Things to do in Ottawa

Culture · Centretown to Dow's Lake

A UNESCO World Heritage canal that freezes into the world's largest skating rink each winter, running nearly eight kilometres through the city.

Local tip: People genuinely commute on it — skate to work, change shoes, carry on. The season is shorter than it used to be and opening depends entirely on the ice, so check the daily conditions rather than planning ahead. Rent skates at Dow's Lake and go early on a weekday.

Food · Downtown, east of Parliament

One of Canada's oldest continuously operating public markets, surrounded by restaurants, bars and produce stalls.

Local tip: The market building and the outdoor stalls are the real thing, particularly in autumn for Ontario produce. The surrounding bar strip is student-heavy and rowdy at weekends — the daytime market and the night-time district are effectively two different places.

Nature · 15 minutes across the river, in Quebec

Nearly 400 square kilometres of Canadian Shield forest, lakes and escarpment, beginning almost at the edge of downtown.

Local tip: The best cross-country skiing accessible from any Canadian city, on a groomed network of over 200 kilometres, and swimming lakes in summer. Note that it is in Quebec — different parking rules and different signage, and the parkways close to cars on summer Sunday mornings for cyclists.

Landmark · Downtown, on the river

The Gothic revival parliament buildings above the Ottawa River, and the cluster of national museums around them.

Local tip: The national museums are free on certain evenings and the National Gallery's Canadian and Indigenous collections are the strongest in the country. Centre Block is under a very long restoration, so the parliamentary tour is not what postcards show.

Neighborhood · West of downtown along Wellington

Two adjoining neighbourhoods that became the city's best independent shopping and eating strip, with beach access at the end.

Local tip: Hintonburg is the earlier, scruffier and more interesting half; Westboro has been thoroughly gentrified. Westboro Beach on the Ottawa River is a genuine swimming beach fifteen minutes from downtown, which almost no visitor realises exists.

Nature · 60–90 minutes upstream

World-class big-volume whitewater on the Ottawa River, with commercial rafting operations along it.

Local tip: This stretch is internationally known among paddlers and almost unknown to people who live in the city. Warm water by Canadian standards, huge forgiving waves, and a genuine day trip that residents consistently mean to do and never quite do.