Reviews of Kingston Pen Tours (Tourist Attraction)

Jen Elliott

Loved it

Ed Jakopic

Our tour guide Charlotte was informative and kept things interesting during the tour. I highly recommend checking the Pens out. You will not be disappointed.

Deb Banks

Did the extended tour. The tour guide was so friendly and the history so interesting. Defintely go if I the Kingston area.

Scott Guminy

Had a great time on the new film tour.

Katherine Krige

Interesting tour with lots of history. I like how they include former employees into the tour to give more depth to the experience. Our tour guide Charlotte did a great job of explaining everything we saw too. Our group enjoyed our afternoon.

David Wharton

$40? A bit expensive for what it is. Our guide was ok, but the tour was way too fast and didn’t offer enough opportunity to look around and take some photos. There was always another group right behind us, so we had to “move on”. Felt rushed.

Bob Taunton (Octave Entertainment)

My wife and I did the extended tour and were very happy with the experience. If only 1 thing I would criticize, it would be that they do take you through several large empty rooms and explain what went on in there. I think they need to set the room up in some way with some props from the history there to make things a bit more real to understand. On a great note, our tour guide Calvin was absolutely fabulous. Very knowledgeable and threw in many puns related to the topics that made it very fun. Highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in seeing one of our countries most notorious prisons.

Keven Drapeau

Hannah was amazing! Would definitely recommand!

Cherie Turcotte

Mike Bullet (yes that's his real name) was a great guide, funny and informative. The best combination. I would do this tour again.

Amber Mccullough

Loved the tour. It was interesting and informative. They welcomed questions and didn't rush us. I love that locals get a little discount, what a great way to encourage people to visit their own city.

Chelsey Davidson

My husband and I enjoyed this tour of the Kingston Penitentiary. I learned a great deal as the tour guide Calvin and other speakers were very knowledgeable and provided an informative experience. However, it was more than that; it was immersive and at times humorous. Some of the facets of prison life were heartbreaking, though, and left me with a different impression of our society's marginalized people. I loved this tour and our guide Calvin provided a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I highly recommend him as a guide and the tour on the whole.

Greg Paisley

Great experience

Robin Byrd

Emily was a knowledgeable and friendly tour guide. You didn't just tour a jail, you learned it's history, heard stories of riots and escapes from the guards, received a better understanding of the education, skills and treatments the inmates were receiving and saw interesting architecture. Thank you

DP B.

The number one reason we went to visit Kingston. Was a very interesting and informative tour. We did the 2.5hr extended tour and would suggest anyone who is able to spend the extra money do so

MartJess 151

Loved it. Great trip for the family

Erin Scourse

Great tour! Thanks Ryan !

JP Bouchard

A stay in Kingston is not complete without visiting the Kingston Penitentiary or KP as the locals call it. This tour include testimonials from former KP correctional agents what life was like inside the prison.

Mila B.

It's Ok

Kelly Livingston

Best tour I ever went on! Hanging on every word. A must do.

NeonJ RacerD

It was interesting and quite the tour.

Kathleen Harrison

Wonderful tour guides, with encyclopedic knowledge of the history for the building, grounds, and people who lived there. Engaging and insightful look into Canadian life. Throughly enjoyed, and may go again. :)

Kevin Meloche

Worth the time and money. A great historical perspective on something we've heard about all our lives.

Natasa Inward

Great tour. Tour guide was very knowledgeable and informative! She showed us picture of ghost! ????

Ray Syed

Amazing tour, albeit I was hoping to see some of the more infamous cells belonging to some of the more infamous inmates, I can understand the privacy portion. Our guide and the retired staff we met were very friendly and courteous, and answered any questions we had.

the easy kaybreezy

Epic place to tour. Amazing!!!.

Derrick Ransom

Done it twice always good. Wear good shoes;

Dave North

One of the best tours on any topic I have ever been on (and I've been to Alcatraz!). Our tour guide Maude was very good - knowegable, highlighted the interesting info and kept the tour moving without it feeling rushed. The real genius of the tour is having the ex corrections officers along the tour adding Some colour commentary that was very interesting (shout out to Larry who was great to listen to) If you have any intest in history and appreciate a good tour, this is a must do thing in Kingston

Andlat

Great tour ! Really interesting !

Graciesmom 2018

Such a great tour!! The guide was knowledgeable and enthralling. In depth tour, take the extended one! Awesome day. The ex correctional officers were excellent.

Joy Luangkham

Great tour. The standard tour is 1.5hrs and $40 per person.

patti hamilton

My grandson and I found the 1.5 hr tour very informative and interesting. Hearing the retired guards share their stories and explaining how things were done was fascinating. Essie, the main guide, was knowlable and funny. Well done.

Debby Martin

Always informative and the staff is amazing!! Grandkids thoroughly enjoyed our day.. ????

John Mark

Good tour, Great experience, Awesome and friendly service. Highly recommended it!

Kristina

Wow...what a place. Tour was amazing, place kept you covid safe. Highly recommend.

Yolanda Larivée

(Translated) Our really neat guide, with anecdotes from the time. Nice visit. Can be a bit long for young children. (Original) Notre guide vraiment chouette, avec des anecdotes de l'époque. Belle visite. Peut être un peu long pour des jeunes enfants.

Anthony Savonarota

I recently did the standard tour, of which was phenomenal and the staff were great every step of the way. The tour guide for my group, Gareth, was excellent in explaining the various sections of the prison and their significance, as well as taking time to answer any additional questions any of us would have. I also really enjoyed the insight from employees that actively worked at KP, some spanning decades. I would highly recommend this tour for both Canadian history buffs and even anyone looking for a unique, educational experience.

Michael Fletcher

Fantastic tour and knowledgeable guides. Amazing history and architecture.

Douglas Thorlakson

Excellent tour

Rob Bridgland

Amazing

Angelo H

Really enjoyed the tour. Our guide was great. Energetic, must have done it a million times but sounded genuine as ever. Including terrible jokes and puns that fit in perfect. (I think Bradly? Brown hair goatee) You really are felt in awe and i encourage you to really take a minute to be in the moment, imagine yourself 100 years ago. Well worth the experience.

Richard Saucier

Fantastic tour. They have retired guards explaining the place and sharing stories and experiences.

Jacquie Sabbe

We did the extended tour and our tour guide Dave was fantastic. He was very informative and made the tour very interesting. Learned lots and was very surprised with the history

Miriam Snowbell

The unexpected highlight of my vacation was my tour of the Kingston Pennitentary. I love how the tour is set up. One chaperone guide and about 6 ex guard guides throughout the tour. No high tech, no movies, just pure human interaction as the facilities were toured.So informative and interesting. Packed full of thoughtful surprising information. Well organized. Time was always given for questions . And the questions were given great answers. Thank you to our excellent energetic guide Ryan!

Dave Neugebauer

A cool place!

Lori Snider

Fantastic. Very informative.

Jim Brayley

Awesome tour! Very informative. The tour guide took her time with the tour and answered many questions. Cameras are welcome for most of the tour. Highly recommend!

Karlie Marshall

What an excellent tour! Amelia was our tour guide and she was so knowledgeable and was a great story teller. The retired staff members of the pen were fascinating to listen to. I highly recommend going if you're in the area!

H S

Great tour. Very informative. Was done in a very respectful way. Not focusing on the infamous former residents but rather on the jail itself. Our guide Ryan was great.

Raymond Macwilliams

Loved the tour

Hilary Dagg

Amazing tour!! We did the extended tour--highly recommend! Dave our tour guide was friendly, great story teller and very knowledgeable!

David Smith

Five stars

Jeramie Iacobucci

Loved it!

Caroline Reekie

Fantastic tour! Our guide Mike was awesome. 100% would recommend!

Brenda Fitzpatrick

My friend and I really enjoyed the tour. Our tour guide, Garth was exceptional. Very knowledgeable, fun and easy to talk to. The other staff providing stories about KP were great as well. Happy we were finally able to take the tour.

Jason Childs

Did the shorter tour with my 18 year old son this morning - very informative and worthwhile!

Jessica Joksas

Loved the tour so interesting and our tour guide was fantastic and funny! I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes history or architecture to check it out!

ray miller

We loved the whole Kingston Pen Tour experience. The regular staff and ex Corrections staff were exceptional. This was such a knowledgeable tour. You learned so much by the stories and experiences, it kept you on the edge of your seat. If you never have been, don't hold back and put this tour on your next visit to Kingston.

Marcel Seguin

Our tour guide Kalvin was professional and made the tour very enjoyable.

Healing By Hands

The tour was very informative. Many of the people there were former guards. My teenagers were even entertained and the 90 minute tour went by very quickly.

Nicole Frick

We loved the tour, Maude kept us very interested and was very knowledgeable. All around a great experience.

Emmery Haigh

This was an amazing experience. I went on the architectural tour with my family and it was so much fun. Not only that but we learned lots. I cannot forget to mention our tour guide. We had Calvin and he did such a great job teaching us everything about the pen while still entertaining us with his great jokes! I fully recommend to go here!

Sam Zienkowicz

We took our 12 year old and 8 year old kids on the architectual tour at the pen and it was an incredible experience for us all. I thought the kids might get bored, but our tour guide Calvin kept us all engaged with interesting stories and facts, not to mention he was hilarious with his puns and jokes which made for a really fun time. Calvin is friendly, knowledgeable and humorous and we would like to thank him for making our tour a memorable one! Keep up the great work.

Helene Chasse

Very informative tour, with interesting stories and experiences shared by former correctional staff. We took the extended tour (wear comfortable shoes), the time went by very quickly. Our guide Garth Amey (former rec officer) was very knowledgeable and interesting. If you're visiting the Kingston area, I highly recommend taking this tour, definitely worth the time.

Debs Y.

Very interesting story behind the walls.. Nice experience.

Sue Voigtlander

Educational walk through history. Best was hearing stories and details from former staff who lived the life.

Andy Rodgers

Very interesting, informative, well spoken & knowledgeable guides