The largest city in New York State's Niagara Frontier, Buffalo is a city full of surprises. Though Buffalo is sometimes the butt of jokes about chicken wings, its long-suffering sports teams, and the mountains of snow under which it is supposedly buried each winter, those in the know tell a different story: one of vibrant nightlife, world-class museums and cultural attractions, tight-knit neighborhoods with strong community spirit – and the sunniest summers in Northeastern United States.
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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.
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). In addition to the Interstate highways mentioned in the "Get In" section, Buffalo has several intraurban expressways useful to visitors: The Kensington Expressway (NY 33) begins at the airport on Genesee Street, proceeding westward through the suburb of Ch…
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. 1 Buffalo History Museum (Formerly the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Museum), 25 Nottingham Ct (Metro Bus 20 or 32), ☏ +1 716-873-9644. Tue-Sat 10AM-5PM, Wed until 8PM, Sun noon-5PM, Resource Center by appointment during business hours, Research Library Wed-Sat 1PM-5PM.
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. Serves as the traditional start of the summer festival season and held each year at the beginning of June at the Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation on historic Delaware Avenue.
No visit is complete without trying some Buffalo wings. Oh, sure, everyone thinks they've tried them, but nothing compares to the ones you can get in Buffalo. (But please don't call them "Buffalo wings"; around here, they're just "wings".) The classic recipe, as originated in 1964 at the Anchor Bar on Main Street, is a chicken wing fried up crisp, then tossed in a mixture of butter and hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot for best results) in varying proportions according to your spice tolerance, then optionally finished on the grill for a bit of extra char.
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.
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.
Guide content from Wikivoyage contributors (CC BY-SA) — abridged; the full article has much more.
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In Oct, Buffalo typically sees ~16°C daytime highs and 11 rainy days.
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