Ottawa Become a Travel Agent Near Me

Overview

Introduction

From humble beginnings in 1800 as a lumber camp, Ottawa, Ontario, grew to become the vibrant, multicultural capital of Canada. Ottawa is a bilingual city, reflecting its French and English heritage. Home to the copper-roofed Parliament Buildings, the Supreme Court of Canada and foreign embassies, Ottawa has many walkable historic neighborhoods, bustling farmers markets, world-class museums, trendy restaurants and exciting nightlife.

Situated at the confluence of the Ottawa, Gatineau and Rideau rivers, the city is bisected by the Rideau Canal. The 5 mi/8 km section running from Dows Lake to the downtown core is flanked by bike and walking paths. From January to early March, the ice surface is flooded to create the Rideau Canal Skateway, the world's longest skating rink. In the summer, colorful masses of flowers, beginning with tulips in May, bloom along both sides of the canal. UNESCO has declared the entire canal, stretching 125 mi/202 km from Ottawa to Kingston, a World Heritage site. It is the oldest canal system in North America, built in 1832 and still operating today.

A greenbelt encircles central Ottawa, and its many parks filled with plants, well-kept lawns and canopies of mature trees add to the city's scenic appeal. Across the river in Quebec, Gatineau Park is a massive natural playground with some of the region's most pristine protected areas, wildlife, lakes and rivers.

Must See or Do

Sights—The imposing Victorian Gothic Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill; the hand-operated locks on the Rideau Canal; Laurier House; Rideau Hall; the ByWard Market.

Museums—Acclaimed traveling exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada; the Canadian War Museum; the Canada Aviation and Space Museum; the beautifully restored dioramas in the mammal gallery at the Canadian Museum of Nature; the Museum of History.

Memorable Meals—Freshly shucked oysters at a Whalesbone Oyster House; innovative seasonal cuisine at Beckta Dining and Wine; Le Baccara in the Casino du Lac-Leamy just over the border in Gatineau, Quebec.

Late Night—Top international and Canadian acts at Barrymore's Music Hall (located in a 1914 vaudeville music hall); cool blues at Rainbow Bistro; Irish atmosphere at the Heart & Crown; hipster cocktails at Kinki; dancing at LGBTQ friendly Babylon.

Walks—A stroll along the cliffs of Parliament Hill; alongside the Rideau Canal trail to Dows Lake; window shopping in the ByWard Market area; hiking the rugged trails of Gatineau Park.

Especially for Kids—The collection of wonders at the Canadian Children's Museum (located in the Canadian Museum of Civilization); virtual voyages at the Canada Science and Technology Museum; wintertime skating on the Rideau Canal.

Geography

Ottawa is located in southeastern Canada, situated at the far eastern tip of the province of Ontario right on the border with the province of Quebec. The city is divided by the Rideau Canal, which serves as a popular spot for outdoor activity year-round. On the west side is the core of the city, called Downtown. There you'll find Parliament Hill and the pedestrian mall on Sparks Street. Centretown, home to the Canadian Museum of Nature, is just south of Downtown. The popular ByWard Market area is across the canal to the east. The neighborhood known as Sandy Hill lies southeast of the market, bounded by Rideau Street and Laurier Avenue East. Close to the University of Ottawa, Sandy Hill attracts a young, hip student crowd.

Immediately north of the ByWard Market, the Ottawa River separates Ontario and Quebec. Just across the river is Gatineau. (Formerly known as Hull, the town changed its name to Gatineau in 2001. Many residents on both sides of the river still refer to it by its former name.) Gatineau can be reached by any one of five bridges. To the northwest, you'll find Gatineau Park, a large wilderness area containing the Kingsmere Estate, the former summer home of Canada's 10th prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King.

History

Centuries before Europeans arrived in North America, a tribe of Algonquin (Anishinaabe) people made their home on the banks of the Ottawa River. The first recorded visit by a European was in 1610, when the French explorer Etienne Brule passed through the area. He was followed three years later by Samuel de Champlain, the founder of the city of Quebec, who was in search of a route that would provide passage to the Far East.

In 1826, British Army engineers and troops, led by Lt. Col. John By, built barracks on what is now known as Parliament Hill. From this base of operations they constructed the Rideau Canal system, linking the Ottawa River to the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario many miles/kilometers to the south. The canal was built as an alternate shipping route between Toronto and Montreal, in case a U.S. invasion put the St. Lawrence in danger.

The new canal and surrounding forests led to the establishment of Bytown, across the canal from Parliament Hill. It became a center for Canada's new logging industry, supplying timber for British war ships. Colonel By also laid out the footprint for the ByTown Market as it still exists today, and for Upper Town and Lower Town.

Bytown was renamed Ottawa in 1855. Two years later, Queen Victoria spurned Montreal, Toronto and nearby Kingston to select Ottawa as the capital of Canada. Many early Canadian governors general were put off by the remote wilderness location, but the choice was sound. The new capital could be easily defended, and a booming timber industry had made it an economic success. Prime ministers Sir Wilfrid Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie King worked to transform Ottawa into a city that might one day compete with other capitals and replaced the army barracks on the hill with the Parliament Buildings that stand there today.

After World War II, French planner Jacques Greber, the architect of the 1937 Paris World's Fair and town planner for Marseilles and Lyon, created Confederation Square in the center of Ottawa and initiated an overall beautification program, leading to the multitude of parks (now known as the National Capital Greenbelt) that make Ottawa a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts.

Until the 1980s, Ottawa was mainly a government town. The federal government remains a major employer, but the city is also home to scientific laboratories, numerous national associations, the University of Ottawa, Carleton University and Algonquin College.

Potpourri

People staying "cells" at the Ottawa International Hostel often claim to see ghosts. Before it became a hostel, the 150-year-old building served as Ottawa's first jail and it's the reputed site of Canada's last public hanging.

Mackenzie King, Canada's prime minister during World War II, once asked a Canadian diplomat in London to send him some remnants of the Palace of Westminster after a bombing raid, so that King could add them to his fake "ruins" at his country estate in Gatineau Park. The diplomat dutifully shipped the masonry to Canada by submarine.

One of the world's most accurate clocks (its accuracy is better than 0.1 second) is housed in Ottawa's National Research Council. Listening for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio broadcast of the 11 a.m. NRC Time Signal has been a beloved Canadian tradition for more than 75 years.

If you're strolling through the ByWard Market, be sure your route takes you through Tin House Court, a cobbled courtyard east of Sussex Drive and north of Clarence Street. Then look up. Mounted on the back wall of a shop is what was once the intricate facade of a nearby house, created completely from metal by Victorian tinsmith Honore Foisy.

Ottawa provided refuge to the Dutch royal family during World War II—the delivery room of a local hospital was even briefly declared Dutch soil so that a newborn princess could legally inherit the throne. As a thank-you, Netherlands presented the city with 100,000 tulip bulbs and continued the gift for several decades. The tulip became the official flower of Ottawa in 2001.