Kingston, ON

Originally built to be the capital city of Canada, Kingston’s city hall is grander than it should be because it used to house the national legislature. It’s alignment with a waterfront park and position in the centre of the city gives it an unobstructed view of Lake Ontario to augment its majesty.

A Martello tower sits right in front of the city hall. In all, three Martello towers along with other nearby fortifications protected Canada from attack by the United States in the 19th century. They were named the Shoal Tower, Cathcart Tower, and Murney Tower.

A large former prison, the Kingston Penitentiary, was a maximum security prison hosting over 560 inmates until 2013. It is now a museum building offering tours, as a part of the Correctional Service of Canada Museum.

For a town its size, there’s a good variety of shops on street level. The downtown core area is remarkably walkable for a North American city and its small brick-and-mortar store offer local artisanal products like cheese and sausages as well as international dining options. The waterfront area and outdoor patios are a great hit during summer, look out for combo offers for wings and beer.

Across the St. Lawrence River, the Royal Military College, Fort Frederick, and Fort Henry still stand guard as active military installations although they no longer have any defensive value against modern weaponry. The Military Communications and Electronics Museum is also nearby.

Canada may not have a lot of military hardware to show off, but Kingston has a lot of military history to tell.