City / Town: Ottawa

Canada’s British colonial heritage can be heard in the nostalgic strain of the bagpipes on Parliament Hill. See it in the red and black pageantry and military drills of the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Listen for the Peace Tower’s 53-bell carillon signaling summer noon-hour concerts on the lawn. Pause for a roaming history lesson from a costumed participant in Theatre on the Hill. At night, enjoy music timed to the show of dancing lights projected onto the Parliament buildings.

Canada’s capital city is full of surprises. Even before you enter the National Gallery of Canada or Le Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, Canada’s largest visual arts museum, you’ll be impressed. The 30-ft bronze spider installation, Maman, and her sac of 26 gleaming marble eggs greet you outside the door. Inside, Canada’s greatest painters and Aboriginal artists share space with European masters from Monet to Cézanne. At the Canadian Museum of Civilization, marvel at human innovation traced back to prehistoric times.

See spring come to Ottawa in the brilliant colors of three million tulips during the annual Canadian Tulip Festival. Summer brings the Ottawa Jazz Festival, dragon boat races and Canada Day fireworks. Take a whitewater rafting clinic from a world champion on the Ottawa River, just 90 minutes west of the city. In winter, do figure eights on the 4.85-mile Rideau Canal Skateway. It holds the Guinness World Record as the largest naturally frozen ice rink in the world, see how far you can go.