However, a popular cross-border region favoured by holidaymakers on both sides is caught in the crosshairs of the Trump administration’s recently imposed trade tariffs on Canada.
Tourists flock to towns filled with shops, restaurants and B&Bs and with the allure of nearby castles, shipwrecks and lighthouses. Curious Canadians and Americans venture to opposite sides of the river to explore, but international visitors are also drawn to the region’s watery beauty.
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Our favorite stops are the hopping towns of Alexandria – full of pubs and restaurants –and Clayton where we’ll stay overnight after watching the sunset from the town’s riverside park.
The Thousand Islands International Bridge over the St Lawrence River connects New York with Ontario (Photo: ronniechua/Getty Images)
Prime minister Justin Trudeau’s call to “Buy Canadian” in early February singled out tourism: “Now is the time to choose Canada… It might mean changing your summer vacation plans to stay here in Canada and explore the many national and provincial parks, historical sites and tourist destinations our great country has to offer.”
“We have long collaborated across the border on regional destination marketing projects in the Thousand Islands. If anything, the trade rhetoric out of Washington and Ottawa has pushed those of us on the front line closer because we fully recognise how reliant we are on each other,” explains Corey Fram, director of tourism for the 1000 Islands International Tourism Council based in the US.
A tour boat in Gananoque, Ontario (Photo: Patrick Donovan/Getty Images)
Although the US side may be feeling nervous, the number of cancellations by Canadians to date have been negligible, or at least hard to track. “We’ve received a few anecdotal stories from operators where a lost customer explained that international attitudes drove their decision to cancel. But overwhelmingly, operators are telling us that they have received no such feedback or that it’s been too sparse to quantify”, explains Fram.
Although the winds from above have spread discord between the two countries, both sides want visitors to know their friendship remains strong.
A warm welcome
However, for British visitors, the picture is less emotionally complex, the region offering an outdoorsy playground of glittering water, lush islands (there are actually more than 1,800 despite the name) and grand 19th-century mansions.
A tidal waterway, the mightly St Lawrence River links the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The river flows with 20 percent of the world’s fresh water and 80 percent of North America’s.
Last year, a new Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary was designated in the US’s eastern portion of the lake – covering almost 2,000 nautical square miles of cold freshwater, it is peppered with 41 well-preserved shipwrecks and one plane wreck and is popular with divers.
Highlights are Boldt Castle, Singer Castle – historic holiday homes built by American business magnates at the turn of the last century – as well as opulent summer homes of the Gilded Age known as Millionaires Row, and Rock Island Lighthouse. You’ll also see other boaters, private island cottages, and lots of folks out fishing.
A tour boat docked next to the power house of Boldt Castle (Photo: Mercedes Rancao Otero/Getty Images)Clayton also has an opera house, museum, distilleries and wineries. Coyote Moon Vineyards, just outside the town, offers tours and tastings as well as a bakery which sells delicious croissants and pastries.
The town’s waterfront Thousand Islands Museum tells the story of the community’s history and its Muskie Hall of Fame is dedicated to the region’s celebrated fish, the muskellunge.
In the early 1900s, fishing guide George LaLonde Jr took clients out on the St Lawrence to catch black bass and northern pike. Part of the package was a shore dinner at the Herald Hotel including a salad with dressing said to have been created by his wife Sophia. One of his clients, a prominent stage actress named May Irwin asked for the recipe, which she called Thousand Island. She later gave it to her hotelier friend George C Boldt who put it on the menu at the Waldorf Astoria New York, thereby introducing it to the world.
Highlights in Canada
The region is home to more than 1,800 islands (Photo: benedek/Getty Images)Running between Kingston and Brockville, the region includes the lively riverside towns of Gananoque and Rockport, from where boat tours launch on this side of the border.
Thrill-seekers enjoy Treetop Trekking 1000 Islands, located on the 1000 Islands Parkway, where Tarzan skills are put to work by leaping off wooden platforms and ziplining through the foliage.
Across the street, the 1000 Islands History Museum sits on the site of the former Thousand Island Railway Station, serving a line that was only 6.33 miles long. Exhibits tell the story of the area’s geology, ecology, First Peoples, settlers and industrial background.
How to get there
In Canada, the closest gateway is Ottawa, around 90 minutes’ drive. Toronto and Montreal are around two and-a-half to three hours’ drive. In the US, New York, Philadelphia and Boston are around six hours’ drive, with connecting flights available to Syracuse, around 90 minutes’ drive.
Where to stay
Campgrounds are popular on both sides of the border in summer, but island cottages and waterside inns are perhaps the best way to soak up the serenity throughout the year.
In Clayton, the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel overlooks the St Lawrence River and has doubles from $250 (£197).
On the Canadian side, the historic Gananoque Inn & Spa is also on the river and room rates start at C$250 (£136) per night.
More information
Esta costs $21, esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta
Canadian Eta costs C$7, eta.onlineservices-servicesenligne.apps.cic.gc.ca
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