Kingston Ontario is a small city located in the Central East part of the province. Its about two and a half hours away from the city of Toronto and in the opposite direction about two hours away from Ottawa.
It's situated along lake Ontario and is a part of the Prince Edward County and Thousand Islands tourist regions.
The city dates back to the formation of Canada and has a lot of early nation history. It started out as a military outpost during the formation of the country and interestingly, it was even the capital of Canada for a short period of time before the designation moved over to the City of Ottawa.
I don't know the reason for changing the capital but that is a pretty unique feature for any city in the country.
Today Kingston is a quaint little city known for its historical buildings, antique shops, the old military fort located close by and it's federal penitentiary.
We stopped off in Kingston for a day trip back in 2023 on our way home from a long weekend stay in Ottawa. I had been to Kingston before when I was a teenager but that was a very long time ago. I didn't really appreciate the city for what it is back then but I suppose our taste preferences change as we get older. Nowadays I tend to gravitate more towards traditional achitecture, small towns and historic charm. Often I find modern cities and construction to be very boring, in a "seen it all before" kind of way.
The town of Kingston definitely does have a charm about it though; maybe Not in the same way that European cities do, but definitely in an "old town Americana" sort of way.
Kingston leans into its traditional past and its small town feel with its host of many small family run businesses in the central core that sell artwork and artisinal wares, its many many antique stores and its historical buildings and monuments peppered throughout the downtown area.
When we arrived during our visit there was a market happening at the central market square. The square is located outside the town hall building.
We walked through the market, but to be honest it really wasn't anything special.
Vendors were selling flowers and fruits and vegetables and other standard food products. It was a little sparse though; a little overcrowded and it lacked the variety needed to spend more than a few minutes wandering through.
We weren't going to be buying produce that day and it was pretty busy so we didn't hang out there long. We popped into a few decent antique shops and stopped to get ice cream instead!
A neat little feature in town are the old carriageways. These are basically just arched alleyways that open up to a small courtyard where you can find some hidden shops.
I presume that they were once used to allow carriages to pass through from one street to another or maybe to house the carriages outside of someones property.
Nowadays they are charming little entranceways to an antique store or art gallery.
One of the main carriageways to see is Martello Alley. The pictures don't do it any justice but it was a neat little hidden gem in the town. I would recommend checking it out in person if you plan to visit the city.
Down by the town hall building on the water side is the Kingston city sign and a historic train, "Engine 1095." The engine is a testament to the citys history of supplying locomotives to the Canadian Pacific Railroad and now stands as a well preserved monument to history.
I'm not big into trains but 1095 is pretty impressive up close.
Adding to the charm of the city is the Prince George Hotel, a heritage building located by Town Hall that was originally a house built back in 1820.
It's actually loft apartments now, despite the name.
Kingston is small but we managed to spend a few hours that day touring around and checking things out. We popped into many of it antique shops which is something that we like to do.
It's a great little Canadian city for a day trip and would recommend checking it out if you are in that area.
