Experience the cosmopolitan capital, home to some of the country's biggest and most prestigious galleries and museums, great sightseeing, outdoor adventure in Gatineau Park, entertainment, shopping and dining. The Rideau Canal, where one can enjoy paddle boating and canoeing, with pedestrian and cycle trails on both sides, and in the winter, it becomes the world’s longest skating rink. Winterlude, the continent's greatest and most varied winter extravaganza with unique features such as snow and ice sculptures.

Ottawa's natural beauty is as much of a draw for tourists as the city's architecture and beautiful parks and streetscapes. Every year hosting Canada's largest balloon festival, involving four countries.

Canada's Capital comes alive with spring Tulips, celebrating the beauty of spring with a dazzling display of three million blossoming tulips, which has grown into the largest tulip festival in the world. They transform the nation's capital into a perfume-scented wonderland of brilliant colours.

Ottawa offers a wide variety of culture, arts and history, festivals and many different live performances. Ottawa is not only a city of culture and arts; it offers visitors a large variety of recreational activities such as a 150-kilometre bike path, golf courses, and home to The National Gallery of Canada, a visual arts museum of international stature.

The red coats and sleek horses of the RCMP internationally recognized as a Canadian symbol of pride and justice. The Musical Ride, a world-renowned military pageant performed with 32 horses and riders. Once known mainly as a Government City and national capital, Ottawa has emerged into a vibrant and accomplished tourist destination.

When the Canadian colony needed an arms supply route in case of U.S. invasion, London sent Lt.-Col. John By of the Royal Engineers in 1826, and took on the responsibility of constructing a canal from Bytown (now Ottawa) to Kingston. Engineers built the Rideau Canal, a distance of over 200 kilometres, between 1826 and 1832 linking a secure supply route between Montreal and Kingston.

Operated by Parks Canada as a National Historic Canal, the Canal offers outdoor recreational activities in an historic and beautiful natural setting.
Today, the Canal appears much as it did over 150 years ago with limestone locks, hand-operated cranks, wooden lock master houses, and stone supply buildings.

Rideau Canal is one of the Capital's most popular recreational areas. In the summer, canoes and motorboats ply the waters, while walkers, joggers, cyclists and in-line skaters enjoy the recreational pathways alongside. In the winter, the canal converts into an 8 kilometre outdoor ice-skating rink, longest in the world.

The National Capital Commission (NCC) as a means of celebrating Canada’s unique northern climate and culture established Winterlude in 1979. Every year, Winterlude attracts thousands of artists, athletes and tourists from across Canada and around the world.

Winterlude is one of the largest festivals in the National Capital Region, and certainly one of the most popular. With a wide range of activities, including skating on the canal, snow and ice sculpture competitions, and skating demonstrations, offering something for everyone.

In 2003, Canada's Capital Region celebrated its 25th anniversary with Winterlude.