Eastern Ontario stretches along the Highway 401 corridor from Kingston to the Quebec border, then north through the Rideau Canal corridor to Smiths Falls, Perth, and the edge of the Ottawa Valley. It is the part of Southern Ontario that most Toronto residents forget about: three hours east on the 401, well past the commuter belt, in a landscape of limestone farmland, slow rivers, and towns that were built in the early 1800s and have not changed as much as you might expect. That is largely the appeal.
The 1000 Islands and the St. Lawrence
The 1000 Islands region, along the St. Lawrence River between Kingston and Brockville, is Eastern Ontario's biggest draw for visitors. The river widens into a maze of over 1,800 islands (the name undersells it), ranging from bare rock outcrops to private estates with their own bridges. Boat cruises depart from Brockville, Gananoque, and Rockport throughout the summer.
The most famous landmark is Boldt Castle on Heart Island, technically on the American side but visible and accessible from Canadian tour boats. On the Canadian side, the 1000 Islands Tower near Lansdowne offers a view over the river, and the Thousand Islands National Park protects several islands that are accessible by kayak or water taxi.
Brockville
Brockville calls itself the City of the 1000 Islands, and of the towns along this stretch of the St. Lawrence, it has the most to offer visitors beyond the boat tours. The waterfront has been redeveloped in recent years, with a revitalized harbour area and the Brockville Railway Tunnel, Canada's first railway tunnel, now open as a pedestrian attraction with a light show.
The downtown, along King Street, has heritage brick buildings, a courthouse square, and enough restaurants and shops to fill a couple of hours on foot. Brockville is about 340 kilometres from Toronto, roughly three and a half hours on Highway 401, or about an hour west of Ottawa. For visitor information and local event listings, the guide at brockville.com covers the city and surrounding area.
Perth
Perth is one of the oldest towns in Ontario, settled in 1816 by Scottish and Irish immigrants after the War of 1812. The town has done a remarkable job preserving its heritage core: stone buildings line the main streets, the Tay Canal connects the town to the Rideau system, and the overall scale of the place feels like it was built for walking, because it was.
Perth has a good Saturday farmers market, several independent restaurants, and a local arts scene that includes the Classic Theatre Festival in summer. The Perth Kilt Run, a 5K race through the downtown streets in autumn, celebrates the town's Scottish roots and draws runners from across the province. Perth is about 300 kilometres from Toronto, or roughly 90 minutes southwest of Ottawa, which makes it more of an Ottawa-area day trip than a Toronto one. The community guide at perth.ca has local information and event details.
The Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007, runs 202 kilometres from Kingston to Ottawa through a chain of lakes, rivers, and hand-operated locks. It was built in the 1830s as a military supply route and never fired a shot in anger, which makes it one of the more pleasant military projects in Canadian history.
Today the canal is used for recreational boating in summer, cycling along its towpaths, and canoeing through the quieter lake sections. In winter, the Ottawa section famously becomes the world's largest skating rink, though conditions vary and the season has been getting shorter. The Rideau Trail, a 387-kilometre hiking path from Kingston to Ottawa, roughly parallels the canal and is less well known than the Bruce Trail but well maintained.
Smiths Falls and the Corridor Towns
Smiths Falls, about 30 minutes north of Brockville on Highway 15, sits on the Rideau Canal and has reinvented itself in recent years, partly through its heritage railway museum and partly as a stop on the Cataraqui Trail cycling route. The town is small, roughly 9,000 people, and serves as a service centre for the surrounding rural area.
Other corridor towns worth noting include Merrickville, a village on the Rideau Canal with a concentration of shops and studios that draws day trippers, and Westport, at the western end of Upper Rideau Lake, which has a small-town charm and lakeside setting that rewards a detour.
Kingston to Cornwall
Kingston, at the eastern end of Lake Ontario where the St. Lawrence begins, is a city of about 135,000 with Queen's University, the Royal Military College, Fort Henry, and a walkable limestone downtown. It sits at the western edge of this region and functions as its largest urban centre. East of Brockville, the 401 continues through smaller communities: Prescott, with its Fort Wellington and international bridge to Ogdensburg, New York; Morrisburg, near Upper Canada Village, a reconstructed 1860s settlement along the St. Lawrence; and Cornwall, a bilingual city at the Quebec border.
This stretch of the 401 is less scenic than the inland routes, but the heritage sites along the river reward stops. Upper Canada Village, in particular, is one of the best-preserved living history sites in the country.
For more on this part of the province, see the weekend getaways guide and the best small-town main streets guide, which both feature Eastern Ontario destinations.