A Winter Getaway to Niagara-on-the-Lake

This year for Christmas, instead of exchanging gifts, Joel and I decided to go on a little two-day winter getaway to our favourite place – Niagara-on-the-Lake. Anyone who knows me knows that this is my favourite place to visit (I’ve written a previous blog post about NOTL which you can read here)! We usually go once or twice a year, but we’ve never been in the winter so I thought it would be the perfect place to visit over the holidays.

NOTL has everything I love – wine, great food, a super cute town and oh, did I mention wine? Usually we go in the spring or summer, but this was our first time in the winter – and it was the perfect time to go! We left right after Christmas on Boxing Day so the whole town and all of the wineries were still beautifully decorated for the holidays. I highly recommend going over the holidays, either before or after like we did, so you can see all the Christmas decorations and lights.

Where to stay

There are so many options on where to stay in NOTL. Typically we’ve always stayed in a Bed & Breakfast, but this time I wanted to experience staying in one of the boutique hotels/inns. It’s on my bucket list to stay at each one! This time we opted to stay at the Harbour House Hotel which is a property operated under Niagara’s Finest Hotels.

The Harbour House Hotel is a smaller property but offers all the amenities you would need for the perfect night’s stay. There is also a complimentary continental breakfast each morning with your stay and as well as a free happy hour each day. Everything about the hotel was so cozy and inviting. It was fully decked-out with Christmas decorations which really kept us in the holiday spirit (even though it was officially over by this point!). This hotel is also within walking distance to the downtown area and many restaurants.

Click here to book a stay at the Harbour House Hotel!

What to do

Go for a walk

Since all of the downtown area in NOTL is fully decorated for the holidays, make sure you go for a stroll and check it out, especially in the evening. The town is fully lit up at night with Christmas lights and Christmas tunes play amongst the streets as you meander along. One of my favourite shops is Victoria Teas and Coffees – they have the biggest selection of teas and flavoured coffees. I always make sure to pick up a bag when I’m there.

Make sure to also go for a walk along the waterfront and through Queen’s Royal Park.

Go check out the wineries

There are so many wineries to visit when you in NOTL. We stopped at a few and managed to bring home seven bottles of wine… oopsy. A new one for us was the Wayne Gretzky Estates. There is both a winery and distillery for you to try samples from. There is also an outdoor skating rink, which unfortunately for us, we were not able to use as the weather was too warm!

Another winery we visited was Konzelmann – it’s one of my favourites. They have an amazing peach wine!

Wine and dine!

There are countless restaurants to choose from when planning your dinner out. We opted to try the restaurant at Peller’s Estate Winery. In addition to their farm-to-table wine country cuisine, they offer a very unique dining experience with the 5-course tasting menu which is chosen by the chef so you have no idea what you’re getting!