Buffalo Downtown Photo Gallery Part 2
Downtown's streets don't offer free parking, but there is a large multi-storey garage and you can then walk the rest of the way.
Across the street is the city's main bus terminal where municipal and long-distance buses depart.
Built in 1904, Hotel at the Lafayette was designed by Louise Blanchard Bethune, the first American female architect.
Across the street, Lafayette Square is a great place to look down the avenue to see City Hall. Joseph Ellicott had laid this square in his original city plan from 1804.
The Rand Building was built in 1929 and named after a Buffalo financier. Could this have inspired the Empire State Building?
From here, walk north along the Main Street train line for 2 blocks to reach the Buffalo Savings Bank, with 140,000 sheets of gold leaf on its dome. It is still a functioning bank today and the interior is worth a visit as well.
Next door is the Electric Tower, which opened in 1912. This is the location where the New Year's eve ball drop takes place every year. It has been renovated and is now a Class A office building.
Back on Main Street, continue heading north to Fountain Plaza, which is the northernmost free station. After here, the train line runs underground and continues north and east.
Maps on the ticket machines show the free train zone. Otherwise, it is just $2 a ride. Note that there are no bus-train transfers so if you will ride more than twice a day, buy the $5 day pass.
A few blocks off the pedestrian avenue is the Curtiss Hotel, which looks historic on the outside but has been revitalized inside with 68 rooms and a rooftop lounge.
Heading back north, the architectural highlights start to thin out and I'm far out from downtown.
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