Despite the major tourist attractions such as magnificent classic buildings that surround the majestic and historical Parliament Hill and around, I must say that the most remarkable thing I did back in Ottawa was watching The Bad Batch in an old, hippie cinema of Mayfair Theatre with a new friend I met through Couchsurfing. That was my third attempts on CS, and legitimately convinced me that the next time I travel to someplace new, I won’t bother checking out other accommodation-booking websites without trying the best out of CS first.
Being a capital city that is actually smaller than other metropolitan cities in Canada, all the major touristy spots in Ottawa are close to each other and hence you could basically cross all the must-visit list within a day just like I did, and even with the bonus of swinging by to a vintageous cinema on top of all that. I missed few places of my original plan indeed but they were all of the secondary priority, hence I didn’t mind that much. Particularly because I am never really a huge fan of big cities, hence skipping one or two places do not necessarily bother me that much.
One thing that I like best about Ottawa is that because everything is quite close together, you could basically take the transit bus to anywhere with less walk required, especially those of touristy places. One thing that I don’t though, because the mighty Parliament Hill obviouslyย attracts tourists from all over the world particularly those with travel agencies, the city is filled with tourists trying to take selfies especially in the Parliament Building complex. However, since this is true for most of touristy cities in the world thus it’s just something that could (and should) be anticipated beforehand. Hence, no reason to ruin the excitement after all.
Here are some snapshots I took in various places in the downtown part of the city:
Another thing that I was glad about is that I took the chance of lining up for nearly one hour to get the free tour tickets of the Parliament Building, because apparently that tour is going to be postponed starting from next year due to major renovation of the buildings. And I get to see where President Trudeau goes to work too! Hence if you plan to visit Ottawa while also getting something new to learn about, this might be the best experience you wouldn’t want to miss while it still lasts.
Cheers!