What does this USA and Canada explorer include, and what does it cost?
Ten nights across three destinations730: four nights in New York, four in Toronto and two at Niagara Falls, all in 4★ hotels, with return flights from London and the internal flight from New York to Toronto included. ATOL protection under licence 10713 applies and a £99 per person deposit holds it. Regional UK airports are available at a supplement confirmed at enquiry. January is the cheapest month and July the dearest. Attraction entry, transfers, the US ESTA and the Canadian eTA are not included, and your meal arrangement is confirmed in writing before you pay.
What paperwork do you need for two countries?
Both, separately, and there is a trap in the Canadian half that this particular itinerary walks straight into.
The United States. You need an ESTA under the Visa Waiver Programme. It costs $40.27, is valid two years and allows stays of up to 90 days. Your passport must be valid for the length of your stay. Note that the ESTA applies to transit as well as entry — if any part of your routing touches US soil, you need one. The fee rose from $21, so anyone reusing an old one should check what they paid and when it expires.
Canada, and this is the part worth reading twice. An eTA is required for air arrivals. It is not required when you arrive by land or sea from the USA.
The package includes an internal flight from New York to Toronto. That means you arrive in Canada by air, and the eTA applies to you. A traveller who assumed the land-border exemption because they were coming from the States would be wrong, and would find out at check-in rather than at leisure. GOV.UK does not state the eTA’s fee or validity, so we will not quote either.
Both are yours to arrange and neither is included in the holiday price. All checked against GOV.UK foreign travel advice on 17 September 2026.
Why is January the cheapest month?
Because it is deep North American winter, and on this itinerary that costs you more than it would elsewhere.
New York in January is cold and handles it well — it is a city built for winter and the museums, galleries, restaurants and shows are all indoors. Toronto is a harder proposition. It sits further north and inland, and its winter is severe rather than merely cold.
Niagara is the real issue. The falls are spectacular in winter, partly frozen and genuinely worth seeing. But the boat trips that take you to the base of them are seasonal and do not operate through the winter, and they are the single best thing about the stop. Several other attractions run reduced winter timetables.
May and October sit at the same price, and they are the two months where all three stops work at once — the Niagara boats running, Toronto and New York comfortable to walk around, and the price well below July. October adds autumn colour across Ontario, which is worth going out of your way for.
If your dates are fixed in winter, tell us and we will confirm what is actually operating at Niagara before you book. A winter trip here is a good city holiday with a frozen waterfall attached, which is a different proposition from the summer version.
Is four nights in Toronto too many?
It is more than most itineraries give it, and we would rather explain the structure than let you assume it is filler.
Most North American multi-centre trips give Toronto two nights and Niagara a day trip. This gives Toronto four and Niagara two, which makes it a noticeably slower itinerary than the format usually allows.
What that buys at Toronto is the chance to treat it as a city rather than a stopover — the CN Tower and the waterfront, yes, but also Kensington Market, the Distillery District, the islands in the lake and one of the most genuinely multicultural food scenes in North America.
What it buys at Niagara is seeing the falls at more than one time of day. They are floodlit at night and quietest early in the morning, and a day trip gets you neither.
If you would rather weight the nights towards New York, say so when you enquire — that is a conversation rather than a fixed package.
What you will actually do
New York gets four nights and could take fourteen. The obvious things — the Empire State Building, Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the 9/11 Memorial — plus whichever of the museums matter to you. The Met and MoMA are each most of a day.
The internal flight to Toronto is included, which removes the one real logistical problem with this kind of itinerary.
Toronto is the CN Tower, the waterfront and the ferry to the Toronto Islands, with Kensington Market and the Distillery District for the parts of the city that are not skyline.
Niagara Falls is the two nights that most visitors underestimate. The falls are far larger and louder in person than photographs manage, and the volume of water is the thing that surprises people rather than the height.
The falls have two sides — Ontario and New York State — and we confirm which one your two nights are on when we finalise your booking. Crossing between them is an international border, so take your passport if you plan to.
What changes your price?
- The month. January at its cheapest against July at its dearest, with very different conditions at Niagara.
- Departure airport. Priced from London, with regional UK airports at a supplement confirmed at enquiry.
- Hotel location, particularly in New York, where a Manhattan address and an outer-borough one are different products.
- How the ten nights are weighted across the three stops.
- Cabin. This is a transatlantic sector and premium cabins move the total considerably.
Who this holiday suits
- Explorers seeking culture, urban adventure and scenic beauty — this is what the holiday is built for.
- First-time visitors to North America who want more than one city.
- Travellers who would rather not arrange an internal flight themselves, since it is included.
- Anyone who wants Niagara properly rather than as a coach day trip.
- May and October travellers, when all three stops are at their best.
Who might prefer something else
- For New York and nothing else, four nights here is a taste and a dedicated New York trip would serve you better.
- If your dates are fixed in winter and Niagara is the draw, the boats do not run then. Ask us what is operating before you book.
- Want warmth and a beach? This is an entirely urban, northern itinerary.
- If two sets of entry paperwork put you off, a single-country trip avoids the ESTA-and-eTA combination.
- If you dislike moving hotels, this changes twice inside ten nights.
- Want to see the alternatives? Our full range of escorted tours is worth a look before you decide.
- Worth comparing against our 14 Nights USA, Canada & Caribbean Grand Journey, which covers similar ground.
Ways to upgrade
All quoted at enquiry against your dates.
- A Manhattan hotel rather than the lead-in, or a higher room category anywhere
- A falls-view room at Niagara, which is the upgrade that most changes that stop
- Extra nights, or a different weighting across the three destinations
- Premium economy or business class on the transatlantic sector
- Attraction passes in New York, and a Broadway show
- Airport transfers at either end
What is not included?
- The US ESTA at $40.27 and the Canadian eTA, both of which you arrange yourself.
- Attraction entry throughout — observation decks, museums, boat trips and shows.
- Airport transfers and local transport in all three places.
- Meals beyond the board arrangement, which we confirm in writing before you pay.
- Travel insurance, which should cover both countries.
How do you get there and get around?
Flights are from London, around eight hours westbound to New York, with regional UK airports at a supplement confirmed at enquiry. The internal flight from New York to Toronto is included in the package.
New York is five hours behind the UK and Toronto is on the same time as New York, so there is no further adjustment once you are there.
Transfers are not included. New York has rail links from its airports and an unmatched subway. Toronto has an express train from its main airport and a straightforward streetcar and subway network. Niagara is reached from Toronto by road or rail in well under two hours.
Entry requirements for UK travellers
Checked against GOV.UK foreign travel advice on 17 September 2026.
United States: an ESTA is required under the Visa Waiver Programme, costs $40.27, is valid two years and permits stays up to 90 days. It applies to transit as well as entry. Passport valid for the length of your stay.
Canada: an eTA is required for air arrivals and is not required arriving by land or sea from the USA. This itinerary flies you into Canada, so you need one. GOV.UK does not state the fee or validity, so we do not quote them.
Practicalities worth knowing
Apply for both authorisations early. Neither is normally slow, but neither is guaranteed to be instant, and an ESTA refusal is a much bigger problem discovered a month out than a day out.
Check an old ESTA before assuming it works. They last two years and the fee rose from $21 to $40.27, so a previous one may have expired without you noticing.
Niagara’s boats are seasonal. They do not run through the winter and several other attractions reduce their hours. Tell us your dates and we will confirm what is operating.
Tipping is expected in both countries and at higher rates than in the UK — restaurants, bars, taxis and hotel staff. Budget for it as a real cost rather than a rounding error.
Sales tax is added at the till in both the USA and Canada, so the shelf price is not what you pay. It catches out almost every British visitor at least once.
Booking and protection
Your booking is covered by our ATOL licence 10713 and we hold IATA accreditation 91285611. It is held with a deposit of £99 per person, with the balance due before travel.
Prices are per person, based on two people sharing. May and October sit at the same price and are the two months where New York, Toronto and Niagara all work at once. Arrange your ESTA and your Canadian eTA as soon as your dates are confirmed.
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