Niagara, Prince Edward County & the St. Lawrence

The birthplace of Motown tells its own story at the modest house on West Grand Boulevard where Berry Gordy built an empire, still a genuine pilgrimage for music fans. A riverfront long given over to industry has been steadily reclaimed as parkland over the past decade, while Belle Isle, a park designed by the same landscape architect behind New York's Central Park, shelters a real variety of birdlife within the city limits. A round of golf at one of the region's classic courses rounds out a city very much in the middle of its second act.

This small Lake Erie island still marks the site of Commodore Perry's decisive 1813 naval victory over the British, commemorated by the towering Doric column of the Perry's Victory memorial, one of the tallest monuments in the country. A handful of historic wineries, some dating to the 1860s, make use of the island's mild lake-effect climate, while a round of golf and some of the best birding on Lake Erie round out a small island with an outsized place in American history.

The southern terminus of the Welland Canal, the engineering marvel that lets ships bypass Niagara Falls entirely, Port Colborne is also the back door to one of North America's most decorated wine regions. The Niagara Peninsula's escarpment vineyards produce an ice wine now served at tables worldwide, alongside a serious and growing list of chardonnay and pinot noir. Herons and egrets work the canal's marshy edges, and a round of golf or a stretch of Lake Erie beach fill out an easy day before, or after, a wine tour proper. Falls-adjacent, without the crowds.

Eight locks lift the ship more than a hundred meters in a single transit, the engineering solution that lets ships bypass Niagara Falls entirely on their way between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. Viewing platforms along the canal draw local spectators who track ship movements the way others might follow sports scores, and passing through at deck level, lock by lock, is a genuinely rare vantage point on the whole operation. One of the great working canals of North America, experienced from the water rather than the road.

Where Lake Ontario empties into the St Lawrence, Kingston's limestone downtown and star-shaped Fort Henry recall its 19th-century role as a British garrison town and, briefly, the capital of the united Canadas. The Thousand Islands begin just beyond the harbor, a favorite among boaters and golfers alike for the scenery as much as the course itself. A strong university-town dining scene and sandy beaches along the lakefront round out a handsome, history-dense stop.

Where Lake Ontario empties into the St Lawrence, Kingston's limestone downtown and star-shaped Fort Henry recall its 19th-century role as a British garrison town and, briefly, the capital of the united Canadas. The Thousand Islands begin just beyond the harbor, a favorite among boaters and golfers alike for the scenery as much as the course itself. A strong university-town dining scene and sandy beaches along the lakefront round out a handsome, history-dense stop.

A limestone-soil peninsula jutting into Lake Ontario that has, in barely two decades, become one of Canada's most talked-about wine regions, more than forty wineries now share the County's back roads. Sandbanks Provincial Park's dunes, among the largest freshwater dune systems on earth, back onto beaches warm enough for a proper summer swim, while the surrounding wetlands are recognized as an internationally important bird area. A farm-to-table dining scene has grown up alongside the vines. Ontario's answer to Prince Edward Island, with rather more wine.

The self-styled City of the 1000 Islands sits where the St Lawrence widens into a maze of granite islets, many holding nothing more than a single boathouse and cottage. The Aquatarium tells the river's ecology and shipwreck history, several 19th-century wrecks lie preserved and diveable in the clear, cold water just offshore. Ospreys and herons nest along the shoreline, and a round at one of the area's riverside golf courses rounds out a quintessentially Canadian summer call. A thousand islands, and barely a crowd among them.

A St Lawrence River town shaped as much by the water as by the Akwesasne Mohawk territory that straddles the border just outside it. The Long Sault Parkway threads a chain of small islands and beaches created when the seaway was built in the 1950s, flooding the villages that once stood here, a history the local museum tells with real care. Ospreys and herons work the river's shallows, and a round of golf on the riverside links rounds out an easy, unhurried call. A quieter corner of the seaway, with a genuinely layered history.

A St Lawrence River town shaped as much by the water as by the Akwesasne Mohawk territory that straddles the border just outside it. The Long Sault Parkway threads a chain of small islands and beaches created when the seaway was built in the 1950s, flooding the villages that once stood here, a history the local museum tells with real care. Ospreys and herons work the river's shallows, and a round of golf on the riverside links rounds out an easy, unhurried call. A quieter corner of the seaway, with a genuinely layered history.

North America's great bilingual city layers cobbled Old Montreal, its 17th-century stone buildings now home to some of the country's best restaurants, over a modern downtown built for a genuinely serious food and festival culture. The Lachine Canal's bike path and waterfront parks offer an easy afternoon on the water, while the Eastern Townships' vineyards, a short drive out, have quietly become a real source of Quebec ice wine and hybrid varietals. A round of golf on one of the island's historic courses and a stroll through a beach-lined riverfront park round out a city that rewards a slow wander as much as a fine meal.