Experience the best of Windsor

Windsor stands on the Detroit River, and a quirk of the border means it looks north to the American city, whose towers line the far bank. Parkland and a riverfront path run along the water, with a sculpture park facing the skyline, while the Ambassador Bridge and a tunnel beneath the river join the two cities. Ouellette Avenue is the main downtown street. Walkerville, an older quarter laid out around a whisky distillery, keeps its tree-lined streets and brick Victorian houses.

South of the city, flat farmland in Essex County is dotted with greenhouses, wineries and small towns on Lake Erie. Point Pelee National Park, a sandy spit reaching into the lake, is the southernmost tip of mainland Canada and a resting place for migrating birds and monarch butterflies, and a ferry runs from the lakeshore to Pelee Island and its vineyards. Amherstburg, downriver from Windsor, has a historic British fort beside the water.

Local menus draw on a large Italian and Lebanese community, and the lakeshore towns grow tomatoes, peppers and wine grapes in one of the mildest corners of Canada. Warbler migration at Point Pelee in May draws birdwatchers from far afield, and the long warm summer suits the beaches along Lake Erie.