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Photo: Illustratedjc, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A finely-maintained Italianate villa with lush gardens which served briefly as the home of first Canadian prime minister Sir John A. Macdonald. House and grounds restored to the 1840s with guided tours by interpreters costumed in clothing of the era. (During the 2018 season, interpretive programming and guided tours of the heritage grounds and heirloom orchard will continue but the interior of the house will be closed for maintenance; there will be no admission fee.) A Parks Canada national historic site. Visit time: 1-2 hours.
Bellevue House National Historic Site was the home to Canada's first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald from 1848 to 1849. The house is located in Kingston, Ontario.
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Another of Kingston's most famous institutions. Many limestone buildings with ivy and students. Queen's has two art galleries: the student-run Union Gallery in Stauffer Library, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.
One of Kingston's most famous institutions. One time home of notables such as Clifford Olsen and Paul Bernardo, people would kill (and have killed) to get in for well over a century. The Penitentiary Museum in the old warden's house (555 King W, +1 613-530-3122, May-Oct: daily 10AM-4PM; Nov-Apr: M-F 9AM-4PM, by donation) is open to visitors, as is the Olympic Harbour marina (adjacent to the jail) which served as home of the sailing events for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. A guided tour of the jail is available seasonally (mid-June to end-Oct, $35/person); this is separate from the museum tour. Visit time: 2 years to life. If 'just visiting', allow a little over an hour to tour the museum and 90 minutes to tour the prison.
Kingston has a lively waterfront that, depending on the day, may afford opportunities to partake. Richardson Beach extends the full length of the Queen's University campus, Kingston General Hospital and City Park, and sports two large, permanent sculptures: "Time" and "Pollution".
A tiny museum with exhibits (and quite a lot of artefacts) related to the history of medicine. It co-sponsors a walking tour on the history of Kingston General Hospital for $5, but the museum is free (donations accepted). Usually not busy, since it's small and hard to find. Visit time: Two hours or less, including the tour.
This is a fairly small museum, but is still interesting. Call ahead for tours.
For kids who are interested in how buildings are made, the Integrated Learning Centre, or Beamish-Munro Hall may be worth a visit. This building is the new centre of Applied Science (Engineering) at Queens. This 'live building' was designed to allow people to see how the building works and interact with it.