We spent 48 hours visiting Niagara Falls. Here's what was actually worth doing — and one big mistake I'm glad we avoided.

• My cousin and I spent 48 hours visiting Niagara Falls. We spent time in both New York and Canada.
• I'm glad we saw Niagara Falls from the air, from the water, and from the base.
• Attractions like Maid of the Mist were fun, but the best parts of the trip were outside of the city.

My cousin Belik lives in the US, is 15 years younger than me, loves to camp, and had already been to Niagara Falls twice. I'm an Aussie, prefer hotels, and had never made it to the Falls.

When our schedules aligned for 48 hours together, we had very different ideas about how to use them. He wanted to go on long hikes and camp on Lake Ontario. I wanted to hit the major tourist attractions, including boat and helicopter tours of the Falls.

Ultimately, we agreed to do a mix of both. By the end of our outing, we'd had some incredible experiences and discovered some of the best ways to plan a great trip to the area.

A 10-minute helicopter tour was a worthy splurge

I'd always wanted to take a helicopter ride, and Niagara Falls seemed the perfect place to try it.

We booked a 10-minute tour through Rainbow Air and paid $180 each for tickets on the day of. My cousin and I ended up having the helicopter to ourselves (likely because of the poor weather).

Belik had been hesitant about this pricey tour before we took off, but his skepticism faded once we were in the air. Ten minutes doesn't sound like much, but from up high, we got to appreciate the scale of the Falls. The Maid of the Mist boats below looked like ants.

The tour cost more than I'd usually spend, but it was the first thing I told people about when I got home. If you've only got the budget for one splurge here, make it this.

The Maid of the Mist boat ride left me wetter than I expected

The Maid of the Mist tour costs about $30 per person, and boats leave fairly regularly. We bought our tickets the day of.

Everyone in the tour receives a hooded poncho, so I knew we would get wet. I did not understand how wet until the boat turned toward the Falls; that's when "mist" suddenly felt like an understatement.

I felt the full force of water hitting me from the front, and it was (literally) breathtaking. Despite wearing my poncho, I came off the boat soaked through but so glad I'd done this tour.

It was also cool to get close to the falls at Cave of the Winds

Just in case I wasn't wet enough, I went straight from Maid of the Mist to the Cave of the Winds, a separate attraction with tickets sold at the entrance. Each of ours cost about $23 and came with another poncho.

We were able to walk boardwalks even closer to the water at the base of Bridal Veil Falls. The views were amazing, we got even wetter, and my shoes didn't recover for the rest of the weekend.

Ultimately, I think it was worth seeing the Falls three different ways: from the air, from the water, and from the base.

Crossing the Rainbow Bridge was cheap and pretty cool

While we waited for the weather to clear before our aforementioned helicopter ride, Belik suggested we walk across the border from New York to Canada.

As an Aussie, this appealed to me. We don't share a land border with anyone. It was pouring, so with ponchos on, we crossed on the Rainbow Bridge, which links Niagara Falls, New York, with Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Crossing was free on foot going to Canada, and cost us $1 each coming back. The walk took about 15 minutes and gave us a panoramic view of the Falls and a chance to eat poutine (we were in Canada, after all).

The city of Niagara Falls is worth staying in for convenience — but don't skip Lewiston

We spent our first night in Niagara Fallsto be close to the city's biggest attractions, which was convenient.

Unsurprisingly, the city felt pretty crowded and further geared toward tourists with lots of chain restaurants and souvenir shops that didn't appeal to us very much.

After a day here, we felt we'd seen enough. Fortunately, there was so much to do outside the city. One of our favorite spots was Lewiston, New York, a town just 15 minutes away.

There, we enjoyed eating a fish fry riverside and watching the sunset at the Griffon Gastropub. After dinner, we had drinks at a bar in town.

We liked the area enough to return the next day to kayak the Niagara River from Lewiston. Our guide told us this stretch was once a crucial part of the Underground Railroad, where freedom seekers crossed into Canada.

Hearing that history waterside made the experience feel even more meaningful.

We also enjoyed hiking and camping in the area

For us, another trip highlight was our early morning hike along the Whirlpool Gorge in Whirlpool State Park just north of Niagara Falls. We had the trail almost to ourselves.

Belik got his camping fix, too. We spent our second night in a yurt at Golden Hill State Park, about an hour's drive from the Falls, on Lake Ontario.

It was a peaceful way to end the weekend, even if we weren't sleeping in a five-star hotel. At least I was finally dry.

Ultimately, I think visitors are making a mistake if they just stop at the Falls

Travelers who visit Niagara Falls and only stick to major tourist attractions in the city are totally missing out.

In the end, I believe the key to our successful 48 hours here was treating the Falls as a starting point, not the star of our trip.

Let me be clear: The Falls deliver. Book the helicopter, do the boats, walk to Canada — just don't stop there. It's easy to forget to explore the surrounding region, but it's just as worth your time.

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