Ottawa (Canada)

...THERE:

Although Ottawa is Canada's capital it is by no means a big city. There are few options for direct flights from the UK but you can fly with Air Canada from Heathrow direct. In the summer the airline Zoom have flights from Gatwick and Glasgow. There are plenty of flights available within Canada so its easy to get from Ottawa to Toronto/Halifax/Vancouver etc.

We arrived by train. We had train passes so our travel ...
...took the train out of Ottawa to Toronto which costs around $115 and this took 4 hours. The train station is quite a long way out of the city which is annoying. There is a bus which links directly with the city centre but it is not a shuttle for the station specifically. The bus took around 15 minutes and dropped us on the street below Parliament Hill.

WHAT TO SEE:

We were only in Ottawa for a day and a half but we managed ... more

Ottawa, the capital of Canada, was the second stop on a recent trip across Canada. Before going there, I knew the basics (i.e. that its the capital) but couldn't really have pointed out any landmarks. I have to say that I was very impressed by what I saw and would definately recommend a trip here to anyone.

GETTING THERE:

Although Ottawa is Canada's capital it is by no means a big city. There are few options for direct flights from the UK but you can fly with Air Canada from Heathrow direct. In the summer the airline Zoom have flights from Gatwick and Glasgow. There are plenty of flights available within Canada so its easy to get from Ottawa to Toronto/Halifax/Vancouver etc.

We arrived by train. We had train passes so our travel was no extra but I think it costs around $100 for the trip (about £50). There are around 5 trains a day from Montreal and the trip took 2 hours, which wasn't too bad. We also took the train out of Ottawa to Toronto which costs around $115 and this took 4 hours. The train station is quite a long way out of the city which is annoying. There is a bus which links directly with the city centre but it is not a shuttle for the station specifically. The bus took around 15 minutes and dropped us on the street below Parliament Hill.

WHAT TO SEE:

We were only in Ottawa for a day and a half but we managed too see quite a lot in this time. The thing that I loved about the city was that you could walk round it quite easily and so did not have to worry about public transport. There were plenty of buses available for those who wanted to use them.

PARLIAMENT HILL:

This was my favourite place in Ottawa. There was so much history in the Parliament Buildings and they were fascinating. The best thing was that they were all free, including the guided tours. In the summer there are 3 tours available: the Centre Block where Parliament actually sits; the East Block, which houses offices; and the outside tour. We took all 3 tours (well it would be silly not to take advantage of the free things!). The tours lasted between half an hour and an hour and were absolutely fascinating. The only problem with Parliament is that you need to visit in the summer to make the most of it, preferably when the MPs are on their summer break (July and August). At other times of the year the outside and East Block tours are not run and the Centre Block tour is limited by Parliament sitting.

On the Centre Block tour we saw the House of Commons and the Senate and the library which was spectacular. We also went up the Peace Tower (the bit which looks like Big Ben's tower) which gave us a great view of the city and the river. On the East Block tour you see 4 rooms as they would have been in 1872 and there are characters from 1872 who talk to you. The outside tour showed us some of the statues around Parliament Hill and their history. The tours were all great and were very informative.

One of the highlights of the trip for us was the Sound and Light Show which takes place on Parliament Hill in July and August. This was a spectacular show where they projected images of Canada onto the front of Parliament and lasted around half an hour. I would reccommend this to anyone. For more detail on Parliament see my full review on it.

NOTRE DAME:

Ottawa's Cathedral is on the other side of the Rideau Canal from Parliament. It is a 19th century cathedral. It was free to enter and is well worth visiting. The inside is very richly decorated and reminded me of Sainte Chapelle in Paris, with its blue ceiling. There are literally hundreds of statues in the church. The cathedral is easily located by its twin spires and is at the end of the Bytown Market. I really thought that the interior of the cathedral was spectacular.

CANADIAN WAR MUSEUM:

This place really impressed me. Apart from the fact that it is a little way from downtown (not good when you've been walking all day!) it is absolutely fantastic. We went because it was free from 4-9 on Thursdays and probably would not have bothered if this hadn't been the case but we would have missed out. The Museum was well signposted from downtown and it took about 25 minutes to walk there.

The museum costs $6 (around £3) for adults and $3 for concessions and had I known how good it would be I would have been happy to have paid this price. For the amount you see inside I think it is very reasonable entrance price. You can get a discount if you buy a joint ticket for the Civilisation Museum.

We first saw an exhibition on the Seven Years War which was a temporary ehibition but there was no extra charge for it. This was very interesting and contained lots of artifacts and information.

The permanent galleries are set out chronologically, beginning with the first people in Canada and continuing to the present day. We didn't spend that long here, purely because we had to get back to Parliament for the Light Show, but you could spend hours. There was so much to see. The best part was that there were so many interactive exhibits. For example you could walk through a trench and testing your feet to see whether you would have been able to be a soldier or whether you were too flat footed. There were things to lift and questions to answer all the way round and these were great, especially for those with children. The museum also has a collection of tanks and planes. Definately worth a visit and well worth the money in my opinion.

NATIONAL WAR MEMORIAL:

This was one of the most moving war memorials I've ever seen. I thought it was fantastic. It reminded me of the Korean War Memorial in Washington.

The memorial was built to commemorate the First World War although it now carries the dates of Second World War and Korean War as well. It is supposed to represent the move from war (with the tank on one side) to peace (the soldiers emerging through the arch). The figures are magnificently cast and look very real. In front of the memorial is the Canadian's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

We found the square surrounding the memorial a lovely place to sit and enjoy our lunch.

THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA:

Outside the National Gallery was one of the worst pieces of modern art I think I've seen. It was a huge metal spider, complete with egg sack, which you could walk under. I thought it was absolutely hideous and it nearly put me off the whole museum!

Inside there are better things to see. Admission is $5.95 but its free on Thursdays after 5pm and that's when we went. The museum houses a lot of Canadian art but also houses art from all over the world. I like older European art (pre 20th century) and there was a gallery which suited this and the paintings in there were beautiful. There were also galleries covering Asian art, Canadian art and Innuit art, although we didn't look round these.

The highlight of this gallery for me was the Rideau Street Chapel. This is an old chapel which was demolished in the 1970s. The interior was saved and was re-erected in the National Gallery. It is very beautiful and as very few people seemed to be going in to it, it was very peaceful.

RIDEAU CANAL:

This is probably a sight that would be better to see in the winter. Although it was very nice to walk along it in the summer, in the winter you can skate along it and I think that this would have been fun.

SLEEPING:

Students on a budget means hostels and B&Bs which are sometimes not very great. However our B&B in Ottawa was fantastic. We booked before we left and were staying at the Rideau Inn. There were 10 rooms and we were in the Alberta Room which was the cheapest at $70 (plus tax) per night. We had a 10% discount for being students which was great so we ended up paying $139 for 2 nights for 2 of us. This worked out at around £17 per night each which we thought was quite a bargain. The Inn was a little way from downtown but it only took us 15 minutes to walk to downtown so that was no problem.

Our room was very clean and very comfortable, it had a double bed, desk, drawers, alarm clock and air conditioning unit. When we arrived the owner Laura was very welcoming (even though we were there quite early and she was still cleaning). She
showed us where everything was. Downstairs there was a TV room, with a selection of videos for guests to watch. There was a dining room for breakfast and a kitchen. Laura didn't live on site so the breakfast was help yourself. There was a good selection for breakfast, including lots of cereals, different breads, waffles, pancakes and fruit. There was also lots of different juices, a variety of teas and coffee. Laura left her office unlocked so that we could use the computer if we wanted.

I was very impressed with this B&B, it had the feel of a European guesthouse and was very homely and welcoming. It was also a bargain!

EATING:

I can't really comment on the Ottawa restaurant scene as we were eating on a budget. We bought our food from supermarkets and made picnics. We found the supermarkets to be quite pricey for what they were and not that well stocked. We couldn't find any big supermarkets and the ones we used were more like convenience stores. Having picnics did mean that we could eat in all the best locations, in front of the War Memorial and on Parliament Hill. I really would reccommemd this to anyone.

SHOPPING:

Ottawa contained the usual malls, which we had a look round. We looked in the Rideau Centre, which had Gap, Old Navy, Roots and American Eagle all of which we really liked. It also had The Bay, which seemed to be Canada's main department store as we saw them all over.

We also looked around the Sparks Street Mall which we found very disappointing. It is supposed to contain more exclusive shops and is outdoors, but we found the shops nothing special and many of them looked closed.

MY VERDICT:

We only spent a day and a half in Ottawa but I could easily have spent longer there. I really knew nothing about the city before we went but I was very impressed with it and would love to go back and spend longer there.

The Parliament was fascinating and was even better as it was free to get in! The Light and Sound Show was fantastic and I would say that Parliament Hill should be the first stop for any visitor to Ottawa. The War Memorial was very moving. I loved the War Museum and thought that it had something to offer everyone with so many different kinds of exhibits and angles. Notre Dame was beautiful. I would recommend the Rideau Inn to anyone as well.

I think that Ottawa should be a stop on any visit to Canada. I really loved the city and would be happy to go back anytime. 

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