"Ottawa, Canada's Capital" a Ottawa Travel Page by tvor

Ottawa, Canada's capital city, is situated on the border between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec where the Rideau river meets the Ottawa River. Ottawa has been Canada's capital city, the center of the federal government since around 1877, 10 years after Canada officially became a country. There are a lot of old stately Victorian buildings still standing amid the glass office towers in the downtown core. The city is primarily geared toward the federal government though there are several universities in the city as well. The main drawback in my opinion is that most of the attractions close at 5 p.m. other than one night a week, usually Thursday, when closing time is 8 p.m. Not good for me since I was in a classroom all day until at least 4 and sometimes as late as 5:30 p.m.

The oldest part of Ottawa is the Byward Market area, now all shops and restaurants just east of the Parliament buildings and the Rideau Canal.

Ottawa is a lovely city, with lots of things to do, a tulip festival in the spring, a fabulous winter carnival in February and the best Canada Day celebrations in the country on July 1. It is, after all, the capital of the country!

A business trip took me to Ottawa for the first time at the end of August 1998. The next time i was in Ottawa was June 2001, combining visits with friends in the area and a weekend trip to Kingston, Ontario. The week i was there, mid June, was the week of the Italian festival in the Preston Street neighbourhood. There was a parade to kick off the festa. Oddly enough the band leading off the parade was a Scottish pipe and drum band, the Ottawa Police band.

This website has lots of tourist information with brief descriptions of most of the major attractions and t hings to do: http://www.ottawakiosk.com