INSIDE GUIDE - OTTAWA

ACTIVE ADVENTURES, BUZZY BREWERIES AND NEIGHBOURHOODS THRIVING WITH BARS AND BOUTIQUES CANADA'S BIJOU CAPITAL HAS PLENTY TO DISCOVER BEYOND THE HALLS OF PARLIAMENT

- ALICIA MILLER

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 find 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 flavor, however, you need to strike out to Ottawa’s neighbourhoods. Start south, in upmarket The Glebe, where Victorian-era townhouses meet the sports fields of Lansdowne Park and the curve of the Rideau Canal. Dive into a maple and bacon oatmeal bowl at