Ottawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

There is plenty to do while in Ottawa, such as winter sports, shopping, markets, museums, exploring, or just simply relaxing. Some of the top visited sites of Ottawa are:

• The Rideau Canal: From the winter to summer, the Rideau Canal transforms from the world’s largest ice skating rink .-7.8 kilometers long- to a beautiful, scenic recreational boating route. Visitors are always welcome to walk, rollerblade or bike along the river’s banks!
• Sound and Light Show: This amazing sound and light show amazes views as they watch in astonishment. Dramatic music, spectacular lighting effects and gigantic projections on the Parliament Buildings tell the story of Canada during this show.
• Parliament Hill: Ottawa is the capital of Canada and the centre of the Canadian government. After being in the city for a few days, you’ll swear that you were in Europe because of all the European style buildings of Parliament Hill. Visitors have said that it looks as the European immigrants brought the buildings with them when they came to Ottawa!

Ottawa is situated on the South bank of the Ottawa River, and contains the mouths of the Rideau River and Rideau Canal. The oldest part of the city is known as Lower Town, and occupies an area between the canal and the rivers. Across the canal to the West lies Centretown and the Ottawa River, the slight elevation of Parliament Hill is home to many of the capital's landmark government buildings, including the Peace Tower, and the Legislative seat of Canada. Rideau Canal, which stretches 202 km to Kingston, Fort Henry and four Martello towers in the Kingston towers in the Kingston area was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ottawa has a humid continental climate with an extreme range in temperature. This extreme range in temperature allows Ottawa to boast a variety of annual activities - more notable events such as the Winterlude Festival on the Rideau Canal in the winter and the National Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in July.

Since Ottawa it the nation’s capital, it is thriving with Canadian culture. The city is the home to many famous landmarks, museums, institutions, government buildings, memorials and heritage structures. In order to preserve its beauty and historical relevance, Ottawa has restrictions on building heights. This prevents the skyline to grow over the Parliament buildings.

Besides being the home of the government, Ottawa has many cultural events and festivals scheduled throughout the year. In fact, the city’s festival industry received the honored IFEA World Festival and Event City Award In 2010.

Ottawa also offers a variety of interesting museums, great restaurants, huge shopping centers and plenty of cultural events to keep you busy throughout your visit.

Ottawa offers unique gift and souvenir shops for travelers and visitors, and for the more hardcore shopper, Ottawa is a paradise. Downtown Ottawa offers a wide range of stores, shops, craft shops and boutiques.

The ByWard Market is the top tourist attraction in Ottawa. It is the premier destination for shopping, dining, arts and entertainment. Every weekend over 50,000 visitors pass through the market. There are over 260 stands from local farmers and over 500 businesses. Approximately 90% of travelers visiting Ottawa will stop by the ByWard Market each year.

Here are some more of the popular shopping areas in Ottawa: The Rideau Centre, the Downtown Rideau district, Sparks Street, the Bayshore Shopping Centre, the St. Laurent Shopping Centre and Place d'Orleans.

Discover everything Canada has to offer year round! Enjoy skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, and other exciting sports. Come and enjoy Canada's winter!