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I am thinking of taking bus from Toronto to New York at the end of September and back by plane. I'd like to sight-see a bit of the cities and countryside on the way. I see that the bus passes by Niagara, Buffalo and some small cities.

What interesting sights are on the way that I would be pleased just to see from a passing bus? I am aware it's a 12-hour arduous trip. It would be my first time in the US, therefore I'd like to see a bit on the road of how life's like.

Also, how long is the border crossing at Niagara? I visited it some time ago and saw a long car queue to enter the US.

Update : I am talking about the common bus route by for example Megabus that passes through Burlington, Niagara, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Scranton then NY. I have been to Niagara recently and did see the traffic queue at border crossing. https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Toronto,+ON/New+York,+NY,+USA/@43.034642,-81.1211084,6z/am=t/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x89d4cb90d7c63ba5:0x323555502ab4c477!2m2!1d-79.3831843!2d43.653226!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c24fa5d33f083b:0xc80b8f06e177fe62!2m2!1d-74.0059728!2d40.7127753!3e3

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    Welcome to TSE. "Is it worth it?" questions are not really answerable here, because it largely comes down to personal opinion. Some people really enjoy bus travel, others really hate it. Some might find the landscape of upstate New York interesting, others incredibly boring (the vegetation, for instance, won't differ much from southeastern Ontario). Plus, a route that follows the Thruway or I-86 will be faster but plainer than one that squiggles through back roads in the Finger Lakes. I strongly encourage you to take the site tour and review the help center for additional guidance.
    – choster
    Commented Aug 29, 2019 at 17:08
  • You mention "the bus passes by Niagara..." so it sounds like you've already picked out a bus route. If you add a map of the bus route to your question, then people can make suggestions about sights along that route, and you can make your own decisions about whether they seem interesting.
    – csk
    Commented Aug 29, 2019 at 17:46
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    Are you planning to make different bus stops, for example TO to Niagara stay a while, then Niagara to another stop along the way or just a booking a bus from TO to NYC (expecting to see nice things) ?
    – Max
    Commented Aug 29, 2019 at 17:55
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    Have you considered the train? You may not see much more, but at least you will not see it in relative comfort.
    – DJClayworth
    Commented Aug 29, 2019 at 18:15
  • Max: No I would just follow the direct typical long-distance bus (type Megabus). I have been to Niagara so no need to stop either. DJ : I agree that train may be more comfortable, but train is as expensive as flight (~200CAD) and tend to run outside the residential zone so nothing much of the city to see either. As usual when I travel by bus, it gives me a quick glance of the city because main bus stop is usually in the center. There are things you just need to glance once and get how it looks like, and know if it's for you or not.
    – Kenny
    Commented Aug 29, 2019 at 18:51

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Years ago, I took the long distance bus from Washington DC to Niagra Falls. While the majority of the journey was at night, the last few hours were in daylight. To be honest there was little to see or do. There was no commentary from the driver, just brief announcements of the next stop coming up. After all, this was not a tourist bus, but just a cheap way of getting from A to B.

There were the scheduled stops at a few major cities: The bus would leave the Interstate, trundle through the city streets to the bus station, and then trundle back to the interstate. We saw a lot of bus stations, but nothing of the cities attractions unless the bus happened to pass by them.

We made one other stop at some anonymous truckstop for about 30 minutes in the middle of the night. I think this was to refuel the bus. It was cold and dark and I just drank lots of coffee.

Even the daylight portions through upstate New York were boring as hell. Endless miles of Interstate and flat fields, was all there seemed to be to look at.

Since then, I've done several vacations in the USA where I have rented a car and had a great time on the road.

In short: if you want to see the sights on the way, you would be better off driving, and perhaps taking a few days to do it.

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