Beechwood Cemetary (Sunday/20 km only)

Established in 1873, Beechwood Cemetery is the national cemetery of Canada. It is also the National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Armed Forces and the National Memorial Cemetery of both the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. The Cemetery was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 2001. Among the more than 82,000 people buried at Beechwood are politicians, prominent businesspeople and scientists, military members and veterans, police officers, Hockey Hall of Famers, and other notable individuals from Ottawa and all over Canada. 

This commerce, entertainment, and leisure district is the historical heart of Ottawa. It is named after the old By Ward, whose name is itself derived from the surname of the builder of the Rideau Canal and founder of Ottawa (then known as Bytown), Lieutenant Colonel John By. In 1827, Colonel By built Bytown’s first market building in the neighbourhood. The structure served both as a centre for market activities and as a public hall for political and religious meetings. In the 1830s, the district enjoyed a period of rapid commercial growth, and by the 1840s, the neighbourhood had firmly established itself as Bytown’s commercial and residential centre. With the opening of the Rideau Canal in 1832, Ottawa (as the city was renamed in 1855) expanded its role as a regional trading centre, with all that activity directed through the ByWard Market area. Today, many of the ByWard Market’s original industries and services have given way to boutiques and restaurants. With as many as 50,000 visitors during summer weekends, the ByWard Market is Ottawa’s number one tourist attraction and premier destination for shopping, dining, arts, entertainment, and professional services.

Link: ByWard Market District Authority | BMDA | Ottawa, ON Canada

The Canadian Museum of History is Canada’s national anthropology, history, and ethnology museum. Its collections contain over three million artifacts and documents, with some on display in the Museum’s permanent exhibitions. The Museum also organizes temporary, travelling, and online exhibitions, like the Virtual Museum of New France. The Museum’s building opened in 1989. It was designed by architect Douglas Cardinal, a member of the Siksika First Nation, and was the first structure in the National Capital Region to incorporate Indigenous architectural designs.

Link: Canadian Museum of History

The Canadian War Museum is devoted to showcasing Canada’s rich military history. Its collection contains more than 500,000 items related to military history, including more than 13,000 works of military art. The Museum was formally established in 1942, although portions of its collection originate from a previous establishment with a similar vocation that operated from 1880 to 1896. The Museum’s current building was inaugurated in 2005. Its stern external angular lines were designed to evoke the devastations of war, with the bunker-like building appearing to emerge from a scarred landscape. A series of windows at the top of the Museum’s aileron-looking structure on the southeastern façade spell out “lest we forget/n’oublions jamais” in Morse code. 

Link: Canadian War Museum

The Château Laurier hotel is one of Ottawa’s most iconic sights. Constructed between 1909 and 1912 in the French Gothic Revival Châteauesque style to complement the nearby buildings on Parliament Hill, the hotel was linked by an underground tunnel to Ottawa’s former train station, which was built across the street during the same period. Commissioned by Charles Melville Hays, the president of the Grand Trunk Railway Company and named after Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Château Laurier was set to open under great pomp in April 1912, but the ceremony had to be postponed when Charles Melville Hays perished in the Titanic disaster while on his way to Canada. Since its opening, the Château Laurier has hosted royalty, heads of state, political figures, and other celebrities visiting Ottawa. It was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981.

The Chaudière Falls are a set of cascades and waterfalls in the Ottawa River in the heart of the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area. They are about 60 metres wide and have a 15-metre drop in elevation. The Falls were named by French explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1613, with the word “chaudière” (‘kettle’ in English) mirroring the meaning of the name that the Algonquin First Nation gives the Falls: Akikpautik. The Falls’ circular shape and the mist rising from their waters do indeed evoke the image of a great cauldron. The Algonquin, together with other First Nations, consider the Chaudière Falls and the land surrounding them a sacred site due to the location’s significance as a meeting place, portage site, hunting ground, and trade route. They would traditionally make offerings of tobacco to the river to ensure a safe journey. The Chaudière Falls were at the heart of the Ottawa-Gatineau region’s industrial boom in the mid-1800s by providing hydroelectric power to the many lumber mills and factories that were built on both shores of the Ottawa River. 

Link: Experience Chaudière Falls

Ottawa’s Chinatown is located along Somerset Street, west of downtown. The area is home to businesses from many Asian cultures, such as Chinese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese; and the neighbourhood is famous for its many dim sum and phở restaurants. Don’t miss the Paifang archway at the western entrance of Chinatown on Somerset Street, west of Bronson Avenue. The archway, which is a traditional Chinese symbol of prosperity, health and good fortune, was installed in 2010.

Link: Ottawa Chinatown

Located directly across the Château Laurier hotel, Ottawa’s former Union Station served as the city’s central railway station from its opening in 1912 to 1966, when tracks were removed from downtown and another train station was built east of the city centre. In 1967, the building became the headquarters of Canada’s centennial celebration and was turned into a government conference centre in 1968. In 2018, following some restoration and modernization work, the building became the temporary seat of the Senate of Canada, which was forced to leave Parliament Hill due to extensive, multi-year renovations in the Centre Block building. 

Canada’s second-most visited park, Gatineau Park is a nature conservation park located in the Outaouais region of Québec, just north of the city of Ottawa across the Ottawa River. Created in 1938, the Park has an area of 361 square kilometres, making it the largest green space in the region. Gatineau Park is the recreational heart of the Ottawa-Gatineau area, offering outdoor activity enthusiasts a number of public facilities including beaches, campgrounds, and picnic areas. There are also nearly 200 kilometres of cross-country skiing trails, 165 kilometres of hiking trails, and 90 km of trails for mountain biking. Several lookouts (including the popular Champlain lookout) also offer stunning views of the Ottawa valley and surrounding area. Each fall, when the leaves change colour, locals and tourists alike flock to the Park to witness nature’s rich colourful displays and enjoy the autumn scenery.

Link: Gatineau Park | National Capital Commission

The neighbourhood of Hintonburg is located west of downtown. The area was first settled in 1826, became a village in 1893, and was absorbed into the city of Ottawa in 1907. With its many shops and restaurants (especially along Wellington Street West), Hintonburg is considered one of Ottawa’s trendiest neighbourhoods. The area is also home to the Great Canadian Theatre Company, which produces original Canadian plays and – during the warm season – to the popular Parkdale farmers’ market. Fun fact: in 1896, the very first film projected in Canada was shown in a tent in Hintonburg!

Leamy Lake is the largest urban park in Canada’s National Capital Region. It offers a public beach, a playground, a picnic area, and volleyball courts. The lake is named after Andrew Leamy, an Irish settler and industrialist who built a sawmill on the southern shore of the lake in 1853. Pathways near the lake lead to important archeological sites which reveal that First Nations inhabited the site some 5000 years ago. In 1996, the Government of Québec opened a casino on the southern shore of the lake. With its games, numerous bars and restaurants, a hotel, and 1,100-seat theatre, the establishment is now a major regional tourist attraction.

This bronze statue commemorates Tessouat, chief of the Algonquin (Anishinàbeg) First Nation, who died around 1654. Tessouat was a statesman, a skilled negotiator, a warrior, and a trader; and during his life, the Anishinàbeg controlled the flow of traffic and goods on the Ottawa River.

The National Gallery of Canada is Canada’s national art museum and one of the largest art museums in North America by exhibition space. The Gallery’s permanent collection includes more than 93,000 works by Canadian, Indigenous, American, European, and Asian artists. In addition to exhibiting works from its permanent collection, the Gallery also organizes and hosts several travelling exhibitions. Its current building was built between 1985 and 1988.

Link: National Gallery of Canada

The National War Memorial is a 20-metre-high granite memorial arch with bronze sculptures. Originally built to commemorate the Canadians who died in the First World War, it was rededicated in 1982 to also include those killed in the Second World War and Korean War. In 2014, in was rededicated again to add the dead from the Second Boer War and the War in Afghanistan as well as all Canadians killed in all conflicts past and future. In 2000, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added in front of the memorial and symbolizes the sacrifices made by all Canadians who have died or may yet die for their country. Since 1940, the National War Memorial has been the site of the national Remembrance Day ceremony, which is organized every year by the Royal Canadian Legion on 11 November. The event is attended by between 25,000 and 45,000 people and is nationally televised.

Link: National War Memorial - National Inventory of Canadian Military Memorials (NICMM) - Memorials - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada

The name of the Ottawa River (or Kichi-Sìbì [‘Great River’] in the Algonquin language) is derived from the Algonquin word ‘adàwe,’ meaning “to trade”. For most of its length, the 1,271-kilometre-long river marks the border between the provinces of Québec and Ontario. Historically, the Anishinàbeg (Algonquin First Nation) controlled trade on the river, which was at the heart of their territory. During the 17th and 18th centuries, French fur traders, voyageurs, and coureurs des bois used the waterway to travel deep into Canada’s interior and to the Great Lakes. During the 19th century, the river was the backbone of a lucrative timber trade. Immense log rafts descended its waters to sawmills in various towns and cities down current in Québec and Ontario, and many small subsistence farming communities developed along the shores of the river to provide a workforce for the lumber camps in winter. During the 20th century, most mills converted to pulp and paper. 

Parliament Hill is an area in downtown Ottawa overlooking the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the site accommodated a military garrison, but it was converted into a governmental precinct starting in 1859 once Ottawa was chosen as the capital of Canada. Parliament Hill’s main attraction is the Centre Block, which contains the chambers of Canada’s House of Commons and Senate, the Peace Tower, and the Library of Parliament building. A great fire destroyed the Centre Block building in 1916, but the Library of Parliament was left unscathed when its chief librarian shut its heavy iron doors seconds before having to leave for safety. (Since 2018, the Centre Block has been undergoing major restauration and modernization work. The renovations are expected to last until 2031, with the building reopening to the public in 2032.) The large lawn in front of the Centre Block is often used for major celebrations, such as the annual Canada Day spectacle, or demonstrations and for the time-honoured summertime tradition of the Changing of the Guard.  

Link: Parliament Hill - Canada.ca

Located on the edge of the ByWard Market in downtown Ottawa, the Peacekeeping Monument is the only monument of its kind in the world. It is dedicated to the more than 110,000 members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have served in peacekeeping operations around the world since 1948.

Link: Reconciliation, The Peacekeeping Monument - Canada.ca

The Pretoria Bridge is a bridge in downtown Ottawa that crosses the Rideau Canal, linking the Glebe and Centretown neighbourhoods to Old Ottawa East. It was built between 1915 and 1918 and extensively renovated in 1981. The bridge was a complex feat of engineering at the time it was built, with its central portion raising vertically to allow boats to navigate under it.

The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre-long waterway that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa at its northern end to Lake Ontario at the city of Kingston at its southern end. Built between 1826 and 1832 to provide a secure defensible supply route between Montréal and Kingston in the event of armed conflict between British North America and the United States, the Rideau Canal uses its 47 locks to raise boats 83 metres from the Ottawa River upstream along the Rideau River to the Rideau Lakes and then to drop them 50 metres downstream along the Cataraqui River to Kingston. Each winter, when temperatures allow it, close to 8 kilometres of the Canal in the heart of downtown Ottawa are transformed into a natural skating rink to the delight of locals and visitors alike. The Rideau Canal was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2007. The Canal’s former Commissariat Building (constructed in 1826), which today houses a museum on the history of Ottawa, is Ottawa’s oldest building.

Link: Rideau Canal National Historic Site

The Rideau Falls are two 11-metre-high waterfalls located where the Rideau River empties into the Ottawa River. The falls were given their name by French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who discovered them in 1613 during one of his expeditions, for their resemblance to a curtain (or “rideau” in French). The Rideau River was later named after the falls.

Rideau Hall is the official residence of the Governor General of Canada, the representative of the monarch of Canada. It has served this role since the creation of the country in 1867. The main building of the Rideau Hall estate was built in 1838 by Thomas McKay, one of the founders of the city of Ottawa and builders of the Rideau Canal, as a home for his family. Often renovated over time, it nowadays contains 175 rooms. Rideau Hall is the location of many Canadian award presentations and investitures (such as the one for the Order of Canada). It is also where prime ministers and other members of the federal Cabinet are sworn in. Each year, more than 200,000 people visit Rideau Hall’s state rooms on guided tours, while the grounds of Rideau Hall have been open to the public since 1921. They notably contain a skating rink and a cricket pitch.

Link: Rideau Hall (Ottawa) | The Governor General of Canada

Rockliffe Park is a neighbourhood and Heritage Conservation District in the city of Ottawa, northeast of downtown and on the southern banks of the Ottawa River. It is known for its many mature trees and gardens and generous plot sizes. There are no commercial buildings in the neighbourhood. Rockcliffe Park is and has been home to many Ottawa notables, including former prime ministers, senior civil servants, corporate leaders, and many foreign ambassadors and diplomats. The Dutch royal family notably lived there during World War II. Their former home, Stornoway, is now the residence of the leader of the Canadian Official Opposition. Also in the neighbourhood is McKay Lake, named after Thomas McKay, one of the founders of Ottawa and former owner of Rockliffe Park.

Created in 1885, the Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court in the judicial system of the country. It is bijural, hearing cases from the two major legal traditions of Canada (British common law and French civil law), and bilingual, hearing cases in both official languages of Canada (English and French). The court is composed of nine justices, who are appointed by the Governor General upon recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Court sits in an Art Deco-style building constructed between 1939 and 1946.

Lien: Supreme Court of Canada | Home

The Voyageurs Pathway is a 30-kilometre-long recreational multiuse pathway on the northern shore of the Ottawa river. It follows the route that has been used by First Nations people, French coureurs des bois, European explorers and missionaries for centuries to travel through the region. 

Originally built in 1880, this former railroad bridge reopened in 2023 as a pedestrian and bicycle crossing between the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau. It is named in honour of William Commanda, Chief of the Kitigàn-zìbì Anishinàbeg First Nation from 1951 to 1970.