In need of a little Downton Abbey pick me up?Planning a Great Canadian Day Trip to some of these close-to-home historic sites will make you feel like you’ve stepped onto the set of your favourite show.

Dundurn National Historic Site

This 40-room Italianate-style villa that was built in the 1830’s was home to Sir Allan Napier MacNab, railway magnate, lawyer and Premier of the United Canadas and his family. Downton fans will love exploring this Hamilton landmark and discovering the Canadian perspective of the family who lived above stairs and the servants who lived and worked below. The Monarchy obsessed will also be interested to learn the castle’s connection to British royalty: Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall is the museum’s Patron and the great, great, great granddaughter of Sir Allan MacNab.

Costumed garden staff will share informative stories and historic gardening knowledge about the two hundred varieties of heirloom fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers grown in the garden for Dundurn’s kitchen. The tours are complimentary with admission.

If you were a fan of Downton’s Miss Patmore, Dundurn’s Historic Cooking Workshops will be right up your alley. Start off with a tour of the Kitchen Garden, where you’ll help the gardener select the ingredients for what’s being cooked that day. Then, you’ll take a seat in the outstanding historic kitchen below stairs and watch the cooks work their culinary magic on the cast iron range.

Myrtleville House Museum

If you were captivated by the stories of the hard-working farm hands, like Timothy Drewe, who helped Downton farm the land, you must pay a visit to Myrtleville House Museum in Brantford. Built in 1837 for Allen and Eliza Good, the house tells the story of four generations of the Good family and their remarkable influence on development, politics and agriculture in this part of Ontario. The magnificent wood frame farmstead is a focal point of the site, which also features period gardens, a workshop with a blacksmith forge and icehouse, a smoke house and a bake oven.

 

Whitehern Historic House & Garden National Historic Site

If you enjoyed Downton Abbey for its never-ending family drama, plan a trip to Whitehern Historic House & Garden. The McQuesten family was an enterprising Scottish-Irish clan that occupied this downtown Hamilton mansion from 1852-1968. With bankruptcy, legal battles between family members and struggles with mental illness and addiction, their story, which spans three generations, is filled with Downton-grade drama.

Erchless Estate, Oakville

For a chance at actually encountering some characters from days gone by, add Erchless Estate to your itinerary. Mysterious sightings of at least nine ghosts have been reported at the property, which was built in 1858 by Colonel William Chisholm, a merchant and ship builder and the founder of the Town of Oakville. Named after the Chisholm clan’s seat in Invernesshire, Scotland, six generations of the Chisholm family lived at Erchless Estate over a period of 130 years. Rumour has it that some of them have never left. Rebecca, who was the wife of William Chisholm, dropped dead at the Estate’s gate one day and there have been reported sightings from time to time at the gate and in the gardens ever since. Other reported spirit sightings include Christopher Columbus Lee, a former butler, and survivor of the Underground Railroad, who has been seen walking up the steps and throughout the property and Colonel Chisholm’s son, Robert, inside the adjacent Custom House.

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Now thru December 7

Oakville Museum Guided Tour

Oakville Museum at Erchless Estate

8 Navy Street, Oakville, ON, L6J 2Y5

Tuesday to Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. General admission by donation (Suggested $7 per...

Now thru December 31

Introductory Flight Lesson

Brantford Flight Centre

110 Aviation Ave. Brantford, ON N3T 5L7, Canada

Dates: All year round Cost: $152.55 including HST

Now thru December 14

Beeswax Candle Making

Backed By Bees

6214 Appleby Line, Burlington, Ontario L7M 0P7

Dates: Various dates each month Time: 1:00 to 3:00pm Cost: $64.99

Now thru July 20

Yoga and the Bees

Backed By Bees

6214 Appleby Line, Burlington, Ontario L7M 0P7

Dates: June 22nd, July 20th from 11:00am - 12:00pm

Now thru December 31

Hamilton Civic Museums Virtual Tours

28 James St N, Hamilton, ON L8R 1A1

September 28

Cholera and Industrial Heritage Cemetery Tour

Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology – National Historic Site

The Hamilton Cemetery, 777 York Blvd., Hamilton

Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Cost: FREE Ages: All

Now thru September 13

The Bee Encounter Experience

Backed By Bees

6214 Appleby Line, Burlington, Ontario L7M 0P7

Dates: Various Dates from Jun 21st to Sept 13th Times: 10:00am, 11:30am or 1:00pm Price:...

Now thru September 28

Wake Up the Wild

African Lion Safari

1386 Cooper Road, Hamilton, ON, N1R 5S2

Available on select dates from Jun to Sept, 2025. Tour subject to availability. Advanced reservations...

September 25

RBG After Dark: So Long Summer

Royal Botanical Gardens

680 Plains Road West, Burlington, ON, L7T 4H4

Date & Time: September 25, 2025 from 6:30pm - 10:30pm Tickets: $25 (+hst) per person...

August 21

RBG After Dark: Hot Summer Sizzle

Royal Botanical Gardens

680 Plains Road West, Burlington, ON, L7T 4H4

Date & Time: August 21, 2025 from 6:30pm - 10:30pm Tickets: $25 (+hst) per person...

June 22, 2025

Cholera and Industrial Heritage Cemetery Tour

Hamilton Museum of Steam & Technology – National Historic Site

The Hamilton Cemetery, 777 York Blvd., Hamilton

Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Cost: FREE Ages: All

Now thru November 4

Rural Routes and River Retreat

Woodstock and Paris, ON

Dates: The 3-day package is available Sunday to Tuesday on select dates May 4 through...

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