Most travellers assume Niagara closes in winter. It does not. The boats stop in late October, but the falls themselves are more dramatic — frozen mist coats every railing, tree, and lamppost in clear ice, and the lower flow exposes more of the rock face.
The Winter Festival of Lights runs from mid-November through mid-January: kilometres of illuminations along the Niagara Parkway, fireworks on selected weekends, and the falls themselves lit in rotating colour.
Dress for it. Wind off the gorge is genuinely cold. Bring a hat, gloves, and waterproof boots — the spray that doesn't freeze in mid-air lands as a fine slush on the promenade.
Winter tours are also dramatically cheaper, and the wineries are open and quiet — Riesling and a wood fire at Peller is hard to beat on a January afternoon.