CO R A Z ÓN DE MA Í Z
This husband-and-wife
team from Mexico
City make Ottawa’s
best tacos in a corner
of ByWard Market.
Marianna is a trained
chef and the incredible
garlic jalapeño salsa
is her grandmother’s
recipe. 55 ByWard
Market Square
C O P P E R SP I R I T S
A N D S IG H T S
This is where locals go
for drinks with a view:
the tallest rooftop bar in
the city (atop the Andaz
Ottawa ByWard Market),
offering 360 -degree
views spanning
Downtown, the river and
neighbouring Gatineau.
hyatt.com
TAVERN AT
THE GALLERY
This new al fresco
restaurant can be found
at the National Gallery
of Canada but it’s hidden
away. It’s a great spot for
lunches, with salads and
pizza. There’s another
location, Tavern on the
Hill, by the Rideau Falls.
tavernatthegallery.ca
Stefanie is co-
owner of C’est Bon
Cooking, which
offers food tours
and cookery classes
based around
Canadian produce.
cestboncooking.ca
It may be Canada’s political powerhouse, but under the
surface Ottawa is simmering with vibrancy and adventure.
Strike beyond the typical tourist route surrounding
Parliament Hill and you’ll fi nd verdant scenery, quirky
museums, Indigenous experiences and a burgeoning food
and drink scene. Come clock-off time, this is a city that
knows how to have fun.
No trip to Ottawa is complete without a visit to the
National Gallery Of Canada, with its roll call of great
paintings by the likes of Matisse, Van Gogh, Mondrian and
Klimt. Don’t miss ornate Rideau Street Chapel: originally
part of the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, it was
painstakingly relocated, piece by piece to the National
Gallery, where it can be explored to the accompaniment
of haunting music. Also worth checking out is the nearby
Ottawa Art Gallery — free to enter, it’s chock-full of
contemporary Canadian art. gallery.ca
ByWard Market, the historic area east of the Parliament
Buildings, is packed with bars and restaurants, including
the legendary BeaverTails kiosk (the ‘beaver tails’ in
question aren’t the real thing, thankfully, but fried pastries
dusted in sugar). For real local fl avour, however, you need
to strike out to Ottawa’s neighbourhoods. Start south, in
upmarket The Glebe, where Victorian-era townhouses
meet the sports fi elds of Lansdowne Park and the curve
of the Rideau Canal. Dive into a maple and bacon oatmeal
bowl at Oat Couture Oatmeal Cafe, then thumb through
old tomes over a coff ee at Black Squirrel Books & Espresso
Bar. Alternatively, join the queue at Kettlemans Bagel,
which has been keeping the locals well-fed with freshly
baked bagels for nearly three decades. oatcouturecafe.com
blacksquirrelbooks.ca kettlemansbagels.ca
Head west of Downtown, and you’ll fi nd the lively
neighbourhoods of Westboro and Hintonburg. Don’t miss
popular SuzyQ Donuts for fl avours including Black Forest
or cinnamon toast crunch before hitting the shops. Browse
relaxed, ‘luxe-boheme’ women’s clothing at boutiques such
as Tallow, or take home a Canadian-made gift from Maker
House. The area is home to a thriving brewery scene, too:
start at Tooth And NailBrewing Company with an icy,
unfi ltered pilsner, then wander further east to Spark Beer
for a Pinot Noir-infused sour. If that piques your interest,
there are well over a dozen other breweries to check out
around the city, and Brew Donkey runs tasting tours of
the best. suzyq.ca shoptallow.com makerhouse.com
toothandnailbeer.com spark.beer brewdonkey.ca
Looking for somewhere memorable for dinner? Seek out
Riviera Ottawa, set in a former bank on historic, cobbled
Sparks Street for negronis and fi rst-rate seafood from chef
Jordan Holley, from tuna crudo with puff ed quinoa to
lobster spaghetti. dineriviera.com
Summer here revolves around exploring the great
outdoors — whether that’s kayaking on the Rideau Canal
or hiking through forest in Gatineau Park. But if you fancy
thrills without too much thigh-burn, then try Interzip, the
city zip-line, which soars over the Ottawa River at speeds of
up to 25 mph. interzip.ca
Alternatively, get back to the area’s roots. Opened in
2021, Mādahòkì Farm is an Indigenous-owned space where
First Nations communities share their connection to the
land with visitors. Here, you can learn about Canada’s
reconciliation movement, shop at a craft marketplace
and attend seasonal festivals involving dancing and
storytelling. You can also admire the resident Ojibwe spirit
horses, a breed developed by the Indigenous Ojibwe people.
The horses are considered spirit animals within Ojibwe
culture; there are only 200 of the equines globally, and six
live right here.indigenous-experiences.ca A L I C I A M I L L E R
INSIDE GUIDE
ACTIVE ADVENTURES, BUZZY BREWERIES AND NEIGHBOURHOODS THRIVING
WITH BARS AND BOUTIQUES — CANADA’S BIJOU CAPITAL HAS PLENTY TO
DISCOVER BEYOND THE HALLS OF PARLIAMENT
OTTAWA
LIKE A LOCAL
StefanieSiska’s top
three food spots
28 NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/TRAVEL
