The Ottawa City Guides tackle the questions every visitor has: where locals eat away from the ByWard Market patios, how to book the free Parliament tours, which national museums deserve a cold afternoon and when the canal is frozen enough to skate. Each guide is a tight, opinionated list, with the reason to go, what to order or see and one useful tip for every place, and it opens in your browser as soon as you have paid.
About the Ottawa City Guides
- 146 places
- 6 guides
- 9 languages
- Works offline
- Print or PDF
- Instant access
- Free updates
The six Ottawa guides
Food guide
24 places
Round-the-clock diners and bagel bakeries, shawarma, an oyster bar the city’s cooks love, markets and the best brunch in the centre.
Things to do guide
24 places
National museums and how to book them, Parliament Hill tours that cost nothing, the canal locks and the walks and parks worth your time.
Family guide
25 places
Museums that keep children busy on both sides of the river, skating on the canal, sledding hills, animals, indoor play and food for small eaters.
Nightlife guide
25 places
Cocktail and wine bars, craft beer and cosy pubs, rooms with live bands most nights and food for after the bars close at 2 am.
Day trips guide
24 places
Gatineau Park and the Quebec side, Montreal and Kingston by train, small Eastern Ontario towns, ski hills and a Cold War bunker.
Budget guide
24 places
Free sights and viewpoints, the canal Skateway that costs nothing when the ice is open, cheap eats and the transit day pass that soon pays for itself.
Why an interactive guide beats a list
Tick places off
Mark each place as done and watch your progress, so you always know what is left.
Your own notes
Write notes on any place and add your own finds. They stay on your phone.
One tap to Maps
Every place opens in Google Maps, and the day route puts your picks in a sensible order.
Open now, near me
Filter by what is open right now or what is closest to you.
Works offline
Open the guide once with a connection and it keeps working without data.
Print it or save as PDF
On a computer, print any guide or save it as a PDF to take with you.
Three places from the guides
Kettlemans Bagel
912 Bank St, The Glebe
A bagel bakery that never closes, so there is a warm one straight from the oven at any hour. The style is Montreal’s, sweeter and chewier, and the list of loaded sandwiches is long. From the food guide.
Bytown Museum
1 Canal Ln, by the locks
A small museum in Ottawa’s oldest stone building, right beside the canal. It tells the story of the men who dug it and of Bytown, the old lumber town. An hour is enough. From the things to do guide.
Pink Lake Lookout
Gatineau Park, 30 min by car
A small lake of a surprisingly deep green-blue, circled by a loop of about 2.5 km with a lookout on the way. In winter it turns into an hour of snowy walking. From the day trips guide.
Play the trail, then follow the guide
World City Trail’s Ottawa scavenger hunt, escape game and audio tour lead you through the historic centre. Afterwards the guides take over: shawarma or oysters on Bank Street, skates on the frozen canal, a national museum on a freezing afternoon or a day in Montreal by train.
Questions about the Ottawa guides
What do the Ottawa City Guides include?
Six guides with 146 places: food, things to do, family, nightlife, day trips and budget. For every place you get why it is worth it, the area, opening notes and a practical tip.
How do I receive the guides?
Straight after payment the links show on your order page and in your confirmation email. They open in any browser on a phone or laptop, with no app and no account.
Can I use the guides offline in Ottawa?
Yes. Open each guide once while connected and it keeps working without a signal, ticks and notes included. Only the map links need data.
Are the guides useful in an Ottawa winter?
Very. They cover when the Rideau Canal Skateway is open, museums for freezing afternoons, sledding hills, Winterlude and what to wear against the wind off the river.
What do the guides cost?
One guide is C$7.99, two are C$13.99, four are C$24.99 and all six are C$30.99. Bought with a World City Trail game, the food guide is C$5.99 and all six are C$22.99.
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