Ottawa, Canada's federal capital, does not find its way onto many tourist itineries, it is really too far from Toronto to be worth the trip, although it is much easier to make the journey from Montreal.
Geographically, politically and culturally, the city bestrides the border between Francophone Quebec and Anglophone Ontario. The Ottawa River runs through the City, dividing the city of Ottawa (on the Ontario side) from the city of Hull (on the Quebec side). In effect, it is the same city, but the citizens of each are particularly proud so you might not want to mention this too loudly!
Most of the points of interest are on the Ontarian side, in Ottawa proper. Of course there is the Parliament Building itself, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a little reminiscent of the Houses of Parliament in London. There is a little cat sanctuary in the grounds of the Houses of Parliament which is easy to miss, but possibly provided me with more entertainment than the Parliament itself (which possibly says a lot about my priorities!!).
Opposite the hill on which stands the Parliament, there is a useful tourist office (it is next to the US Embassy). The people there are extremely helpful and patient when dealing with stupid questions, one of the best tourist information centres I have encountered!
The Rideau Canal runs through the north of the city. In the winter, this freezes up completely and becomes what they proudly claim is the largest ice rink in the world. When I was in Ottawa, it hadn't quite reached freezing point (it was November) so I wasn't able to test these claims, but there are hundreds of postcards of it, and it does look amazing!
As any capital city would have, it has its fair share of museums. The War Museum is quite small but very interesting, there is a technology museum which is a fair bus ride from the centre. The National Gallery of Canada is also beautifully laid out and has a fine collection with rotating exhibitions.
Hull has it's own museum, namely the Canadian Museum of Civilisation, which was my favourite in Ottawa, possibly because it is trying a bit harder to be more child-friendly (even though I was just travelling on my own and didn't have any children I find this a positive aspect in boredom-factor in museums!).
It has a great exhibition area about the history of native canadians prior to the European immigration and provides an interesting insight into the indigenous cultures of Canada. Not forgetting that you have crossed into Quebec at this point (it's not a long walk, just a hop across a bridge), immediately all the signposting and information in the hotel, switches to French first, which is a bit strange at first!
Ottawa was definitely the most bi-lingual of the cities I visited in Canada, probably due to its geography and position as federal capital. In Toronto, English is predominant, in Montreal, French, but in Ottawa it really did feel like a bi-lingual city. You are likely to be greated by a 'Bonjour Hello', merged together into one word, rather than an indication of a preference for one language or the other!
Most of the clubs and pubs that are worth visiting are on the Hull side of the river, this is perhaps because there are slightly more liberal licensing hours in Quebec, compared to Ontario.
Ottawa is not a large city, but there is sufficient interest to retain you here a while, and it is certainly one of my favourite spots in Canada.
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