Parliament Hill and the locks
3.2 km · ~half a day · Centretown · 7 stops
- Supreme Court of Canada
- Parliament Hill
- West Block (free tour)
- National War Memorial
- Ottawa Locks
- Bytown Museum
- Kìwekì Point
144 places curated with Canada's 100 Best 2026, enRoute 2026, the NCC and local press · no Eater coverage
Tap a route and it gets drawn on the map, stop by stop.
Tap a pin to see photos, rating and how to get there by O-Train, bus or on foot. Turn on a route to follow the numbered path.
This interactive map of Ottawa (Canada) brings together 144 hand-picked places: 56 attractions, 42 restaurants, 24 cafés and 22 shops. It also includes 5 walking routes with their stops in order. For every place you get what it is, a practical tip and how to get there by public transport. It is free, works on your phone and needs no sign-up.
· Curated by the HOLASIM team · How we make the maps
Tap a route to see it drawn on the map, stop by stop.
3.2 km · ~half a day · Centretown · 7 stops
2.6 km · ~4 hours · ByWard Market · 7 stops
4.1 km · ~5 hours · LeBreton Flats · 6 stops
5.4 km · ~half a day · Dow's Lake and The Glebe · 7 stops
4.8 km · ~6 hours · Hull, Gatineau (another province) · 6 stops
Colline du Parlement · Centretown
The neo-Gothic terrace above the Ottawa River: Centre Block under wraps, West Block in session and the Centennial Flame.
Tip: Changing of the Guard is over: the 2026 season ended in August and Ottawa Tourism already lists 'Summer 2027'. Nothing in October.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Tourism · Parliament of Canada (visit.parl.ca)
Show on mapÉdifice du Centre · Centretown
The building that holds the Peace Tower has been in scaffolding since 2019, in the largest heritage rehab in Canadian history.
Tip: No interior access. The stand-in is 'Parliament: The Immersive Experience', a 360 show of about 45 min, plus the West Block tour.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: PSPC Centre Block project · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapTour de la Paix · Centretown
The 92 m bell tower with its 53-bell carillon and the Memorial Chamber. Today you can only look at it from Wellington Street.
Tip: The lift to the observation deck is shut along with Centre Block and will not reopen until the rehab ends, targeted for 2030-2031.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 5 min walk.
Featured in: PSPC Centre Block project · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapÉdifice de l'Ouest · Centretown
Since 2019 it has housed the House of Commons under a glass roof built over the old interior courtyard.
Tip: The tour is free: book at visit.parl.ca from your phone. Arrive 25 min early for screening, one bag max 35x30x19 cm, no bag check.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Parliament of Canada (visit.parl.ca) · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapÉdifice du Sénat du Canada · ByWard Market
The Senate moved into the 1912 Union Station: plaster vaults, marble and a train hall turned into the upper chamber.
Tip: Tours do not run when the Senate is sitting. Check the calendar on visit.parl.ca before you walk over: it is at 2 Rideau Street.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: Parliament of Canada (visit.parl.ca)
Show on mapBibliothèque du Parlement · Centretown
The 1876 timber rotunda that survived the 1916 fire and appears on the Canadian ten-dollar bill.
Tip: It sits behind the Centre Block hoarding: today you only see it from the back, walking the edge of the hill toward the river.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: PSPC Centre Block project · Library of Parliament
Show on mapMonument commémoratif de guerre du Canada · Centretown
The granite arch with 22 bronze figures on Confederation Square, the country's ceremonial ground zero.
Tip: The National Remembrance Day Ceremony starts here on 11 November at about 10:45; that day the War Museum is free.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 5 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Tourism · Canadian War Museum
Show on mapTombe du Soldat inconnu · Centretown
The granite slab at the foot of the arch holds a Canadian soldier who fell at Vimy, repatriated in 2000.
Tip: Between late October and 11 November people leave poppies on the slab: that is the honest Ottawa photo this week.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 5 min walk.
Featured in: Royal Canadian Legion · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapCour suprême du Canada · Centretown
The 1939 art deco block with a green copper roof on the cliff, guarded by the Veritas and Iustitia statues.
Tip: The free guided tours are run by law students; you can step into the courtroom when the court is not sitting.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Lyon, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: Supreme Court of Canada · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapÉcluses d'Ottawa · Centretown
The 1832 flight of eight locks that drops 24 m from the canal to the river, between the Château Laurier and Parliament Hill.
Tip: The navigation season is over and Parks Canada drew the water down on 13 October: today you see gates and canal bed, not boats.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Parks Canada · UNESCO
Show on mapCanal Rideau · The Glebe
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007: a 202 km waterway from 1832 running through the city north to south.
Tip: The brochure lies in October: water has been down since 13 Oct and the Skateway does not open until January (in 2026, fully on 5 Jan).
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 22 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Parks Canada drawdown notice 2026 · NCC · CP24 (5 Jan 2026)
Show on mapMusée Bytown · Centretown
Ottawa's oldest stone building, from 1827, wedged among the locks: it was Colonel By's commissariat.
Tip: It is small and cheap, and the only place where the canal's story is told from inside the canal itself. Great in the rain.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: Bytown Museum · Parks Canada
Show on mapParc Major's Hill · ByWard Market
Ottawa's first public park, on the cliff between the canal and the Market, with the classic Château Laurier view.
Tip: In late October the lawn is covered in leaves and it is emptier than ever: best time for the Parliament Hill shot.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: NCC · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapPointe Kìwekì (ex Nepean Point) · ByWard Market
The river lookout reopened in May 2025 with two accessible platforms and a footbridge over to Major's Hill Park.
Tip: Mind the old name: it stopped being Nepean Point on 4 Oct 2022. Kìwekì is Algonquin for 'returning to one's homeland'.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 10 min walk.
Featured in: NCC · CBC Ottawa · Heritage Ottawa
Show on mapMusée des beaux-arts du Canada · ByWard Market
Moshe Safdie's glass cathedral: the country's largest Canadian and Inuit art collection, plus the 1888 Rideau Street Chapel.
Tip: Closed Mondays until May 2027. Thursday it stays open to 8pm with free admission: arrive 5:05pm and you get Safdie nearly alone.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 9 min walk.
Featured in: gallery.ca (hours) · 613today
Show on mapMaman, Louise Bourgeois · ByWard Market
Louise Bourgeois's 9 m bronze spider outside the National Gallery, with 26 marble eggs in her abdomen.
Tip: The shot works best from below at night, with the lit Notre-Dame Basilica framed between the spider's legs.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: National Gallery of Canada
Show on mapBasilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame · ByWard Market
Ottawa's oldest church, from 1846, with twin silver spires, a starred vault and hundreds of carved wooden figures.
Tip: Free and almost empty on a weekday mid-morning. The light on the carved choir is best before noon.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Tourism · Parks Canada (national historic site)
Show on mapMonnaie royale canadienne · ByWard Market
The 1908 limestone mint where gold and silver coins are struck and Olympic medals are kept.
Tip: The tour is paid and must be booked. The free trick: in the lobby you can lift a chained 12 kg gold bar.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 11 min walk.
Featured in: Royal Canadian Mint · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapGalerie d'art d'Ottawa · ByWard Market
The city gallery, reopened in 2018 in a glass cube: Ottawa-Gatineau artists and the Firestone collection of Canadian painting.
Tip: General admission is never charged. Go up to Jackson Café on the fourth floor: the terrace faces downtown and almost nobody knows it.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Art Gallery · 613today
Show on mapPrison d'Ottawa (HI) · ByWard Market
The 1862 Carleton County Gaol turned hostel: 90 cm cells, a death row corridor and the gallows still on the roof.
Tip: You do not need to stay: the history tour goes into death row. Halloween week fills up, book ahead.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: HI Canada · Haunted Walk of Ottawa
Show on mapMusée canadien de la guerre · LeBreton Flats
Moriyama's concrete bunker at LeBreton Flats: Hitler's Mercedes, real tanks and Regeneration Hall pointing at the Peace Tower.
Tip: Thursday it stays open to 7pm and 5-7pm is free; on 11 November admission is free all day. Always grab a timed ticket.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Pimisi, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: warmuseum.ca (hours & admission)
Show on mapMusée canadien de la nature · Golden Triangle
The 1912 Victorian castle topped with a modern glass lantern: Alberta dinosaurs, the blue whale and the Arctic gallery.
Tip: Thursday 5-8pm is free, but you must grab the free ticket online first: it is the only one of these museums that requires it.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to uOttawa, then about 13 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: nature.ca · 613today
Show on mapMusée de la Banque du Canada · Centretown
Under the Bank of Canada's tropical atrium: how money is made, colonial banknotes and a rai stone from Yap.
Tip: Never charges and opens Wednesday to Sunday, 10 to 5. Best free rainy-day plan two blocks from Parliament Hill.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: Bank of Canada Museum · 613today
Show on mapMusée de l'aviation et de l'espace du Canada · Rockcliffe
A vast hangar at the old Rockcliffe airfield with 130 aircraft, from the Silver Dart to the salvaged Avro Arrow nose.
Tip: The three Ingenium museums charge nothing between 4 and 5pm, every day. One hour covers the main hangar.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Blair, then an OC Transpo bus or a taxi (4 km).
Featured in: ingenium.ca (visit)
Show on mapMusée des sciences et de la technologie du Canada · Lancaster Road
Steam locomotives you can walk into, the tilted Crazy Kitchen and labs where everything is hands-on.
Tip: Closed Mondays. Adult admission is CAD 19.50 plus tax, but from 4 to 5pm nothing is charged any day of the week.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Cyrville, then about 30 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: ingenium.ca (visit, hours & admission)
Show on mapMusée de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation du Canada · Central Experimental Farm
A working farm right inside the city: a dairy barn, draft horses and a tropical greenhouse full of crops.
Tip: Milking is mid-afternoon and kids can go into the barn. Same free 4-5pm window as the rest of Ingenium.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 14 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: ingenium.ca (visit)
Show on mapMusée canadien de l'histoire · Hull, Gatineau
Across the river, in Quebec: Douglas Cardinal's curves, the Grand Hall of totem poles and the best view of Parliament Hill.
Tip: It is in Gatineau: another province, another tax (GST+QST 14.975% versus Ontario's 13% HST) and another transit agency, the STO.
🚇 Walk across the Alexandra Bridge from the ByWard Market: 10 min. On the Quebec side buses are STO, not OC Transpo.
Featured in: historymuseum.ca · 613today · Revenu Québec
Show on mapRésidence du gouverneur général · New Edinburgh
The governor general's residence since 1867: 36 hectares of grounds, the greenhouse and trees planted by heads of state.
Tip: The grounds are free and open sunrise to sunset year-round; house tours are free but must be booked on gg.ca.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then about 28 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Rideau Hall (gg.ca) · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapMaison Laurier · Sandy Hill
The Victorian house where two prime ministers lived, Laurier and Mackenzie King, with the latter's library and crystal ball.
Tip: It is a Parks Canada national historic site with a seasonal schedule: check the hours first, autumn days are cut back.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to uOttawa, then a 12 min walk.
Featured in: Parks Canada · Ottawa Tourism
Show on map24, promenade Sussex · New Edinburgh
The prime minister's official residence has stood empty since 2023 and is derelict: nobody lives there and no works are confirmed.
Tip: You cannot tour it and it is barely visible from the street: the point is cycling past on Sussex Drive and seeing why the PM lives at Rideau Cottage.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then about 27 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: CTV News · CP24 (Heritage Ottawa, March 2026)
Show on mapPavillon du lac Dow · Dow's Lake
The canal's artificial widening, with its glass pavilion, the kayak docks and the great bank of May tulips.
Tip: On 13 October they drew the water down from Dow's Lake southward: today there is mud showing and the boats are out.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Parks Canada drawdown notice 2026 · NCC
Show on mapArboretum du Dominion · Central Experimental Farm
Twenty-five hectares with more than 1,700 tree species planted since 1889, on the slope down to the canal.
Tip: The region peaked around 9 October; what is left here are oaks and beeches, the ones that hold on into November.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then a 11 min walk.
Featured in: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada · CP24 (9 Oct 2026)
Show on mapFerme expérimentale centrale · River
An 1886 federal research farm of 400 hectares, a national historic site, right inside the urban fabric.
Tip: The internal roads are public and free year-round; the Ornamental Gardens are a five-minute walk from the Arboretum.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then about 18 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Parks Canada · Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Show on mapParc des Commissaires · Dow's Lake
The green strip between Dow's Lake and Queen Elizabeth Driveway where 300,000 tulips are planted for the May festival.
Tip: No tulips in October: the bulbs go in right about now, for May. What there is instead are old maples over the water.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: NCC · Canadian Tulip Festival
Show on mapParc Lansdowne · The Glebe
The Glebe's old fairground, redeveloped: a stadium, an urban square, a farmers' market and the 1898 Aberdeen Pavilion.
Tip: The Ottawa Farmers' Market runs on the square on Sundays; in late October it is squash, apple and cider season.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 25 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Ottawa Farmers' Market · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapStade TD Place · The Glebe
The Lansdowne stadium, home of the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks and Atlético Ottawa, with its 1967 concrete south stand.
Tip: It is still TD Place: the one that changed name is the downtown convention centre, now Rogers Centre Ottawa.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 23 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group · OBJ
Show on mapPavillon Aberdeen · The Glebe
The 1898 iron-and-glass hall nicknamed the Cattle Castle: Canada's last surviving exhibition pavilion of its kind.
Tip: You can walk in when there is no event, and the riveted iron frame seen from inside is worth the three-minute detour.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 25 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Parks Canada (national historic site) · City of Ottawa
Show on mapChutes Rideau · Lowertown
The twin curtains where the Rideau River drops into the Ottawa, split by Green Island, behind the old City Hall building.
Tip: There are two falls, not one: the good lookout is on the east side, over the Green Island footbridge.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then about 23 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: NCC · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapChutes Hog's Back (Prince of Wales) · Hog's Back
The rapids where the Rideau splits from the canal, over a 450-million-year-old fold of rock you can see with the naked eye.
Tip: After the canal drawdown the flow changes: in autumn it drops and the rock layers show better, which is the real oddity here.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Mooney's Bay, then about 15 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: NCC · Parks Canada
Show on mapParc de la Confédération · Centretown
The triangular park between Elgin and the canal: a Victorian fountain, the Aboriginal war monument and Winterlude's home base.
Tip: In February it fills with ice sculptures; today it is the prettiest shortcut between the National Arts Centre and Elgin Street.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: NCC · Winterlude
Show on mapChâteau Laurier · ByWard Market
The 1912 château-style hotel beside the locks: its first owner died on the Titanic a month before it opened.
Tip: No need to stay: the lobby and Zoe's are open to walk through, and downstairs is where Karsh photographed Churchill.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Fairmont · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapCentre national des Arts · Centretown
The hexagonal 1969 brutalism, wrapped since 2017 in a glass facade facing Elgin: four halls and bilingual programming.
Tip: It runs separate English and French companies under one roof: the most concrete way to see the capital's bilingualism.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 5 min walk.
Featured in: National Arts Centre · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapHommage canadien aux droits de la personne · Centretown
The 1990 concrete monument on Elgin with the word equality carved in seventy-three languages, many of them Indigenous.
Tip: Look for Inuktitut and Cree on the side panels: the detail almost nobody checks and the one that explains the monument.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 8 min walk.
Featured in: City of Ottawa · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapMonument national de l'Holocauste · LeBreton Flats
Daniel Libeskind's concrete star, unveiled in 2017 opposite the War Museum, with photo murals by Edward Burtynsky.
Tip: Enter by the ramp, not the stairs: the route is designed so light falls differently on each of the six points.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Pimisi, then a 5 min walk.
Featured in: National Holocaust Monument · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapPlage Westboro · Westboro Beach
The urban beach on the Ottawa River, with a new 2024 pavilion and the Capital Pathway running past the front.
Tip: Swim season is over and there are no lifeguards, but sunset over the river from the empty sand is one of Ottawa's best.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then about 25 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: NCC · City of Ottawa
Show on mapRapides Remic · Ottawa River Pathway
The stretch of Ottawa River rapids where John Felice Ceprano has balanced stone sculptures since 1986.
Tip: The sculptures go up each summer and the river takes them: by late October few remain, seen from the bank, not the water.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Bayview, then 20 min on foot or by bike along the Ottawa River Pathway, on the Ontario side.
Featured in: NCC · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapPont Alexandra (pont interprovincial) · Lowertown
The 1900 riveted steel bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau, with a cantilevered walkway over the river.
Tip: Crossing on foot takes eight minutes and on the Quebec side everything changes: province, sales tax and the bus network, which is the STO.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then about 13 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: NCC · PSPC
Show on mapPont du Chef-William-Commanda · Mechanicsville
The old 1880 railway bridge, reopened in 2023 for walking and cycling only, with the best low vantage over the river.
Tip: It shuts for winter and reopens in spring once the ice clears: go now, before the seasonal closure.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Bayview, then a 10 min walk.
Featured in: City of Ottawa · CTV News Ottawa
Show on mapCentre Canadian Tire · Kanata
The NHL Ottawa Senators' arena, in Kanata, 25 km from downtown: 18,500 seats and the city's only major-league hockey.
Tip: The Senators still play here: the LeBreton Flats project is announced but unbuilt, and the Canadian Tire naming deal was extended.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then an OC Transpo bus or a taxi (19 km).
Featured in: CTV News Ottawa (naming extension) · TSN · OBJ
Show on mapCentre Rogers Ottawa (ex-Centre Shaw) · Centretown
The wave-glass convention centre over the canal, across from the Rideau Centre, with a hall facing Parliament Hill.
Tip: It stopped being the Shaw Centre in October 2024: today it is Rogers Centre Ottawa, unrelated to the Toronto one.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: OBJ · CTV News Ottawa (Oct 2024)
Show on mapParc de la Gatineau · Chelsea, Québec
The NCC's 361 km2 of forest and lakes on the Quebec side, with 165 km of trails and the Eardley Escarpment lookouts.
Tip: Today's fact: the parkways closed to cars on 26 October 2026 and there is no shuttle. Today you go in on foot or by bike, or via the other lots.
🚇 By car or taxi from Hull, 20 min. The parkways closed to cars on 26 Oct and there is no shuttle: enter on foot or by bike.
Featured in: NCC parkways schedule (winter 2026-2027)
Show on mapLac Pink · Parc de la Gatineau
A meromictic lake of emerald water whose bottom never mixes and shelters a marine relic, the three-spined stickleback.
Tip: It is not pink: it is named after the Pink family. With the parkways shut since 26 Oct you now walk in from lot P6 or P2.
🚇 Drive to lot P6 or P2 and walk in: the Gatineau Parkway has been closed to cars since 26 Oct.
Featured in: NCC · NCC parkways schedule
Show on mapDomaine Mackenzie-King · Kingsmere, Québec
The summer estate of Canada's longest-serving prime minister, with folly ruins he had shipped in from London and Ottawa.
Tip: The houses and tea room close at season's end; the gardens and ruins can still be walked, but check vehicle access first.
🚇 By car via chemin Barnes from Chelsea, 30 min from Ottawa. Check access: the parkway closed to cars on 26 Oct.
Featured in: NCC · Parc de la Gatineau
Show on mapCasino du Lac-Leamy · Hull, Gatineau
Loto-Québec's casino on Leamy Lake, with water gardens and the artificial lake used for the summer fireworks.
Tip: It is in Quebec: minimum age is 18, not Ontario's 19, and bars close later than on the Ottawa side.
🚇 By STO bus from central Hull, or a taxi from the ByWard Market: 15 min. OC Transpo does not cross into Quebec.
Featured in: Loto-Québec · Tourisme Outaouais
Show on mapNordik Spa-Nature · Chelsea, Québec
North America's largest Nordic spa, on the edge of Gatineau Park: hot and cold outdoor baths among the trees.
Tip: It works better the colder it is outside, and late October already gives you the contrast. Book: weekends sell out.
🚇 By car or taxi from Hull, 20 min on autoroute 5. There is no OC Transpo service on the Quebec side.
Featured in: Tourisme Outaouais · Nordik Spa-Nature
Show on mapAéroport international Macdonald-Cartier d'Ottawa (YOW) · Gloucester
The capital's airport, 16 km from downtown, linked since January 2025 by O-Train Line 4, which runs to the terminal.
Tip: The airport train has no surcharge: CAD 4.10 with Presto or a contactless card, the same fare as any city bus.
🚇 O-Train Line 4 to Airport, transferring at South Keys from Line 2. Flat fare of CAD 4.10, no surcharge.
Featured in: OC Transpo fares 2026 · YOW
Show on mapAtelier · Little Italy
Marc Lepine's twelve-course menu, with no knives and no conventional stove: liquid nitrogen, siphons and lab technique.
Tip: It is Ottawa's top spot on the 2026 national list and has very few tables: book weeks ahead, not days.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Canada's 100 Best 2026 (#54) · 613today
Show on mapRiviera · Sparks Street
A 1930s art deco bank on Sparks Street turned dining room: high ceilings, marble and the vault still in plain sight.
Tip: Ask for the bar if you are alone: the best way to see the room without a booking, and Sparks Street at night is empty and quiet.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Canada's 100 Best (#88, 2025) · 613today
Show on mapBeckta Dining & Wine · Elgin Street
Stephen Beckta's 1875 heritage house on Elgin: seasonal Canadian cooking and one of the country's most serious wine lists.
Tip: If you do not want the long menu, sit at the ground-floor bar: same kitchen, half the bill, no booking on weeknights.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Magazine
Show on mapNorth & Navy · Nepean Street
Veneto cooking in a Centretown basement: cicchetti at the bar, house-made pasta and fritto misto at lunch.
Tip: The lunch menu is downtown's best value; the cicchetti bar takes no bookings and fills up by 6pm.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · OpenTable Canada
Show on mapSupply and Demand · Wellington West
Fish and pasta in Wellington West: daily crudo on the board, cacio e pepe and a bar looking straight into the kitchen.
Tip: The crudo board changes daily and sells out first: order it the moment you sit, before reading the rest.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 8 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Magazine
Show on mapThe Whalesbone · Elgin Street
Ottawa's sustainable fishmonger turned oyster bar: a daily list of oysters from both coasts and line-caught fish.
Tip: The oyster happy hour is early and that is when you get a table; ask which bay each one comes from.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 9 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Narcity Ottawa (2026)
Show on mapFauna · Centretown
Seasonal cooking on Bank Street with sharing plates, house bread and a natural wine list that turns over often.
Tip: One of the few downtown kitchens serving late on weeknights: useful after a show at the National Arts Centre past 10pm.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then about 14 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Magazine
Show on mapStofa · Wellington West
A fixed-price three-course menu in Wellington West: short card, local produce and a small pale-wood room.
Tip: The three-course menu runs around CAD 95 and is the cheapest way to eat high-end in Ottawa. Book: few tables.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 10 min walk.
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapAiana Restaurant Collective · Centretown
Silk Road cooking in a Queen Street tower: Central Asian, Indian and Levantine spice, with a lot of vegetables.
Tip: One of the few fine downtown rooms with a full vegetarian menu, not an adaptation: say so when booking and they build it.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 1 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Magazine
Show on mapSidedoor Contemporary Kitchen · ByWard Market
Chef-driven tacos and dim sum off the York Street lane, in the same 1870 stone building as restaurant e18hteen.
Tip: The entrance really is the side door off the lane; the downstairs bar takes no bookings and is the best late plan in the Market.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapPlay Food & Wine · ByWard Market
Beckta's little sister on York Street: mid-size plates only, designed to order four or five between two.
Tip: There are no starters or mains: everything comes the same size and in the order it is ready, so order in waves.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapUnion Local 613 · Somerset West
Southern US cooking on Somerset West: fried chicken, gumbo, cornbread and a bar hidden behind the kitchen.
Tip: The basement bar is called The Union and you enter through the kitchen: no sign, just ask at the bar upstairs.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 9 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapEl Camino · Elgin Street
Tacos in a dark Elgin Street basement with an open kitchen, nixtamal corn and a takeaway window on the sidewalk.
Tip: No bookings and it is full by 7pm. The street window is faster and the tacos come out the same.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to uOttawa, then a 10 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapTown · Elgin Street
A modern trattoria on Elgin with fresh pasta, oven pizza and a very long amaro list for afterwards.
Tip: Mostly locals, almost no tourists; if there is a line, the window bar serves the whole menu.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to uOttawa, then a 9 min walk.
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapAbsinthe Café Resto-Bar · Hintonburg
A neighbourhood French bistro in Wellington West: steak frites, tartare and a board that follows the market.
Tip: The early-evening prix fixe is Hintonburg's best deal: get in before 6:30pm.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapThe Green Door · Old Ottawa East
Ottawa's oldest vegetarian buffet by weight, open since 1988 on Main Street: everything vegan or vegetarian, no exceptions.
Tip: You pay by weight, so salad plates get pricey and soup is cheap: load the heavy things first, greens after.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Lees, then about 14 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Narcity Ottawa (2026) · 613today
Show on mapLe Mien Craft Noodle · ByWard Market
Hand-pulled Vietnamese noodles on William Street, half a block from the market: long-simmered broth and spicy bún bò huế.
Tip: Ottawa's Vietnamese cooking lives on Somerset, but this is the only Market kitchen making the dough on site.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 2 min walk.
Featured in: Narcity Ottawa (2026)
Show on mapChesterfield's Gastro Diner · Wellington Village
A highway diner reimagined in Wellington West: all-day breakfast, oversized sandwiches and bottomless drip coffee.
Tip: Weekend brunch runs a forty-minute line; on a weekday at 9am you walk straight in.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: Narcity Ottawa (2026)
Show on mapCorner Peach · Chinatown
Eastern Mediterranean cooking on the Somerset corner: flatbread straight off the fire, mezze and plenty of live flame.
Tip: Order the flatbread as soon as you sit: it comes in batches and when one ends you wait for the next.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Pimisi, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: Narcity Ottawa (2026) · 613today
Show on mapAyla's Social Kitchen · Little Italy
A shared table on Preston Street with Levantine cooking for the middle: whipped hummus, kebabs and big salads.
Tip: It sits on Preston, the Italian street: this is the counter-example and usually has a table when the trattorias are packed.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Corso Italia, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Narcity Ottawa (2026)
Show on mapUmbrella Bar · Dow's Lake Pavilion
The deck over the water at the Dow's Lake pavilion, canal in front and the Arboretum maples across.
Tip: With the water down since 13 October the view changes: you now see the canal bed, which almost nobody gets to see.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Narcity Ottawa (2026) · Parks Canada drawdown notice
Show on mapShawarma Palace · Rideau Street
Ottawa's reference shawarma since 1996, on Rideau Street, with the garlic sauce the whole city copies.
Tip: The shawarma capital line is not marketing: city council voted it unanimously in 2024, on a motion by councillor Laura Dudas.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then about 14 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: CTV News Ottawa (council motion, 2024) · 613today
Show on map3 Brothers Shawarma & Poutine · ByWard Market
Shawarma and poutine over the same counter, steps from the Market: the local combination that explains Ottawa on a plate.
Tip: Shawarma poutine is a real thing and it is what uOttawa students order at 2am: ask for garlic, skip the barbecue sauce.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 2 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · CTV News Ottawa
Show on mapElgin Street Diner · Golden Triangle
The diner on Elgin that never closes: poutine at 4am, plate-sized pancakes and bottomless coffee.
Tip: Open 24 hours, 365 days, and the only hot plan downtown after 2am; the classic poutine is the beef one.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to uOttawa, then a 10 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapZak's Diner · ByWard Market Square
A fifties diner right on the Market square: metal milkshakes, a jukebox and breakfast at any hour.
Tip: It is the one still open when the market stalls have packed up: at 11pm they are still serving full breakfast.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Tourism · 613today
Show on mapLowertown Brewery · ByWard Market
A brewery with tanks on show on York Street, a covered patio and pub food from Ontario farms.
Tip: The patio is heated and roofed: in late October it is one of the few Market spots where you can still sit outside.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Tourism · 613today
Show on mapBeyond the Pale Brewing Company · Somerset West
One of Ottawa's oldest independent breweries, with its own taproom and short batches that rotate weekly.
Tip: In Ontario bars close at 2am; if you want to carry on, cross to Gatineau, which is Quebec and closes later.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Bayview, then a 5 min walk.
Featured in: Apt613 · 613today
Show on mapMill Street Brew Pub · LeBreton Flats
An 1842 stone mill beside the Chaudière Falls turned brew pub, with a terrace over the Ottawa River.
Tip: It is Ottawa's oldest standing industrial building and sits three minutes' walk from the War Museum: chain the two.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Lyon, then a 8 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Tourism · Heritage Ottawa
Show on mapPub Italia · Little Italy
An Irish pub dressed up as a chapel on Preston Street: the beer list is bound and presented like a bible.
Tip: Ask for the Beer Bible at the bar: over two hundred labels, and the back room is fitted out like a church nave.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapGiovanni's Ristorante · Little Italy
The classic Preston Street trattoria since 1975: white cloths, pasta finished at the table and Senators photos on the wall.
Tip: It is where players and politicians eat when they do not want to be seen: ask for the back room.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Corso Italia, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapShanghai Restaurant · Chinatown
A 1971 Cantonese room on Somerset West, with weekend drag karaoke run by the founding family's daughter.
Tip: Karaoke nights sell out weeks ahead: book online. If you are only eating, weekday lunch is empty.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Pimisi, then a 9 min walk.
Featured in: Apt613 · 613today
Show on mapNew Mee Fung · Chinatown
A neighbourhood Vietnamese spot beside Chinatown's royal arch: bánh mì, fresh rolls and the house bún chả.
Tip: Bánh mì come in under ten dollars and you order at the till, not the table; cash only at peak hours.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Corso Italia, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapPho Bo Ga La · Chinatown
One of Somerset West's most cited pho rooms: twelve-hour bone broth, big bowls and lightning service.
Tip: The small bowl is already huge; order the large only after walking the canal. Saturday lunch has a line.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Pimisi, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapPho Thu Do · Chinatown
Another Somerset West pho house, smaller, with bún bò huế as the specialty: properly spicy and pork-heavy.
Tip: Somerset West holds over twenty Vietnamese kitchens in ten blocks: if one has a queue, the next is just as good.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Pimisi, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapGolden Palace · Carlingwood
Home of Ottawa's most famous egg roll since 1960: thick, dense and so local that the city argues about it seriously.
Tip: It is a takeaway: almost everyone orders at the window. One egg roll feeds two, do not order half a dozen.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then an OC Transpo bus or a taxi (5 km).
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Citizen
Show on mapKhao Thai · ByWard Market
Thai on Murray Street, a block from the market: coconut curries, pad kee mao and a short, well-executed card.
Tip: If you ask for spicy they make it spicy: ask for medium if unsure, they do not tone it down for visitors.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapTennessy Willems · Hintonburg
Wood-fired pizza in Wellington West with long-fermented dough and a beer list from Ontario and Quebec.
Tip: The room is small and takes no bookings under six; arrive at 5:30pm or put your name down and walk Wellington meanwhile.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Bayview, then a 10 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapHouse of TARG · Old Ottawa South
A Bank Street basement with forty pinball machines, eighties arcades, punk shows and hand-made perogies.
Tip: The pinballs take coins and the kitchen runs late; show nights have a cover, so check the listings first.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 19 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Apt613 · 613today
Show on mapCantina Gia · The Glebe
A modern Italian cantina on Bank Street in the Glebe: short pastas, house vermouth and a long bar for eating alone.
Tip: Five minutes' walk from Lansdowne: the after-Redblacks plan without stadium prices.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then about 24 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapChez Edgar · Hull, Gatineau
A tiny room on rue Bégin in Hull, on the Quebec side: sandwiches, tarts and a brunch with a line on the sidewalk.
Tip: It has a handful of seats and closes early; on the Quebec side tax is 14.975%, not 13%, so the bill reads differently.
🚇 Cross the Portage Bridge on foot or by bike into Hull and walk 10 min; on the Quebec side buses are STO.
Featured in: Tourisme Outaouais · Tastet
Show on mapLe Troquet · Hull, Gatineau
A neighbourhood bistro on rue Laval in Hull, on a street of nineteenth-century wooden houses, with seasonal French cooking.
Tip: Rue Laval is Hull's oldest block and the only one that survived the 1900 fire: worth walking there in daylight.
🚇 Cross the Portage Bridge into Hull and walk 8 min to rue Laval; the bus network here is STO, with a separate ticket.
Featured in: Tourisme Outaouais · Tastet
Show on mapSoif, bar à vin de Véronique Rivest · Hull, Gatineau
The wine bar of Véronique Rivest, runner-up at the 2013 Best Sommelier of the World contest, in central Hull.
Tip: It is the region's best by-the-glass list and it is in Quebec: bars close later than in Ontario, so it works after dinner.
🚇 Cross the Portage Bridge into Hull, 12 min on foot to rue Montcalm. OC Transpo-STO transfer: you pay on the network you start on.
Featured in: Tastet · Tourisme Outaouais
Show on mapBeaverTails / Queues de Castor · 69 George Street, ByWard Market
The stretched fried dough shaped like a beaver's tail, hot and buried in cinnamon sugar, at the Market's original stand.
Tip: It was not born in Ottawa: Grant and Pam Hooker invented it in Killaloe in 1978 and only opened the ByWard stand in 1980.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 2 min walk.
Featured in: BeaverTails · Destination Ontario · CTV News Ottawa
Show on mapLe Moulin de Provence · ByWard Market
A French bakery in the Market since 1996: baguettes, croissants, focaccia and a pastry case half a wall long.
Tip: The Obama Cookie is a maple-leaf shortbread: Obama bought one in 2009 and they have not stopped making them since.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: 613today (best bakeries) · Maclean's · CBC Ottawa
Show on mapLittle Victories Coffee · Elgin Street
An Ottawa independent roaster with an espresso bar and brew bar, steps from Parliament Hill and Sparks Street.
Tip: It landed at number 71 in The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026, unveiled at CoffeeFest Madrid: Ottawa's only entry.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 5 min walk.
Featured in: The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026 (#71) · CP24 · 613today
Show on mapHappy Goat Coffee Co. · Hintonburg
Happy Goat's flagship roastery café in Hintonburg: single-origin beans, in-house roasting and a long, bright room.
Tip: This is where the city goes to work: no free sockets mid-morning, but at 3pm the room empties out.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 1 min walk.
Featured in: 613today (best cafes) · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapHappy Goat Coffee, Richmond Road · Westboro
The Westboro branch on Richmond Road, smaller and calmer, two blocks from the river pathway.
Tip: It is the natural stop before or after dropping down to Westboro Beach; in October the river path is deep in leaves.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then about 24 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today (best cafes)
Show on mapEquator Coffee Roasters · Westboro
A fair-trade roaster that has roasted in Almonte since 1998, with its Westboro café on Churchill Avenue.
Tip: There is another counter inside the National Arts Centre that opens later on show nights: handy after the theatre.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then about 26 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today (best cafes) · Equator Coffee
Show on mapArlington Five · Centretown
A corner coffeehouse on Arlington Avenue, off every tourist route: coffee, daily bakes and evening workshops.
Tip: It is in no visitor guide, which is why there is always a table: the best downtown spot to sit and write.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then about 18 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today (best cafes)
Show on mapDrip House · Chinatown
Coffee by day and a cocktail bar by night on Somerset West, in Chinatown, with single-origin pour-overs in the morning.
Tip: The same room flips in the evening: arrive at 6pm and the pour-over is gone, but the cocktail list is on.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Pimisi, then a 8 min walk.
Featured in: 613today (best cafes) · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapBridgehead Coffee · Centretown
The direct-trade coffee chain born in Ottawa, with its own roastery and more than a dozen shops across the city.
Tip: It is the city's own chain, not a multinational: the coffee is solid and the shops open early, before almost anyone.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapThe Ministry of Coffee · Centretown
A specialty bar on Laurier Avenue with a lever machine, rotating beans and a short light-roast card.
Tip: Packed with civil servants at eight and empty at eleven: the name is no accident, you are in the ministries' quarter.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 5 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapMorning Owl Coffeehouse · Centretown
An Ottawa roaster-café with several branches, long tables and the seasonal harvest always on the board.
Tip: One of the few downtown shops open on holidays: useful on 11 November, when half the city shuts.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapPlanet Coffee · ByWard Market
A café hidden down a cobbled Market lane, inside an old stone house with its own interior courtyard.
Tip: You have to duck down the lane between two York Street buildings: invisible from the sidewalk, which is why it is never full.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Tourism · 613today
Show on mapArt-Is-In Bakery · City Centre
A bakery set up in an industrial shed behind Somerset West: huge loaves, sandwiches and genuine sourdough.
Tip: It sits inside an industrial complex and is hard to find; bread sells out mid-afternoon, so go before 2pm.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Bayview, then a 4 min walk.
Featured in: 613today (best bakeries) · Apt613
Show on mapLe Boulanger Français / The French Baker · ByWard Market
A Murray Street boulangerie with the oven on show: hard-crust baguettes, pain au chocolat and savoury tarts.
Tip: Opens very early and shuts mid-afternoon: breakfast or nothing. The baguette leaves the oven around eight.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapSuzyQ Doughnuts · Hintonburg
Hand-made doughnuts in Wellington West with glazes that change weekly, including maple syrup and bacon.
Tip: The maple syrup is last season's: the sugaring run is March to April, so no sugar shack is open right now.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Bayview, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapStella Luna Gelato Café · Old Ottawa South
Sicilian gelato made on site on Bank Street, with cannoli filled to order and proper espresso.
Tip: In winter they serve thick Italian-style hot chocolate, which beats gelato at this point in the year.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 18 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapMoo Shu Ice Cream · Hintonburg
A Wellington West ice cream shop with Asian flavours: ube, black sesame, green tea and Canadian maple cream.
Tip: Hours shrink as temperatures drop: in autumn it opens fewer days, so confirm before crossing town.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 9 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapBread By Us · Wellington Village
A worker-run bakery in Wellington West: sourdough, focaccia, ciabatta and open wages posted on the wall.
Tip: Open Wednesday to Sunday: Mondays and Tuesdays it is shut and plenty of people make the trip for nothing.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today (best bakeries)
Show on mapThree Tarts Bakeshop · Centretown
A small Bank Street bakeshop specialising in butter tarts, the Canadian sweet of butter, brown sugar and egg.
Tip: The butter tart debate is raisins or no raisins, and it is a real national split: get one of each and pick a side.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then about 16 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapMamie Clafoutis · Westboro
A Québécois boulangerie in Westboro: award-winning 2026 croissants, pain aux raisins and afternoon tea service.
Tip: Its croissants tied for Ottawa's best in 2026 and sell out before noon at weekends.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then about 30 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today (best bakeries, 2026)
Show on mapTartelette Bakery & Café · Old Ottawa East
A bakery run by two Cordon Bleu-trained chefs: individual tarts, cheesecakes and a small café beside the canal.
Tip: Le Cordon Bleu's only North American school is in Ottawa: that is why there is so much good French pastry for a city this size.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Lees, then a 12 min walk.
Featured in: 613today (best bakeries)
Show on mapOttawa Bagelshop and Deli · Wellington Village
Bagels boiled in honey water and baked over wood, Montreal style, with a Jewish deli counter alongside.
Tip: The Montreal bagel is smaller, sweeter and wide-holed; New York's is the fat one. Here they make Montreal's.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapKettleman's Bagel Co. · Nepean
A wood oven burning twenty-four hours: the bagels are boiled and baked in front of you, non-stop, all year.
Tip: It never closes, not even at Christmas: Ottawa's other late-night plan alongside the Elgin Street Diner, and cheaper.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then an OC Transpo bus or a taxi (6 km).
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapTim Hortons · Sparks Street
The chain founded in Hamilton in 1964 by hockey player Tim Horton: the double-double and the Timbit are institutions.
Tip: Let us be honest: it is a Canadian ritual, not a food recommendation. Order a double-double and move on to a roaster.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 2 min walk.
Featured in: Tim Hortons · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapMarché By · ByWard Market
The 1827 market building laid out by Colonel By: craft stalls, growers and food over two floors.
Tip: The outdoor produce stalls are seasonal: few remain in late October, and the Winter Market starts on 22 November.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 2 min walk.
Featured in: ByWard Market District Authority · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapCentre Rideau · Centretown
Downtown's shopping centre, linked to O-Train Rideau station and to Rogers Centre Ottawa by footbridge.
Tip: Ontario charges 13% HST on nearly everything; across in Gatineau it is 14.975% in GST and QST, so buy on the Ontario side.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 2 min walk.
Featured in: Cadillac Fairview · CRA / Revenu Québec
Show on mapRue Sparks (Sparks Street Mall) · Centretown
Canada's first permanent pedestrian mall, opened in 1967, a block from Parliament and lined with federal buildings.
Tip: It must be said: it is pedestrian but has been emptying of shops for years and is deserted at night. Go by day, for what is still open.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 2 min walk.
Featured in: OBJ · CBC Ottawa · NCC
Show on mapThe Snow Goose · Sparks Street
An Indigenous art gallery on Sparks Street: soapstone sculpture, prints, First Nations carving and jewellery.
Tip: Ask for the Igloo Tag: the mark has existed since 1958 and since July 2017 the Inuit Art Foundation administers it, not the government.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 3 min walk.
Featured in: Inuit Art Foundation · 613today · Nunatsiaq News
Show on mapCanada's Four Corners · Sparks Street
A Sparks Street souvenir shop stocking all ten provinces and three territories, from maple to wool.
Tip: If you buy maple syrup check the tin: what is on sale now is from the March-April run, the only one there is.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Parliament, then a 1 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapLa Bottega Nicastro · ByWard Market
An Italian deli and pantry on George Street since 1972: cheese, cured meats, dry pasta and lunchtime sandwiches.
Tip: The sandwich counter has a queue from noon to 2pm; come at 11:30 and eat in Major's Hill Park, two blocks away.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Rideau, then a 1 min walk.
Featured in: Ottawa Tourism · 613today
Show on mapVictoire Boutique · Wellington Village
A Canadian design shop in Wellington West: clothing from independent domestic labels, with a focus on local production.
Tip: Almost everything is made in Canada: the honest way to take something home that is not a printed maple leaf.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapFlock Boutique · Hintonburg
A Hintonburg boutique selling only Canadian labels, many from Ottawa, plus local ceramics and jewellery.
Tip: It is a block off Wellington West: pair it with Maker House and Victoire and the neighbourhood is done in an hour.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapMaker House Co. · Hintonburg
A Wellington West shop and workshop where everything is handmade in Canada: wood, ceramics, leather and engraved maps.
Tip: Every piece is labelled with the maker's name and town: the gift you cannot buy at the airport.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Bayview, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Ottawa Tourism
Show on mapMagpie Jewellery · The Glebe
An independent Ottawa jeweller on Bank Street, with its own workshop and pieces by Canadian designers.
Tip: They repair and resize same-day in the upstairs workshop: useful if something broke in transit.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then about 24 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapPerfect Books · Golden Triangle
An independent Elgin Street bookshop since 1985, strong on Canadian non-fiction, politics and essays.
Tip: It is blocks from Parliament and the new-releases table is a thermometer of what Ottawa is arguing about this week.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to uOttawa, then a 9 min walk.
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapOctopus Books · The Glebe
An independent Glebe bookshop since 1973, deep in political thought, feminism and Indigenous authors.
Tip: The Indigenous authors section is the best curated in town and the best place to make sense of the monuments.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then about 23 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapBlack Squirrel Books & Espresso Bar · Old Ottawa South
A used bookshop with an espresso and beer bar on Bank Street, in the same building as the House of TARG venue.
Tip: House of TARG is downstairs: read upstairs with a coffee and go down to the pinball without leaving the building.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 19 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Apt613 · 613today
Show on mapCompact Music · The Glebe
An independent Bank Street record shop since 1986: new and used vinyl, heavy on Canadian rock and jazz.
Tip: The Canadian rock bin holds what you cannot find outside the country: look for Ontario and Quebec labels.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then about 24 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today · Apt613
Show on mapWall Space Gallery · Old Ottawa South
A commercial Bank Street gallery representing contemporary Canadian artists, with custom framing too.
Tip: Shows rotate every few weeks and entry is free: a five-minute stop walking Bank southward.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 18 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today (best art galleries)
Show on mapMountain Equipment Company · Westboro
The outdoor and mountain shop on Richmond Road: Canadian-winter outerwear, packs and gear rental.
Tip: If you arrived without a coat and late October caught you out, this is where you fix it without airport prices.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then about 28 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: MEC · 613today
Show on mapBushtukah Great Outdoor Gear · Westboro
An independent Ottawa outdoor shop on Richmond Road: cross-country skis, snowshoes, kayaks and technical clothing.
Tip: Gatineau Park's parkways closed to cars on 26 Oct and turn into cross-country ski trails: this is where you rent the gear.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then about 19 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: NCC parkways schedule · 613today
Show on mapThe Papery · The Glebe
A Glebe stationer with notebooks, fountain pens, inks and imported wrapping paper, open since 1987.
Tip: There is a tester tray for pens and inks at the counter: ask, it is not on display and almost nobody knows.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Dow's Lake, then about 23 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: 613today
Show on mapMarché des producteurs d'Ottawa · Lansdowne
The Lansdowne growers' market: Ottawa Valley farms, bakers, cheese and cider on the Glebe square.
Tip: Late October is squash, apple and cider season; many Ottawa farmers' markets have already closed for the season.
🚇 O-Train Line 2 to Carleton, then about 26 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: Ottawa Farmers' Market · 613today
Show on mapMarché Parkdale · Hintonburg
Hintonburg's market, open since 1924: Ottawa's oldest after the ByWard and far less touristy.
Tip: This week it fills with pumpkins and chrysanthemums: where the neighbourhood shops, not where tourists go.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then a 7 min walk.
Featured in: City of Ottawa · 613today
Show on mapWestboro Village · Richmond Road
The stretch of Richmond Road packed with outdoor shops, boutiques and cafés, with the river three blocks away.
Tip: Mind the transit: the O-Train Westboro station is under construction for the west extension, which does not open until 2027.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Tunney's Pasture, then about 26 min on foot (or an OC Transpo bus).
Featured in: OC Transpo · CBC Ottawa · 613today
Show on mapRue Preston (Corso Italia) · Little Italy
Ottawa's Italian street, with its gateway arch, historic trattorias, gelaterias and wine bars across ten blocks.
Tip: O-Train Line 2's Corso Italia station drops you two blocks away: the fastest way in from Bayview.
🚇 O-Train Line 1 to Pimisi, then a 6 min walk.
Featured in: OC Transpo · Ottawa Tourism
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