Fun Sites @ Buffalo New York and Western NY Region


Buffalo and Western New York are filled with a full array of sights, sounds, and happenings. While your primary focus at the University is the pursuit of knowledge through academic studies and research, you should take the time to explore Buffalo and its environs. Here are a few fun places to visit (listed in alphabetical order) and some places that are nearby or across the state. Many of these offer learning experiences. For a general view, start here.
	General Information	Parks and Outdoor Recreation
	Arts and Entertainment	Seasonal and Unusual
	Museums and Galleries	Sports
	Nature	Within an Afternoon's Drive

General Attractions, Information, Dining, Hotels, etc. (Start here) All About Buffalo. Start the journey with a trivia quiz on Buffalo's weird and wonderful history. Visit Buffalo/Niagara. Find events, places to visit, and just about anything on regional attractions and services. Dining and entertainment in the Buffalo area from Buffalo's alternative weekly newspaper. Ralph's Roadmap for Wings. Every thing you need or want to know about Buffalo chicken wings. Round-the-Bend. Things to do just "''Round the Bend," including the Greater Niagara and Chautauqua/Allegheny Regions), such: Things To Do (skiing, golfing, camping)and Things To See (antiques, fall foliage, local history, maple sugaring [a WYN Rite of Spring] museums/galleries, wineries/vineyards). Forgotten Buffalo: an Urban Explorer's Guide to the Buffalo-Niagara Region: Unique Landmarks, Historic Gin Mills, Old World Neighborhoods, History and More! While not an attraction/activities site, this provides you with neat places to visit in the area, with histories and other useful information. Waymarks for GPS Users. Find features and places of interest with GPS waymarks. Site also links to maps/directions (no GPS needed). Perform your own search or use one of our pre-searched sets: Buffalo (NY) / Erie County / Niagara County / Niagara Falls (NY) / Niagara Falls (Ont.) Buffalo Gas Prices. Travel costs money and this page gives you current prices at local pumps.
Arts and Entertainment
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra The areas premier source of cultural enrichment and entertainment through music. The Chautauqua Institution For 125 years, the Chautauqua Institution has been rooted in the idea of renewal. The Institute provides a "a smorgasbord of personal enrichment for all ages" with a divers array of more than 2,000 events each season including:symphony, opera, chamber music, visual arts, dance, theater, popular entertainment, open-enrollment classes, and programming for young people. Music in Erie County Listing of sites for music in Erie County, including addresses, phone numbers, and websites. Erie County Music Programs Find other music activities in the region.
Museums and Galleries
Museums of Western New York The eight counties of Western New York provide scores of museums to explore local history to the limits of the universe. Here a great place to start. Listing of 104+ Arts and Culture Organizations throughout the region.. Albright Knox Art Gallery The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is supported in part, by grants-in-aid from the County of Erie and the City of Buffalo, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. It is the region's major art gallery. Buffalo Museum of Science Browse the museum's corridors spanning ancient to modern times. There is also an outdoor satellite the Tift Nature Center. Genesee Country Museum An all-round family education opportunity in Mumford, NY (southwest of Rochester at LeRoy Thruway Exit 47). Niagara Aerospace Museum For more than 20 years Buffalo was the center of aviation and aerospace research and aviation manufacturing taking place in the region. This museum is a tribute to that history. Old Fort Niagara 300 Years of history, just minutes from Niagara Falls. The site of historic battles and sieges, trading and conquest, Old Fort Niagara is an exciting place where the past lives on, Preserved as they stood in the 1700's when France and Britain controlled Niagara. The Fort's structures include the oldest building in the Great Lakes.
Nature Buffalo Zoo The Zoological Society of Buffalo, Inc. was incorporated in October 1931 for the establishment, maintenance and operations of the Zoological Gardens for the education and recreation of the people and visitors of the Niagara Frontier. Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Opened in 1900 in the Olmstead-designed 150-acre South Park features a architects features glass house or conservatory designed by Lord & Burnham architects features 13 greenhouses including collections of orchids, bromeliads, begonias, cacti, ferns, palms, citrus, an herb marketplace, and a rainforest tower above a pond and water garden. Butterfly Conservatory Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory features over 2000 exotic butterflies of the world in a tropical rainforest setting. Identify the various species as you make your way along the 180 meter (600 ft.) pathway. Located 5.5 miles north of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Beaver Meadow Nature Center Guided trails, bird watching, snowshoeing, marshland and bogs. Includes the Beaver Meadow Observatory. Bergen Swamp Preservation Society Bergen Swamp (east of Buffalo and south west of Rochester) is a collection of outstanding marsh bogs. Bergen Swamp is perhaps the better known with an outstanding inventory of rare and endangered plants and animals. Bergen Swamp is located in Genesee County between the towns of Bergen and Byron in the Black Creek wetlands. Buffalo Audubon Society Serving the birding communities of Western New York, including monthly meetings, special events and projects, and outings. Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge INWR consists of 10,818 acres of marshland, wooded swamp, wetlands, wet meadows, pasture and cropland. The area is valuable habitat for waterfowl and is a stopping point for thousands of birds during spring and fall migrations. Tours can be arranged for educational purposes. View a map of the refuge or get Bird Checklists or lists of mammals, fish, etc. Additional pages include: INWR Map and Directions. Additional info available from the following: Park Search page ( LL Bean) Iroquois NWR page (Gorp) Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens Established in 1936, it is the only residential school for training horticultural students in Canada. One hundred acres of immaculately maintained gardens provide a visual feast for over 1 million visitors annually. Penn Dixie Paleontological and Outdoor Education Center (Hamburg Natural History Society). Fossils, astronomy, Birding, hiking, and nature in a nearby location. Stull Observatory Located at Alfred University (about 2 hours south of Buffalo) offers a Thursday night look at the stars. Tift Nature Center (Buffalo Museum of Science). See nature existing within an urban area. Other Nature Centers in WNY.
Parks and Outdoor Recreation Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) - Niagara Frontier Chapter ADK Chapters hold monthly meetings and host scheduled hiking, backpacking, canoeing, cross-country skiing, bicycling activities in the region and in the Adirondack Mountains, and more, much more. Green Eggs and Ham Ultimate. SUNY Buffalo's Ultimate Frisbee organization. NY Falls. Waterfalls in New York State. Has links to guides, info, maps, photos, and more. Also links to topographic maps for portions of the state. Hiking, and Orienteering in Erie County. Here are copies of maps of some local parks and reserves that have hiking and orienteering trails, as well as locations of city parks. Buffalo Parks Map. Shows locations of the parks in the city. Chestnut Ridge Park. An Erie County Park in Orchard Park. Emery Park. An Erie County Park in Aurora. Sardinia County Forest Area (West Section). Parks Erie County Parks. Erie County is known to have one of the best park systems in the state. See a list of parks. Niagara Falls. One of the natural wonders of the world is located about 20 miles north of UB's North Campus. Upstate New York National Park System Units. See historical and natural sites across the state.
Seasonal and Unusual Dyngus Day Celebration in Buffalo You can be Polish for a day and have a lot of fun in this wonderful tradition. Historically a Polish-American tradition, Dyngus Day celebrates the end of the often restrictive observance of lent and the joy of Easter. Over the decades, Dyngus Day has become a wonderful holiday to celebrate Polish-American culture, heritage and traditions. Maple Sugaring. Early spring (March-April) maple trees are tapped and sugar production begins. You can see this in process and take part in festivals for maple sugar. Fall Foliage. Throughout the Northeastern United States, but quite gorgeous in Western New York, fall colors are a great reason to be in the Buffalo area. Jell-O Museum (LeRoy, NY). About an hour from Buffalo, you can visit the place where Jell-O gelatin was born and produced. "There's Always Room for Jell-O" St. Patrick's Day Parade (United Irish American Association (UIAA)). See the 2nd largest St. Patrick's parade in America. Find details on the parade date, time, and location. Buffalo actually has two parades. See details on the page. Also links to all things Irish in Buffalo. All NY Saint Patrick's Parade in the State of New York (NY). Going somewhere else in the state? Here is the list to have. Buffalo Irish Center. Irish and others welcome. Slainte. Buffalo Irish. Lots of great activities and festivals.
Sports Buffalo Bandits (Professional Lacross). Buffalo Bills (NFL Football). Buffalo Bisons. (AAA Professional Baseball). Buffalo Rugby Club. Buffalo Sabres (Hockey) Sports in Buffalo, New York. Histories of all sporting teams in Buffalo; includes older and defunct teams.

Within an Afternoon's Drive Nearby Buffalo is Rochester, NY, Niagara Falls (NY and Ontario), Toronto, Ontario, and a number of smaller cities and towns, with a wide variety of activities and sights to see. Here is a selection: Rochester, New York Rochester is just down the road, about an hour-and-a-half from UB's North Campus. Take the NYS Thruway east to exit #47, LeRoy and follow Rte. 490 east to Rochester. Here are just a FEW of the many places you can visit in, or near the Flower City: Genesee Country Museum An all-round family education opportunity in Mumford, NY (southwest of Rochester at LeRoy Thruway Exit 47). Eating Lots of great places to dine in Rochester. Several notable restaurants are: Dinosaur Bar-b-que Nick Tahou's Get their famous (infamous?) Garbage Plate, the thing rock stars order when in Rochester (there are 32 yahoo sites for this restaurant!). Museums and Galleries Frederick Douglas Museum and Cultural Center George Eastman House/International Museum of Photography and Film Rochester Memorial Art Gallery Rochester Museum and Science Center, including the Strasenburgh Planetarium and the Cumming Nature Center Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Strong Museum. Toys for young and old. A TRUE delight for children of all ages. Susan B. Anthony House Underground Railroad in Rochester, New York Viet Nam Veterans Memorial at Highland Park Rochester Museums. Find more museums in the Rochester area. Professional Sports Rochester Americans (International Hockey League farm team for the Buffalo Sabres) Rochester Curling Club Rochester Knighthawks National Lacross League affiliate (indoor lacrosse). Rochester Raging Rhinos Major League Soccer in Rochester. The Rhinos are members of the A-League and winners of the 1999 U.S. Open Cup. Stadium seating site work best with Internet Explorer. Rochester Rattlers Major league lacross, the newest professional sport in Rochester (outdoor lacross) Rochester Red Wings (AAA Baseball rivals to the Buffalo Bisons)

Across Upstate New York Life in the Finger Lakes. Magazine devoted to the region, offers variety of things to do, sites, events, and more. Upstate New York National Park System Units. See historical and natural sites across the state.