Ottawa - The Best & Worst of Visiting Ottawa

It's pronounced "By-Ward", named after Colonel John By, and the original name of the city was "Bytown". And, Rideau is pronounced "re-doe". --A native Ottawan.

To paraphrase Star Wars, "it's an older video but it checks out" . Good job Mark

6th thing you will love about Ottawa: Canada Day Celebrations - not to be missed (especially for any Canadian!) Thanks so much for the laughs today!

Happy April Fool's Day!! Found this one in the lost time capsule of travel videos I had never put out and thought it might be fun for a Way Back Wednesday & April Fools Day video. I am glad that I now make sure I know how to pronounce things and I actually know how to count to 5. Notice there are only 4 "hates" I hope you all get a chuckle out of this Historic travel time capsule. :_wwlogo:

The biggest thing about Ottawa I would say is to go during an event. The best part about Ottawa is that the city is great for everyday life for the locals, but as a result there isn't the constant hustle and bustle of Montreal or Toronto. The financial district shuts down at night so make sure to go when there's something to do and not just a random time of the year - and even get out to the Glebe, Little Italy or Chinatown they have great food and shops

The worst thing about Ottawa is, OC Transpo. Our public transit sucks.

Coming from ottawa - the hates of Ottawa are shared by us locals so no offence taken 😂👌🏼

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open. Thanks for sharing!!!!!

I was born, raised and live in Ottawa. so yeah if your going to ottawa for vacation uhhh i hope your a fan of museums cuz nothing much else to do here. The Byward market is fun along with Lansdown but other than that it doesnt have the snazz of Toronto although the Canal and the rideau falls are amazing for photography.

lol, “Ottawa is a ghost town with tourists” is how we locals feel all the time. no night life, all government workers coming in and out of the suburbs.

it's such a weird coincedence that this popped up in my reccomendations because i live in ottawa and i've never watched a travel video IN MY LIFE!!!

You can rent bicycles and see both Ottawa and Gatineau. There are miles and miles of bicycle paths. Now they even have the little electric scooters you can rent. FUN! Kayaking, canoing and shooting the rapids on the Ottawa River. Don''t forget that! AND THE food. Yummy, especially the French food.

Love these videos . The negatives are interesting- nightlife- fair enough before COVID, you needed to know where to go, it’s exist but doesn’t jump out at you like Toronto or Montreal. In comparison to Toronto, Ottawa is very clean downtown, and improving. It is a government town,can’t disagree, but doesn’t mean it’s expensive - don’t go to tourist traps (Byward Market) and you’ll find the prices drop fast and quality is good. Ottawa has extreme cold (-40 Celsius at worst in winter) and extreme heat (40 at worst in summer). So dress warm in winter, but pack light for summer. The Rideau Canal is worlds largest skating rink and very fun to skate into the downtown of a capital city. Ottawa’s proximity to nature is probably underrated, yes Gatineau Park is very close but lots of great hiking only about an hour away from downtown on the Ontario side a well. We like to think we are friendly too :)

Visited once...very walkable, will return for more. Thanks Mark

Love that you showed a Beaver Tails stand! I loved eating Beaver Tails in Ottawa when I visited

I love your videos. Thanks for making them. Good info.

Very familiar with this city. I can't visualize large parts of its layout in my head, like with some cities, but my mom grew up there, I have a lot of family on my mother's side still there, and my sister went to university there, so I've been there a lot. This is a good summary. I especially agree about the winters, which are notoriously brutal. It's simultaneously cold, even by Canadian standards, snowy, and there's always a risk of freezing rain. There are nice byproducts of these winters, such as the Canal, but you MUST check the weather forecast in Ottawa all the time, especially if you plan on driving. Bus transportation in Ottawa is not bad, but there is little light rail and no subway, so you may need to drive depending on your circumstances. Despite that, I love Ottawa. Its museums are excellent, as you pointed out, it has a gorgeous downtown with beautifully preserved 19th century gothic architecture, it's safe, and it's actually not as boring as people think. Your mentioning of its natural parts, I should also include its integration into the Trans-Canada Trail system, is also a real plus. *Just as a side note, it's generally pronounced "By-ward Market" not "Bay-ward Market." Though I saw a comment where you now know. I know this was a throwback. No biggie. :)

Downtown Ottawa was somewhat unkempt for a number of years because of the subway construction. It opened in September 2019. Now, if we could just move past covid, so the city can fully revive.

Haha! I’ve been working in Ottawa’s nightlife for 15 years. We have an amazing underground... you just have to look for it. It’s not for the tourists so if you don’t know someone here, you won’t find the graffiti, the film festivals, the concerts, the really weird stuff like drag shows, pop up dinner parties in weird locations, the rap battles, etc... Forget winter in Ottawa though. I travel in the winter 😅

Byward market is pretty happening at night. The only reason it feels sketchy or run down is because the homeless shelters are right down town in the tourist areas. So alot of homeless people.