Canada · Ontario
Plan your Ottawa trip
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01Your itinerary
02Where to stay
ByWard Market
Best for first-timers who want everything within walking distanceThe liveliest and most central base, steps from Parliament Hill and the National Gallery, with the city's best concentration of restaurants and bars on the doorstep. Busy and a little loud on weekend nights.
A heritage hotel near the market square
Look for a property on or just off Sussex Drive for the shortest possible walk to Parliament Hill and the museums.
€€€A boutique hotel on a quieter market side street
Set back a block from the main restaurant strip trades a little buzz for a genuinely quiet night's sleep.
€€Centretown
Best for value without sacrificing walkabilityA more residential, workaday stretch along Bank and Elgin Streets, walkable to Parliament Hill and the canal, with a solid independent restaurant scene of its own and generally better rates than the Market.
A mid-range hotel near the canal on Elgin Street
Puts the Rideau Canal skateway or towpath directly outside the door, whichever season you're visiting in.
€€The Glebe
Best for longer stays and a small-town feel inside the capitalA leafy, upscale residential neighbourhood ten to fifteen minutes south of downtown by foot or light rail, with an excellent independent shopping strip and a Sunday farmers' market — a quieter, more local pace than the core.
A bed-and-breakfast in a Glebe heritage home
Several century homes along Bank Street's residential side streets operate as small inns, a genuinely local alternative to a downtown chain.
€€Westboro
Best for a more residential base near the riverThe outdoor-gear-and-brunch neighbourhood favoured by Ottawa's paddling and cycling crowd, right on the Ottawa River Pathway — further from Parliament Hill but well connected by light rail and bus.
A boutique hotel near Richmond Road
Puts the Ottawa River Pathway and Westboro Beach within easy reach, at a remove from the downtown government-district bustle.
€€Gatineau's Hull sector
Best for travellers who want a taste of Quebec without leaving the capital regionDirectly across the river in Quebec, a francophone old-town quarter with its own bar and restaurant scene and the Canadian Museum of History on the waterfront — a genuinely different-feeling base a short walk from Parliament Hill.
A hotel on the Gatineau waterfront
Trades a few minutes' extra walk to Parliament Hill for river views and a francophone neighbourhood on the doorstep.
€€Affiliate notePostcardRoute is reader-supported. Some links to Booking.com (stays, flights, car hire, tickets and tours, airport transfers) are affiliate links, tracked through CJ Affiliate: if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend places we would send a friend.
03Tickets & tours
Parliament Hill
The Gothic Revival home of Canada's federal government, perched on a limestone bluff above the Ottawa River, with the Peace Tower's carillon audible…
Tip Catch the Changing the Guard ceremony on the lawn in summer, or the free sound-and-light show projected onto the Centre Block most evenings from late spring through…
Rideau Canal
A UNESCO World Heritage waterway completed in 1832 as a military supply route, running from downtown Ottawa to Kingston — and, once it freezes hard…
Tip Rent skates at one of the huts along the canal in winter, or walk or cycle the towpath in summer, when it is simply a very pleasant, tree-lined waterway through the…
ByWard Market
A working produce and craft market operating on the same site since 1826, surrounded by the city's densest cluster of restaurants, bars and specialty…
Tip Go in the morning for the actual market stalls and a coffee, then come back after dark for the restaurant and bar scene — it is close to two different neighbourhoods…
National Gallery of Canada
A glass-and-granite landmark designed by Moshe Safdie, holding the country's largest art collection alongside major international works, fronted by…
Tip The Indigenous and Canadian galleries are the collection's real strength — budget more time there than in the smaller European wing most visitors head to first.
Canadian Museum of History
Across the river in Gatineau, Canada's most-visited museum traces the country's human history from Indigenous origins to the present, anchored by the…
Tip Cross the Alexandra Bridge on foot from Parliament Hill — it is a scenic ten-minute walk that also happens to cross into a different province.
Canadian War Museum
A deliberately austere, bunker-like building examining Canada's military history from colonial conflicts through the World Wars to modern…
Tip Budget at least two hours; the exhibits are dense and the museum is genuinely one of the best of its kind in North America, not a quick add-on.
Gatineau Park
A 361-square-kilometre wilderness park just minutes from downtown, with hiking and cross-country ski trails, lookout points over the Ottawa Valley,…
Tip Champlain Lookout is the easiest big-view payoff for the effort, especially spectacular during peak autumn colour in early-to-mid October.
Canada Aviation and Space Museum
One of the world's largest aviation collections housed in a hangar-like building near the airport, spanning early biplanes to Cold War jets and…
Tip It is a short taxi or bus ride from downtown and easy to combine with the Canada Science and Technology Museum, which is closer to the core.
Day trips from Ottawa
Gatineau Park
Wilderness hiking, lookout points and lake swimming a short drive or bus ride from downtown — easily a full day in autumn for the colour, or a…
Day tripChâteau Montebello & the Ottawa Valley
An hour east along the Ottawa River to the historic log château at Montebello, once a private retreat for the world's wealthiest and now a resort,…
Day tripMerrickville
A well-preserved nineteenth-century mill town on the Rideau Canal about an hour south, with stone buildings turned into boutiques, galleries and a…
Day tripWakefield
A small arts-and-crafts village in the Gatineau Hills about half an hour north, popular for its covered bridge, riverside pubs and access to Gatineau…
Day tripEverything to do in Ottawa
Skip-the-line tickets, guided tours and day trips, all in one place on Booking.com.
04Getting there & around
Getting around
Central Ottawa rewards walking more than the government-town reputation suggests. Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market, the National Gallery, the Rideau Canal and most of downtown's hotels sit within a compact, flat, gridded core that a reasonably fit visitor can cross on foot in twenty to thirty minutes.
Flights
Compare fares into Ottawa and pick dates that suit the days you planned.
Airport transfers
Book a private or shared ride from the airport so the first evening starts at your door, not at a ticket queue.
Car hire from Ottawa
Only worth it for day trips beyond the city — in town, the plan above works on foot and public transport.
Affiliate notePostcardRoute is reader-supported. Some links to Booking.com (stays, flights, car hire, tickets and tours, airport transfers) are affiliate links, tracked through CJ Affiliate: if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend places we would send a friend.