As a native Kingstonian I must point out that Kingston’s existing fortifications were built long AFTER the War of 1812.
Kingston must, must, must be visited between June and September. In winter the city is charming but very dull and grey, thanks its part to everything being made of limestone. But in summer the downtown neighborhoods are spectacularly beautiful.
I’ll back this up. In winter Kingston is a drab, grey limbo where people trudge past half melted snow banks.
In the summer and early fall, it’s spectacularly beautiful.
I’d rather spend a day or two with my hand caught in a bear trap than a week in Toronto. Toronto sucks.
I voted for Calgary, because there is so much to see and do in and around town. In spite of the redneck reputation, Calgary is very cosmopolitan, with a thriving arts community that includes numerous theatre and museum options, tons of restaurants (with the best beef in North America), sports, an outstanding bicycle path system, great views, tons of festivals, outstanding trout fishing, etc…
I might have also gone with Victoria, which is a beautiful little town, or Banff. I’ve never been to Quebec City, but I’ve heard nothing but good about it and would recommend it as well.
P.S. Toronto sucks.
D’oh! :smack: Thanks for clarifying.
Hey, we have Crystal Palace! Ok, my 6 year old daughter has already figured out that it sucks, but we have it.
Québec City has a better ‘Crystal’ Palace…!
I think if the tourists are visiting in the winter, areas with mountains definitely win out over the flat areas. I’ve never been out to the Rockies and they probably win this battle (but I saw them from Calgary!) but even the low/old mountain ranges around here are stunning. Getting to go to a hotel and use outdoor spas and hot tubs after a day of snowshoeing, skiing, hockey/skating, maybe some dog sledding, trail riding, snowmobiling or ice fishing if you’re into that… definitely a fun vacation. Gourmet food and wine just makes it that much better. We love to go to places like Sacacomieand Le Baluchon.
Though that’s perhaps straying from the intent of the OP…!
Sure, but it is cold and there is no roller coaster!
I’ve had good food in Montreal and I’ve had mediocre food in Montreal. I can say the same thing about every large city in Canada that I’ve visited. YMMV, of course.
Not sure what you mean here. Ottawa has a large francophone population and a vibrant nightlife scene,a lthough not on the same scale as the larger cities.
Montreal is a place everyone should visit, but it does not reflect the rest of Canada, it’s actually more cosmopolitan than any city.
Toronto is similar to visiting any other major American city.
There’s really no single place to “get” all of Canada, although Ottawa, Vancouver, and Toronto have alot oftransplants so you could meet people from all over.
I’ve been to most of these cities and I’ll toss in my two cents. From West to East (roughly)
Victoria - Very pretty and quaint, but pretty slow. Also, slighly challenging to visit due to its island location
Vancouver - Pretty great big city. Vibrant and fun, but a little to modern. Not a lot of history
Calgary - Great economy and lots of stuff to do in nature, but again, not much history.
Edmonton - Good looking city, but boring
Regina - Sucks
Saskatoon - Really nice little city with a booming economy
Winnipeg - Sucks
Toronto - Less great than Vancouver in terms of ‘vibe’, but still a great big city. Lots of culture.
Ottawa - My pick. Tons of history. Lots of great museums. Good shopping. Gatineau park on its doorstep. Importantly, gets tax money in the form of the National Capital Commission from the rest of Canada in order to look its best.
Montreal - Drivers are a nightmare, but otherwise an awesome city. Probably my second pick. Again, lots of culture and history. Great transit system.
Quebec City - Charming, but, like Edmonton, a bit off the beaten path. Also, the really nice area is pretty small with the rest of the city less prosperous
Halifax - Probably has the funnest people in Canada. Halifax is pretty awesome. But, pretty small.
Charlottetown, Saint Johns - Pretty cities, but not much going on.
Maybe I haven’t spent enough time in Ottawa, but I’ve never seen anyone there (gasp) smoking indoors or walking down the street drinking a beer and I’ve never had anyone in an Ottawa restaurant or store address me in French. And I’ve never seen anyone in Ottawa driving like a suicidal maniac, but I’m sure they’re out there. 
(In response to my earlier post where I said:
“Toronto is by far the largest city in size, compared by total metropolitan communities. Neither Montreal nor Vancouver are anywhere near it, even if they annexed all the surrounding communities.”)
I know how these cross-threads get confusing, but if you go back to my first post in this thread, you’ll see that I picked Montreal despite the fact that Toronto is larger.
I picked Quebec City, because it is absolutely beautiful, and very European. On the other hand I guess that isn’t reflective of most of Canada, but it’s very charming.
Montreal is nice too, as is Vancouver. This is like picking your favourite child.
I live in Ottawa, and it has a lot going for it. The night life in the Market is decent, and culturally, there’s a lot of interesting museums and the like.
I actually like Toronto too, believe it or not. I mean, I wouldn’t want to actually live there, but there’s sporting events, and concerts, and museums, and the CN Tower, and the Zoo, and Wonderland, and the Islands… Not too bad.
Right. So we agree, then?
So you think Calgary has eclipsed, or is on the verge of eclipsing, Toronto as Canada’s most important city? Toronto has five times the population of Calgary, eight times if you are willing to consider Toronto as the centerpiece of the Golden Horseshoe metro region. As robust as Calgary’s economy may be, I can’t see it becoming Canada’s most important city anytime soon.
Heh tell that to the city’s residents, why don’t you! 
I kid, I kid. There are a few good festivals throughout the year and the Market is certainly fun with good pubs and musicians. I think Ottawa’s reputation for being dull is a little outdated, although I will say this: on a Sunday morning in September, pretty much the entire downtown was closed down other than a few breakfast places and dépanneurs. It’s not the night life that’s dead…it’s the day life. One thing I love about Montreal is that you can go shopping and see people and do stuff 7 days a week. None of this Closed-on-Sundays crap!
I’m confused by this.
Smoking indoors is illegal in Ontario…pretty sure in every province now. It’s also illegal to walk down the street drinking a beer; something that’s true in most provinces as well.
I’ve been addressed or chosen to address staff in restaurants and stores in French rather frequently, particularly in Orleans (where a friend lives). The default may be English, but lots of people are bilingual - at least in my experience.
People in Ottawa don’t drive like suicidal maniacs: that’s Torontonians (70km/h in town, 140km/h on the 401, no turn signals and merging NOW whether or not the laws of time and space allow it). [del]Ottawa-ians …Ottawaites?[/del] people from Ottawa drive like lost little old ladies; at the speed limit and slowing down for most intersections, even occasionally stopping for green lights. They allow pedestrians to cross ahead of them…ALL of the pedestrians…occasionally to the point where they don’t go on the green light at all, even if their are gaps in the stream of moving people big enough to fit a car through with room left over. Also, Ottawa has a small plague of left-the-left-turn-blinker-on happening. Toronto is stressful to drive through. Ottawa is just frustrating!
I won’t comment on Montreal, since I am a Montreal driver. OK, I will comment…obviously we know what we are doing and the rest of you are idiots 
I think the question is kind of meaningless without defining the parameters. No offence to the OP, but the question of this thread is kind of meaningless without defining the parameters, too - the city I would recommend would be completely different depending on what the visitors were looking for. If they wanted nature, I’d recommend the Rockies. If they wanted an urban, shopping experience, I’d probably recommend Toronto. If they want history and culture and stuff like that, it would be Ottawa or Quebec City. If it was a non-stop party, I’d recommend somewhere in the Maritimes (or Calgary during Stampede).
It does suck but that’s about as big a roller coaster as I can handle so I don’t complain.
Well, one parameter was defined: population levels. In the absence of others, it’s a good start. Maybe not relevant when comparing, say, Sao Paulo, Brazil to New York City, where both have comparable metro populations, but between Canadian cities I’d say it is a good start.
Unless population levels was defined in the alluded to US thread – and everyone has already seen that thread so they know what the parameters were in there – I don’t see any parameters noted in the one sentence OP.
I used population as a parameter in my first post.