The small towns dotted from Kingston to Cornwall along the St. Lawrence have long been popular for those looking to spend time on the water or wander historic streets. Last year, though, they took a hit as domestic tourism spending dropped four per cent from 2008.
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Don Matthews, a B&B operator in Gananoque, is convinced this year will be better. Already, he’s busy taking reservations from soon-to-be tourists planning summer vacations. “People love to come out on the river, take a boat cruise, kayak, or canoe here,” Matthews said. “My wife always says ‘when you step onto a boat, everything on the shore just disappears.’ ”
Less than 30 km east of Kingston, Gananoque nestles in the heart of the Thousand Islands region, where the St. Lawrence leaves Lake Ontario.
The town boasts sandy beaches, a challenging golf course and a storied downtown, filled with independent restaurants and shops.
But the most popular attractions are the boat tours Gananoque and neighbouring towns offer. The boats weave through the region’s namesake islands, stopping off to tour historic castles and the lavish old houses of Millionaire’s Row.
White water rafting, sailing and canoe rentals are available in most towns. And if you’re in Gananoque during the town’s Festival of the Islands in August, you might just catch the annual belly flop contest. “Anything you can do in the water, you can do in the St. Lawrence,” said Gary DeYoung, the region’s director of tourism.
But that doesn’t mean you have to be wet to enjoy the outdoors. DeYoung said one of the best attributes of the region is the plethora of small-town businesses offering everything from a bed for the night to a scenic walking tour.
“This continues to be area where the tourism industry is mostly made up of small operators,” DeYoung said. “So it has a really rich and diverse offering.”
Just west of Gananoque, Kingston offers a quaint downtown that’s popular with history buffs and shoppers alike. The city that was home to Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, boasts countless cultural and historic landmarks, ranging from dozens of small museums to Fort Henry, a 19th-century fortress and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Cornwall features Ontario’s only hot-air balloon festival, which includes open-air concerts and the chance to soar above the tree line.
Just a few minutes’ drive from Cornwall, you can tour an Iroquois museum commemorating the lost villages of the St. Lawrence, 10 communities drowned when the area was flooded to create the seaway in 1958.
Most travellers navigate the Kingston-to-Cornwall corridor by car but, for those who prefer two wheels, the region offers spectacular biking trails and roads. Velo Quebec offers a seven-day, 400-km tour from Belleville to Cornwall in July, with stopovers in the major towns along the way. If seven days of cycling sounds like too much, a shorter 37-km paved bike path links Brockville and Gananoque.
Highlights
Kingston: Fort Henry, a 19th century military fortress; downtown streets lined with more than two dozen museums, historic sites and art galleries.
Gananoque: Thousand Islands boat tours, Thousand Islands Playhouse, Festival of the Islands in August.
Rockport: Thousand Islands boat tours.
Brockville: Eastern section of the islands (cruises), Scuba diving to explore any of about 200 shipwrecks, kayak and canoe, Brockville Museum.
Prescott: Harbour Days Festival on Father’s Day weekend, Shakespeare Festival in July, Loyalist Days in August, Fort Wellington, dating to the War of 1812.
Iroquois: Lost villages of the St. Lawrence.
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