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Going Places: Destinations |
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Together with:
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Courtesy of Ottawa Tourism |
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You know Ottawa. Or, at least, you think you do.
Ottawa has always been more layered than its capital-city reputation lets on. Before it was a capital, it was a meeting place. Then a canal project. Then a rough lumber town. Each version didn't disappear when the next one arrived. They piled atop one another like sedimentary rock, and you can see this history openly if you know where to look.
The river that carried timber through the region is now lined with paths where people bike to work and walk for leisure. The canal built as a military supply route becomes, when winter is kind, a nearly five-mile skating rink through the middle of the city.
Ottawa is a government town surrounded by a staggering amount of wilderness. It's where generations of Lebanese immigrants have made shawarma both a necessary food group and a love language-and helped create Ottawa-style pizza that folks will happily debate. It has spent years presenting itself on screen as New York, Philly, and other cities, but is now getting attention for playing itself. The Ottawa you recognize is there. It's just a slice of the whole pie.
This year is a particularly good time to visit, as Ottawa is celebrating 200 years since the founding of Bytown, the name of the settlement before it became Ottawa. It's not the beginning of the story, but one chapter in a history that far predates 1826. So, see Parliament. Take the photo. But then, keep exploring. Whether you know Ottawa well or you're meeting it for the first time, there's a lot more city hiding behind the face of this capital. Read more in Ren Newman's Guide to Ottawa.
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Never miss a deal to Ottawa! Head to the Going app to find deals around $239 roundtrip (that's 60% off the regular price). |
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Courtesy of Ottawa Tourism
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This government town has a wilder past than its postcards let on, with rivers, canals, and way more than 200 years of history hiding in plain sight. |
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Parliament Hill: Guided tours are free. Centre Block is currently closed for rehabilitation, so the House of Commons is sitting temporarily in West Block.
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Rideau Canal Skateway: The world's longest skating rink, running right through downtown. Weather-dependent (prime time is Dec-Feb), so check before you go. To maximize your chances, book in January.
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Kìwekì Point: A lookout behind the National Gallery of Canada, redeveloped in collaboration with local Indigenous communities. Parliament sits across the water. Best at sunrise or sunset.
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National Capital Greenbelt: More than 20,000 hectares of protected farms, forests, and wetlands ringing the city, including the 7,700-year-old Mer Bleue bog.
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ByWard Market: Historic, central, and busy, it's worth wandering once. Just don't mistake it for the whole city.
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Gatineau Park: Across the river in Québec, and reachable by bike from downtown.
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For a national capital, Ottawa has a startling amount of wilderness. Part of that is deliberate. The National Capital Greenbelt comprises more than 20,000 hectares of farms, forests, wetlands, streams, and other protected green space around the urban center. Created in the 1950s to protect rural land from city sprawl, it's now one of the largest publicly owned greenbelts in the world.
Within it is Mer Bleue, a roughly 7,700-year-old bog southeast of Parliament Hill. Its ecosystem is more typical of landscapes considerably farther north, and a boardwalk enables you to escape into an environment that feels entirely disconnected from the city.
Then, there's the farm. Nestled near the center of the city, the Central Experimental Farm was established in 1886 to support agricultural research across the young country, and it remains a working research landscape today, with crop fields, historic buildings, gardens, and an arboretum winding across hundreds of acres.
Together with the Ottawa River, Rideau Canal, beaches, pathways, and Gatineau Park across the water, it's clear that getting outside in Ottawa doesn't require leaving town. Here, nature isn't something one drives out to see. It's enmeshed in the way the capital was planned and how people utilize it.
-Ren Newman, Going contributing writer |
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Courtesy of Ottawa Tourism |
Ottawa's food scene runs on cold winters, decades of immigration, and plenty of garlic. |
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Shawarma: Ottawa has more shawarma shops than anywhere else in Canada and holds the world record for the longest line of shawarma, thanks to generations of Lebanese immigrants. Don't miss the garlic potatoes from Shawarma Palace.
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Ottawa-style pizza: Thicker crust, loaded toppings, and a heavy layer of cheese over everything. Locals are divided on whether this is genius or sacrilege.
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Golden Palace egg rolls: The city's oldest Chinese restaurant, family-run for 60+ years. So good it ships its open-ended egg rolls around Ontario.
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BeaverTails: The fried-dough classic that is quintessential Ottawa.
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Chinatown on Somerset Street: Vietnamese pho and bánh mì alongside Chinese, Korean, and Thai cooking, all beneath the Royal Arch.
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Courtesy of Bytown Museum
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On September 26, Ottawa marks 200 years since Lieutenant Colonel John By arrived to build the Rideau Canal and Bytown was founded at its banks. This weekend, the city is throwing a proper birthday party, with the free Ottawa 200 Block Party taking over Marion Dewar Plaza downtown, the Bytown Museum running a full day of free programming (plus a disco!), and Nuit Blanche Ottawa turning public spaces into an all-night art festival after dark. Plus, the city's independent arts festival is collaborating with the Embassy of Finland to bring a Sami DJ to host a teknosauna.
The celebration doesn't stop there, though. The rest of the year and into 2027 brings the Ottawa International Writers Festival in October, Winterlude returning in late January, and Bluesfest next summer (timed to ByWard Market's own 200th anniversary in 2027). There's a lot going on, so always check programming details directly with event organizers.
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Sleeping with wolves at Parc Oméga |
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Tampa  Ottawa
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Nashville Ottawa
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Los Angeles Ottawa
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