Canada · WALKING TOURS IN OTTAWA
Strongest first. Costs, timings and traveller verdicts on all 7 walking tours in Ottawa below, so the decision takes minutes rather than an evening.
Follow a cloaked guide through downtown Ottawa for 75 minutes of ghost stories, unsolved mysteries, and local history. The route begins on Sparks Street and includes Grant House, Fairmont Château Laurier, and a famously haunted high school. Guides such as Monica, Jack, Nart, and Véronique bring the tales to life in English or French.
“Véronique was a great guide! Her stories were interesting and well narrated. Merci!”
Follow a local storyteller for 75 minutes through downtown Ottawa, beginning near Parliament Hill. Hear eerie tales tied to the Château Laurier, Rideau Canal, Bytown Museum, and Lisgar Collegiate. Guides such as Monica, Margo, Nart, and Jack bring different styles, from humorous and family-friendly to genuinely chilling.
“Good way to spend time in Ottawa, very interesting, super guide, i recommend this tour , A lot of informations.”
Walk through downtown Ottawa with Taf, an engaging English-speaking guide who keeps groups to four adults plus children. Over about 2.5 hours, you’ll see major sights, modern buildings, historic places, museums, and lesser-known details while learning how Ottawa’s past connects with its present.
“We enjoyed the tour. Taf is a very good guide. He showed us many different places and some interesting insights in history. Booking this tour was a very good experience and decision.”
Meet a local guide in central Ottawa and shape a private walk around your interests, pace, and questions. You may focus on city sights, parks, sculpture, street art, food, or local life. Guides including Violeta, Roberta, Maura, and Temo have earned praise for warm, personal walks. Tours last 2 to 6 hours.
“It was great that we could tailor the tour to our pace and interests. Violeta was informative and full of interesting facts.”
Walk central Ottawa from Sparks Street to Major’s Hill Park while an English-speaking guide explains how a rough frontier town became Canada’s capital. Expect stories about mischievous mayors, costly city mistakes, furry fighters, historic buildings, and major museums. Guides have included Zak and Cody.
“Our tour guide Zak was great! Very noligable about the city and it’s interesting facts :)”
Spend 210 minutes with an English-speaking guide and a group of no more than 10. Begin at Louise Bourgeois’s Maman, pass the Royal Mint, Notre Dame Basilica, ByWard Market, Fairmont Château Laurier, and the Centennial Flame, then finish with a seasonal Rideau Canal cruise. In the off-season, National Gallery admission replaces the boat.
“Well a pleasant young women, our guide had a shockingly lack of basic knowledge about Ottawa, our history, government, key figures and buildings and locations. We had to Google things that she did not know. On the other hand, Ellen, the guide on the Ekeau boat was great. We learned so much from her vs getting "I don't know" as an answer.”
Spend 150 minutes with Vivi Wilds on a private Ottawa nature walk that begins with hotel pickup. Feed chickadees by hand, look for squirrels, turkeys, geese, ducks, deer, beavers, and other wildlife, and enjoy a gentle route shaped to your pace. The tour runs in English, Spanish, or German, with bird seed included.
“Fun and interactive. Vivi was an excellent guide. We were given bird food to hold out and straight away the birds and squirrels came. So many Chickadees, Woodpeckers and Tree Creepers. There were also juvenile Turkeys. The Fall colour was beautiful and we saw our first Beaver Dam. We would highly recommend this trip.”
Pick a summit, a shoreline or a table.
