Free Walking Sightseeing Tour #1 in (Old) Ottawa, Canada

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Tour Facts

Number of sights 20 sights
Distance 7.3 km
Ascend 130 m
Descend 129 m

Explore (Old) Ottawa in Canada with this free self-guided walking tour. The map shows the route of the tour. Below is a list of attractions, including their details.

Activities in (Old) OttawaIndividual Sights in (Old) Ottawa

Sight 1: Garden of the Provinces and Territories

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Garden of the Provinces and Territories

The Garden of the Provinces and Territories is a 4-acre (1.6 ha) site along Confederation Boulevard in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's capital city. It is bounded by the Sparks Street escarpment on the south, Wellington Street on the west and north, and Bay Street to the east between Christ Church Cathedral and the Library and Archives Canada. It was officially opened on September 25, 1962, as a western gateway to the Parliament Buildings. The park was renamed from "Garden of the Provinces" on October 6, 2005 to recognize and include Canada's three territories. Scott Brison, then the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, officially renamed the park.

Wikipedia: Garden of the Provinces and Territories (EN)

998 meters / 12 minutes

Sight 2: Centennial Flame

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The Centennial Flame is a monument on Parliament Hill commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation. First lit in January 1967, the Flame worked with natural gas and as of 2021 uses biogas, presenting a fountain that does not freeze in winter. Money thrown into it is a donation for people with disabilities, some of whom have received over $5,000.

Wikipedia: Centennial Flame (EN)

709 meters / 9 minutes

Sight 3: Major's Hill Park

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Major's Hill Park is a park in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. The park stands above the Rideau Canal at the point where it enters the Ottawa River. The parliament buildings can be seen across the canal to the west, to the north of the park is the National Gallery of Canada, and to the east are the United States embassy and the Byward Market. To the south is the Chateau Laurier hotel, built on land that was once part of the park.

Wikipedia: Major's Hill Park (EN)

386 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 4: Maman

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Maman (1999) is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture in several locations by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which depicts a spider, is among the world's largest, measuring over 30 ft high and over 33 ft wide (927 x 891 x 1024 cm). It includes a sac containing 32 marble eggs and its abdomen and thorax are made of rubbed bronze.

Wikipedia: Maman (sculpture) (EN)

113 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 5: Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica

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Notre-Dame Cathedral BasilicaMichel Rathwell from Cornwall, Canada / CC BY 2.0

The Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada located on 385 Sussex Drive in the Lower Town neighbourhood. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1990.

Wikipedia: Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica (Ottawa) (EN), Website, Heritage Website

446 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 6: Connaught Building

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The Connaught Building is a historic office building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by Public Services and Procurement Canada. It is located at 555 MacKenzie Avenue, just south of the American Embassy. To the east, the building looks out on the Byward Market, and to the west is MacKenzie Avenue and Major's Hill Park. Today, it houses a portion of Headquarters operations for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The Minister and Commissioner of the CRA have offices in the building.

Wikipedia: Connaught Building (EN), Heritage Website

302 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 7: Fairmont Château Laurier

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Fairmont Château Laurier Michel Rathwell / CC BY 2.0

The Fairmont Château Laurier is a 660,000-square-foot (61,000 m2) hotel with 429 guest rooms in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive and designed in a French Gothic Revival Châteauesque style to complement the adjacent Parliament buildings. The hotel is above the Colonel By Valley, home of the Ottawa Locks of the Rideau Canal, and overlooks the Ottawa River. The main dining room overlooks Major's Hill Park. The reception rooms include the Wedgewood-blue Adam Room; the Laurier Room defined by Roman columns; the Empire-style ballroom and the Drawing Room featuring cream and gold plaster ornament. The hotel was designated a national historic site in 1980.

Wikipedia: Château Laurier (EN), Heritage Website

220 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 8: National War Memorial

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National War Memorial

The National War Memorial, titled The Response, is a tall, granite memorial arch with accreted bronze sculptures in Ottawa, Ontario, designed by Vernon March and first dedicated by King George VI in 1939. Originally built to commemorate the Canadians who died in the First World War, it was in 1982 rededicated to also include those killed in the Second World War and Korean War and again in 2014 to add the dead from the Second Boer War and War in Afghanistan, as well as all Canadians killed in all conflicts past and future. It now serves as the pre-eminent war memorial of 76 cenotaphs in Canada. In 2000, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was added in front of the memorial and symbolizes the sacrifices made by all Canadians who have died or may yet die for their country.

Wikipedia: National War Memorial (Canada) (EN)

2 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 9: Confederation Square

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Confederation Square is an urban square in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is considered the second most important ceremonial centre in Canada's capital city, after Parliament Hill. Roughly triangular in area, with Canada's National War Memorial at its centre and the Valiants Memorial at its periphery, the square is bounded by Wellington Street to the north and branches of Elgin Street to the east and west.

Wikipedia: Confederation Square (EN), Heritage Website

32 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 10: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

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Tomb of the Unknown Soldier The original uploader was Chris-13 at French Wikipedia. / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a tomb situated before the National War Memorial in Confederation Square, Ottawa, Ontario. The tomb is dedicated to Canadian service members, and holds the remains of an unidentified Canadian soldier who died in France during the First World War; selected from a Commonwealth War Grave near Vimy, in the vicinity where the Battle of Vimy Ridge took place.

Wikipedia: Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (EN)

80 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 11: Lord Stanley Cup Monument

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The Lord Stanley's Gift Monument is a monument in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It commemorates the donation of the Stanley Cup ice hockey championship trophy by Canada's Governor-General the Lord Stanley of Preston in 1893. It is located on the eastern end of the Sparks Street Mall. It was constructed at the culmination of a public campaign to commemorate the donation of the trophy.

Wikipedia: Lord Stanley's Gift Monument (EN)

67 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 12: Central Chambers

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Central ChambersIan Muttoo from Mississauga, Canada / CC BY-SA 2.0

Central Chambers is a building at the corner of Elgin Street and Queen Street in Ottawa that is a National Historic Site. It is located at 42 to 54 Elgin Street, next to Bell Block. It faces the Canadian War Memorial at Confederation Square. Central Chambers was built between 1890 and 1893 and designed by John James Browne of Montreal, an example of Queen Anne Revival commercial architecture. Formerly serving as an office for the Canadian Atlantic Railway, it now houses the National Capital Commission.

Wikipedia: Central Chambers (Ottawa) (EN), Heritage Website

235 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 13: National Arts Centre

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The National Arts Centre (NAC) is a Canadian centre for the performing arts located in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is operated by the eponymous performing arts organisation National Arts Centre. The National Arts Centre was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2006.

Wikipedia: National Arts Centre (building) (EN), Website, Heritage Website

374 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 14: First Baptist Church Ottawa

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First Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is affiliated with the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec.

Wikipedia: First Baptist Church (Ottawa) (EN), Website

211 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 15: Canadian Tribute to Human Rights

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Canadian Tribute to Human Rights

The Canadian Tribute to Human Rights, also known as the Human Rights Monument, is a monumental sculpture located at the corner of Lisgar and Elgin streets in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was designed by Montreal artist and architect Melvin Charney and unveiled by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama, on September 30, 1990.

Wikipedia: Canadian Tribute to Human Rights (EN)

68 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 16: Knox Presbyterian Church

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Knox Presbyterian Church

Knox Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian Church in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is named after John Knox, a founder of Presbyterianism in Scotland.

Wikipedia: Knox Presbyterian Church (Ottawa) (EN), Website

407 meters / 5 minutes

Sight 17: Confederation Park

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Confederation Park (French: Parc de la Confédération) is a public park and National Historic Site of Canada, located in the downtown core of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the south by Laurier Avenue and Ottawa City Hall; on the east by the Rideau Canal and National Defence Headquarters; on the north by the Mackenzie King Bridge, the Rideau Centre and the National Arts Centre; and to the west by Elgin Street and the Lord Elgin Hotel.

Wikipedia: Confederation Park (EN)

613 meters / 7 minutes

Sight 18: Ottawa Art Gallery

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Ottawa Art Gallery

The Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) is a municipal gallery in Ottawa, Ontario that opened in 1988 at Arts Court. The gallery has a permanent collection of over one thousand works, houses the City of Ottawa-owned Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, and provides community, educational and public programming. The OAG focuses on acquiring, interpreting, and sharing art as well as acting as a cultural meeting place.

Wikipedia: Ottawa Art Gallery (EN), Website, Opening Hours

960 meters / 12 minutes

Sight 19: Laurier House

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Laurier House is a National Historic Site in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was formerly the residence of two Canadian prime ministers: Sir Wilfrid Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie King. The home is now a historic house museum that is open to the public for guided tours from Victoria Day in May until Thanksgiving in October. Its address is 335 Laurier Avenue East.

Wikipedia: Laurier House (EN), Website, Opening Hours, Heritage Website

1104 meters / 13 minutes

Sight 20: Turkish Embassy Ottawa

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This is a list of properties which have been designated by the City of Ottawa under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act as having cultural heritage value or interest. At many properties, a bronze plaque gives a bilingual description of the property's history.

Wikipedia: List of designated heritage properties in Ottawa (EN)

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Disclaimer Please be aware of your surroundings and do not enter private property. We are not liable for any damages that occur during the tours.

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