Travelers between Toronto and Ottawa reach Belleville about halfway, a lakeside city of about 55,000 at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte. People call it the Friendly City, and it works as the regional hub for the surrounding towns, with a hospital, big stores, and an OHL hockey team, the Bulls.
Most visitors come for the water. There is walleye fishing on the bay, a waterfront trail with a park at Zwick's Island, and a farmers market. Prince Edward County, with its wineries and Sandbanks beaches, is a short drive south and is a big reason people live in Belleville, where prices run lower. Housing costs a good deal less than the Toronto area but has climbed sharply since 2020. Downtown has some visible drug use and street disorder near Front Street, and crime is around or a bit above average. Winters are snowy, and bay ice is never safe.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
Out of 10. Open any score to see how it’s worked out. “Data-based” scores come from published figures; “Hey! En Route estimate” scores are worked out from what we know about the city; “Hey! En Route rating” scores were set by our editors.
- Known as
- The Friendly City; Bay of Quinte's regional hub; Hastings County seat; gateway to Prince Edward County
- Founded
- 1790s Loyalist and Mississauga settlement at the mouth of the Moira River; 1816 named Belleville; 1850 incorporated as a town; 1877 incorporated as a city
- Languages
- English (de facto working language; Canada's federal official languages are English and French); French available in federal services and small communities; immigrant languages are limited, with Mohawk spoken at nearby Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and some Punjabi, Arabic and Spanish
- Airports
- Belleville Airport (YBB) is small, general aviation with limited service; Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International (YOW), about 180 km northeast; Toronto Pearson International (YYZ), about 200 km west (about 2 hours by car); Kingston (YGK), about 90 km east; Trenton (CYTR, RCAF Trenton) adjacent and not public
- Tipping
- Restaurants 15-20% of the pre-tax bill; bars $1-2 per drink or 15-20% of tab; taxis and rideshare 10-15%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 CAD per night; bellhops $2-5 CAD per bag; tour guides 10-15%; counter service optional (all amounts CAD; Ontario HST 13% is added to listed prices)
About this data
Population 55,071 (city) and Belleville-Quinte West CMA 111,184 are 2021 Census figures recalled from memory; not confirmed online (StatCan robots-blocked). Area 247.2 sq km recalled, includes rural areas. Web search returned links only and StatCan pages are robots-blocked, so figures are recalled and not confirmed online. Land area, elevation, coordinates, event names and months, hotel ranges, cost of living, crime index, rent, home prices and distances are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified. All money in CAD. visitor_website is the Quinte West tourism page as a regional stand-in (no confirmed Belleville-specific tourism URL seen; Quinte's Isle and Bay of Quinte regional tourism sites also exist); event_calendar is the City of Belleville things-to-do page, recalled and not confirmed live.
