Ottawa

Selected by Queen Victoria on New Year's Eve 1857 as the permanent capital of the Province of Canada, precisely because it sat safely inland from the American border right along the boundary dividing English-speaking Ontario from French-speaking Quebec on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation, Ottawa is one of the greenest, most walkable capital cities in the world. Standing at the confluence of three great rivers (the Ottawa, the Rideau and the Gatineau), it is a city where you can watch the House of Commons debate in the morning, kayak or ice-skate along a UNESCO World Heritage canal at lunch, and cross a single bridge into French-speaking Quebec in the afternoon.

Rising 50 metres above the limestone cliffs of the Ottawa River are the copper-roofed Gothic Revival towers of Parliament Hill, separated from the turret-crowned 1912 Fairmont Château Laurier by the eight hand-operated 1832 stone locks of the UNESCO-listed Rideau Canal (which freezes each winter into the 7.8-kilometre Rideau Canal Skateway). Five minutes east sits the 1826 farmers' market district of ByWard Market, birthplace of the landmark BeaverTails pastry, while ringing the river are the Canadian Museum of History, the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian War Museum and 361-square-kilometre Gatineau Park. Start with our before-you-go briefing and top things to do in Ottawa.

Ottawa is located 200 kilometres (2 hours by VIA Rail train or Highway 417) west of Montreal and 450 kilometres (4 hours by train) north-east of Toronto. VIA Rail trains arrive at the modernist Ottawa Train Station, which has its own dedicated Tremblay O-Train Light Rail Station that whisks you into downtown Rideau or Parliament Station in 12 minutes. Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) sits 14 kilometres south of Parliament Hill, connected to downtown by O-Train rail and bus transit (using a contactless card tap; check the official site for current fares) or a 20-minute taxi or rideshare. See getting to Ottawa and how the O-Train and river bike paths work.

Stay in the historic core where you never need a car: choose the ByWard Market and Rideau Street district if you want cobblestone courtyards, over 100 restaurants, bakeries and direct access to Rideau O-Train Station and the National Gallery; choose Downtown / Sparks Street and Centretown (Wellington, Albert, Queen and Metcalfe Streets) for sleek four-star hotels two blocks from Parliament Hill and the Rideau Canal; or stay 10 minutes south along the canal in the leafy, boutique-lined neighbourhood of The Glebe (Lansdowne Park). Compare all neighbourhoods in where to stay in Ottawa.

Book a completely free guided tour inside the glass-roofed courtyard of Parliament Hill's West Block, the Senate of Canada Building and 'Parliament: The Immersive Experience', watch boats climb the 1832 Eight Ottawa Locks of the Rideau Canal (or skate the 7.8 km Skateway in winter), eat a warm cinnamon-and-lemon BeaverTail in ByWard Market and climb to Kìwekì Point (Nepean Point), marvel at the world's largest indoor collection of totem poles at the Canadian Museum of History, stand beneath the 9-metre bronze spider sculpture Maman outside the National Gallery of Canada, tour the Canadian War Museum and Museum of Nature, and hike around meromictic Pink Lake in Gatineau Park. Full list in things to do in Ottawa.

Sitting right on the Ontario and Quebec border, Ottawa is a delicious fusion of English, French-Canadian and Middle Eastern flavours: the original 1978 hand-stretched fried BeaverTails pastry at the ByWard Market kiosk, Montreal-style wood-fired bagels at Kettleman's, authentic squeaky-curd poutine from French-speaking Gatineau across the bridge, Ottawa's legendary late-night garlic-sauce Chicken Shawarma (the unofficial city dish), farm-to-table tasting menus on Beckta and Wellington West, and the famous black-and-orange 'Obama Cookie' at Moulin de Provence. Read more in our Ottawa food and market guide.

Home to seven of Canada's nine National Museums, the bilingual National Arts Centre, the May Canadian Tulip Festival (born when Dutch Princess Juliana gave birth in an extraterritorial Ottawa hospital suite during WWII) and February's Winterlude festival.