Kingston Day Tour

Kingston is a city of culture, history, museum, theatre and creativity. It is the blend of both Toronto and Quebec having a dash of England architecture. I had the pleasure of visiting Kingston to go away from my busy life and refresh my mind in a beautiful scenic place with lots of greenery. Kingston has many historic sites to see including 2 UNESCO designated places- Rideau Canal and Fort Henry. I planned on visiting these 2 places to have a taste of both history and nature.

Fort Henry is a living history museum where visitors come to have an experience the military life in the 19^th century. The entry to the Fort itself is free but you need ticket to see the exhibitions and rifling ceremonies. There is particular time for the ceremonies to begin so you need to plan in advance to catch the exhibition in time otherwise have to miss it or wait for a long time like us. Yes, we didn’t thing in advance about the exhibition and had missed one and due to short of time could not wait for the next to begin.

However we saw the museum which has many collections of both British and Canadian military artifects. The big cannons hanging in the open space made the place very historic. The large open centre place in the fort makes you feel so little.

There are some dining and shopping option in the Fort too. There is a breathtaking outdoor patio overlooking the St. Lawrence river and downtown Kingston called the Battery Bistro. You can also have the Canadian famous Beaver tails at this historic place. And for some savory snacks, check out the Soldier’s Canteen or Bonnycastle Bakery.

After enjoying the view and having some light snacks by the St. Lawrence river we went to the downtown Kingston to have lunch. We sat at a Mediterranean restaurant to have a heartfelt lunch.

After the satisfying food we headed towards Rideau canal.  The Rideau Canal runs from Kingston at the western end to Ottawa, at the eastern end. The locks on the Rideau have docks on either end. The Rideau locks are operated by Parks Canada. As each lock has a park on its side which adds so much scenic beauty to the place.

I witnessed the locking and docking of a boat which wanted to traverse through the canal. Watch my youtube video to see this interesting event of locking. There is the Jones falls at the canal which has a museum and blacksmith shop.

There were many cruisers at the canal to experience the amazing Rideau. Davis Lock is a favorite of the cruising Canadian boater. But to me all looked the same. I enjoyed both the sides of the canal and plan on having a picnic out here on coming summer. As the place is very scenic by the water makes it a perfect place to have great summer picnic. But due to my time restrictions I had to stay satisfied with the views this time and had to say goodbye to the beautiful Rideau Canal for now. Till next time, happy travelling everyone.