I will spend about 12 days over the pond in Ottawa and was wondering if someone from around there is on the forums. Maybe they can give me some tips on what to visit. I'll be landing on Monday and since it's a holiday I'll have the afternoon for exploring. And then I plan to explore the pubs in other evenings ;).

I don't live in Ottawa but checking out Parliament and the Rideau canal is always nice. Have a nice visit.

No, but...

BEST CITY IN THE WORLD! :)

Have some jambalya shrimp with deep fried calamari for me at Fat Tuesdays in the byward market! Best New Orleans food in the universe (assuming they're still there).

The entire Byward Market area is a pretty great place to stroll around, lots of great restaurants, endless supply of pubs, the huge Rideau mall is a block or two away.

Of course you have to visit the Rideau Canal as well, and stroll the whole length up behind Parliament Hill then climb the stairs to see the parliament buildings up close and personal also.

Great many exciting places to visit in Ottawa both of a shopping nature, tourist nature (Chateau Laurier for example), and tonnes more. My favourite city in the world. Especially on Canada day when there are like 2988347239847239423 people in the streets and everything is completely peaceful and friendly. Pure awesomesauce. :)

I'm jealous, I haven't been there in about 10 years, but definitely want to do a road trip when I get a vehicle. It's only about a 10-11 hour drive from here so not too bad.

How are the Sens gonna do this year?

Hehe it's a bit farther off from my hotel, I'll be staying near the Parliament Hill, but I might catch a bus or something one evening. And in the weekend I'm thinking about renting a car and either drive to Niagara (though it might not be worth the long trip) or drive one day to Montreal and one somewhere up north just to enjoy the scenery.

Depending on where you're from and the distances you normally travel, Ottawa to Niagra could be a rather long trip. :) Not sure off the top of my head but I believe it is about 4 hours from Ottawa to Toronto, and probably another 6 hours to Niagra from there just estimating. That's just a walk in the park for us Canadians, but if you're from a small European country or similar that could fit inside Ontario 300 times over, it might be overwhelming. hehehehe Now that I couldn't tell you. I know less about sports than I do about Pokemon Go. I could talk your ear off all day about cache coherency protocols though! :oP

I'm used to poor traffic, here in Romania you need 4 hours to do 130km sometimes... But since I don't have that much time I think I will try to keep it in Ottawa's neighborhood and visit as much as possible. I might not even need a car if buses and trains are reliable and abundant.

Yeah, there's certainly plenty to do in Ottawa, however if you do decide to go somewhere else as well, Toronto is not far away and is amazing in entirely different but also exciting ways. :)

Also not Canadian, but I got some decent advice when I was there last, and would pass along - there's a "food district" area that you'll want to visit (I stayed in a hotel on Dalhousie, and had a good irish pub, a genuine French-style bakery, a shawarma shop, a beaver tail stand (pastries, you dirty minded few), and several nice sit-down restaurants within three minutes' walk of the door) if you like food. Check out the Ottawa Tourist board website for events happening in the window you'll be there. If you've got time, since you'll be right there, head to Parliament Hill; and also, check out the War Museum. Gatineau park should be beautiful in the fall.

I drove in to Ottawa about three hours after they won the hockey gold medal in the Olympics. That was some impressive impromptu parading. Public transport was very good to my expectations of US standards, but it wasn't quite as good as you'd get in the downtown areas of most major European cities. If you've never been to Niagara Falls, it's worth a trip. Try to get signed up for one of those little boat trips where you put on the raincoat and they take you right up to the base of the falls. Such power ^_^ ...better than in actual New Orleans? ;)

Yes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMd9v-mPj7g :)

"Good? It's not good! It's the best place to eat in the city; it's excellent!"

The National Gallery of Canada: (come with enough time)

You will find many tourists near the parliament quarter and on the other bank.

Unfortunately they are not there anymore. Still lots of good eating places there.

Don't forget to bring your bathing suit.

Bummer, was my favourite restaurant. They had a live piano also.
That photo is so fake! I know because there wont be snow for at least another 2 weeks!