Rochester High Falls and the University at Buffalo: one night on the way back from Niagara

Two days at Niagara Falls left us drained, body and mind. We had gotten up early to see the morning mist, waited a long time at the border and been soaked by the falls at the Cave of the Winds. Montreal was still more than six hours away by car.

We decided to push on at least two more hours that night and booked a room just to sleep in in Rochester, which sat on our route. I also liked that the city has a waterfall in the middle of downtown.

On the way, we made two stops in Buffalo: a university campus our family has ties to, and a wing place we used to go to often when we lived in the US.

The full five-day route from Montreal to Niagara Falls, Toronto and Tobermory is in the hub post, and the two days before this one are in our two days at Niagara Falls post. This post covers the evening we left Niagara through the next morning.

01Where to spend the night after Niagara

We picked the hotel after Niagara based on the day after it. That day we had to hike the gorge at Watkins Glen, stop at a winery, then cross the Thousand Islands Bridge and drive all the way back to Montreal. The only way to shorten that day was to get as far as we could the night before.

Rochester was on the way. It wasn’t expensive, we could park inside the building, and there was even a waterfall downtown. Honestly, we weren’t in the mood for sightseeing. Niagara had used us up, and we just wanted to lie down somewhere along the route. When we pick a city just to sleep in, we look first at how close it gets us to the next day’s destination, not at what the city has. That’s how we ended up seeing a waterfall before we left in the morning.

02University at Buffalo North Campus at sunset

After leaving Niagara and crossing Grand Island, we were soon in Amherst, just north of Buffalo. At 8:55 p.m. we pulled over by the North Campus sign of the University at Buffalo. It’s the flagship of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, founded in 1846. Our family has ties to the school, and I had wanted to walk it at least once.

The campus was quiet. It was summer, so there were hardly any students around, and beyond the wide lawns the sky was turning pink. My parents took photos by the bison statue.

A short walk toward the water brought us to Lake LaSalle, a 60-acre artificial lake created in the 1960s, when New York State bought land in Amherst to build North Campus. On a rise by the shore, Baird Point, a few roofless stone columns stand. They reportedly came from the old Federal Reserve Bank building in Buffalo.

By 9:15 p.m. the sun had already gone down across the lake, leaving only the glow. In 2021 we spent a night at a hotel right next to this campus, and we didn’t even drive through it. All that stuck with me was how enormous the school is. Walking it for the first time, we found it as quiet as it was big.

How to visit the campus

Item	Details
GPS address	Flint Entrance, Amherst, NY 14260
Visitor parking	Designated visitor lots and metered paid spaces Most lots open to visitors after 3 p.m. Friday and on weekends
Campus tours	Admissions walking tours by registration (for prospective students)
What to see	Lake LaSalle, Baird Point, bison statue

University at Buffalo official visitor information (as of November 2026). Weekday evening parking rules aren’t listed separately, so follow the posted signs

03Why we ate chain wings in Buffalo

We were in Buffalo, so dinner was wings. Just not at Anchor Bar, the place known as the original. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings, the chain you find all over the US, which opened in Columbus, Ohio, in 1982. Two friends who had moved from Buffalo to Columbus started it, and its first name was Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck. So in the hometown of the Buffalo wing, we ate wings made by people who had left Buffalo.

There was one reason. It was a place we knew, one we went to now and then when we lived in the US. More than a famous restaurant, we wanted to share food we had memories of with my parents. If it had been just the three of us, we might have gone looking for one of Buffalo’s famous spots.

We ordered wings in Asian Zing sauce and tasted a few other sauces. We also ordered a club sandwich, which I think I had never tried before, and it was good. After a few wings, my parents said, “So this is an American Buffalo wing.” Whatever the debate over the original, at that table this was the Buffalo wing.

The places known as the original are Anchor Bar and Duff’s, both on Main Street downtown. Buffalo is about 30 minutes by car from the US side of Niagara, so it’s easy to add a dinner to a Niagara Falls US-side tour.

04Is downtown Rochester OK after midnight?

At 12:30 a.m. we drove into downtown Rochester. The main streets were empty, with almost no one on foot. Empty streets in an unfamiliar city make you tense even when nothing is happening. Downtown Rochester is a central business district full of offices, so people head out in the evening and it goes quiet.

Citywide, Rochester has more crime than the US average, but most violent crime happens in a few residential areas away from downtown, and the center is counted among the safer parts of the city. It’s also a college town, home to the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). At night, the crowds are in the East End, where restaurants and performance venues cluster. Still, on a late-arrival night we preferred to keep the walking to a minimum. That’s why we were glad we had looked for indoor parking when we booked.

The Hyatt Regency Rochester is a 25-story hotel on Main Street downtown. From the garage, a corridor takes you to the lobby without going outside. A skyway also connects it to the convention center next door. Parking costs extra.

We put the bags down and I stood at the window. Across the street, a building with a disc on top was glowing blue. It looked like a UFO had parked itself on the roof. It turned out to be First Federal Plaza, a 21-story building from 1976. The disc held the Changing Scene, a revolving restaurant that opened in 1977 and is said to have been the first in New York State. It’s offices now. Looking at that disc, I really did nothing that night but sleep.

From the same window in the morning, it looked nothing like the empty streets of the night before. Sunlight covered the red-brick buildings.

05Rochester High Falls: is 30 minutes enough?

At 10:20 a.m. we drove the five minutes to High Falls. We parked nearby, and on the walk toward the river we passed one building after another painted with murals.

At the High Falls Overlook on the east bank, the view suddenly opened up. The river was going over a cliff right in the middle of the city. Even to eyes fresh from Niagara, this waterfall looked different. It didn’t overwhelm with size; it just poured down, matter-of-factly, beside a city on its way to work. Below the falls, the Pont de Rennes, an iron bridge built in 1891, spans the gorge. It was originally a road bridge; when it became a pedestrian bridge in 1982, it was named for Rennes, Rochester’s sister city in France.

Behind the falls stood a single tower: Kodak Tower, headquarters of Eastman Kodak, the company famous for film. Built in 1914, it was Rochester’s tallest building for more than 50 years. So the Kodak I had always known was headquartered here. We talked about it with my parents in front of the falls.

At the overlook entrance there was a street instrument made of a row of red arches, a play installation added when the riverside trail was redone. We each tapped one too. If you have time, it’s worth walking across the Pont de Rennes to the other side of the river. We were back in the car at 10:45 a.m. That afternoon we planned to hike the Watkins Glen gorge.

06Where we stayed near Buffalo in 2021

Heading east from Niagara: where to spend the night

Place	From the falls	Why stay there
Amherst (Buffalo)	About 35 km (22 mi)	Staying on the US side, for less money
Downtown Rochester	About 157 km (98 mi)	A shorter drive the next day, High Falls in the morning
Geneva (Finger Lakes)	About 230 km (143 mi)	An extra day for wineries and gorges

Distances follow the usual driving route and vary with traffic

QFAQ

How long does it take to drive from Niagara Falls State Park (US side) to Buffalo?

Downtown Buffalo is about 33 km (21 mi) away, roughly 30 minutes by car. Amherst, home of the University at Buffalo North Campus, is about the same at 34 km (21 mi). Both assume no traffic.

Can anyone walk around the University at Buffalo campus?

Yes, anyone can walk the campus. Park in a visitor lot or at a metered spot. Building visits and admissions walking tours require advance registration.

Where were Buffalo wings invented?

The most widely told story credits Anchor Bar on Main Street in Buffalo, in 1964. Another claim says John Young sold them first around the same time. Duff’s, opened in 1969, is the other name locals bring up.

Where is the best place to see Rochester High Falls?

The High Falls Overlook on the east side of the river and the Pont de Rennes pedestrian bridge both have good views. They are a few minutes apart on foot.

How long is the drive from Niagara Falls to Rochester?

From the US side of Niagara Falls to downtown Rochester is about 157 km (98 mi), roughly 2 hours 20 minutes without traffic.

Wrapping up

We picked Rochester only as a place to sleep. On the way, we walked a campus our family has ties to at sunset and shared the wings we used to eat in the US with my parents. Downtown felt empty and a little tense when we pulled in after midnight, but the view from the window in the morning and High Falls changed that impression. Because we took the first night all the way to Rochester, we reached Watkins Glen around lunchtime the next day. The next day’s drive gets that much shorter, and you see one more waterfall before you leave.

This time we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Rochester, with its indoor parking garage. In 2021, when we planned around the US side of Niagara, a hotel in Amherst next to the University at Buffalo was the easy choice.

Sources

University at Buffalo at a glance, Visiting the University at Buffalo, Pont de Rennes Pedestrian Bridge, Pont de Rennes reopens, High Falls, Hyatt Regency Rochester, Rochester crime in 2025 (WXXI), Crime in the first quarter of 2026 (Rochester Beacon), Crime by neighborhood (Rochester Beacon), Safest neighborhoods ranking (HomeSnacks, based on FBI data)