Ottawa is an interesting city, being the bilingual capital of Canada that borders English Ontario and French Quebec. For a relatively small city, however, there are centuries of history embedded within its local architecture, and it is a thriving tourist hotspot for people of all backgrounds. I gave myself three nights, but there are still places I'd love to visit next time. Side note, my right leg had begun cramping from all the walking in Toronto, so I was limping to my destinations.

Ottawa

Day 0 - Flixbus

Departing from Toronto Union Bus Terminal, Flixbus was the cheapest option to get from Toronto to Ottawa. I've seen deals for as low as $18, but $35 is about the average price. Flying is just annoying, and I'll get to VIA rail two weeks from now ;)

Thankfully, traffic cleared up once the bus left the GTA and onto the rural highways. Unthankful are these people at our intermediate stops, waiting outside a parking lot for their ride. Construction at Kingston detoured us through some depressing neighborhoods. Every place outside Toronto was just the stereotypical small town with no people, just cars and parking lots.

Eventually, we get off at Ottawa's VIA train station, and I go transfer to the LRT. Line 1 runs through downtown and uses the same trams as Toronto streetcars. There were also no public bathrooms at any of the stops before Rideau (the mall above), which must suck for someone who really needed to piss after a 6-hour bus ride.

The stations were really empty, and the ridership was pretty pathetic for the insane $4 fares. I could see why with only two lackluster lines and the fact that the LRT moved really slow. The speed felt like it topped out at 30km/h, but the LRT would slow down really early before stopping, so most of the time it's traveling under 20km/h. I also don't know why every stop has like 20 seconds of delay between the doors opening and leaving the station, but all of this really feels like a letdown for what could have been convenient travel between the major destinations in Ottawa.

While my transfer was still active, I tried to visit the Hintonburg market, only for the next station to throw me behind a parking lot. I'm just more confused at this point. The market itself was chill.

A short walk from the mall is my hostel, The Saintlo Ottawa Jailhouse. A pretty impressive stay, with 8 modern floors built into a former prison, and a guided tour through the remains of the jail. I also happen to book during an art exhibit and night rave just next door. That would explain all the teenagers, mostly from Montreal, all speaking French.

They also had this recommendation guide which I'll share here.

Day 1 - The Capital City

As a side note, today was when my right calf started cramping really bad, so I couldn't explore as much as I wanted. I suspected Achilles tendonitis, my overexertion from walking too much. It still hurts and I don't know when I'll recover.

Anyway... woke up, ate the free breakfast of bagels and fruits, and then walked outside into wildfire smoke. While the air quality wasn't the worst, all my pictures now have this tinted hull, like these images of Parliament Hill (and yes I know I managed to visit when they just started 5 years of renovation work).

Nearby is also the National War Memorial, connecting Byward and Parliament. I accidentally stumbled upon The Changing of the Guards, a ceremonial process between the Memorial's soldiers and the lead bagpipe player. I got to witness it twice at 10am and 3pm.

Just at the base of Alexander Bridge is a lookout point, with a good view of the river that divides the Ontario-Quebec border. Crossing the bridge takes you into Gatineau, Quebec, another city with its own attractions. Compared to older photos, they had also widened the bridge to include a dedicated walking/biking path.

Central downtown is similar to Toronto's, with similar buildings and storefronts but less traffic. Among all the streets, Spark Street is pedestrianized, meaning people peacefully walk about an attractive zone. It's a nice and fairly peaceful spot to relax in.

Walking west, I really got to see a lot of memorials, gardens, museums, and important institutions, just on one street. The Supreme Court, Bank of Canada, Bank of multiple provinces, The National Mint, Parliament, The Senate, CBC headquarters, the Department of Justice, numerous Embassies, Canada's Garden, the Holocaust Memorial, the Firefighter's Memorial, and whatever else I managed to forget.

Walking past all of this was the Canada's War Museum. So many artifacts spanning the start of Canada's dominion, the world + cold wars, and the UN era of peacekeeping. I managed to stay a whole three and a half hours, and I still felt like I hadn't everything. Pro tip, if you're genuinely interested in Canada's contributions during wartime, read all the text on the walls and try the interactive exhibits. There is a lot of history to learn from a Canadian perspective that I wouldn't have found on YouTube or any American platform.

Ottawa has so many museums they even offer one day and three day passes for the major museums. There were many more that I didn't get to, like the Museum of Nature, The Aviation and Space Museum, plus whatever else was along the way.

With my leg really starting to hamper my movement, I took the (kinda) nearby LRT to Little Italy, a much cozier themed neighborhood than Toronto's. Logically, I went to Kochu, a Korean-Japanese hybrid restaurant, to eat Bibibamp and sushi rolls.

In my rush to satisfy my hunger, I hadn't even noticed the Italy festival happening on the same street. Lots of outdoor patios, events like street racing (that I manage to miss), and sports cars, because nothing screams Italian more than rows of luxurious Ferraris.

With a 90-minute transfer window, I manage to walk the entire street and grab some melting gelato before running back to the LRT.

Day 2 - The Rideau Canal and Byward Market

With the pain in my leg still hindering my movement, I visited the nearby Byward Market and Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was closed for a wedding. A brief visit, as I'll come back to Byward for dinner.

Past the East Block and the Fairmount Hotel is the Rideau Canal, a wonderful heritage site and walking/biking trail. You can even walk across the gates and watch the water flow up close. That is also where tour boats for the canal or river are stationed.

My main plan was to bike across the length of the Rideau Canal, an excellent trail for an ongoing "biking weekend" event. I probably should have just rented a bike, because I decided to try a e-scooter share. Silly little fun tips for future riders:

1. When it says "45-minute day pass", make sure to read the fine text to distinguish between unlimited 45-minute rides in a day, and 45-minute total, unlimited scooter transfers, within a day.
2. Use e-scooters for short commutes, and bike rentals for multi-hour adventures. Costs ramp up fast if you don't plan your trips accordingly.
3. The scooter will automatically disable itself if you're riding on sidewalks, this also applies to shared walking & biking trails like the Rideau Canal. Guess who had to walk the whole damn thing despite paying for a scooter.
4. Try and find designated bike lanes, riding on the road between parked cars and a shuttle bus is less fun and more terrifying than you think. If that doesn't work, switch to a smaller neighborhood and drive behind the cars.

Slowly making it to Aberdeen's Pavilion for their Saturday's Farmer's market. Many fleece booths, but also more niche selections in music, video games, vintage collectibles, and food. It must be nice being a vinyl collector in a big city, with crates of cheap vinyls just begging to be bought at low prices.

While I was there, Old Ottawa South was just across the bridge with quite a few notable places on the Saintlo guide. The best time to visit is around 5pm, when places like the House of TARG open, and the Mayfield Theater start playing their bigger films. Otherwise, a pretty typical street to walk down.

Someone there also tried to scam me in the strangest way possible. The guy in an SUV sees that I'm a tourist crossing a street, repeatedly honks and yells for me to come back, and obviously, I don't go back because why would I. He then cuts multiple lanes of traffic and U-turns next to me (facing the wrong direction btw), introduces himself, and shows me the random woman he just has lying in the back. I assume it's for guilt-tripping, as the guy then claims he lost his credit card and needs gas money to drive back to Vancouver (the other side of the country)??? Then tries selling me a gold ring for cash, I say I don't carry cash, and he then asks to go to a gas station so I can use my credit card. I say no because that's stupid and I don't want that probably fake rings, and he blasts away nearly colliding with a car.

Since I still had 18 minutes left on my "45-minute day pass", I tried taking an e-scooter all the way back to center downtown. At the very least, the traffic wasn't nearly as bad, and there were some roads with bike lanes. However, a lot of the bike lanes along the main streets were seconded as street parking, so I had to weave through narrow gaps between parked and moving cars. It became nicer and nicer the closer I got to the skyscrapers, but the outer areas were definitely not friendly to bikes and scooters.

So after that whole ordeal, I figured I deserved a long break at the Canal, which is where I'm blogging all my Ottawa stuff right now.

Finally, it was time to end the day with dinner at the Byward Market. A dense community square full of restaurants, bars, and especially foot traffic all across the sidewalks. The food here is relatively more expensive but worth visiting at least once. Many sleeper hits within a bustling atmosphere.

Being so close to Parliament and downtown, avoid driving in as parking is nightmarish. Behind my table was a completely congested triple intersection into the only parking garage, with a single gate you pay upon entry (so each person takes 30 seconds to get through). I don't even understand why the city allows cars to come into Byward Market, already such a dense area with little space for parking anyway.

Right beside the hostel was the Pique Arts Festival with an electronic music night rave. I would have gone if not for my leg (and lack of friends lol). The noise was tolerable up until people began exiting the venue and their screaming became more prevalent.

Day 3 - Off to Montreal

And that's my Ottawa trip. A fairly short trip for what I assumed was a smaller city, but there is definitely more that I missed. Perhaps after the Parliament building finishes renovations, I'll book a proper tour inside the halls.

Taking the LRT from Rideau Mall to Tremblay and the VIA train station, I now wait for Orleans Express to take me through Quebec, and my dreadful lack of French to boot.