Things to do in Ottawa

Ottawa began in 1826 as Bytown, a settlement for the builders of the Rideau Canal, and took its name in 1855. Queen Victoria chose it as capital in 1857. Most things to do in Ottawa lie within a few kilometres of Parliament Hill.

Parliament Hill and the canal

Parliament stands on a bluff above the Ottawa River. The Centre Block is closed for restoration. Tours run in the West Block and the Senate building instead.

• National War Memorial. Dedicated in 1939 on Confederation Square. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added in 2000.
• Rideau Canal. Opened in 1832, 202 km long to Kingston, a UNESCO site since 2007. Its locks step down beside the Hill to the river.
• ByWard Market. A market district laid out by John By in 1826.
• National Gallery. Moshe Safdie's building of 1988, with Louise Bourgeois's 9-metre spider outside.
• Canadian War Museum. At LeBreton Flats, in a building opened in 2005.

Across the river, and out to Rockcliffe

Gatineau, in Québec, lies a bridge away. The Canadian Museum of History stands there, in a building opened in 1989. Gatineau Park, over 361 square kilometres, lies just north.

Rockcliffe Park, northeast of the centre, is a district of ambassadors' homes. The Dutch royal family sheltered there in the war. Their gift of 100,000 tulip bulbs in 1945 led to the tulip festival each May.

What gets booked

Tours in Ottawa here are phone-led games, with no guide. A two-hour scavenger hunt links Parliament, the canal and the spider. A detective quest downtown takes over three hours.

Others cover street murals, a food trail and the embassy residences of Rockcliffe Park.

Practical

• Weather. January averages -10C, with nights near -14C. July afternoons reach 27C.
• Skating. The Rideau Canal Skateway runs 7.8 km, free, from about January to early March if the ice allows. Winterlude fills three weekends in February.
• Getting around. Line 1 of the O-Train stops at Parliament and Rideau. Line 4 runs to the airport.
• Autumn. Gatineau Park often fills up in the fall, so go on a weekday.