Discover Kingston

Kingston offers many different ways to get to know the city and its history: long trails, historic houses and museums, a steamship, and cruises on the water. When planning your trip, you might consider whether to focus on outdoor activities, culture or a special visitor experience. You can choose a vacation rental to suit whichever aspects of Kingston interest you most.

Long Trails and Outdoor Activities

The Rideau Trail is about 325 km long and runs from downtown Kingston to downtown Ottawa. Its length makes it a different kind of trail experience from a short detour to a single attraction: anyone interested in it is planning a trip along a long trail connecting the two downtowns. Its approximate length gives an idea of the scale of the trail without specifying a particular walking time or itinerary.

Another option in Kingston is the K&P Trail. It is a year-round, multi-use trail that includes both on-road and off-road sections. This gives you two very different trail options to consider when planning your trip: the approximately 325 km Rideau Trail between Kingston and Ottawa, and the multi-use trail with sections within Kingston. If you enjoy spending time outdoors, you can make these trails a focus of your trip alongside historic sites.

Kingston’s History at Specific Sites

Bellevue House National Historic Site is an elegant residence dating from the 1840s. Groups can visit and explore the complex legacy of Sir John A. Macdonald. A visit therefore combines a look at a house from this period with a discussion of Macdonald’s legacy. Murney Tower offers a different historical perspective: built in 1846 as part of Kingston’s Martello tower fortifications, it houses a collection of more than 1,300 artifacts. Anyone interested in architectural history or historic objects will find two distinct points of interest here.

The PumpHouse Museum focuses on a historic water pumping station. The museum is located on the site of one of Canada’s earliest waterworks, which dates back to 1851. The pumping station itself is one of only six surviving water pumping stations in North America. The combination of a specific technical structure, its history and the rarity of surviving facilities makes this site a distinct cultural attraction in Kingston.

Canada’s Penitentiary Museum is housed in Cedarhedge, the former residence of the wardens of Kingston Penitentiary. Visits to the museum are self-guided. The building and the museum’s focus give a visit a different historical emphasis than the water pumping station or the fortifications. When making your choice, you can therefore consider which aspects of the city’s history interest you most, rather than treating all the sites as similar museum visits.

Ships, Cruises and City Architecture

The S.S. Keewatin is a steamship from the Edwardian era, also known as the Titanic era, and is located at the Great Lakes Museum in Kingston. One distinctive feature of the engine room experience is its four steam engines, each powered by four cylinders. This technical experience complements the ship’s historical context with a look at its machinery. If you’d like to include both city history and technology in your trip, the S.S. Keewatin makes for a distinct stop.

Kingston 1000 Islands Cruises offers sightseeing and dinner cruises. The Discovery Cruise introduces visitors to the attractions and heritage of the Thousand Islands region, with a focus on Kingston’s historic waterfront. You can choose a cruise described as either a sightseeing cruise or a dinner cruise; the Discovery Cruise focuses on the region and, in particular, the historic waterfront. In addition, City Hall Tours explore the history and architecture of Kingston City Hall, which is designated a National Historic Site.

When looking for a vacation rental in Kingston, you can start with your travel interests: would you most like to explore historic houses, museums and architecture, plan a long trail outing, or experience a cruise or the steamship?

Explore More Places

For further directory searches: Battersea, Mountain Grove, Cloyne, Sydenham, Sharbot Lake and Wolfe Island.

For the broader travel overview: Frontenac County.