On the heels of a $230 million expansion of Buffalo AKG Art Museum in late 2023, as well as a slew of new restaurants, hotels and architectural restorations, Buffalo, New York, gears up for one of its most exciting years yet with a series of new attractions, renovations and expansions rooted in the city’s rich waterfront history and African American heritage. This is the year to visit the Buffalo Niagara region.

For the Erie Canal’s 200^th anniversary celebration (the canal was completed in 1825), a newly constructed replica of an 1825 packet boat embarks on a statewide bicentennial journey this  September. In addition, a new interactive canal history attraction operated by The Buffalo History Museum, Waterway of Change, opens this May on Buffalo’s waterfront.

Blueberry Treehouse Farm © Visit Buffalo Niagara

Two attractions reopening in 2025 along the Michigan Street African American Corridor include The Michigan Street Baptist Church, a spot on the Underground Railroad where folks like Frederic Douglass and Booker T. Washington spoke; and The Colored Musicians Club, one of the nation’s oldest Black-owned clubs remaining in the United States where musicians like Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Dizzy Gillespie performed.

Buffalo’s iconic Hotel Statler, last open for guests in 1923, now functions as a private event center for social functions. In 2026, the building is expected to reopen as a mixed-use property featuring a hotel, apartments and offices. In 2027, expect the reopening of Buffalo’s Art Deco train station, searching for new use since the last Amtrak passengers disembarked in 1979. The next move toward the reuse of the historic Main Terminal Building will focus on safety and stabilization issues, establish safe access into the Passenger Concourse, expand use of the Plaza and the Lawn, and advance the community-driven plan for reuse.

Graycliff Estate © Visit Buffalo Niagara

While Buffalo’s culinary reputation has previously rested largely on its “Buffalo” wings, the city is a melting pot of diverse cuisines and dining experiences. Established restaurateurs who have perfected their menus for decades are joined by a new generation of chefs (many former Buffalonians returning to their resurgent hometown) opening innovative restaurants redefining dining in the city. Buffalo’s growing culinary scene includes two James Beard finalists, called Southern Junction and Waxlight Bar a Vin.

In recent years, Buffalo’s extraordinary collection of 19^th– and early 20^th-century architecture has been transformed for visitors. These include Richardson Hotel, a National Historic Landmark designed by H.H. Richardson. Buffalo is also home to more than a half-dozen Frank Lloyd Wright-designed houses, including the spectacularly restored Martin House and stunning lakeside Graycliff Estate (both houses offer public tours, and include a boathouse, gas station and mausoleum constructed after Wright’s death using his blueprints).

Buffalo Barbill © Visit Buffalo Niagara

Many iconic figures of American culture and politics lived a period of their lives in Buffalo, including Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Shirley Chisholm, Harold Arlen, Aretha Franklin and Rick James. You can see Twain’s original manuscript of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on display in the Central Library downtown, walk past Fitzgerald’s childhood home in the city’s historic Allentown neighborhood, and visit the graves of Chisholm and James in Buffalo’s Forest Lawn Cemetery.