Located along the southern banks of Ottawa River in the province of Ontario, Ottawa is the capital and most famous city in Canada. It is the fourth largest Canadian city situated near the borders of United States. Ottawa draws over seven million tourists from all over the globe, yearly. The population of the city is exceeding over one million with an estimated metropolitan population of 1.4 million people. Ottawa is founded in the year 1826 by the name of Bytown, and years after in late 1855, it was named as Ottawa after the nearby Ottawa River, which was, derived from Algonquin language meaning “To Trade”. Ottawa has the largest educated population in Canada and its home to some the country’s finest art galleries, research centers, cultural institutions, and world-renowned museums including the Canada Science & Technology Museum. The weather remains as high as 26.6 °C and as low as -14 °C which helps the city to offer numerous outdoor and indoor activities in any season. Here, the famous ByWard Market, Parliament Hill, and the Golden Triangle are the primary landmarks for culture scenes throughout the year including the Winterlude festival, Bluesfest, Canadian Tulip Festival, Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, Ottawa International Jazz Festival, Fringe Festival and Folk Music Festival. In any season, Ottawa is perfect to explore and the number of visitors remains the same.
Top Visitor’s Attractions in Ottawa, Ontario
- National Gallery of Canada: It the country’s finest and premier art galleries. National Gallery of Canada is built in a captivating architecture of glass and granite in the year 1928 by Moshe Safdie. It is home to wide variety of paintings, drawings, sculpture, and photographs, as well as the historical archive, is a primary attraction for visitors. The majority of the exhibits are comprised of contemporary art and modern art attracting over a million visitors yearly.
- Canada Aviation & Space Museum: Ottawa also houses the world-renowned Canada Aviation & Space Museum which is one of the country’s largest aviation museum portraying the science of space and air traveling with countless enticing exhibits. It also showcases an extensive assortment of civilian and military aircraft ranging from the first World War to present day. The famous Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow is placed inside the Canada Aviation & Space Museum.
- Canadian Museum of Nature: Built in stunning Gothic Revival architecture, Canadian Museum of Nature is Canada’s finest natural history museum housing over 14 million specimens, Botany, Mineralogy, Paleontology, and Zoology. Here, the Fossil Gallery exhibits the giant skeletons of Dinosaurs, marine reptiles, and many others exhibit dating back to over 80 million years. The Earth Gallery is second most attractive section showcasing the geological forces and how they shaped our planet by the time.