Page 16 - 2026-2027 Travel Guide to Canada

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CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE FOSSIL GALLERY • OTTAWA TOURISM
CAPTIVATING MUSEUMS
You can get a sense of Canada’s history,
geography and culture in Ottawa-Gatineau’s
national museums by visiting major
institutions located there.
Learn about plants, animals and land-
scapes across this vast country and beyond
at the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Highlights include national dinosaur and
mineral collections, mammal and bird
galleries (www.nature.ca).
At the Canadian Museum of History, don’t
miss the towering totem poles and Pacific
coast Indigenous dwelling facades in the
museum’s Grand Hall, which offers a
spectacular view of the Ottawa River
and Parliament Hill (www.history
museum.ca).
The Canadian War Museum illuminates
the stories of conflicts in Canada from the
early days of human settlement until the
present day (www.warmuseum.ca).
THE SPORTING LIFE
What would a visit to Canada be without
hockey? In Ottawa’s west end, you can catch
home games of the National Hockey League’s
Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre
(www.nhl.com/senators).
Close to downtown, TD Place (www.td
place.ca)—the arena and stadium complex
at Lansdowne Park—is home to the Canadian
Football League’s Ottawa REDBLACKS
(www.ottawaredblacks.com), the Ontario
Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s
(www.ottawa67s.com), the Canadian Elite
Basketball League’s Ottawa BlackJacks
(www.theblackjacks.ca) and Atlético
Ottawa, the city’s Canadian Premier League
soccer team (atleticoottawa.canpl.ca).
And just east of downtown, the Ottawa
Titans of the independent Frontier League
play baseball at Ottawa Stadium (www.ottawa
titans.com).
RETAIL THERAPY
A few minutes’ walk east of Parliament Hill,
quirky shops, busy restaurants and
brimming farmers’ stalls keep things lively
in the heritage ByWard Market area
(www.byward-market.com). Nearby, the
CF Rideau Centre is home to leading fashion,
electronics and lifestyle retailers
(www.cfshops.com/rideau-centre.html).
A short drive or transit trip beyond
downtown, you’ll find popular shopping
neighbourhoods such as the Glebe
(www.intheglebe.ca), Wellington West
(www.wellingtonwest.ca) and Westboro
(westborovillage.com).
FESTIVAL FUN
If you love a big celebration, Ottawa won’t let
you down. The festival season starts with
Winterlude in February (www.canada.ca/
en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/winter
lude.html), followed by the Canadian Tulip
Festival in May (www.tulipfestival.ca), the
TD Ottawa Jazz Festival in June (www.ottawa
jazzfestival.com), an enormous rock
festival called RBC Bluesfest in July
(www.ottawabluesfest.ca) and the CityFolk
folk music festival in September (www.city
folkfestival.com).
For more information, visit www.ottawa
tourism.ca.