A Weekend in Kingston, Ontario: How to Spend 2 Days in Kingston

Kingston is one of my favourite cities in Ontario. I keep visiting over and over again, and there are always new experiences every time I visit. With so many wonderful things to do in Kingston, it’s no wonder that it’s always at the top of my mind when I’m planning a city break in Ontario. A weekend in Kingston, Ontario is always a good idea because there’s just so much to see and do.

While I have shared a 3 days in Kingston itinerary in the past, I recently travelled to the city for the weekend. I thought it would be a good idea to demonstrate how to spend a weekend in Kingston, Ontario. Drive up on a Friday night or Saturday morning, and stay until Sunday night or Monday morning, depending on how much time you have.

Getting There and Getting Around

Kingston is about a three hour drive from Toronto and Montreal, sitting at the halfway point between both destinations. If you are planning a road trip in Ontario, you could start in Toronto, spend a weekend in Kingston at the halfway point, and continue onto Montreal.

If you have even more time, I suggest adding a few days in the Bay of Quinte region. It’s only 30 minutes from Kingston and there are so many fantastic destinations here, like Belleville, Brighton, Greater Napanee, and Quinte West. Pop down into Prince Edward County for the amazing wineries, beaches and cute small towns.

For public transportation, the VIA rail train connects Toronto, Kingston and Montreal. If you have a car or you’re able to rent a car, I think this is the best choice. There are a few places in this itinerary that will require a car (or an Uber ride), though most of downtown Kingston is very walkable. Depending on your starting point, I suggest renting a car in Toronto or renting a car in Montreal from Discover Cars where you’ll find the best rates.

Once you’re in Kingston, it is a very walkable city. For most places, I can get around on foot. However, there are a few spots that are a little outside of the downtown core that won’t be quite as walkable. In this weekend in Kingston itinerary, you will need to use your car to get to a few places.

A Weekend in Kingston: Kingston Trolley Tour

For another fun way to get around town, book a Kingston Trolley Tour. The Kingston Trolley Tour is an hour long guided trolley ride where you’ll get a great overview of the city’s history, attractions, and activities.

You’ll drive by historic landmarks and learn all about them on the way. It’s a comfortable and scenic ride. We had a lively and enthusiastic guide who took us all over town, from Fort Henry to the Kingston Penitentiary.

You can also use the Kingston Trolley as a hop-on-hop-off vehicle with a 24h/48h/72h pass. There are nine trolley stops around downtown Kingston with pickups on the hour or half hour. Hop off the trolley wherever you like, and then hop back on to get to your next destination. I suggest arriving to the trolley stop about five minutes ahead of time to avoid missing it.

A Weekend in Kingston, Ontario: Day 1

So, you’ve just arrived in Kingston. Here’s exactly what you should do on the first day of your trip. We start the day on the outskirts of town at Sun Harvest, a greenhouse situated on a gorgeous property with flower fields. Then, we’ll head into downtown Kingston to explore on foot.

U-Pick Flowers at Sun Harvest

Sun Harvest is a garden centre and greenhouse that offers pick your own flowers from their stunning flower field. This half-acre cutting garden features rows upon rows of colourful blooms, including zinnias, sunflowers and lisianthus. In total, there are over 60 varieties of flowering annuals that you can pick to make a bright, beautiful and unique arrangement.

When you arrive and check-in at the greenhouse counter, a staff member will provide you with a pitcher and clippers. They’ll escort you out to the garden so you can cut your flowers. Make sure you ask the staff member how to properly cut the flowers as they’ll have tons of helpful tips to make the most of the experience.

Walk around, cut flowers, and fill your pitcher with bright blooms. Make sure that you bring your own vessel or vase to transport your flowers. They’ll fill up your vase with water for you. Unfortunately, you can’t take the pitcher home with you. If you don’t have a flower vase on hand, pick one up at a local dollar store (Dollarama has many!) before you head over to Sun Harvest.

Please note that this is a seasonal experience that only takes place from July to September. Check the Sun Harvest website to see if the u-pick flower fields are open first to avoid disappointment. However, the greenhouse is open throughout the spring, summer and fall (with a temporary winter closure) so you’re welcome to browse anytime.

Lunch at Atomica

Located in downtown Kingston, Atomica is a vibrant restaurant and cocktail bar that specializes in stone oven artisanal pizzas. They also have several plant-based options on the menu, which is naturally what draws me to this establishment as a vegan. In fact, their menu makes it really easy to discover the vegan options. Everything that’s plant-based has a little V next to it.

There’s the loaded hummus as a starter, a mushroom ‘cheese steak’ panini, three vegan pizzas, nori-dusted fried oyster mushrooms, and a plant-based Caesar salad. Their mozzarella is a house-made cashew cheese, and they even have a vegan ranch dipping sauce.

I’ve had their pizza in the past (and it’s fantastic), so this time I decided to go for something a little bit different. The tofu bao includes ‘buttermilk’ ranch, romaine chiffonade, zuni pickles, sesame seeds and fried tofu. Each mouthful was the perfect bite, full of flavour. I really enjoyed these!

For more great vegan eats in Kingston, take a look at my incredibly detailed vegan guide to Kingston. I’ve compiled this vegan restaurant guide after numerous trips to the city. This is where you’ll find all the amazing vegan food in one place!

Weekend in Kingston, Ontario: Explore the Downtown

Downtown Kingston is home to many local shops, restaurants and cafes that you won’t find anywhere else. Go for a stroll up and down Princess Street, as well as the neighbouring side streets and parallel roads to go shopping.

A few of my favourites include Novel Idea (bookstore), Zap Records (record shop), The Keep Refillery (zero waste shop), Midori Gifts (Japanese gift shop), Minotaur (board games, gifts, crafts, books and more), Kingston Olive Oil Company and Antique Emporium.

Martello Alley is an unmissable stop in downtown Kingston. Wander down this artist’s alley to discover a beautifully decorated alleyway. At the end of the alley, pop into the artist’s shop with one-of-a-kind pieces and handmade gifts.

While there are many amazing cafes in downtown Kingston, I stopped by one that I hadn’t visited before, Lay Low Cafe. It’s a coffee and brunch spot where you can stay for a while or order a coffee to-go. I love the chic style of this coffee shop, and my oat cappuccino tasted great, too. Check out my Kingston coffee guide to see the best coffee shops in the city.

Take a Self-Guided Walking Tour

Creative Kingston Walking Tours are self-guided walks by Tourism Kingston, available on their official website. As Kingston is such an artsy city, there are three themed walking tours: film tours, literary tours and music tours. These showcase Kingston’s connections to movies and filming locations, literary landmarks, and the musical stories of Kingston.

There are a variety of walking tours for each category, ranging from 1 hour to 2.5 hours in length. Select a tour on your smartphone on the Tourism Kingston website. Make sure you bring your headphones. Each tour has a map guiding you to your next location. It’s accompanied by an audio guide that you can listen to while you walk.

I took the downtown music tour that explored Kingston’s ties to bands and artists like the Tragically Hip, The Mahones, and The Glorious Sons. There are fun and inspiring tales at various locations all over town. You’ll gain a new understanding for landmarks all over downtown Kingston and the musical stories behind them.

Check into a Historic Hotel

Since Kingston is full of so much history, why not spend the night at a historic hotel? There are six historic hotels in the Sydenham Ward and downtown Kingston. I stayed at The Rosemount Inn on Sydenham Street, a stunning Victorian home from 1850 that’s been transformed into a boutique hotel.

There are 11 uniquely designed guestrooms at The Rosemount Inn. I stayed in the Tower Room (Premium Queen), which is the most interesting suite in the entire home. It has private access to the third floor tower room, as well as a private balcony.

There’s a winding staircase at the back of the room that leads up to the tower room, surrounded by windows with a desk in the middle. If you need a private escape or perhaps somewhere to write or read, this is a great little spot. Of course, I adored the outdoor space with views of historic homes among the tall trees.

This room has everything I needed for a comfortable stay. There’s a modern and luxurious bathroom, an antique four-poster bed with cozy bedding, an espresso machine and complimentary Wi-Fi.

There’s a homecooked buffet-style breakfast each morning with baked goods, house-made preserves and of course, as much coffee as you’d like. The chef specially prepared vegan wraps and baked goods each morning, which I truly appreciated.

The innkeeper warmly welcomed me to the home, helped carry my bags up the stairs, and kept in touch throughout my stay to ensure that everything was to my liking. The Rosemount Inn is also conveniently located in the Sydenham Ward in downtown Kingston, conveniently located within walking distance of most attractions.

Dinner at Chez Piggy

Chez Piggy is a fine dining restaurant in Kingston that’s located in a historic courtyard. Though accessible from Princess Street, I love walking through the narrow alleyway off King Street East to reach the restaurant. I am sure it’s lovely to dine indoors, but I always choose a spot on the outdoor patio anytime I visit Chez Piggy. It has a great atmosphere that’s perfect on a summer day.

There are always plant-based options at Chez Piggy. My server brought out oil and vinegar in place of the butter with my bread. I ordered the Green Dream Ramen, which was a pretty standard veggie ramen bowl, though the seared enoki mushrooms elevated the dish. The shoyu miso broth was also quite tasty.

Live Music at Musiiki Cafe

There are several pubs and venues offering music at night in Kingston. Musiiki Cafe is the only spot in Kingston that has live music every night of the week. It’s a guarantee that there will be a band, solo artist or DJ performing in their outdoor courtyard or upstairs room (in the case of bad weather).

I stopped by Musiiki Cafe for an after-dinner oat cappuccino as they serve fantastic coffee here (also served in really cute mugs!). It’s also a fully licensed bar with beer, wine, and a large whiskey collection. I listened to music of the talented musician, Frank Ryan while sipping my coffee, and the room was packed with music lovers.

The upstairs room was ideal for this intimate performance. Plus, it was a free concert, so you really can’t beat that. The Musiiki Cafe website also states that audio quality is quite important to them, so they have an awesome in-house sound system for this reason. Definitely check out some live music at Musiiki when you spend a weekend in Kingston.

A Weekend in Kingston, Ontario: Day 2

It’s the second day of our weekend in Kingston, Ontario. Let’s experience the fresh flavours of Kingston at the city’s only urban farm and a brilliant local farmer’s market. I’ve scheduled another totally unique activity for the afternoon, touring a Titanic-era Great Lakes steamship.

Weekend in Kingston, Ontario: Sydenham Ward

If you love old homes and architecture, you need to go for a wander around Kingston’s old Sydenham ward. The Old Sydenham Heritage Area is a neighborhood in Kingston with fine examples of 19th century architecture. There are about 550 properties in total, including a castle.

The Old Sydenham Heritage Area is bordered by Johnson Street, Barrie Street, King Street East and Lake Ontario. If you love old houses with brightly painted doors, beautiful gardens, and charming neighbourhoods, you’ll feel right at home here.

As I stayed at a historic hotel in the Sydenham Ward, it was really easy to wake up and go for a walk along Sydenham Street. Then, I visited some of the adjacent side streets to discover more idyllic Victorian houses.

Visit Collective Joy Urban Farm

Collective Joy Farm is Kingston’s only urban farm located within the city itself. They grow microgreens and edible flowers, and you can also purchase cold-pressed juice and plant-based meals, too. It’s quite amazing that they’re able to grow so many nutritious greens within such a small space by means of vertical farming.

The microgreens grow within a climate controlled environment, stacked beneath LED grow lights. This efficient system uses very little water to grow fresh produce all year long. This is a zero waste establishment and a great way for those living in Kingston to have access to the freshest greens all the time.

Microgreens are the young shoots of herbs and vegetables that are picked after 10-21 days of growth. They are a highly nutritious food source that are rich in vitamins, and they compliment so many dishes. Throw them into a sandwich or add them to the top of a noodle or rice bowl. They’re so versatile!

Please note that if you aren’t able to make it out to retail location and urban farm, Collective Joy Farm has a booth set up at our next stop, the Memorial Centre Farmer’s Market. One way or another, you’ll be able to try their nutritious microgreens.

Memorial Centre Farmers Market and Knifey Spooney

Memorial Centre Farmers Market is a 100% producer-run, year round market that takes place every Sunday at the Kingston Memorial Centre. In the spring and summer months, you’ll find the market outdoors on the lawn with over thirty top local food and craft producers.

Don’t miss stopping by the Knifey Spooney booth for the best vegan eats in Kingston. While the menu is always changing, they may be serving up their famous plant-based lobster roll, a pulled ‘pork’ sandwich made from oyster mushrooms and there’s always a delectable baked treat like a fancy cake slice or cinnamon buns.

Knifey Spooney also caters weddings all over Ontario! If you are looking to serve vegan food at your wedding, don’t hesitate to reach out to them. If we got married in Ontario instead of Scotland, we definitely would have asked Knifey Spooney to cater our wedding.

Tour the S.S. Keewatin

Here’s a brand new experience that’s opened in the spring of 2024. Take a tour of the S.S. Keewatin, a Titanic-era Great Lakes steamship that’s one of the last of its kind. Built in 1907 in Glasgow, Scotland, the S.S. Keewatin was a CP rail steamship that used to transport passengers, settlers and cargo across the Great Lakes.

The S.S. Keewatin has undergone renovations and it is open to the public by tour only at the Great Lakes Museum in Kingston. You can book one of two tours, the Passenger Experience and the Engine Room Experience. I embarked on the Passenger Experience, a 75-minute tour that took our group around the ship’s decks, both indoors and outdoors.

We got to peek into the cabins and first class accommodations on the ship that have been fully restored. Some of the cabins are themed for various decades with memorabilia and clothing to those particular time periods. We also toured the lounges, dining room, kitchen, and other public areas on board. Be sure to book your ticket in advance to avoid disappointment.

Dinner at Tango Nuevo

Tango Nuevo is a globally-inspired tapas restaurant in Kingston. Share several small plates with your pals for a variety of yummy eats. Dine out on their lively patio in the middle of downtown Kingston.

If you follow a vegan diet like I do, ask your server for a vegan menu. It isn’t advertised, but they do have a separate vegan menu with many tasty dishes. I recommend trying the sauteed green beans and the patatas bravas.

Sweet Treat at Mio Gelato

Craving a sweet treat? Pop over to Mio Gelato Kingston for a scoop of gelato or sorbet that’s homemade right on site. The flavors are always changing depending on what’s in season at the time.

I love the large selection of vegan gelato and sorbet, which are marked by red scoops. There’s an entire section of red scoops (fruit flavours) and then there are another couple of new vegan flavours since I last visited: cookies and cream and hazelnut. I couldn’t resist trying the new ones and they were better than ever!

A Weekend in Kingston Ontario: An Extended Weekend

Should you decide to spend another night in Kingston, you might be looking for a few more things to see and do before you leave the city. I suggest another morning stroll around downtown Kingston in the morning to perhaps grab a coffee and pop into a few shops you haven’t frequented yet.

On your way out of town, here are a couple of places to shop and dine that aren’t situated in the downtown core. One is a chocolate and bakeshop, and the other is a Mexican restaurant for some lunch before you begin your drive home. If you find yourself with three full days in Kingston, be sure to check out my 3 days in Kingston itinerary for even more ideas.

Mac’s Chocolates

Mac’s Chocolates and Bakeshop creates the finest bean to bar chocolate in Kingston. Their chocolate is handcrafted from organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar and organic cacao butter. They only use fair trade cacao beans, sourced from Peru and the Dominican Republic.

On the bakeshop side of things, Mac’s bakes light and fluffy donuts in a variety of flavours, as well as croissants. Unfortunately, they don’t have any vegan baked goods so I wasn’t able to sample them, though the owner told me that they do offer a vegan chocolate peanut butter mousse on occasion.

Mac’s Chocolates also serves up delicious coffee and espresso beverages. I ordered an iced Americano, and I also decided to purchase some dark chocolate covered hazelnuts that are such a yummy treat.

Mesa Fresca

Mesa Fresca is a Mexican fusion restaurant in Kingston. They describe themselves as “authentically inauthentic” with a large, approachable menu. This is a large, accessible restaurant with craft beer and TVs to watch, a great place to gather with your pals.

I ordered the Tacos Veganos and received three house-made corn tortillas filled with tajin sweet potato, shredded lettuce homemade black bean corn salsa, and vegan morita chili aioli. These tacos were smoky, a little bit spicy, and super tasty. They came with my choice of side, so I went with the lime salted fries.