New York · United States
Where to stay in Buffalo
Buffalo is a city in New York, United States, home to about 278,000 people.
- Nearest airport
- BUF13 km · Buffalo Niagara International Airport
- Currency
- USDUnited States dollar
- Time zone
- America/New York
- Language
- Carolinian, Chamorro, Hawaiian
About
About Buffalo
Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It lies in Western New York on the eastern shore of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River on the Canada–United States border.
Buffalo is New York State's second-largest city, with (as of 2020) a population of 278,000 in the city proper and 1.1 million in the metropolitan area. Buffalo is the cultural and economic center of the Western New York region. Once an industrial powerhouse, the city suffered the effects of deindustrialization in the 20th century and developed a reputation as a stagnant working-class city.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Buffalo
See
For detailed listings of attractions, please see the respective district articles. Buffalo's wealth of cultural attractions is surprising given the city's somewhat small size. The museums here are many and varied, and are a point of pride for Buffalo's citizens. Arguably the most interesting among them are a great number of institutions that focus on the area's past.
- Buffalo History Museum
- Lower Lakes Marine Historical Society Museum
- Colored Musicians' Club Museum
- Nash House Museum
- Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum
- Buffalo Fire Historical Society Museum
- Albright-Knox Art Gallery
- Burchfield Penney Art Center
- Buffalo Religious Arts Center
- Delaware Park
- South Park
- Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens
Do
The festivals and events listed in this section take place at multiple venues city- or regionwide. For events specific to a particular venue or neighborhood, see the respective district articles. The lion's share of festivals and events in Buffalo take place during the warm months, naturally, but efforts have been made to expand the slate of offerings in winter as well.
- Buffalo Greek Fest
- Galbani Buffalo Italian Heritage Festival
- Dyngus Day
- Buffalo Pride Festival
- National Garden Festival
- Buffalo Infringement Festival
- Jack Craft Fair
- Buffalo International Film Festival
- Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino
- Buffalo Raceway
- Alleyway Theatre
- Irish Classical Theatre Company
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Which part of Buffalo to stay in
For more detailed hotel listings, please see the respective district articles. There is a wide range of high-quality lodging to choose from in both Buffalo and its suburbs, encompassing hotels, motels, B&Bs, hostels, and guest houses. Many beautiful but vacant old buildings have restored and repurposed as hotels — so if you're staying downtown, be prepared for a real Gilded Age treat. In suburbia, budget and mid-priced chains can be found primarily around highway interchanges. Two especially big clusters of hotels exist just south of the University of Buffalo's North Campus in Amherst and around the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
Hotels in Buffalo
6 hotels within 25 km of the centre, as recorded in Wikidata. Each name links to its encyclopedia article where there is one.
| Hotel | Opened | From centre |
|---|---|---|
| H. H. Richardson Complex | 1870 | 4.8 km |
| Hotel Lafayette | 0.5 km | |
| Hotel Lenox | 1.8 km | |
| Curtiss Hotel, Ascend Hotel Collection | 0.4 km | |
| The Mansion on Delaware Avenue | 1.0 km | |
| The Westin Buffalo | 0.5 km |
When to go
The best time to visit Buffalo
Buffalo has no month that is both mild and dry by the measure used here. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 26 °C; January is the wettest, with about 104 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Buffalo: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF), about 13 km from the city centre in a straight line; Niagara Falls International Airport (IAG, 25 km) and Niagara District Airport (YCM, 42 km) are also within reach.
Getting around
For most visitors to Buffalo, access to an automobile will prove extremely useful, although Buffalo's public transportation system provides access to the majority of the metropolitan area. Travelling around the city proper by public transit can be relatively hassle-free, especially on weekdays; however, transit riders travelling to the suburbs should be prepared for service that is infrequent (and, on the weekends, often non-existent).
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
BUF · Buffalo Niagara International Airport
IAG · Niagara Falls International Airport
YCM · Niagara District Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Buffalo
Drink
For bar listings, please see the respective district articles. As an enduringly blue-collar town, Buffalo has a fairly dense concentration of bars and taverns. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Buffalo is among the top ten cities in the United States in number of bars per capita. Drinkers in Buffalo aren't limited to rough-and-tumble working-class watering holes, though — although there are plenty of those.
Stay safe
The reputation of Buffalo's East Side as a rough part of town can be exaggerated by locals, but it's not entirely undeserved. Generally speaking, the East Side is the city's poorest residential district, with widespread urban blight and high crime rates plaguing many parts of the district (especially the Bailey Avenue corridor). To a lesser extent, some parts of the West Side also have these problems. That being said, crime rates in Buffalo have fallen to levels not seen in half a century. What violent crime does occur is usually drug- and gang-related and does not target tourists.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Buffalo: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Buffalo?
Buffalo has no month that is both mild and dry by the measure used here. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 26 °C; January is the wettest, with about 104 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Buffalo?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF), about 13 km from the city centre in a straight line; Niagara Falls International Airport (IAG, 25 km) and Niagara District Airport (YCM, 42 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Buffalo?
United States dollar (USD).
Nearby
Destinations near Buffalo
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.