48 hours in Ottawa: hotels, restaurants and places to visit

Enjoy a weekend in the first-class capital of the world’s second-biggest country

Autumn is the perfect time to visit downtown Ottawa (Ottawa Tourism)

Why go now?

Canada’s capital was chosen in 1857 as “the least objectionable place” to locate the seat of government. Today, few cities are blessed with the superb location and sheer good looks that Ottawa enjoys. Autumn is the ideal time to visit: the summer heat is cooling, and tinges of red and gold are starting to colour the great outdoors in which the city is set.

The nation’s parliament returns on Monday 19 September, and as Ottawa gets back to work, the cultural pulse of the city quickens – with the One World Film Festival (oneworldfilmfestival.ca) running 29 September to 2 October.

Get your bearings

The capital is defined by two waterways. The broad Ottawa River marks the north-western edge of the city, with national institutions on the high bluff above the water. Just below Parliament Hill, the Rideau Canal meets the river at the Ottawa Locks (1). The canal cuts south-east through the city. The commercial hub is clear from the huddle of skyscrapers that populates the area south and west of the canal.

Bytown Museum and the Ottawa Locks (Ottawa Tourism)

The Capital Information Kiosk (2) at 90 Wellington Street opens 9am-5pm daily (001 844 878 8333; ottawatourism.ca). It is more grand than the name suggests: it formerly a branch of Molson’s Bank, as the ornate mosaic on the floor testifies.

Congestion in and around the city centre can be intense, due to the construction work expanding the light-rail system, the O-Train. The network should be complete in 2018.

Currently C$1 = £0.57 or US$0.76.

Day one

Take a view

Nepean Point (3), overlooking the Ottawa River, provides an excellent overview of the city and its verdant surroundings. It also looks back to the early days of European occupation, in the shape of an equestrian statue of Samuel de Champlain, who founded New France in 1608.

Take a hike

An enlightening two-mile hike begins from just below Nepean Point (3). The Trans-Canada Trail, which runs through the capital, leads you along the south bank of the Ottawa River, beneath the main structures of government on Parliament Hill. Leave the trail and aim for the steps that take you up to the Library and Archives (4) at 395 Wellington Street. The ground floor level is open 10am-6pm at weekends (6am-11pm on weekdays). It contains emblems of nationhood – including a statue, donated by Iceland, representing the first Europeans in Canada – as well as a new exhibition, Icons of Knowledge, which opens on Thursday 22 September.

Wellington Street leads you past the Supreme Court (5), the Confederation Building (6) and Parliament (7). To visit the Parliament, call in at the Capital Information Kiosk (2) for a free ticket. With summer over, you may be able to get a space on an imminent guided tour, lasting 40 minutes, of the interior. Or just pick up a ticket for the Peace Tower, Ottawa’s answer to Big Ben (which is also open to visitors on guided tours).

The Parliament building (Simon Calder)

One more impressive monument remains: the French gothic Chateau Laurier (8), a grand hotel built to host passengers arriving on the Canadian Pacific Railway (the station used to be in the city centre, but the trains have since moved several miles out). It is named for Sir Wilfred Laurier, the nation’s first French-Canadian, bilingual Prime Minister, who helped secure permission to build it on a patch of parkland. There's a gallery on the ground floor depicting the hotel’s colourful history.

Lunch on the run

The hike ends on the edge of ByWard Market, the entertainment and dining district. Lt-Col John By, who laid out the area in 1826, specified that George Street and York Street should be extra wide to allow for market stalls – which sell fresh produce daily except in the depths of winter.

You could pick up the ingredients for a picnic, or choose one of the many competing lunch options. If you’re happy to splash out, the small plates at Play (9) at 1 York Street (001 613 667 9207; playfood.ca) are always tempting; you can order two for C$22 (£12.57) at lunchtime.

Take a ride

Take southbound bus 1 or 7 (fare C$3.65, cash only), and you get an excellent tour of the city thrown in. From the top deck, you get a fresh perspective on Wellington Street – note the banners showing flowers from each of the Canadian provinces. Then the bus turns south, and cuts through the layers of commerce and culture along Bank Street. Once you get beyond Highway 417 (the motorway to Montreal), you reach The Glebe – with the highest concentration of independent (and sometimes weird) stores in Ottawa.

Window shopping

Start at the junction with First Street. The Great Glebe Emporium (10) at 724 Bank Street has an eclectic selection of arty gifts, while at the junction of Third Street, at No 791, Delilah in the Glebe (11) turns local designs into retro fashion. In the next block on the other side of the road, The Flag Shop (12) at No 838 (ottawa.flagshop.com) offers possibly the widest range of national banners you have ever seen.

The area is interspersed with places to pause, such as Wild Oat Bakery (13), at No 817, where you can sip a mango lassi. Where Bank Street broadens on its way south, a bunch of newer stores bring more recognised brands – but for Ottawa’s best selection of “respectable retail”, the Rideau Centre (14), at 50 Rideau Street, re-opened in the heart of the city last month after some dramatic remodelling.

An aperitif

Late September in Ottawa often features warm evenings, and several locations on Bank Street in The Glebe offer outdoor tables on terraces: try the Clocktower Brew Pub (15) close to the freeway (001 613 724 4561​; clocktower.ca), or the FarmTeam Cookhouse (16) at 683 Bank Street (001 613 680 3324; farmteamcookhouse.ca). Both offer local beers such as Beau’s Lug Tread and St Ambroise Apricot Wheat Ale.

Indulge in an al-fresco beer (The Clocktower Brew Pub/Facebook)

For a view of the water rather than the traffic, return to the city centre and visit the Mill Street Brew Pub (17) at 555 Wellington Street (001 613 567 2337; millstreetbrewery.com) overlooking one of the veins of the Gatineau River just across from Portage Bridge.

Dine with the locals

Still in The Glebe? Try the “gourmet burger bistro” known as The Works (18) at 580 Bank Street (001 613 247 0406; worksburger.com), which spawned sister restaurants in other Canadian cities.

For something significantly more sophisticated, return to ByWard Market. E18hteen (19) at 18 York Street (001 613 244 1188; restaurant18.com) has a five-course Tasting Menu for C$95 (£54.30), offering the best of its meat and seafood options.

E18hteen serves sophisticated meat and seafood dishes (E18hteen/Facebook) (Restaurant e18hteen/Facebook)

Day two

Sunday morning: out to brunch

If jet-lag has woken you early, Zak’s Diner (20) at 14 Byward Market Square (001 613 241 2401; zaksdiner.com) is the answer; it’s open 24 hours a day, serving a massive Lumberjack’s Breakfast (egg, bacon, cheese, homefries, toast…) for $15.49 (£9).

A walk by the canal

The Rideau Canal is an extraordinary waterway created as a British military supply route, following an ancient Indian canoe route to connect the Navy Yards at Kingston on Lake Ontario with the Ottawa River. It rises from the river in a magnificent flight of eight locks. The stone cottage halfway up houses the Bytown Museum (21), which tells the story of settlement from the early 19th century; the ground floor (with free access) offers an overview of the history of the waterway (001 613 234 2570; bytownmuseum.ca; 9am-4pm daily except Monday).

Heading south, the canal's tree-lined banks provide a verdant antidote to the city streets. Just before it reaches the freeway, bear right along Argyle Avenue to the Canadian Museum of Nature (22) – which has a brand new shard of steel this autumn, in the shape of Bill Lishman’s study of an iceberg. It soars skyward from terrain intended to represent the Arctic tundra in the north of Canada.

The museum, formerly the Victoria Memorial Museum, served as Canada’s parliament following a ferocious fire a century ago; 9am-5pm daily except Monday, with late opening to 8pm on Thursdays; admission C$13.50 (£11.15) (nature.ca).

Bill Lishman’s iceberg sculpture (Simon Calder)

Cultural afternoon

Ottawa is extremely rich in culture. The shiny National Gallery of Canada (23) at 380 Sussex Drive (001 613 990 1985; www.national.gallery.ca) is prefaced by a giant spider, Maman. Once inside you can discover some remarkable Inuit art on the ground floor, which has the nation’s best collection of carvings from the Arctic world. You can also inspect a reasonable collection of European Old Masters, but the architecture is equally impressive – especially the Keorner Family Atrium. The Gallery also contains the Rideau Chapel, which was rescued from destruction and is now buried in the heart of the building. It opens 10am-5pm daily except Monday (to 8pm on Thursdays), admission C$12 (£6.85).

National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa Tourism)

Almost next door to the Gallery stands the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica (24) at 375 Sussex Drive. Inside, the cathedral is spacious and ornate, its blue ceiling covered with gold stars. It opens 8am-8.15pm on Sunday, 11.30am-6pm on Monday, 7.30am-6pm Tuesday-Saturday.

Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica (Simon Calder)

The crowning cultural attraction is across the river in Gatineau: the Canadian Museum of History (25), whose entrance is close to the north end of Alexandra Bridge (001 819 776 7000; historymuseum.ca; 9.30am-5pm daily; Thursdays to 8pm; $15/£9). The country’s story, from First Nations people through early European exploration to the modern Canada, is told with some spectacular exhibits, such as the totem poles on the ground floor.

Icing on the cake

“Indulgent moments since 1978” is the boast of the BeaverTails kiosk (26) at 69 George Street, in ByWard Market (beavertails.com), where deep-fried spears of dough are available with a variety of toppings including cinnamon, sugar and lemon (C$4.75/£2.70), chocolate and hazelnut (C$5.75/£3.30) and cheesecake (C$6.25/£3/60).

Travel essentials

Getting there

Air Canada (0871 220 1111; aircanada.com) flies from Heathrow to Ottawa with a stop in Halifax, while WestJet (00800 5381 5696; westjet.com) flies from Gatwick to Ottawa with a stop in St John’s.

The airport (27) is nine miles south of the city centre. Bus 97 departs from outside the level 1 arrivals area (pillar 14) for central Ottawa. The journey of 30-40 minutes costs C$3.65. A taxi costs around C$40 (£22.86) and takes 20 minutes.

Montreal’s Trudeau airport has many more flights from the UK, including services on Air Transat and British Airways as well as Air Canada and WestJet. Frequent buses run direct from Montreal airport in around two hours to Ottawa’s modest bus station (28).

Staying there

Now part of the Fairmont brand, the Chateau Laurier (8) at 1 Rideau Street (001 613 241 1414; fairmont.com) is the grande dame of Ottawa hotels. The typical rate for a double room is C$429 (£245), though cheaper deals are available at weekends. Join the President’s Club loyalty programme (no fee) to qualify for free wi-fi and use of the bikes that are kept by the concierge.

Fairmont Chateau Laurier

The Swiss Hotel (29) at 89 Daly Avenue (001 613 237 0335; swisshotel.ca) is a small, family-run property just away from the hub of the city. It might not be quite the boutique hotel it claims, but the two-night-minimum stay rate of C$173 (£99), without breakfast, is good value. The adjacent Barefoot Hostel (30), which has the same owners, has just become an all-female hostel, with beds from C$34 (£19.50).

The Ottawa Jail Hostel (31) at 75 Nicholas Street (001 613 235 2595; hihostels.ca/ottawa) was established in 1862 as the Carleton County Gaol prison, and offers the chance to stay in an unreconstructed small cell. “A truly once-in-a-lifetime experience not available anywhere else in the world without actually breaking the law” is promised The rate is C$45 (£25.75), including breakfast; standard dorm beds and private rooms are also available.