Ottawa for a Weekend in the Winter

Ottawa is the capital of Canada and is situated in eastern Ontario along the Ottawa River. It is home to Parliament Hill and contains many historic sites, landmarks and national museums. This vibrant city also offers year-round opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, including skating on the Rideau Canal in the winter and hiking one of many trails in or around the city.

Winterlude (Take Two)

Every winter Ottawa hosts Winterlude - a three-week festival to celebrate winter. The city is transformed into a winter wonderland with ice and snow sculptures scattered around the downtown core. But its main draw is the Rideau Canal Skateway. At 7.8 kilometres long, when completely frozen, it forms the largest skating rink the world. We visited Ottawa during Winterlude two years ago. But due to an extreme cold warning (we're talking -42°C with the windchill) we were unable to spend much time outdoors let alone skate on the canal. So this year we were ready for a second chance.