Kingston

Introducing Kingston

Curious Kingston wears many hats. The eccentric colonial town, known fittingly as the ‘Limestone City, ’ is stocked with clunky halls of hand-cut stone and prim redbrick Victorian mansions. The attractive city continues to maintain its charm with a noticeable lack of modern architectural eyesores.

Further exploration reveals Kingston’s quirks. The city has the largest holding of convicts in the country. Don’t worry, they’re not lurking in dark alleyways ready to pounce; they’re locked up in the nearby penitentiary. The flagship of Canada’s penal system, Kingston has a slew of prisons and the Royal Military College is conveniently nearby.

Queen’s University, founded in 1841, adds a dash of hot-blooded youthfulness to the mix. An excellent assortment of dining options with student-friendly prices have opened up over the last couple of decades, and the city’s nightlife is surprisingly pumping.

Once the nation’s capital, Kingston was stripped of the title during a visit from the queen, who worried that it was too close to the American border and could not be properly defended. Today, Kingston finds itself strategically placed for the perfect tourist pit stop between Montréal and Toronto.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009