Picaso Travel

This page contains a large selection of Ottawa photos, city views, monuments, churchs, streeets, attractions, etc.

Click on the images below to enlarge them.

Ontario has a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters when the temperature ranges between 36-14°F (0 and -10°C). Fortunately the major cities cater for the cold with indoor shopping arcades and sports venues.

Winterlude
Every February, Canada's Capital Region is host to Winterlude, North America's greatest winter festival. Three fun-filled weekends of excitement and activity await the whole family! From spectacular ice carvings to an amazing playground made of snow, Winterlude is a great way to take in the best of our Canadian winter.

Canada Day
July 1 The country's national day celebrated in style with parades, processions and much flag waving.

National Wildlife Week
The National Capital Region Wildlife Festival, which is a local celebration of National Wildlife Week, has events taking place in April. National Wildlife Week takes place each year in the week surrounding April 10th, the birthday of Jack Miner, a pioneer of Canada’s conservation movement. Proclaimed in 1947 by an act of Parliament, NWW is a time to celebrate our natural heritage and play a part in its conservation.

Canadian Tulip Festival
Held in mid-May, this is the oldest of Ottawa's festivals - it began in 1945 when the Dutch sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to the capital to thank the Canadian soldiers who helped liberate the Netherlands. More bulbs arrived the following year from Queen Juliana, who had taken refuge in Ottawa when the Netherlands were occupied. The major events take place in Major's Hill Park and Dows Lake - but few are free, and the festival now has a reputation for being rather touristy.

The Changing of the Guard Ceremony
One of Canada's most outstanding attractions, this half-hour ceremony is presented daily on the lawn of Parliament Hill at 10 a.m., from late June until late August, weather permitting. It offers an unrivaled combination of colour, tradition, pageantry and military precision.

Ottawa International Jazz Festival
Mid-July. One of Ottawa's most popular festivals, showcasing more than 400 musicians. The main stage is in Confederation Park with concerts several times daily. In addition, local bands play around Byward Market and at city clubs.

Sound and Light Show
the Spirit of a Country uses fantastic lighting gigantic images and a rich tapestry of words, music and sound to tell the story of our nation.

Canadian War Museum
Set in a rustic building in downtown Ottawa, right next to the National Arts Centre, the CWM is a living testement to men and women who fought, and died while serving in Canada's armed forces. The museum covers all aspects of Canada's history, even pre-European contact.

Headstone of Canada's Unknown Soldier
The headstone of Canada's unknown soldier, entombed near the National War Monument, is located in the Memorial Hall of the War Museum. On November 11 at 11 o'clock, when Canada holds a moment of silence for its war dead, the sun shines through the window and illuminates the headstone.

Laurier House
From 1897 to 1919, it was occupied by Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Canada's seventh Prime Minister and the first French-Canadian elected to that office.

Civilisation Museum
One of dozens of museums in Canada’s capital region, the Museum of Civilisation is one of the most fascinating with its artefacts on display including interesting things such as the world’s oldest known boat, several mummies, and the story of the “bog people” of north-western Europe.

Canadian Museum of Nature
This museum has everything, dinosaurs, creepy crawlers, geology, mammals, etc. It's perfect for little kids, and even big kid in you! The museum is in an old castle which is in very good shape, and can't be missed while driving downtown.

Gatineau Park
Gatineau Park is a giant wedge of land measuring 140 square miles (363 sq km) to the northwest of Canada's Capital Region. It is a recreational haven for locals and visitors alike, and contains many features of interest. The Luskville Falls are inspiring; the Lusk Cave made of marble can be explored with a hard hat; the King Mountain Trail has 10 observation points and takes an hour to complete; the Mackenzie King Estate, a 231-hectare landscaped space in the heart of the park, was the summer residence of William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s 10th prime minister.

Strathcona Park
With lovely green spaces that stretch along the banks of the Rideau River toward the Sandy Hill area, this residential park is a terrific place to take the entire family. Surrounded by the attractive Ottawa cityscape, you’ll find several perfect backdrops for photos.

The first inhabitants of the Ottawa area were the Algonquin Indians who called the Ottawa River the "Kichesippi" - the Great River - and called themselves the Kichesippirini (People of the Great River). French fur traders named the Ottawa River after the Outaouais tribe which in fact only inhabited the area for some ten years. They served as middlemen in the fur trade, carrying furs to Quebec after the Iroquois Indians had driven the Algonquins from the area.

The Ottawa's first meeting with the French was a brief encounter at the mouth of the French River in 1615 with Samuel de Champlain. At the time, Champlain was enroute to the Huron villages at the south end of Lake Huron and gave little attention to what he thought was just another group of Algonkin. His attitude quickly changed when he realized how much fur the Ottawa could provide. Although the Huron had beaver in their homeland, it was not enough to supply the French, but the Ottawa, through their trade with tribes to the north and west, had access to an enormous amount, and it was better fur since colder weather caused beaver to grow thicker coats. The Ottawa had fought with the Huron before the French arrived, but mutual self-interest ended their traditional hostility (probably the only time when the fur trade caused peace in the Great Lakes). The system of the Ottawa and Nipissing bringing fur to the Huron to trade to the French worked so well it was not necessary for the French to travel beyond the Huron villages. By the 1620s French trade goods were reaching the Ojibwe at Sault Ste. Marie and the Cree to the north on the rivers flowing into Hudson Bay.

With the end of New France in 1759, the Ottawa area came under British rule and settlers from the United States began to stake claims to the land. Amongst these was Philemon Wright and his settlers who, anticipating the enormous energy possibilities of the Ottawa River, settled across the River in Hull Township.

Ottawa was named the capital of the Province of Canada in 1857. At this time, Ottawa was a plain little industrial town in the middle of nowhere. The transformation started in 1859, when work began on a series of grand new Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. The legislature of the Province of Canada sat for the first and last time in these new buildings in 1866. The very next year, Canada was created as a new independent nation, and the first government of the Dominion of Canada assembled in Ottawa. However, its history goes back much further than that.

The National Capital Region (NCR), comprised of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton on the Ontario side, and the Communauté urbaine de l'Outaouais (Aylmer, Gatineau and Hull) on its Québec side, has the fourth largest population in Canada with over 920,000, and one of Canada's fastest growth rates. The NCR is alive with vitality and rich in historic tradition; a unique blend of English and French Canada.

As the nation's capital, Ottawa is the seat of federal government which is one of the largest employers in the region accounting for approximately 20 per cent of the total workforce.

High technology is an important player in the employment picture, with over 650 such firms issuing pay cheques to more than 36,000 employees. Other major employers include the hospitality industry, with more than 27,000 jobs, and the health/life sciences field (including hospitals, government laboratories, universities and the private sector), with over 18,000 jobs. There are more than 75 life sciences companies in Ottawa-Carleton employing over 1,500 people with sales in excess of $360 million per year.

Ottawa's main landmark is the 302ft (92m) high Peace Tower. The tower surmounts the imposing Parliament Buildings, which stand in Gothic splendour at the junction of the Ottawa, Rideau and Gatineau rivers.

There is lots to see and do around Ottawa in the city. The city has a fascinating history. There are DOZENS of museums and historical sites, lots of parks and greenspace along the city's rivers and canals, and activities and sports to keep anybody busy (and happy). Not to mention the Rideau Canal (and winter Skateway) and the Ottawa River themselves and the popular bike paths than run along them. We even have a page that has tips on hundreds of things to do with kids.

Ottawa's major sights are clustered on the steep, south banks of the Ottawa River to either side of the Rideau Canal. It's here you'll find the monumental Victorian architecture of Parliament Hill , the outstanding art collection of the National Gallery , the military memorabilia of the Canadian War Museum , the imposing Notre Dame Basilica and Byward Market , the hub of the restaurant and bar scene. Many visitors stop there, but there are a clutch of other, lesser attractions too, beginning with the Laurier House , packed with the possessions of the former prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and located 1km or so east of the centre. Northeast of the centre, on the far side of the Rideau River, is the ritzy suburb of Rockcliffe , home to both the governor-general's mansion, Rideau Hall , and the National Aviation Museum.

Ottawa city

Ottawa city

The capital of the second biggest country on the planet, Ottawa struggles with its reputation as a bureaucratic labyrinth of little charm and character. The problem is that many Canadians who aren't federal employees - and even some who are - blame the city for all the country's woes. All too aware of this, the Canadian government have spent lashings of dollars to turn Ottawa into "a city of urban grace in which all Canadians can take pride" - so goes the promotional literature, but predictably this very investment is often resented. Furthermore, the hostility is deeply rooted, dating back as far as 1857 when Queen Victoria, inspired by some genteel watercolours, declared Ottawa the capital, leaving Montréal and Toronto smarting at their rebuff.

Ottawa, Canada’s Capital, sits on the border between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in central Canada. It was made capital of the British colonial Province of Canada in 1857. In the 20th century, a much-larger Capital region was created to serve as a frame for Canada’s Capital. Since 1969, Ottawa and Gatineau (two cities that face each other across the broad Ottawa River) and the surrounding urban and rural communities have been formally recognized as Canada’s Capital Region.

The centre of the Region is the area known as Parliament Hill, where neo-gothic stone buildings and the spire of the Peace Tower rise from the cliffs overlooking the Ottawa River. The Centre Block of Parliament is the heart of Canadian political life, housing the Senate, House of Commons and the impressive Library of Parliament. The central tower, the Peace Tower, houses a 53-bell carillon, a huge clock and the memorial chamber commemorating Canada's war dead.

In truth, Ottawa is neither grandiose nor tedious, but a lively cosmopolitan city of 330,000 with a clutch of outstanding national museums , a pleasant riverside setting and superb cultural facilities like the National Arts Centre, plus acres of parks and gardens and miles of bicycle and jogging paths. It also possesses lots of good hotels and B&Bs and a busy café-bar and restaurant scene - enough to keep the most diligent sightseer going for a day or three, maybe more. Here too, for once in English-speaking Ontario, Canada's bilingual laws make sense: Québec's Hull is just across the river and on the streets of Ottawa you'll hear as much French as English.

Ottawa city

Ottawa city

Ottawa city

Ottawa city