Ottawa > Ottawa Experience

Advantages: Historical, lots to see, cheap
Disadvantages: Transport links

...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 ...
...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 ... Read review

Advantages: Canadian history and culture
Disadvantages: It's very cold in winter

...– I flew into Ottawa airport which is small enough to not get lost in. The volunteer on the information desk was great at helping me get a bus to my accommodation in town which wasn’t far away. Air transport within Canada is very cheap and it’s easy to fly between major cities. Where to stay – Ottawa Youth Hostel based in the old jail where prisoners were incarcerated and executed. The rooms are the original cells, seemingly untouched, complete ...
...it must have been like being locked up there and is very exciting and creepy to stay in. The 7th floor where condemned prisoners were held and executed (by hanging) is not habited but is open to the public. A ‘shock’ tour is operated by a local company so be prepared for screaming! A genuinely scary place. Overall – Canada is a fantastic place to visit. If you want mountains and lakes, go to Banff and Jasper. If you want culture and heritage, go ... Read review

Advantages: not too large, lots of museums, sights, shops
Disadvantages: not as easy to get to as other large cities

...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, ...
...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 ... Read review

Advantages: Plenty to see in a fairly small area
Disadvantages: B****y cold in winter - fuzzy knickers required

...countries. Touching down in Ottawa does indeed give the impression of having landed somewhere more akin to Norwich if the airport is anything to go by. Of course, Montreal and “Tronna” are far bigger, and ironically, far more important on a global scale. This wasn’t my first footfall in Canada, having holidayed in British Columbia, but B.C is to Canada what California is to the USA, i.e. “in it” but not necessarily ...
...in Vancouver, this time in Ottawa – where next? Who knows? Anyway, thanks to IBM, it’s a different floor to sleep on. We went there first in June 2000, and over this last New Year as well. Getting to Ottawa is relatively easy but limited in choice to national carriers, i.e. BA and Air Canada/Canadian (these two are in the throes of merging, much to their mutual disgust, it would seem). If you’re looking for a bargain basement fare, ... Read review

Advantages: location: 2 hours from Montreal, o hour from American border, international flights
Disadvantages: can't think of any

...can enjoy boating on the Ottawa River or on the Rideau Canal. There are miles of hiking and cycling trails, even river rafting. In winter, the Rideau Canal is transformed into the longest skating rink in the world. About half of its population speaks both French and English. Many excellent restaurants catering to all tastes are found in this increasingly multi-ethnic city. ... Read review