Kingston and the Thousand Islands
The limestone waterfront, the old market square, and a private cruise out among islands with a story on every one. Toronto is the gateway.
Ontario, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie
Prince Edward County Private Tour: Wine, Farm Tables, and Sandbanks Dunes
Limestone towns, vineyards a bicycle ride apart, and a county where the food is grown within sight of the table. The road we know best, ridden end to end.
Best for
RetireesCouplesIndependent travellersCorporate groups
Why Prince Edward County for private travel
Almost no luxury operator sells southern Ontario as a journey, which is exactly why it belongs in ours. The county sits an hour and a half east of the heritage waterfront at Kingston, and it holds Canada's youngest serious wine region, farm tables that fill up on a Friday, and the Sandbanks dunes, where the lake behaves like a coast.
The whole lakeshore from Kingston to Essex County has been ridden on a bicycle rather than driven past, and that changes what we recommend: the vineyard with the winemaker still pouring, the county road with the view, and the day built so nobody spends it in a car.
Key experiences
Wine, water, history, and a bicycle
Wineries with the winemaker
Not a tasting room queue. We book the visit where the person who made the wine talks you through it, in a county small enough that they still can.
Sandbanks dunes
A provincial park where the lake runs clear and shallow for a hundred metres, warm enough to swim by August, with dunes behind it.
The Waterfront Trail by electric bicycle
Flat, quiet, and exactly the right speed for this shoreline. Your guide rides beside you, and the vineyard stops are all within reach.
When to visit
May to October, with harvest in the middle
May starts the season with the vineyards in leaf and the lake still cold. September and October are the best months, with the wine harvest and the autumn colour arriving within a fortnight of each other. January brings icewine in Niagara, which pairs naturally with this region for a winter journey. Point Pelee, the southernmost point of mainland Canada, is a May destination for migrating birds and a September one for monarchs, and the Pelee Island ferry is seasonal, so we check the timetable before building a day around it.
Summer
Lake swimming at the dunes, long vineyard evenings, and the county at its fullest.
Autumn
Harvest and colour in the same fortnight. The best time to be here.
Winter
Icewine in Niagara, quiet county roads, and fires in heritage inns.
For retirees
Flat terrain, short drives, and the strongest cultural content in our portfolio: history in Kingston, wine and food in the county, and a lakeshore that can be seen properly without a long day in the vehicle. No departure before half past eight, and an afternoon rest built into every day.
For couples
This is the leg where we plan the long lunch and leave the evening open. Prince Edward County works for couples who want wine, water, and a table that is theirs rather than a tasting bar.
How we design this journey
A lakeshore built for short drives
Ontario looks flat on a map and is anything but on a schedule, so we cluster the days: Kingston and the islands, then the county, then Niagara if the journey asks for it. Nobody spends three hours in the vehicle to reach a vineyard.
The whole road from Kingston to Essex has been ridden end to end, which is why we can tell you which town deserves two nights, which winery is worth an appointment, and which viewpoint is a photograph rather than an experience.
Questions we are asked
Frequently asked questions
What is there to do in Prince Edward County?
Wine visits with the people who make it, farm tables, the Sandbanks dunes and the lake, and a county small enough to see by bicycle. Paired with Kingston, ninety minutes west, it becomes a proper journey with heritage, water, and food in it.
Is Prince Edward County good for a luxury Ontario wine tour?
It is the best-value wine region in the province for a private tour, and it is the one where winemakers will still sit down with you. Niagara-on-the-Lake has the older cellars and the icewine; the county has the appointments and the farm kitchens.
When is the best time for an Ontario lakeshore journey?
May to October, and September to October above all, when the harvest and the autumn colour overlap. Point Pelee is at its best in May for migrating birds and September for monarchs.