Talk:Ottawa

Beaver Tails
What does "enjoy a beaver tail" mean? -(WT-en) phma 11:05, 16 Feb 2004 (EST)


 * A beaver tail is a round, flat bread thing, which I think is deep fried, and then you can add cinnamon, sugar, icing sugar etc. to it. It's supposedly a uniquely Canadian thing, but I've only ever seen it in Ottawa. I think it was invented for the tourists, but it tastes good anyway. Perhaps that should be added to the page. --(WT-en) Dawnview 14:01, 16 Feb 2004 (EST)


 * Beaver tails are also available at Toronto/Harbourfront, and also in the Food Building during the annual CNE. TheTrolleyPole (talk) 21:51, 23 September 2017 (UTC)

Albert House Inn
I moved Albert House Inn from budget to mid-range after seeing that its website lists rates starting at $98/night - hardly budget. (WT-en) Padraic 10:38, 13 Apr 2005 (EDT)

Parliament Hill
Is there any appetite for filling in more info on Parliament Hill? I mean, I would expect there to be some additional info on the House of Commons, Senate and Library. I don't mean political information but things that a travel guide book would have such as things to notice as you are taking your tour. Specifically, I'd like to say more to the Library, it's really special and worth seeing. On the other hand, that might be too much for the Ottawa page but I'm not sure an attraction would qualify as a page. (WT-en) Johnycanal 13:15, 5 August 2006 (EDT)
 * Would it be a legitimate district page? What's the area directly outside of the Hill called? -- (WT-en) Andrew Haggard (Sapphire) 13:36, 5 August 2006 (EDT)
 * Downtown. Inclusion of the Parliament info on a district page may be a solution, though I wouldn't think that Ottawa would have any other travel-worthy districts: almost all of the sites are downtown.(WT-en) Johnycanal 20:55, 5 August 2006 (EDT)

Canada's Capital Museums Passport
Visitors might be interested to purchase the Canada's Capital Museums Passport: 10 Museums, 7 days, 50% off.

The Passport is exchangeable for admission to each of the 10 participating museums as well as 20% off a theatre, dance or orchestra performance at the National Arts Centre. Valid from first museum visit. The Passport is sold at all 10 participating museums as well as at the Capital Infocentre at 90 Wellington Street (facing Parliament Hill) in Ottawa. Details: www.virtualmuseum.ca/passport

Stay safe
The current Stay safe content is confusing. Why should I be afraid of taxi drivers, and what is a "swarming"? (WT-en) Jpatokal 22:25, 21 April 2007 (EDT)


 * Swarming is people surrounding you (as if to attack):)! (WT-en) Edmontonenthusiast 21:35, 22 October 2008 (EDT)Edmontonenthusiast

Also, the crime figures were based on a misreading of the Maclean's crime rankings, it would appear. Ottawa was ranked 6th for population out of the the cities they reviewed, but 56th in the actual crime rankings. http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/03/05/the-most-dangerous-cities-in-canada/. Even if you look at it by population, it should show the actual crime rank on the side. Since this is a huge difference I have changed the number to 56th. I also am not sure if it's fair to call Gatineau one of the most dangerous cities in Canada given its ranking, but I will leave that up to someone else if they want to edit that. --67.70.107.202 10:53, 1 September 2009 (EDT)


 * Since we're not Wikipedia, the correct answer is to say "who gives a shit?" and delete random statistics. (WT-en) Jpatokal 04:50, 2 September 2009 (EDT)

Train station to downtown by foot
Bonjour à tous! I once met a traveling couple who had just arrived at the Ottawa Train station. They were eager to get downtown by foot, but the 417 (6 lane highway) was in their way. There's a way to get downtown through bike paths and Strathcona Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strathcona_Park_(Ottawa)). I am not sure where would be the best spot to put this. In the Get In/By Train section? At the bottom of the page? A separate page?
 * Bonjour. As the information is pertinent only to getting from the train station to the down town and not for getting around in general, I'd add at the end of the 'Get in'/'By train' information. (WT-en) WindHorse 01:10, 2 July 2007 (EDT)
 * Those directions are the best tip I've ever found on Wikivoyage -- I've lived in Ottawa for 5 years and didn't know this was possible. I created a map and am working on finding a map with a compatible license so it could be included right in the article. I modified the directions to avoid the "dirt path" east of the river, since one can just follow the loop of the paved path for almost the same distance and not get shoes dirty. I also modified the map to exit the park a little easier (onto Range Rd.), as I just walked this route in the winter and that area isn't cleared very well; however this isn't really easy to get across in words so I left the article directions intact on that front.(WT-en) Padraic 17:46, 18 February 2008 (EST)

Ottawa Train Station
I noticed on the Ottawa page that the main train station in Ottawa was being listed as Union Station. However, I am pretty sure this is the name of the old station on Sussex Drive that was long ago turned into a government conference centre. The "new" station in Alta Vista is officially called Ottawa Station (a name almost as bland as the station itself).

"Ottawa Station" is the name listed on the official VIA Rail station information site and also the Wikipedia page Ottawa Train Station associated with the station.

So, I have changed all references in the article to Union Station over to "Ottawa Station". (WT-en) Yodaki 02:03, 27 July 2008 (EDT)

Districtify?
Is Ottawa ready? I think it has enough information, sadly I cannot do it, maybe a few small edits, but thats it. Any regular article contributers up for the job? Idunt know, what do you think? Honestly I think it just goes down to if anyone want's to do it. It IS hard work. Keep smiling, (WT-en) Edmontonenthusiast 21:45, 28 October 2008 (EDT)


 * No. Articles should not be districted unless it's absolutely necessary, and Ottawa is not at that point yet. (WT-en) Jpatokal 06:25, 29 October 2008 (EDT)
 * OK, my my, I was JUST asking. That no was a little harsh sounding in my mind, and then it kept that tone through out.  Keep smiling, (WT-en) Edmontonenthusiast 18:40, 2 November 2008 (EST).
 * Do not confuse terseness with harshness. (WT-en) LtPowers 08:27, 10 November 2008 (EST)

High Tech References
The industry has mostly collapsed in Ottawa and is a small shell of what it was. Perhaps we should reduce the references to it? —The preceding comment was added by (WT-en) Leperkat (talk • contribs)
 * If you feel that's the case, please plunge forward and make the changes! (WT-en) LtPowers 11:15, 10 December 2011 (EST)

walking tours
Several of these are listed both in 'get around' and under 'do'. I'm inclined to delete the former & leave the latter, but arguably we should delete both per the tours policy Activity_listings. What do others think? Pashley (talk) 19:08, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Wrong Photo
The wrong photo is up for the National Gallery. The gallery in Trafalgar square looks very different. I don't know how to edit the article. Hopefully someone can fix that. —The preceding comment was added by 205.193.94.40 (talk • contribs)
 * I've replaced it; thank you! LtPowers (talk) 20:21, 15 January 2013 (UTC)

Page Banner
There doesn't seem to have been a discussion about the Page Banner. The one currently up (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Ottawa_banner_National_War_Memorial.jpg) seems okay, but not including Parliament Hill in some capacity seems to be burying the lede a bit. I have a banner uploaded (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Ottawa_Panorama_Cropped.jpg) which is a skyline style image (with Chateau Laurier, Rideau Canal, Parliament Hill (w/Library), Downtown, SCOC, etc), but it is a bit busy at lower resolutions. I think it is an improvement, but I'm not sure. What do you think? Synon0 (talk) 14:53, 22 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Both OK. I prefer yours. Pashley (talk) 16:56, 22 July 2013 (UTC)


 * I think yours is better, I'd say go for it. Globe-trotter (talk) 16:59, 22 July 2013 (UTC)


 * I normally prefer an artful closeup (like the War Memorial banner) to a generic panoramic skyline, but compositionally the memorial banner is problematic; the statue doesn't have a lot of contrast and the pillars are tilted at odd angles. The skyline shot of Parliament Hill, on the other hand, is very striking, compositionally excellent, and makes me want to visit Ottawa.  LtPowers (talk) 19:21, 22 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Banner changed. I do like it. The Rideau Canal gets a bit lost under the ToC, but I'm not sure how many people would have recognized it anyway. And it was me, I forgot to log in first. Synon0 (talk) 20:58, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

Vandalism?
I'm a bit puzzled by this revert of my edit. My edit contained some wv:tdf corrections and other copy editing trivia, but the substantive change should have been summarised in my edit summary as "(→‎By train: The template "marker" is better for "in-line" listings since it does not generate the little, grey and intrusive "edit" text)". Do others feel like Powers that it's not best to use the marker template (rather than the listing template) so that the intrusive, little, grey "edit" text does not interrupt the prose but the appropriate symbol still appears on the dynamic map? --61.29.8.41 08:44, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Also,

Franktown radar
Where should I put a place like the Franktown radar? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_weather_radar_network) Its not a long visit. Just 5 minute visit as the place is fenced off and its a bit of a drive to Carleton Place. But its free and any many geeks would enjoy the short visit. Jlam (talk) 02:09, 11 August 2014 (UTC)


 * I think the nearest place we have an article for is Calabogie. Would it fit there?


 * I made an error there, mixed Franktown up with Burnstown. Pashley (talk) 20:27, 25 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Is CFS Leitrim worth a mention as well? That would appeal to a different sort of geek, but no visitors allowed. Pashley (talk) 02:27, 11 August 2014 (UTC)


 * I'd be tempted to put Franktown (45.04101°N 76.11617°W per ) into either Carleton Place (15km) or Smiths Falls (27km) as it's on or almost on the road (Highway 15) between the two. Perth (23km) isn't too far, but Calabogie (78km) is nowhere close.


 * I'll add Franktown radar to Carleton. Jlam (talk) 19:41, 25 August 2014 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure what one does for excitement in Leitrim, there's Rideau Carleton Raceway and half of Uplands airport but not much else. If CFS Leitrim can't be visited, it might be worth a mention ("understand" section, along with the other Ottawa-area military locations?) but not a listing. K7L (talk) 05:21, 11 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Canada is part of the ECHELON system where the "five eyes" (US, UK, Canada, Oz NZ) intercept more-or-less everyone's messages. This has been going on since the 1960s and became publicly known to those paying attention by the 90s, but is getting a lot more publicity since Snowden. Leitrim is one of our main bases for that. Pashley (talk) 20:35, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Road trip destinations
Continuing the discussion about the Franktown radar, I see that there is an article as well for Eastern Ontario. https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Eastern_Ontario.

Points of Little Interest (http://pointsoflittleinterest.blogspot.ca/) (POLI) is a great blog on free places to visit in Eastern Ontario. *Very* handy guide for good roadtrip & outdoor destinations. I think (in time) I'll add Franktown Radar and other POLI destinations to the Eastern Ontario articles


 * The eastern Ontario article is a region, a container with other regions under it. It's basically a very general overview; it'll name a few key things to see and do, but point to the city pages for the details. Actual detailed listings go into local articles like Ottawa, Kanata, Carleton Place, Smiths Falls, Merrickville. Occasionally, two tiny, closely-spaced points (like Merrickville and Kemptville) might be included together as one destination if there isn't enough for another page. If we're missing a town or city-sized destination (like Manotick, for the chunk south of urban Ottawa but still within the county line) please feel free to create the page using the standard template sections (understand, get in, get around, see, do, buy, eat, drink, sleep, connect, go next...). K7L (talk) 05:32, 11 August 2014 (UTC)


 * That's too bad because it doesn't answer the need for one centralized place (one wikipage or category) for cheap road trip destinations for Ottawa residents like Points of Little Interest does. I'm sure the debate between specialization and geographic generalization has been debated ad nauseum, so I'm not here to start it again, :-) just pointing out a particular need.  Jlam (talk) 19:28, 25 August 2014 (UTC)


 * You could create a travel topic article for them & link to it from both Ottawa and Eastern Ontario. To me, that would be the logical solution. However, that might not be a solution everyone would like; several such topics are currently candidates for deletion, see Votes_for_deletion, and some like A week near Hong Kong have previously been redirected to a region article. Pashley (talk) 20:58, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I would think you could first ensure that the things are all written about in their respective city article (or nearest city article), and come up with a well written prose paragraph or two in an "Off the beaten track" subsection the See section of Ontario and/or Eastern Ontario which points to some of those things. Texugo (talk) 21:04, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

Diefenbunker also listed under "Carp"
The Ottawa section lists the "Diefenbunker", a Cold-War attraction which is actually 40km west of Ottawa in Carp, ON. I am torn: I think the listing should be in its local article, Carp, but it should be mentioned in Ottawa because visitors to Canadian national sites should know about it. Does Wikivoyage have a convention for situations like this? JimDeLaHunt (talk) 04:36, 22 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Similar issue for Kanata. The town's Brookstreet Resort, Perspectives Restaurant, and Quality Inn Ottawa West are listed in the Ottawa article also. JimDeLaHunt (talk) 04:39, 22 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I was about to suggest moving the attraction to Carp, and mentioning Carp in Ottawa, but I see it's already there. Attractions should be listed and described in detail only in the article for the place where the attraction is. Also, individual businesses should be listed in one article only.
 * In other words, anything that isn't in Ottawa shouldn't be listed in the article's See, Eat etc. sections, at most it can be mentioned in Go next. ϒpsilon (talk) 08:14, 22 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Annoyingly, everything within the Ottawa-Carleton county line is nominally part of the city of Ottawa. The first points that are still legally outside the city are Hull (Gatineau), Kemptville (North Grenville), Embrun (Prescott-Russell) and Carleton Place (Lanark). That said, there's nothing requiring we follow the official municipal boundary (we often don't, as often an airport or other key piece is outside the town line but included in a destination). This article, however, seems to be written with a certain amount of uncertainty as to whether Kanata and Carp are districts (in which case they should be named Ottawa/Kanata and Ottawa/Carp if we keep them) or whether this article covers some smaller territory (presumably, everything inside the Greenbelt and south of the Ottawa/Outaouais River). I'm not sure why this was structured this way; there's really not that much of interest to the voyager in Kanata (other than the hockey rink) and Carp (other than the bunker) - one's a non-descript suburb and the other a speck on the map out in the sticks somewhere. Conversely, Manotick redlinks and Orléans probably links to the city in France, not the Ottawa suburb.
 * At some point, we need to decide whether Ottawa was intended to have districts (the way big cities like Montréal and Toronto do) or whether it's something that fits perfectly well on a single page (like Gatineau). I'd hesitate to create districts just to accommodate Kanata and Carp as there's too little there of interest to visitors to justify a district for each. K7L (talk) 10:12, 22 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Well, The traveller comes first, so that says the voyager's interest overrules municipality boundaries. Thus I think the listings located in Carp and Kanata should be migrated to those articles, and Carp and Kanata mentioned in "Go Next". I'll start doing this piece by piece, but I won't try to do it all at once right now. Help welcome. JimDeLaHunt (talk) 03:12, 23 May 2016 (UTC)


 * The Diefenbunker should be mentioned in the Ottawa article, though, with a wikilink to Carp for the details. It is usually visited as part of a trip to Ottawa. Pashley (talk) 03:42, 23 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I'm thinking that Ottawa-Hull should be three articles, Ottawa, Rural Ottawa, Gatineau. That would lump Carp, Manotick and all the outside-the-greenbelt cow pasture in Ottawa-Carleton together if we only have one thing to see in Manotick (Watson's Mill), Munster Hamlet (the Saunders farm), Carp (the Diefenbunker) and a bunch of other tiny places that are within the Ottawa county line but not part of the Ottawa urban area. K7L (talk) 11:49, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

Time and date formats
Let's try to use a consistent format for times and consistent abbreviations for days of the week following the conventions listed in WV:TDF. Using a wide variety of formats within an article is a sure-fire way of confusing readers and making the article harder to use. Ground Zero (talk) 01:58, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

Monuments/statues
I may have missed it, but I didn't see a listing for the monument on Parliament Hill to the 4 women who successfully sued for the right for women to be senators in 1929, nor the monument to peacekeepers. I found those to be among the memorable sights I saw in a day trip from Montreal last summer. I will eventually list them, but if you know Ottawa better than someone who took one day trip there, please list them. The Ottawa Cathedral with its nice stained glass windows also deserves a listing. Ikan Kekek (talk) 10:28, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Confederation Line opening
I have created this section to collect info on public transit changes due to the opening of the Confederation Line hopefully sometime in 2018. Perhaps, we should wait for a firm opening date before making major changes to the article, at which time, I would recommend subdividing the public transit section into two sub-sections describing the system both before and after opening.TheTrolleyPole (talk) 00:14, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

The O-Train Confederation Line is scheduled to open on September 14, 2019. I've updated the article with what I can and made a request in the Map Workshop over on Wikimedia Commons to update the route map. (The only reason I don't update it myself is that I don't have a SVG editor.) --Robkelk (talk) 17:11, 2 September 2019 (UTC)

Details

 * OC Transpo has a page giving an overview of OC Transpo and STO bus route changes when the Confederation Line opens.TheTrolleyPole (talk) 00:14, 6 October 2017 (UTC)
 * OC Transpo has a page describing the new O-Train ticket vending machines which are currently being installed along the Trillium Line and will be installed on the new Confederation Line. But would such a machine be available at the airport? Are O-Train tickets like transfers, expiring 90 minutes after purchase? TheTrolleyPole (talk) 00:44, 6 October 2017 (UTC)
 * OC Transpo told me in an email that there are no OC Transpo ticket vending machines at the airport, and that O-Train tickets expire 90 minutes after purchase. TheTrolleyPole (talk) 23:40, 16 September 2019 (UTC)
 * The OC Transpo page on using the new O-Train fare gates says: "Transit is free on Wednesdays for seniors 65+ — but if you're using a fare gate, you will need to use a Presto card set with the senior discount." TheTrolleyPole (talk) 23:15, 6 October 2017 (UTC)
 * What’s changing on Oct. 6, 2019. This affects a few bus routes mentioned in the article, including bus 97 in the "by plane" section, and route 44 mentioned in both the Ottawa and Gatineau articles. Apparently, OC Transpo route 44 will no longer serve the Canadian Museum of History effective October 6. The change page indicates the Gatineau portion of route 44 will be replaced by new route 15. I am not yet sure whether route 15 is an OC Transpo or STO route which is important for visitors to know which fare media to use. TheTrolleyPole (talk) 23:50, 16 September 2019 (UTC)
 * CBC News has a FAQ about fares, transfers to and from buses, and operating times. --Robkelk (talk) 12:05, 17 September 2019 (UTC)

Get in and Get around sections
These sections are really long. The reader has to scroll through a lot of detail to get tongue See and Do sections, which should be the meat of the article. Let's refrain from loading Get in and Get around with every possible detail. I have done some trimming, and have removed pictures that don't tell the reader very much. An Ottawa taxi looks like a taxi, a Gatineau bus looks like a bus, and the Ottawa bus station looks like a bus station. Image policy encourages contributors to be sparing in their use of images because travellers may be using Wikivoyage from networks with low bandwidth, or with a cost for every MB used. I willong others who have had an interest in this page Ground Zero (talk) 12:19, 5 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Also, a picture of a shawarma shop that is longer even in Ottawa is not appropriate for this article. This has to stop. Ground Zero (talk) 16:28, 9 May 2020 (UTC)

Coverage of Gatineau
I just deleted some, but there's quite a lot of it. Since Gatineau has its own article, I would suggest not going into much detail about what to do in Gatineau in this article. Several points should be made in the Gatineau section of "Go next", but that's all I think we should do. Ikan Kekek (talk) 05:08, 14 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Agree. While Gatineau is considered to be a part of Ottawa by people who live in the area, it is at very least like a separate district, and we shouldn't have duplication. Ground Zero (talk) 10:02, 14 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Agree. We also have the extra-hierarchical National Capital Region (Canada); neither article currently links to that & I think both should. Most info on Gatineau, though, should go in the Gatineau article. Pashley (talk) 00:48, 15 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Thanks, guys. I also want to thank Ottawajin a lot for all the contributions s/he's making to these articles and solicit comment from him/her in this thread. Ikan Kekek (talk) 09:56, 18 June 2020 (UTC)


 * No worries! Glad to be of assistance. I had a lot of free time due to the pandemic. I agree with linking the article to National Capital Region. It might be useful to take the main attractions from both sides of the river and superimpose them on an overall region map. This could be pointed to from both the Ottawa and Gatineau page so people could get a better overview of overall regional attractions. Ottawajin (talk) 07:05, 19 June 2020 (UTC)


 * That makes sense and is user-friendly. I would suggest doing that with markers, rather than full listings, in National Capital Region. Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:37, 19 June 2020 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure about duplicating things like museum listings that are in the Ottawa article. You do want major Ottawa things like Parliament & the market in a region article map, but that might be all. Region map should certainly have the main attractions outside Ottawa: Museum of History, the Diefenbunker & Gatineau Park. Having said that, I'll happily leave it to the mapmaker to make the detailed decisions. Pashley (talk) 12:03, 19 June 2020 (UTC)


 * I agree. Be selective with what you include markers for in the Capital Region article. Ikan Kekek (talk) 14:14, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

For Do, or Go next, section?
Site has lists of road trips near Ottawa. Pashley (talk) 07:53, 28 September 2020 (UTC)


 * Another question with 'go next' - the section currently contains this: "Montreal, the largest city in Quebec and the largest French-speaking city outside of Europe, is 200 km east." That's an issue, given that others have argued elsewhere in Wikivoyage that Kinshasa or some other African city is larger than Montréal et parle assez de français pour prendre cette deuxième place. 66.102.87.40 16:11, 10 April 2022 (UTC)


 * Plunge forward and make the appropriate edits. Ikan Kekek (talk) 20:01, 10 April 2022 (UTC)

Summer activities
NCC has an interactive map for activities Pashley (talk) 09:56, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

"15% are native French speakers"
Is Quebecois considered "French"? Ottawahitech (talk) 15:16, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, it is. Ground Zero (talk) 15:23, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Mais qui. Pashley (talk) 15:59, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Is "American" considered English? Ikan Kekek (talk) 17:08, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Non, "american" est considéré anglais ;-) -- SHB2000 (talk &#124; contribs &#124; meta.wikimedia) 02:44, 27 June 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 06:22, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Centre Block - Parliament Hill.jpg