Kingston Travel Guide

Fort Henry sits on the hill east of Kingston Harbour, a 19th-century British fortress begun in 1832 and completed in 1848 to guard the mouth of the Rideau Canal and the Kingston naval dockyard; with the canal's defences it forms Canada's first UNESCO World Heritage site. Built of limestone in an irregular polygon, it holds officers' quarters, barracks, magazines and gun batteries, and is still garrisoned by the red-coated Fort Henry Guard, who drill, fire rifles and demonstrate artillery daily. The ramparts look back over downtown Kingston and the head of Lake Ontario.

The National Air Force Museum of Canada is located next to Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario. The museum covers over 75,000 square feet and displays the aviation history of the Canadian Air Force from World War I to the present. The collection includes multiple historic aircraft, including a CC-130 Hercules transport plane that visitors can enter. The museum also features a Wall of Honour and Memorial Garden commemorating fallen Canadian Air Force personnel.

The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes is located at the former Kingston Dry Dock site in Kingston, Ontario (designated a Canadian National Historic Site in 1978), on the St. Lawrence River waterfront at Mississauga Point. The Kingston Dry Dock, opened in 1891, was a ship repair and construction facility that operated until 1968. The museum focuses on the maritime history of the Great Lakes and features seven exhibition halls covering the age of sail, sailors' lives, the evolution of ship technology, and water environment protection. The centerpiece exhibit is the NGCC Alexander Henry—a retired Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker and navigation aid vessel that visitors can board and explore.

The Royal Military College Museum is located on the campus of the Royal Military College (Point Frederick) in Kingston, Ontario, and has existed in various forms since 1922, telling the history of Canada's oldest military college (1876 to present), the Point Frederick heritage site, and the early Kingston naval shipyard. The museum's original site was the Fort Frederick Martello tower (a component of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated a National Historic Site in 1978). Since 2016, restoration work on Fort Frederick has forced the museum to relocate out of the tower; there is currently no dedicated exhibition space open to the public, and a new museum is being planned and constructed.

The "Old Prison of Trois-Rivières" (Vieille prison de Trois-Rivières) in Quebec was built in 1822 and once held both male and female inmates. It operated until its closure in 1986, making it one of the longest-operating prisons in Canadian history and a designated historic site. It is now part of the Musée POP museum complex and offers guided tours led by former inmates or guides, combining multimedia technology with true stories to recreate prison life and the operation of the prison from the 19th century onward.

Brisbane City Hall stands on King George Square in the city center, completed in 1930, a magnificent neoclassical sandstone building whose about 92 m clock tower was long Brisbane's high point and city symbol. The interior is elegantly decorated, with a circular concourse, a concert hall and the Museum of Brisbane inside. Visitors can enter free and book the antique bronze elevator to the clock tower, overlooking the city center and square from the viewing level; on the hour the tower bell still rings. As Brisbane's historic landmark and cultural center, City Hall carries the city's century of memory.