Things to Do If You Are Visiting Buffalo, NY- May 5 to 11, 2025. Buffalo is a great place for a vacation. Activities for kids,  great parks, museums, and tourist stuff you won’t want to miss.SO, if you are visiting, you can now say you experienced a snowy Buffalo winter.

Kids

  • Hidden Valley Animal Adventure Drive Thru Safari- Opens May 10-to June 22  – Sat/Sun
  • FREE admission at Corning Museum of Glass for kids and teens– all the time
  • Explore and More Children’s Museum for young kids- carrousel at Canalside where the museum is location- 44 Prime St.- Open – Wednesday to Sunday
  • Aquarium of Niagara in Niagara Falls- Open daily
  • Herschell Carrousel Museum- open Wednesday to Sunday
  • Buffalo Museum of Science, 1020 Humboldt Parkway- open daily
  • Buffalo Zoo- Open daily- new tiger and lion cubs

Nature- Outdoors

  • Best Places to Hike- Knox Farm State Park, Reinstein, Niagara Falls, Iroquois National Wildlife
  • Niagara Falls State Park- bring a passport and you can do both sides (US and Canada)- Illumination at Night. Cave of the Winds,  Maid of the Mist ,Terrapin Point, Lots 2 and 1. NY Residents 65+ can get free parking during the week- slide driver’s license under scanner at parking
  • Letchworth State Park- Grand Canyon of the East
  • Reinstein Woods is a great place for an easy walk as well- ponds, wildlife

Museums

  • Burchfield Penny Art Center (across the street from Albright)- FREE Admission on May 9, 2025  from 10am to 8pmand live music at 5:30pm.
  •   Albright Knox Art Museum- Open Mondays and Thursday- Sunday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday). FREE admission/Pay What you Can- June 6
  • Pierce Arrow- Auto, Bike, Motorcycle Museum- Open from 11 am to 4pm- this is a really cool museum- check it out. Open Friday and Saturday
  • Darwin Martin House (Frank Lloyd Wright)
  • Buffalo Naval Park at Canalside- Open Wednesday- Sunday- 10am to 5pm- closed for the winter but you can still see the ships from the walkway
  • Herschell Carrousel Museum- open Wednesday to Sunday
  • Buffalo Museum of Science, 1020 Humboldt Parkway- open daily

Tourist Stuff

  • Vidler’s 5 and Dime in East Aurora
  • Get Wings and Beef on Weck (weck is short for kimmelweck bun which is a bun sprinkled with coarse salt and caraway seeds instead of sesame). Do NOT go to Anchor Bar-while it may have invented the wings, they are not the best here. Bar Bills or Hamlin and Main in East Aurora are the best for wings and Beef on Weck.
  • FREE Tour of Buffalo City Hall (at  65 Niagara Square)- Monday- Friday starting at Noon but you must register for the tour – call 716-245-3032. There are other city tours- Explore Buffalo.
  • Our Lady of Victory Basilica- 767 Ridge Road, Lackawanna- rivals the churches of Europe, open, do not have to be Catholic to view the amazing architecture. And, it is down the street from the Buffalo Botanical Gardens. Wayside Family Restaurant- 2301 S. Park is inexpensive and good  food in causal environment–just down the street from the gardens.
  • Buffalo Naval Park (at Canalside- boardwalk, Explore and More there as well)
  • Frank Lloyd Wright Martin House- 125 Jewett Parkway- near the Buffalo Zoo.
  • Niagara Wine Trail
  • Buffalo Naval Park at Canalside- tours end in fall but still cool to see big ships
  • Lots of Places for live music- Sportsmen’s Tavern (almost daily music), Pausa, Duende at Silo City, Town Ballroom, Chandelier at Salvatore’s (it’s an experience in itself), The Cove in Depew
  •  Riverworks- restaurant, ferris while, silos, entertainment
  • Mall- Galleria
  • Roycroft- Inn – food and music on Friday nights, center for craft movement- shops
  • Gambling- Seneca Casino downtown and Hamburg Gaming, Plus at Niagara Falls Seneca

Events from May 5 to 11, 2025

  • Music at the CAZ – May 7- We’re Not Dead Yet- Tribute to Grateful Dead, May 8- Denisha Osbourne with 4.0 Band
  • May 5-Cinco de Mayo with Wendell Rivera Band at Beebe Gallery
  • Live Music at Babeville featuring on May 5- Palmyra with Joseph Terrell, May 6- Adeem with Soultru, May 7- Mid Week Vibe, May 8- Peppino D’Agostino with Jamie Holka
  • Music at Electric City-May 5- Girl Named Tom
  • Junior League Decorator Show- George Urban Mansion-May 8 to May 18
  • Music at Jack Rabbit- May 6- Grace Lougen and Friends
  • Music at Buffalo Iron Works-  May 6- MacSabbath with Guttermouths and Flummox, May 7- Kevin Hays Memorial Scholarship Event
  • Riviera Theater- May 9- Tribute to Bangles and the Go-Go’s
  • Music at Sportsmen’s-May 6- Joe Baudo Big Band and Twang Gang
  • FREE Admission to Burchfield Penny Art Center- May 9
  • Rochester Lilac Festival and Music Schedule– May 9 to 18
  • Music at the Cove- May 9- Nerds Gone Wild
  • World’s Largest Yard Sale at Hamburg Fairgrounds- May 9 and 10
  • East Aurora Art Walk- May 9
  • Music at Chandelier Bar- May 8- Terry Savastano
  • Music at Roycroft Inn- May 9- Tom Stahl and Dangerfields
  • Music at Hamburg Gaming- May 9- Sudden Urge, May 10- Flipside
  • Molly Maguries-May 9- Kenny Parker Project
  • Music at Town Ballroom –  May 7- Invent Animate and Silent Planet
  • Music at Pausa- May 8- Lindsey Holland – Music of Kurt Elling
  • Music at Albright Knox Art Museum- May 8- Creek Bend
  • Happy Half Marathon and 5k at Holiday Valley- May 10
  • Strawberries and Cream Gala at Acqua- May 11
  • Mother’s Day Plant Sale- May 10- Orchard Park
  • Mother’s Day Brunch at Athenaeum Hotel at Chautauqua Institution
  • Mother’s Day Attica and Arcade Brunch Train Ride- May 10 and 11
  • Hip Hop Underground- May 10 – Cheektowaga
  • Music at Jazzboline- Wednesdays 6-9pm-Amherst
  • Pasta Night on Wednesdays and Pizza Night at Pellicano’s Winery on Fridays– 6736 Boston State Road in Hamburg. If you want beer, there is Hamburg Brewing sort of across the street at 6553 Boston State Road.
  • Southern Tier Brewery- 7 Scott Street- food and huge screens for watching sports- near Canalside