Buffalo Travel Guide

In Buffalo, there is so much to do in such a small place. Experience the "All- American" city.

Most people that live in the Greater Buffalo Niagara Region tend to agree with the comment that there IS a lot to do.

Buffalo is a relatively short distance (less than 1 hour by bus) from Niagara Falls, an internationally known landmark.  Route 40 Grand Island leaves from the Buffalo Transportation Center (North Division and Ellicott, Downtown) throughout the day, seven-days-a-week.  Bus fare is $2.25, each way.

Other important landmarks is Delaware Park, which also houses the Buffalo Zoological Gardens (a short ride west on the Route 32 Amherst bus out of Amherst Metro Rail Station), Erie County Historical Society and Albright Knox Art Gallery (accessed by any Route 20 Elmwood bus or 32 Amherst bus).

The Elmwood Strip is also becoming a very trendy area that offers some of the most interesting shopping boutiques in the City of Buffalo.

During Friday and Saturday nights, the Chippawa Strip in Downtown becomes a busy meeting place for the college-age crowd to hang out.  Our bars and nightclubs stay open until 4:00am, and are a short walk from the Hostel on Main Street in the Theater District.

Also, Sheas Buffalo Performing Arts Center is located almost directly across from the hostel on Main Street and is an excellent example of a vaudeville house from the early 1900's.  In the late 70's, a group was formed to restore the building to its original beauty.  This past fall, a marquee was restored on the Main Street entrance.

There is also a single subway line (called the Metro Rail), which serves the alignment of Main Street, between Erie Canal Harbor Station (near the old War Memorial Auditorium) and the University Station (on the campus of the State University of New York's South Campus).  During the summer, the Downtown Buffalo section (above ground from Theater Station to Erie Canal Harbor Station) of the Metro Rail may be closed due to the many summertime events that occur on Main Street and the surrounding streets.  Interested people can visit the NFTA Metro website at http://www.nfta.com/metro for updates and schedules.  A word of warning:  The Metro Rail shuts down at 6:15pm from Downtown Buffalo and 6:45pm from University Station on Sundays.  An 8-Main bus will service the same area, but the trip may become twice as long, with a 45-60 minute wait between buses.

The Buffalo/Niagara Convention and Visitors Bureau is located just south of Theater Station on the Metro Rail in the Market Arcade Building.

Architectural buffs may be interested in Buffalo. Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned to design and build six buildings in Buffalo and area with several being for the Martin family. Currently the main Martin House in Buffalo and their summer home on Lake Erie (called Graycliff) are being restored to bring them back to their original condition. Both are open to tours and are interesting to see how much work is required to bring them back to their glory days.