-hour tour with narrated stops lists pickup too, guiding in English and, subject to availability, German, and stops at the Whirlpool Observation Deck and the Brink of the Falls.
The shorter boat, Journey Behind the Falls and walking tour skips the tower and takes 2.5 hours. The Boat Trip and Journey Behind the Falls tour offers several options and lists the tower only on some of them.
The catch with the boat and the tunnels
Every one of these tours is built around the boat season. The pages give May to November or May to December, depending on the operator, and replace the boat in the cold months with Niagara Takes Flight or another attraction. The official Niagara Parks ticket for Journey Behind the Falls notes that the lower level of the attraction is closed for the winter season. If you travel outside summer, check which option you are booking before you assume you will get all three.
Buying the pieces yourself
You can also assemble the day without a guide. The official Journey Behind the Falls ticket is sold by Niagara Parks, with a poncho included; its page gives 9 am to 6 pm for the day ticket and a separate evening session from 6:30 to 10 pm. A Skylon Tower observation deck ticket is sold on its own too. Add up the single prices for the parts you want and set them beside the combo price before deciding; the combo buys you the order, the guide and, on some tours, pickup and priority entry.
| Tour | Duration | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skylon, Journey Behind the Falls and boat | 3.5 to 4 hours | €101.35 | 4.7/5 from 2,071 reviews |
| Premium tour, small group | 4 hours | €131.93 | 4.8/5 from 4,387 reviews |
| Boat, tunnels and Skylon Tower with narrated stops | 4 hours | €110.79 | 4.8/5 from 695 reviews |
| Boat, Journey Behind the Falls and walking tour | 2.5 hours | €97.63 | 4.9/5 from 340 reviews |
| Journey Behind the Falls ticket | Self-guided | €23.54 | 4.3/5 from 2,016 reviews |
Who should skip it
The tours are long on foot and mostly outdoors. The page for the four-hour narrated tour lists people with mobility impairments and people with heart problems among those it is not suited to, and the Boat Trip and Journey Behind the Falls tour says it is not suitable for wheelchair users. If walking about 2.5 km is a stretch, read the Know before you go section of the page you choose, or ask the operator first.
Our recommendation
For a single visit in the boat season, the Skylon, Journey Behind the Falls and boat tour is the clearest of the three-attraction options, with its stops and times listed in order. If you have already been up the tower, take the shorter 2.5-hour tour, which keeps the boat and the tunnels; if you only want one attraction, buy just that ticket. Browse all combination tours to compare more.
