Niagara Falls in Winter: What Is Open, the Festival of Lights and Evening Tours
5 min read
The short answer
Winter is a different trip, not a worse one. The Falls are lit every night, the Winter Festival of Lights fills the dark evenings, and the Cave of the Winds and the SkyWheel stay open. What you lose are the Maid of the Mist, the lower level of Journey Behind the Falls and, as the year ends, a reliable boat on the Canadian side. Dress for the cold, and plan your days around the evening.
The Winter Festival of Lights
Niagara Parks lists the 44th Winter Festival of Lights from Saturday 14 November 2026 to Sunday 10 January 2027. The light displays are on nightly from 5 pm to midnight, holidays included. Fireworks over the Falls are part of it: at 8 pm on Fridays and Saturdays from 14 November to 12 December, nightly at 8 pm from 18 December, with an extra show at midnight on New Year’s Eve and final shows on 8 and 9 January, all weather permitting. For the map of the displays, see the Niagara Parks festival page.
Two guided tours are built around it:
- The Winter Festival of Lights tour with Skylon Tower takes 1.5 hours in a heated vehicle. It passes Queen Victoria Park, Dufferin Islands and the Fallsview District and ends on the Skylon Tower observation deck. Pickup is listed as included, on the Canadian side only. The page asks for warm clothing. It has only a handful of reviews so far.
- The Winter Festival of Lights tour by Gray Line is a new listing without reviews yet. It takes 5 hours and starts at 883 Falls Avenue with a tasting of maple syrup, fudge and chocolate at Maple Leaf Place. It stops at Table Rock, then runs a guided lights drive through Dufferin Islands and along the Parkway and ends with free time on Clifton Hill. Journey Behind the Falls is an optional add-on with an extra fee, not part of the base price. The page lists the tour as not suitable for wheelchair users.
The illumination
The Falls are illuminated every night of the year beginning at dusk, says the Niagara Falls State Park website. For 1 November to 31 December 2026 it lists 4:30 pm to 2 am. In winter that means the Falls are lit early in the evening. For more about the night programme, see our guide to Niagara Falls at night.
What is open, and what is not
- Cave of the Winds: the state park says it is open year-round and daily. Winter hours listed for 2 January to 31 March 2027 are 9 am to 4 pm, closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. A winter tour page calls the cold-season version the Winter Gorge Walk. See Cave of the Winds and Goat Island.
- Journey Behind the Falls: the booking page of the official ticket says the lower level is closed for the winter season. The observation deck and the viewing portals the page describes may therefore differ from the summer visit, so read the ticket page before you buy.
- SkyWheel: the gondolas are enclosed and climate controlled, but the wheel does not run in winds over 50 km/h or below -15 °C. On a very cold evening it may be shut.
- Boats: the Maid of the Mist’s season is over for 2026, as our boat comparison explains. Niagara City Cruises on the Canadian side says its December sailings are weather permitting, and the tour pages give its season as ending in November or December. Packages that include the cruise swap it for another attraction once it stops, so read the option you book.
Tours that run in the cold
The USA and Canada Winter Wonderland tour is a small group of up to 7 with hotel pickup in Niagara Falls, New York. It includes the Cave of the Winds Gorge Walk and, weather permitting, the Voyage to the Falls cruise or else Journey Behind the Falls. A valid passport is required. For a view from above, there is the helicopter flight, which is weather dependent.
Side by side
| Tour | What it covers | Duration | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Festival of Lights tour with Skylon Tower | Lights drive, observation deck | 1.5 hours | €46.46 | 3.7/5 from 6 reviews |
| Winter Festival of Lights tour by Gray Line | Tasting, Table Rock, lights drive, Clifton Hill | 5 hours | €89.64 | new listing |
| USA and Canada Winter Wonderland tour | Both sides, small group | 4 hours | €160.33 | 5.0/5 from 1 reviews |
| Official Journey Behind the Falls ticket | Tunnels and deck | see booking page | €23.54 | 4.3/5 from 2,016 reviews |
Our recommendation
Come for the evenings. Book the festival tour that fits your base, or walk the lights yourself, and keep a daytime slot for the Cave of the Winds or the Journey Behind the Falls. Pack warm clothes, waterproof shoes and a passport if you plan to cross. For all tickets, see the attraction tickets and the night tours.
