Things to do in Ottawa
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Ottawa
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months part one: tulips tail and patios in May, canal navigation opens, June is warm, pre Bluesfest and bookable.
Best months part two: CityFolk, Gatineau colour and Fall Rhapsody peaking around Thanksgiving, best restaurant season.
Summer: 25 to 31C and humid, everything open, boats, beaches and rafting at their best, peak prices and Market crowds.
Winter: Skateway when ice allows, Winterlude in February, Gatineau skiing and Nordik in snow, cheapest hotel rates outside Winterlude.
March is the least rewarding month: slush and freeze thaw, Skateway closed, patios not yet open.
April is grey shoulder season that nobody visits for; by early May the city transforms in about two weeks.
After Fall Rhapsody: grey, cold, Writers Festival and museum season, low prices and few illusions.
What's on
- Winterlude first three weekends of February
Ice sculptures, Snowflake Kingdom slides in Jacques-Cartier Park and Skateway programming across Ottawa and Gatineau.
- Canadian Tulip Festival mid-May
Over a million blooms; Commissioners Park is the main bed, Major's Hill and Parliament are quieter. Go early or on a weekday.
- Ottawa Race Weekend late May
Major race weekend listed among Ottawa's spring events.
- Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival June
Billed as North America's largest dragon boat festival at Mooney's Bay, with free concerts and a beach party feel.
- Escapade June
EDM festival running the same party weekend as the Dragon Boat Festival, for a younger crowd.
- Fringe June
Ottawa's June fringe theatre festival, listed among the season's main events.
- Canada Day July 1
National celebration around Parliament Hill and LeBreton Flats, huge crowds, fireworks and downtown road closures. Book rooms months ahead.
- RBC Ottawa Bluesfest Usually early to mid July, about ten days
About 10 days at LeBreton Flats, 200 plus acts and roughly 300,000 fans; Ottawa's peak hotel and restaurant pricing week.
- Chamberfest late July to August
Chamber music festival spanning late July into August.
- Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival Labour Day weekend
Balloon festival across the river in Gatineau on the Labour Day weekend.
Best things to do in Ottawa
Parliament Hill
Free West Block and Senate tours plus the grounds explain how the capital actually works today.
Parliament: The Immersive Experience
Free multimedia stand-in for the closed Centre Block interior, and the best quick orientation to Parliament.
Rideau Canal
UNESCO canal through downtown: walk or cycle from the Ottawa Locks south to Dows Lake and Hartwell Locks.
Rideau Canal Cruise
Ninety minute electric boat cruise is the relaxed way to see the canal in navigation season, mid May to Thanksgiving.
National Gallery of Canada
The one art museum: strongest Canadian and Indigenous collection in a Safdie landmark, with Maman outside.
Canadian Museum of History
Grand Hall totem poles and the Canadian History Hall in a curving riverbank building facing Parliament.
ByWard Market
Ottawa's oldest public market district: graze the hall, bakeries and stalls on a morning in daylight.
Canadian War Museum
Artefact led national military history in a grass roofed building, sombre and less crowded than downtown museums.
Where to stay in Ottawa
Downtown/Centretown: Golden Triangle and Elgin Street
first trip, all-round base
Walk to Parliament, the NAC, the Canal and the Museum of Nature, with Elgin's restaurants as your evening strip.
ByWard Market/Rideau
nightlife and a first weekend
Stay on the west and south edges in full service hotels for the Market and Gallery on foot and lit main streets at night.
The Glebe/Lansdowne/Old Ottawa South
families and repeat visitors
Tree lined Bank Street streets, Lansdowne market and games, and the Canal at Dows Lake as your front yard.
Wellington West/Hintonburg/Westboro
food-first repeat visitors
Ottawa's best restaurant strip and river pathways on your doorstep, 10 to 15 minutes downtown, mostly rentals.
Gatineau (Hull)/Chelsea
History Museum, spa and park trips
Hull is cheaper and walks to the History Museum but is quiet at night; Chelsea inns suit a car based spa and park night.
Kanata
Senators or golf weekends only
Right for a Senators game or a Marshes and Eagle Creek golf weekend, 30 plus minutes from Parliament and museums.
Think twice about
- King Edward Avenue corridor, Lowertown east and Rideau Street east end
The city's largest shelters and supervised consumption sites concentrate here, with visible street homelessness, open drug use and encampments. Do not walk home here at night.
- ByWard Market immediate bar blocks as a sleep choice
Clarence and York bars are loud to 2 a.m. with persistent panhandling around Rideau Station. Light sleepers and families should sleep two or three blocks away.
- Airport/Hunt Club, Barrhaven and Orléans sold as Ottawa
No scam, just geography: 35 to 60 plus minutes each way, a parking lot at night and no dinner on foot.
Best restaurants in Ottawa
Atelier
Chef Marc Lepine's seven expression tasting over about three hours, the one Ottawa dinner worth crossing the country for.
Perch
Nine course Canadian tasting in a 22 seat open kitchen, quieter and warmer than Atelier, equally serious.
Beckta Dining & Wine
Heritage mansion flagship with five course tastings and the service Ottawa treats as its gold standard.
Riviera
Seafood and steak brasserie in a soaring former bank hall, order the lobster spaghetti and the pavlova.
North & Navy
Northern Italian bacaro logic with Ottawa Valley produce: house pastas, polpette and a strong Italian wine list.
Fauna
New Canadian sharing plates and strong cocktails, the best group dinner downtown, with a private room.
Supply and Demand
Oysters, crudo and house pastas in the small, always full Hintonburg room that proved Wellington West.
Les Fougères
Garden dining room cooking Outaouais farms with French Canadian clarity, the perfect post Nordik dinner.
Outdoor things to do in Ottawa
Gatineau Park
361 square kilometre conservation park 15 minutes from Parliament with 165 km of hiking trails.
Pink Lake Trail
Short loop around a rare turquoise green meromictic lake, busy by 10 a.m. on fall weekends so go early.
King Mountain Trail
Steep in places, about 2 km, with the Ottawa Valley payoff at the top.
Champlain Lookout
The Eardley Escarpment viewpoint for sunset over the Ottawa Valley.
Mackenzie King Estate
A prime minister's cottages, gardens and romantic ruins inside Gatineau Park.
Escape Bicycle Tours
Longstanding guided and e-bike tours, the easy way into Ottawa's 200 km core pathway network.
Rideau Canal Skateway
7.8 km of skating on the world's largest naturally frozen rink when ice allows, never guaranteed in a warm winter.
Kichi Sibi Winter Trail
Groomed winter trail along the Ottawa River for skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking in town.
Best hotels in Ottawa
Fairmont Château Laurier
The 1912 chateau landmark that is the skyline with Parliament, best address in the city, ask for a renovated room.
Lord Elgin Hotel
1941 limestone landmark opposite the NAC, the mid range default: renovated rooms, lap pool, perfect walkability.
The Metcalfe by Gray Collection
Renovated historic building with high ceilings and a courtyard atrium, calmer than chain towers at similar money.
Alt Hotel Ottawa Downtown
Germain's fixed price design on a budget concept, a smart solo or business buy ten minutes from Parliament.
The Business Inn & Suites
Genuine budget in the best area: large kitchen suites on a residential street, Elgin two blocks east.
Le Germain Hotel Ottawa
Boutique luxury beside the Art Gallery: quiet wood and wool calm, Market adjacent without Market loud.
The Westin Ottawa
Reliable luxury chain linked to Rideau Centre, with saltwater pool and Parliament and Canal views.
Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market
Design flagship in the Market with Copper Spirits and Sights, Ottawa's tallest rooftop bar, on the 16th floor.
Is Ottawa expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | CA$120 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | CA$275 a person |
| Splurge | CA$550 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Parliament Hill: weeks ahead
- Rideau Canal Cruise: a few days ahead
- Diefenbunker: Canada's Cold War Museum: a few days ahead
- Canadian Tire Centre: weeks ahead
- National Arts Centre: weeks ahead
- The Haunted Walk: a few days ahead
- Nordik Spa Village Chelsea: weeks ahead
- Escape Bicycle Tours: a few days ahead
- Parliament House and Senate tour tickets are separate and gone in summer; book when dates are fixed.
- Atelier a month or more ahead, Perch weeks ahead, Les Fougères weekends a week or more ahead.
- Nordik entry and treatments sell out on weekends and holidays; weekday mornings are calm.
- Free Thursday late openings at the national museums are the value move; verify current hours.
Is Ottawa safe?
- The King Edward, Lowertown east and Rideau east corridor is the specific exception; route around it late at night.
- Winter is the bigger hazard: wind chill below minus 20, icy sidewalks and frostbite in minutes on the Skateway.
- Ottawa River currents at Remic Rapids, Bate Island and Deschênes are dangerous; swim only at supervised beaches.
- Watch bags in Canada Day and Bluesfest crowds and use lit main streets late.
Ottawa travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- ByWard tourist patios at their loudest charge tout board prices for frozen and fried pub food.
- Sparks Street is handsome but quiet outside festivals and lunch; walk it, do not plan an evening around it.
- Rideau Centre is a good mall, not a reason to visit a capital; shop Bank Street, Wellington West and the Market hall.
- Never treat the Skateway as a fixed date guarantee, and skip unregistered short term rentals without a city permit number.
Getting around Ottawa: public transport and more
- O-Train Line 1 covers downtown east to west; Lines 2 and 4 reach Dows Lake, Carleton and the airport.
- Walk the centre: Parliament, Gallery, Market and the Glebe north end are all inside 30 minutes via Canal paths.
- Gatineau is another province and transit system, STO; walking the bridges is a scenic commute.
- Rent a car only for Gatineau Park trailheads, Nordik, the Diefenbunker, Parc Oméga and rafting days.
Who Ottawa suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Ottawa your trip
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