Cycling, walking tour takes group through Old Town NOTL

Yesterday Niagara Cycling Tours established what is believed to be one of the largest group tours in local history and certainly the largest so far in a busy 2023 cycling season. Edu Travel and Hodgson Public School in Toronto participated in a unique combination of an historic cycling and walking tour of Old Town Niagara-on-the-Lake and surrounding areas. More than 165 students and adults participated.

NCT founder and cycling ambassador Peter Donato said in a news release that he was thrilled to see so many young faces, and also enjoyed a visit to some students by Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa.

“It was a bit of a last-minute thing, believe it or not, and we had to scramble to bring some tour guides in from around the GTA to supplement some local staff. Then we had just four days to quickly teach these new guides on some basic history, geography, agriculture and floricultural facts and figures, along with some ghost stories of course, to give this group of 13-14-year-olds some variety.”

All of the students along with teachers and staff walked a 5-km historical route in Old Town in addition to an 18-km cycling tour that included known and not so well-known places such as Butler’s Burial Ground, the Niagara River Parkway and Commons, Chautauqua and the Negro Village. Students were then asked to fill out trivia sheets afterwards to make sure they were paying attention, along with winning some great prizes. Some of the questions that stumped everyone included the classic 'Who won the war of 1812?' and 'What fruits from this list are not grown in the region? (some fell for the oranges and olives).

Donato says he plans on adding these future educational tours to the company’s growing list of Cycling Tours which mostly focus on International visitors. The next tourists coming to Niagara will be the company's first travellers from Mexico.