Kingston sits at the eastern end of Lake Ontario where the St. Lawrence River begins its 1,200-kilometre run to the Atlantic, a city of 130,000 in southeastern Ontario with a dense military, university and maritime heritage. Founded by United Empire Loyalists in 1784 on the site of the 1673 French Fort Frontenac, Kingston served as the first capital of the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1844 and retains one of the finest collections of 19th-century limestone public buildings in Canada. The downtown grid between Princess Street and Ontario Street holds Kingston City Hall's 1844 domed masterpiece, the 1842 Market Battery walls, the Grand Theatre, and a row of Loyalist-era brick and limestone warehouses converted to restaurants, distilleries and boutique hotels. Queen's University and the Royal Military College anchor the academic north and east of downtown, respectively, while the federal Kingston Penitentiary on the west lakeshore housed Canada's first federal prisoners from 1835 until its closure in 2013.
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Fixed-price private transfers with English-speaking drivers. Meet-and-greet included.
Getting to and around Kingston
The Thousand Islands archipelago begins at Kingston's eastern harbour and stretches 80 kilometres downstream along the St. Lawrence, with 1,864 islands straddling the Canada-USA border of which 325 are Canadian. The signature summer day-trip from Kingston is a 1000 Islands boat cruise with Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises departing Crawford Wharf; the 3-hour Discovery Cruise covers Fort Henry Harbour, the Kingston Penitentiary shore, and the first clusters of millionaire-era cottage islands at 48 Canadian dollars per adult. A longer 5-hour Boldt Castle cruise crosses the international border to Heart Island in New York State where the 120-room granite castle built by George Boldt in 1900 stands unfinished after his wife's death; the 95 dollar fare includes the 14 USD castle admission. Booking the cruise from mid-May through mid-October is advised; the winter season (November through April) closes most boat operations.
Fort Henry National Historic Site, on Point Henry across the Cataraqui River from downtown, is a restored 1836 British limestone fortress originally built to defend the Rideau Canal against potential American invasion after the War of 1812. The fort now runs daily Sunset Ceremonies in July and August where the Fort Henry Guard in 1867-era Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment uniforms perform military drills, fire field artillery and muskets, and march in historical precision. Adult day admission is 20 Canadian dollars and the Sunset Ceremony is a separate 34-dollar evening ticket. The Rideau Canal itself, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007, runs 202 kilometres from Kingston through a chain of 47 locks to Ottawa; the Kingston Mills lockstation at the canal's southern terminus is a free-to-visit stop with original 1832 limestone lock walls and an 1830s blockhouse.
Kingston's museum and heritage landscape is deeper than the city's size suggests. Kingston Penitentiary tours at the now-decommissioned maximum-security prison on King Street West run between May and October with adult tickets at 50 dollars for a 2.5-hour guided walk through the 1835 limestone cell blocks, the gallows, and the modern cell blocks last used in 2013. Bellevue House, Sir John A. Macdonald's 1848 Italianate residence where the future first Prime Minister lived, is a Parks Canada National Historic Site with free entry. The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes at Mississauga Point preserves the HMCS Haida destroyer-leader history and Great Lakes schooner traditions. The Agnes Etherington Art Centre at Queen's University holds 14,000 works including the Bader Collection of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting with Rembrandt's Head of an Old Man in a Cap; entry is pay-what-you-can.
Things to see & do in Kingston
Queen's University's campus is a historic attraction in its own right. Founded in 1841, the limestone core buildings including Grant Hall, Ontario Hall and the 1867 Summerhill residence make up one of the most beautiful older Ontario campuses. The Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts on the lakefront, opened in 2014, runs a year-round classical, jazz and folk performance schedule. Queen's Athletics and Recreation Centre includes public skating on its Olympic-sized ice, 8-lane 50-metre pool, and a 200-metre indoor track. Self-guided historic campus walking tours start at the Queen's Visitor Information Centre on University Avenue. The Royal Military College campus east of downtown, founded in 1876 and home to 1,000 officer cadets, offers summer-only public tours of Fort Frederick, the Mackenzie Building, and the RMC Museum for a 5 dollar entry.
Food in Kingston has grown from student-pub heavy to a serious provincial-town dining scene. Chez Piggy on Princess Street has been the city's flagship since 1979, with French-Canadian and Mediterranean plates around 35 to 58 Canadian dollars per main. Pan Chancho bakery and café next door runs a casual all-day menu. Atomica Restaurant on Princess is the contemporary Italian-leaning kitchen. Dianne's Fish Shack at Market Square does East Coast fish-and-chips, oysters, and lobster rolls at 24 to 38 dollars. Aqua Terra at the Harbour Delta Hotel offers a harbour-view tasting menu at 85 to 120 dollars per person. Kingston Wool on Brock Street is the boutique chocolate destination. For a casual lunch, the Kingston Public Market on Market Square opens Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings April through November with regional produce, bread and cheese stalls. The Portage Brewery and MacKinnon Brothers Brewery represent the local craft-beer scene.
Kingston Norman Rogers Airport (YGK) sits 7 kilometres west of downtown and handles regional flights from Toronto Pearson, Ottawa, and Montreal with Air Canada Jazz and Porter Airlines. A pre-booked private transfer from YGK arrivals to a downtown Kingston hotel typically runs 40 to 60 Canadian dollars with meet and greet at the exit, and the drive takes 12 to 15 minutes. VIA Rail's Corridor service connects Kingston Station at 1800 John Counter Boulevard with Toronto Union in 2 hours 30 minutes (from 60 dollars) and Montreal Gare Centrale in 3 hours (from 75 dollars); hourly departures make Kingston a practical weekend stop between the two cities. The Kingston 1000 Islands Bridge connects Ontario Highway 137 with Wellesley Island and New York State for drivers heading to the Adirondacks. Kingston Transit covers the city on a flat 3.25-dollar fare, and the express bus #501 connects downtown to the ferry terminal for Wolfe Island.
Tours & experiences
Top tours & experiences in Kingston
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Neighborhoods & food in Kingston
Neighborhoods for staying split into three zones. Downtown Kingston between Princess Street and Ontario Street gives walking access to Market Square, the boat tours, restaurants, and Queen's University, with hotels including Delta Hotels Kingston Waterfront at 280 to 420 dollars, Residence Inn by Marriott at 220 dollars, and the heritage Rosemount Inn at 180 dollars. Queen's University campus west of downtown offers the boutique Kingston Residences and Airbnb conversions in restored faculty houses. East of downtown around the Royal Military College and Fort Henry gives quieter lakefront residential stays. For a longer weekend with river access, Glenora Ferry to Picton and Prince Edward County's wineries (60 kilometres west) makes a full two-day side trip. Wolfe Island, accessible by the free 20-minute Kingston ferry, holds a small cluster of waterfront B&Bs for a get-away-from-the-city overnight at 160 to 240 dollars.
Outdoor recreation in Kingston runs on the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario shoreline. Lake Ontario Park on King Street West has a supervised beach, picnic areas, and a splash pad open June through Labour Day. Battery Park, Breakwater Park, and Douglas Fluhrer Park on the harbour form a 5-kilometre Waterfront Pathway connecting downtown hotels to Queen's University's Nixon Field and the Kingston Mills lock station. Cycling this pathway is the most popular car-free experience in the city. Kingston Sailing Centre at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour rents keelboats, dinghies and windsurfers at 45 to 85 dollars per hour from the 1976 Montreal Olympic sailing venue. Paddle-board and kayak rentals from Ahoy Rentals at Crawford Wharf run 25 to 35 dollars an hour and cover calm harbour waters suitable for beginners.
Prince Edward County, 60 kilometres west via the Glenora Ferry, is the best single day trip from Kingston for a full-day getaway. The 1,050-square-kilometre island-peninsula has emerged since 2010 as one of Ontario's top wine regions with 45 licensed wineries focused on cool-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling. Norman Hardie Winery, Closson Chase, Rosehall Run, and The Grange of Prince Edward are the established stops. Sandbanks Provincial Park's 12-kilometre long white sand dunes and shallow-entry beaches are among the finest in Ontario with a 21-dollar day-use fee. The town of Picton holds the Regent Theatre, Books & Company, and the Drake Devonshire Inn for lunch. Wellington on the west side has the Norman Hardie tasting patio. Glenora Ferry is free and runs every 30 minutes from 5 am to 2 am.
Practical info & when to visit
Festivals and events anchor Kingston's summer. The Limestone City Blues Festival in August fills Market Square and Confederation Park with free outdoor concerts over four days. Fort Henry Sunset Ceremonies every Wednesday in July and August showcase Fort Henry Guard precision drill, field artillery, and 1867-era military music at 34 dollars. Kingston Buskers Rendezvous in early July brings 40 street performers to Market Square. The Kingston Canadian Film Festival in February and the Queen's University Homecoming weekend in October are the two winter-season calendar pulls. For food, Tastes of Kingston at City Park in late September and the Wolfe Island Music Festival in August are the two standalone draws.
Plan two days in Kingston as a standalone visit, or three days if pairing with Prince Edward County wineries or a Thousand Islands cruise. Day one: downtown walking tour with Market Square, City Hall, Princess Street shopping, and dinner at Chez Piggy or Aqua Terra. Day two: Fort Henry and the Rideau Canal's Kingston Mills lockstation, plus a 3-hour 1000 Islands Discovery Cruise from Crawford Wharf. Day three: Queen's University campus, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston Penitentiary tour (if summer), and a Wolfe Island afternoon on the free ferry. Bring layers because lake-effect weather can swing temperatures 10 degrees in a day; pack swimwear for July and August Lake Ontario swimming at Lake Ontario Park, and a warm jacket and waterproofs for April-May or October-November visits when fog and rain are routine on the harbour.