We have some friends visiting us here in Ottawa soon and I wanted to share a few ideas of things they might want to check out while they're here. I may have gotten a little carried away.

This list is curated based on my own particular perspective and knowledge; there's certainly some cool stuff I didn't include because I don't know about it or because I haven't made it there yet myself. It's reflective of my own location: we live on the west end, near the Civic Hospital and Experimental Farm (not west end as in Carleton Place; we're well within the Greenbelt, eh!), and have been in Ottawa for not quite two years, having moved from the US. I was pregnant when we moved and we now have two young kids; you can observe a distinct lack of nightlife here. I honestly have very little experience with it!

This is a bit of a brain dump and it's getting really long and it needs to be marked "done", so: without further ado!

Stay Indoors 🔗

Parks/Outdoorsy Stuff 🔗

  • The Experimental Farm! <3 Lots of nice walking/biking paths through/along the farm. You can walk in the grass between fields as well. People let their dogs run in the fields off-leash; I stay on the paths where that mostly doesn't happen. We live near the Experimental Farm and it's a frequent walk/bike spot for me. It feels homey to be able to look out over the fields as we're coming home from somewhere, driving along the edge of the agricultural fields in the middle of Ottawa's west end, with fields on one side and regular city life on the other. And more city just beyond the fields, but far enough to let the fields breathe a bit.
  • Dominion Arboretum/Commissioner's Park/Dow's Lake are a nice area- you can start at the gardens from the Agricultural Museum, walk through the Arboretum and the Fletcher Wildlife Gardens, then down along the canal towards Dow's Lake, and it's all very pleasant.
  • Mooney's Bay is a really nice park with a beach, one of those outdoor free fitness stations, nice playgrounds, etc.
    • Other nice beaches we've been to: Brittania Beach, Westboro Beach
  • Kiweki Point downtown has a really nice view of the river and the downtown skyline. Short walk from Byward Market, right behind the National Gallery. Be sure to ooh and ahh at the part of the building overhang a school bus drove into immediately after it first opened, and ponder from that position how a bus would have arrived at that spot in the first place.
  • Gatineau Park, a big federal park just across the river from Ottawa. Check the website for what to expect re: parking and figure out where you want to go.
  • The Greenbelt surrounding Ottawa is full of trails to explore.
    • Mer Bleue Bog is a cool & unique place to check out. Petrie Island on the east side in the river is nice nature, too.
  • Andrew Haydon Park is the first riverside park we visited in Ottawa and it is very nice! Generally walking or biking along the riverside trail is pleasant pretty much anywhere you go.
  • We really need to check out Mud Lake one of these days, and haven't made it to very many Greenbelt trails yet, either!
  • If it's winter, skating on the canal is a big deal here. It's not winter now so I'm not mentioning other interesting winter stuff! Come back when it's winter.
  • Find nice places to bike at Ottawa By Bike
  • Another Ottawa by bike blog: Ottawa Velo Outaouais
  • There's a website for finding Ottawa hiking trail trip reports (maybe the one I'm thinking of was for hiking with little kids specifically?) but I don't have the link saved. :(
  • Via mastodon: "bike or walk across the Chief Willam Commanda Bridge to get a sense of how big and powerful the Ottawa river is".

The City of Ottawa's website is terrible to navigate if you're looking for stuff to do (parks, public spaces, and drop-in activities) and trying to see an overview of available times/locations, but there are some non-official pages that can help!

  • Map of all the playgrounds, filterable by what amenities are present like washrooms (Canadian for toilets/bathrooms, which admittedly is idiosyncratic in US English as public ones usualy don't have baths!)
  • Free public wading pools
  • Splash pads
  • BLESS YOU CLAUDIE LAROUCHE (a local who made these filterable and much more easily browsable/map-at-a-glance-able pages where the city's official resources have fallen short)

Starting points for walking around 🔗

When I visit a city I often find myself trying to figure out where a good point to arrive at would be to explore some of the more interesting-to-visitors areas on foot. Here are a few possibilities to consider.

  • Start at Byward Market and head towards the Rideau Centre in one direction, or Kiweki Point and the National Gallery in the opposite direction. Stop at Librarie du Soleil on your way to either!
  • Start at Octopus Books on Third St. in the Glebe and explore the adjacent section of Bank St
    • Head towards the stadium/Landsdowne area and walk across the canal bridge, to more interesting Bank St. stuff in Old Ottawa South. You'll find a library branch (free washroom access when open!) and Black Squirrel books/cafe on the other side of the bridge as well as some other nice little shops.
  • A long stretch of Elgin St. is a nice place to explore. The Candian Museum of Nature or Elgin St. Diner are reasonable starting points closer to our end, in Centretown, but if you have limited stamina, consider starting at Perfect Books and walk towards the river. Along the way you'll see Ottawa City Hall, Confederation Park where the May Day marches we've been to (and many other protest/march events) leaves from, the National Arts Center (another good stop for free public washrooms and a water bottle refill, when the building's open!) and Parliament if you keep going.
  • You can't go wrong anywhere near the Experimental Farm/the Agriculture Museum/the Dominion Aboretum/Dow's Lake, really. This will be mostly parks/greenspace, not shopping or tons of dining options. Washroom options are more limited- on the Merivale end of the Experimental Farm, pop in to Tim Horton's and ideally make a purchase, but the washroom is typically open to customers without needing to ask for a key/code during the day.
  • In Westboro, Richmond Road is the place to be, while Byron Ave one block over has a nice multi-use path you can walk down if you want a break from the shopping crowds. Have lunch at Fratelli and head towards Kitchenalia. Keep going long enough and you can reach Maplelawn Garden which is a real hidden gem flower garden, though the paths aren't marked well to cross there on foot from the paths on Byron.
  • Also on Richmond Road, but a bit further east, start at Chez Vincent thrift store and walk east. Very different vibe than Elgin St. near downtown or the Glebe, a bit less polished. This area is referred to now as Wellington (and Hintonburg, further east after that) and these along with Westboro are one of the newer fronts of gentrification/redevelopment interest.
  • Visit Mechanicsville by starting at the Parkdale Market when it's on, and walking over to LaRoche Park.

Off the beaten path 🔗

  • Stop by the Ottawa Tool Library
  • Visit the Ottawa Trans Library in Westboro during their open hours or for an event.
  • Ponder some abandoned places.
    - Take a day trip to see an everyday object that's much larger than typical.
  • Take a class from the Traditional Craft Project (multiple different crafts/organizations listed)
  • Visit the library! There are lots of branches, all over. Centrepointe in Nepean, near Algonquin college, is where musical instruments are checked out and where the library makerspace is

What's happening while I'm in town? 🔗

The Canadian term for this is "what's on?", as a complete sentence.

The default Weather app on my iphone is often wrong especially about air quality for some reason; try The Weather Network. In wildfire season you may want FireSmoke.ca for smoke forecasts.

Visiting with kids? Check out this new instagram account called Ottawa But With Kids for all kinds of good intel on things like "how kid-friendly is this restaurant".

Getting Around 🔗

  • There is no bike share in Ottawa. :( In the immortal words of Sandra Boynton in "Dinosaurs in Trucks Because Hey, Why Not": "We can change that right now!"
  • Bikes (including ebikes) are allowed on multi use paths and streets, and generally not supposed to be on sidewalks.
  • Bike rental:
    • Rent a cargo electric bike!
    • We've rented bikes from Escape Bicycle Tours before for visitors. Note they do not provide lights, intentionally. (We were told "well you shouldn't be riding when it's dark" when we asked) so make sure you have some for any bikes you're renting if you'll be out late! Wide variety of bikes available including cargo bikes, kid bikes and a kid trailer for use with bikes. Pick up location downtown is a bit annoying if you are wanting to take the bike out of downtown to ride, as you'll have to find somewhere to (pay to) park and walk a bit to get your rental.
    • Via mastodon: Rent a bike at Confederation Square, right on the canal.
  • Bus/light rail is OC Transpo; use the Transit app (green logo in app store, just named "Transit") to find routes. You can tap-to-pay with a credit card or your phone when you get on the bus, no need to buy tickets in advance or carry change.
    • You'll get at least 90 minutes of transfer time without being charged again, but tap your card/phone when you get on the transfer- there may be a pending charge but will be removed from actually charging if you were within the valid transfer window.
    • You can tap to pay multiple times and not pay more than the price of a day pass - convenient! Ride all month, and you won't get charged more than a monthly pass.
    • Kids 10 & under ride free, and for summer 2026, youth 18 & under can ride free with the purchase of a $4 Presto card (see website for details).
  • Cycling Guide is a nice app for finding "low stress" bike routes, better than a generic map app because it will help you identify whether parts of the route will actually meet your biking comfort level or not
  • Peruse the Bike Ottawa interactive maps
  • Lyft or Uber work here as an on-demand taxi-type app.
  • If you rent a car, paid parking is very common in business areas and many lots; keep an eye out for signs. Street parking if not marked as paid is generally ok only if there are signs saying parking is ok! No sign = you can't park there. The signs are all over on residential streets but there does need to be one. Max of 3 hours during the week for street parking; longer on weekends.
  • For navigation/understanding directions: the 417 is commonly referred to as the Queensway.

Hotel (if desired) 🔗

We have stayed at the Best Western on Carling near Merivale, and Cassey's parents have a few times now too. I would recommend; it’s very close to us as well as super easy access to anywhere you may want to visit. It’s where we stayed when we visited Ottawa the first time and we were so in love with how easy it was to get to any cool direction we might wanna go, that that’s where we settled down!

Dining 🔗

  • The Ottawan's "Best of Ottawa awards" has a ton of different places you might want to try, and also some non-dining stuff that might interest you, too.
  • Sarangi is our favourite place for Indian takeout
  • ParsItal in Stittsville is great, the closest I've found culinarily to the Daffodil in Lincoln. And also a part of the menu is just typical North American Italian restaurant pastas.
  • Agha Turkish Cuisine, I love the pastas.
  • Perogi on Baxter Road (by Ikea) has very good pierogies. They're hiring, but only if you speak Ukrainian or Russian as well as English. Get some ready to eat or fresh or frozen to cook at home.
  • We do a lot of date lunches at Chances R in Nepean. I like the lasagna, which is not a lasagna at all, just a pasta with long noodles and red sauce with cheese baked on top.
  • Colonnade is renowned for its pizza.
  • In Vanier (east side, historically working class Francophone neighbourhood), try Wow! Sip for incredible Indian fusion. The restaurant was formerly called Wow! India before mixing it up a bit, and when we ate there my immediate thought was definitely "wow!". It had a ton of awards for the chef hanging on the wall; I can definitely see why.
  • Other dining suggestions from mastodon, I haven't tried these yet:
    • "Pelican Seafood and Market" (1500 Bank St.) semi formal, always good food.
    • "Sona The Indian Kitchen" 1183 Hunt Club Rd.
    • "East India Company" 210 Sommerset St.
    • Jumak Korean Kitchen, 151 Second Ave.

Places to buy stuff 🔗

Groceries: 🔗

  • Loblaw's or Real Canadian SuperStore (same parent company; also owns Shoppers) have the best selection but slightly higher prices
  • Food Basics is not just "Basics" imo, but a more limited selection than the Loblaw's or RCSS
  • Farm Boy has a lot of fresh stuff (produce, meat) but generally the worst selection overall/not a ton of shelf stable stuff
  • Produce Depot is worth a visit; they should really call it Produce Heaven
  • Bulk Barn is foods in bulk bins, lots of staple spices/baking supplies/pastas/beans as well as candies and stuff. Think bulk for lower prices rather than high priced greenwashing.

Pharmacy: 🔗

  • Chains include Rexall or Shoppers, both similar to like a Walgreens/CVS
  • Pharmacists can direct prescribe some really basic prescription things
  • Just try to not get sick while you're here please, okay?

Alcohol: 🔗

  • Grocery stores can have alcohol now, which is a fairly recent change
  • LCBO for liquor/beer, heavier on the liquor/wine side
  • The Beer Store sells beer, and is ran by LCBO (aka the Liquor Control Board of Ontario!)
  • Lots of great non-alcoholic options here; I like the Presidents Choice Blonde NA beer from Loblaws lol
  • Drunk driving is an indictable offence here; that's Canadian for a felony-tier crime. Driving under the influence kills people; just don't do it! Also you will not be allowed back to visit if you get a DUI back home, so don't do it anywhere else.

Books: 🔗

  • Octopus Books in the Glebe, good community vibes & very progressive
  • Black Squirrel Books in the Glebe, new & used books both and a small coffee shop area.
  • Spaniel's Tale Books in Westboro, another nice indie bookstore.
  • Perfect Books on Elgin, another indie mixing new & used. I think this may be the only indie bookstore I haven't been to yet, other than a couple very small or very niche ones.
  • Indigo is the Canadian equivalent of Barnes & Noble, complete with in-store Starbucks.
  • Best French book selection is Librarie du Soleil near Byward Market
  • Canadians generally use Kobo e-readers which was originally Canadian iirc rather than Kindle.
        - The library ebooks from Libby can be downloaded as Adobe DRM ebooks that can be put on Kobo readers; the direct to Kindle from Libby integration US libraries have doesn't exist here.

Hardware Stores: 🔗

  • Lee Valley Tools, hobbyist woodworker/retiree/outdoorsy person dream land
  • Rona, equivalent to Lowe's
  • Local stores: Morris Home Hardware, Preston St. Hardware

Hobbies & Particulars 🔗

  • yarn: The Yarn Store, Wabi Sabi
  • fabric (I mostly am interested in garment sewing, so quilt shops are not my area): Fabrications on Carling (very close to us), Mimifabrics in Kanata, Fabricland is an apparel-friendly, budget-friendly chain- largely synthetic fabrics, which you may assume by "apparel fabric" and "budget-friendly" being in the same sentence.
  • the aforementioned Lee Valley Tools
  • Roberte Plante Greenhouse on the east side, huge greenhouse with its own in-store cafe area
  • Decathlon near St Laurent mall (east) for budget-friendly, decent quality outdoorsy stuff
  • Imaginaire in the Rideau Centre indoor mall, near Byward market - board games and TTRPG & collectible type nerd hobbies
  • Studio Staja, very queer-friendly board game cafe
  • Maker House in Hintonburg for souvenirs and locally made stuff
  • World of Maps has books, maps, and lots of books about maps and the kinds of things people who like maps might like! It's always a fun stop.
  • Dutch Grocery if you've ever wanted to try more flavours of Stroopwaffel (or any other Dutch delicacies). Same strip mall as Re Source strip & BB Cafe, visit them all!

Thrifting: 🔗

  • Habitat for Humanity ReStore, multiple locations, we usually go to the one in Kanata
  • Value Village (multiple locations, for-profit with some partnership deal where donations there go to nonprofits technically, then Value Village buys them and then sells them in the store)
  • St. Vincent (multiple locations, charity)
  • Re Source thrift on Merivale/Clyde, mix of clothes and household stuff. Always playing Christian music on the store speakers.
      - Stop at BB Cafe next door for super yummy pastries and nice drinks
  • Thrive on Merivale, mostly good for clothes. Charity.
  • 613 Flea at Landsdowne (select dates only). In summer might match up with the farmer's market there, which has a lot of the craft and art type stuff rather than being strictly a fresh fruits & veg type market.

General shopping: 🔗

  • Walmart on Baseline is nearest us
  • Canadian Tire
    • can be slightly overpriced; "if it's not in the flyer, don't buy 'er"
        - US Midwesterners will understand: it's basically a Menard's, but with auto stuff instead of a lumberyard
        - the one at Carlingwood on Carling is the flagship & dramatically different than any other Canadian Tire. Not representative! Carlingwood Canadian Tire might make you think the chain is like a Target. Trust me, it's Menard's.
  • Carlingwood mall, small but has some stuff to walk around and look at and a little food court
  • Bayshore mall is the mall on our side of town/near Ikea, lots of clothes and shoes and general mall stuff.
  • Giant Tiger is a chain that's like a step above a Dollar Store maybe? I haven't quite yet figured out the unifying concept there, to be honest.
  • Loblaw's & Real Canadian SuperStore sell "Joe Fresh", the level of clothes you might find at eg Target in the US
  • St. Laurent mall is the other big mall we go to sometimes; it's on the east side just off the 417
      - De Serres art store is notable here; there's a De Serres on the far west side as well. It's a chain but nicer than eg Michaels, more artist focused like a Blick or something
      - Adonis (middle eastern/mediterranean supermarket) & Decathlon (like a French REI) across from the St Laurent mall are both fun to visit
      - the Kiddie Kobbler is an Ottawa-famous shoe store specializing in children's shoes; there was one right across from St. Laurent mall as well, but it's closed now. There's still one location though, even further east in a mall in Orléans, and it's worth the trip if you want to buy nice kids shoes and have them actually fit-checked by a salesperson who knows what they're doing.

Read/watch on your way here 🔗



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