Interesting neighbourhoods in Ottawa to pass through this weekend

[megadude]

Hope you don’t mind me posting on the Canada section as the Ontario section is pretty slow. Hope some Ottawa folks can help me out. I am leaving for Ottawa Friday morning and between Cobourg and Cornwall I’ll be taking Hwy. 2. Then when I’m in Ottawa Saturday and Sunday, between work stuff around town, I might check out the Air Museum and the War Museum. Don’t need to see any other museum or Parliament as I’ve already been or been to similar elsewhere and won’t have time. Don’t need to see any waterfalls as I’ve already been to Hoggs Back and seen plenty of waterfalls elsewhere. Though I might stop by Rideau Falls, but moreso because that area’s geography looks interesting with the river and islands and surrounding buildings and embassies. And I’ll have my fishing rod with me so who knows, maybe wet a line in the river or canal.

What I am most interested in is charming or interesting neighbourhoods. I’ll be stopping by Byward of course, because it’s great and I’ve only been once. For most neighbourhoods I won’t even be walking around because I’d need days for that on this trip, so I’ll be driving through. What other neighbhourhoods are worth passing through? Like it has a main street/high street with an interesting mix of businesses lining the street. So, not ‘hoods that are just residential, but has an interesting commercial strip. What former towns that got amalgamated have an interesting downtown main street?

The pics below show the route I’ll be taking there, stopping at all the towns along the way. Most of which I’ve never been to. Then the route back. Would like to have gone from Arnprior to Renfrew and Eganville, but that would add probably another hour and 45 minutes. Not going to stop by Peterborough and area as I’ve already seen most of that area. Again, only care about towns that have main streets as opposed to some residential settlement.

The routes below include towns that are not listed as stops on the map, but they are on the way and I’ll know to pass through the main street. So like when flar suggest Cardinal a few weeks back, I will be going through there.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[niwell]

I see you'll be stopping in Napanee where we spend part of our time (own a house there). The downtown strip is small but relatively vibrant - Ellena's cafe has great baked goods and coffee if you get out, and some high quality craft beer / wine to go too.

Within Ottawa itself the main north/south street is Bank, which passes through downtown and then going south through the Glebe and Old Ottawa South which are relatively interesting strips. The second major one is probably the combination of Somerset/Richmond/Wellington which is essentially the same street but just changes names - heading west from downtown (Centre Town) you hit Chinatown, Hintonburg and Westboro.

Other than that some interesting strips are Preston (Little Italy), Elgin and maybe a loop taking you around the eastern part of the central city starting on Rideau which crosses the river and becomes Montreal Rd in Vanier, cut north to Hemlock/Beechwood and take that back west through New Edinburgh and into Lower Town.

Always worth a drive along Colonel By Dr which is alongside the canal and I believe remains open during the weekends - Queen Elizabeth Dr and the riverfront parkway are closed.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by niwell

I see you'll be stopping in Napanee where we spend part of our time (own a house there). The downtown strip is small but relatively vibrant - Ellena's cafe has great baked goods and coffee if you get out, and some high quality craft beer / wine to go too.

Within Ottawa itself the main north/south street is Bank, which passes through downtown and then going south through the Glebe and Old Ottawa South which are relatively interesting strips. The second major one is probably the combination of Somerset/Richmond/Wellington which is essentially the same street but just changes names - heading west from downtown (Centre Town) you hit Chinatown, Hintonburg and Westboro.

Other than that some interesting strips are Preston (Little Italy), Elgin and maybe a loop taking you around the eastern part of the central city starting on Rideau which crosses the river and becomes Montreal Rd in Vanier, cut north to Hemlock/Beechwood and take that back west through New Edinburgh and into Lower Town.

Always worth a drive along Colonel By Dr which is alongside the canal and I believe remains open during the weekends - Queen Elizabeth Dr and the riverfront parkway are closed.

Excellent suggestions. Wouldn't have much more to add.

[TownGuy]

Looks like you'll be going through Campbellford. There is the Ranney Gorge suspension bridge and also a large lift lock, both along the Trent River. If you make that stop, make sure to park on the west side of the river. The suspension bridge and lift lock are close to one another. You can hop parking lots in a minute.

Also, when you're traveling back on County Road 9, if you go north up highway 45 for a couple minutes you'll be able to get extremely discounted gas at Alderville First Nation. It's also funny seeing all the pot shops. It's known around here as "The Green Mile". After Alderville you could head west towards Harwood. You can get a nice view of Rice Lake From the Harwood dock and then continue for on down the Rice Lake Scenic Drive. Not much a detour really, and if you need gas it would be worth based on that alone
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[Build.It]

Highly recommend stopping in Perth if schedule permits. It's one of the most scenic small towns in Ontario.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Excellent suggestions. Wouldn't have much more to add.

It’s hard to add anything to those suggestions. Only other thing that comes to mind is Aylmer on the other side of the river. Bonus: the vicinity of the marina nearby may be a good fishing spot.

[megadude]

Thanks for the tips.



I only got as far as Kingston on Friday. Way behind schedule due to changing plans and driving/walking Port Hope and Cobourg because I’d only been there once, three years ago, but only driving. Main St. in Port Hope under massive construction though and all the Canada flags have been removed because of all the dust. Then Cobourg’s was closed due to being a market at the time. And the bridge in Kingston I discovered was closed. They found a problem in the spring.



Anyway, I drove another “green mile”, on the way to Napanee on another reserve. Didn’t know I’d be going through any and it looks like by Monday it’ll be two of them. I don’t smoke though!



I also fished for longer than I thought I would. Some 10 year old kid in Napanee wanted to fish the river but his line was all tangled. Didn’t even have a tackle box. I re-tied his line and then I gave it a shot. No dice. I tried again in Cardinal and hooked a decent smallmouth bass, but fucker came off after a second. A dude from Montreal was talking to me and watching me and cheering me on. He was doing the same thing as me. Taking the scenic route, which he had never before. Stopping in many of the same places I was. We also saw a huge sheepshead wandering around. Don’t see too many of those in my neck of the woods. I’ve only caught one. Same with my friend.



Only got to check sites in Nepean and Gloucester so far. Downtown and city proper Sunday. Is it me or do the lights in Ottawa take an eternity? Whether at a major intersection or waiting to leave a plaza.

[Justanothermember]

Does this not belong in the Ottawa regional sub-forum?

[niwell]

Originally Posted by megadude

Anyway, I drove another “green mile”, on the way to Napanee on another reserve. Didn’t know I’d be going through any and it looks like by Monday it’ll be two of them. I don’t smoke though!

.

Tyendinaga reserve! It’s a wild strip of cheap gas and high strength weed. I’m not interested in the latter and I know people who swear they’ve gotten bad gas from there. I only drive through on the way to Prince Edward County through Deseronto mostly.

Glad you got to do some fishing in napanee. Not a fisher but I hear the river is pretty good downstream from the waterfall. The house we own is only a few blocks from there.

And yes, lights in suburban Ottawa are frustratingly long. Especially compared to the GTA.

[Djeffery]

My daughter lived in Sandy Hill for 3 years while attending uOttawa, and I loved driving around that neighbhourhood, looking at the old homes. I particularly got a kick out of the embassies in amongst the homes. Most countries don't have these big embassies like the US, Britain France etc do. So many of them are just a house next door to a regular family residence. Some don't even have any outward security.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Build.It

Highly recommend stopping in Perth if schedule permits. It's one of the most scenic small towns in Ontario.

Would definitely second that. Perth is really nice.

The "interior" of Eastern Ontario (ie. north of Lake Ontario & the St. Lawrence), despite having really scenic countryside, doesn't have a lot of "nice" towns with historic mainstreets and such, especially compared to the rest of Southern Ontario. Perth is really the only one that I would say is worth a stop in that whole region. If scenic built architecture in small towns is what you're after, then Ottawa -> Perth -> Tweed really is the way to go.

Westport is scenic but this very much comes from its natural setting as opposed to its architecture. It doesn't have a pretty mainstreet. And if some scenic rural driving is what you're after, then I would actually recommend this route from Perth to Tweed instead:



That's Highway 511 from Perth to Hopetown, then the whole length of South Lavant Road to Frontenac County, then the 509/506 to Highway 41, then the 41 south to Napanee. (Plug into the GPS, the turns are a bit complex.)

This route is the best "rugged rural" type driving in Southern Ontario. South Lavant Road in particular is a thing of beauty. Lots of twists and turns and ups and downs and winding its way around lakes, swamps, pines and hardwoods. It's really out of place in Southern Ontario and honestly looks like something you'd find in the North. (It's a bit of a wild drive and could honestly be a bit scary if you're used to flat and straight Ontario roads). If you find driving fun, you'll love this route.

It's about 30 minutes more driving than you're proposed detour to Westport, and given that Westport is only really worth it for the pretty country drive, this route is better as it is way more scenic. The towns along this route are absolutely nothing special, though. If anything they're a bit of an eyesore. But there's only a handful of them and they're so small you'll drive past them in under a minute. If more fishing interests you, pull off the road at Palmerston Lake just west of Ompah, one of the best fishing lakes in Eastern Ontario.

Get gas in Perth before leaving, there's only a handful of gas stations along that route and they're all overpriced.

If scenic country driving is absolutely not interesting to you and you're just in it for pretty towns, then just take the 7 straight from Perth to Tweed.

[le calmar]

Wait, Tweed is actually nice? I often pass by it on Hwy 7. Just did that last night actually. I had no idea it was worth the 5 min detour. Just assumed it was a bland, nondescript town.

[TownGuy]

Tweed has a typical Southern Ontario historic main drag, albeit a little underwhelming. One oddity about the main drag though is the electrical infrastructure isn't buried. Not sure I've seen that elsewhere. It stood out to me for sure. On the plus side, the south end of the town is right on a lake, and there's a nice little park overlooking it.

[megadude]

Some good tips. I went through basically all neighbourhoods suggested. But also decided to do Rockcliffe on the way into town since it was basically on the way from the hotel. I’d only been to Ottawa in 1993 and 2012. And once as a wee lad. Covered so much today. Really opened my eyes. You really see the table top when on the 417 going to Gloucester. Yeah, want to see some height mixed in!



As for all the ‘hoods, I had no idea. Would have loved to spend more time instead of just driving through. A lot of vibrancy I wasn’t aware of. I also did do Aylmer after Hull and drove up Gatineau Park to the first lookout. Turns out 5 of the properties I was looking at are just off of Bank with one of them on Bank. I’m glad I did this on Sunday, starting in the morning. In Toronto I don’t know if I could even find street parking Downtown and Downtown adjacent let alone for free. There was plenty. And traffic was pretty much a breeze everywhere all day. No way that would happen in TO.



Last time I did Byward I didn’t see all of it. I walked basically all of it today and then to Parliament and back because it’s been since 2012. Unfortunately, there is also the skid row element around. I imagine it got worse over the past few years like everywhere else.



I’ll have to post about the small towns along on the way on that thread when I get time. Some real gems. I think I will take that suggestion about skipping Westport and doing the more scenic drive to Tweed. Yes, I like curves and ups and downs! Driving the Rockies almost a decade ago was one of my highlights. I used to race gokarts and even have driven a F-1600 race car. I was obsessed with motorsport growing up and watching everything from gokarting to F1 to World Rally to motorbikes, etc. My second cousin would do amateur rallies as a hobby and I’d watched him a couple of times. I was going up Gatineau Park and thought this this would make a nice hill climb. That was more of a thing back in the day when pros would race up some elevation as time trials to determine the winner. The most famous being Pike’s Peak in Colorado, which I’ve also been on. Looking forward to scenic drive. Several years ago I tried to cover all the twisty roads, some dirt, around Hamilton. I did a bunch and put them together as a rally video, speeding it up and adding sound effects lol.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by megadude

Some good tips. I went through basically all neighbourhoods suggested. But also decided to do Rockcliffe on the way into town since it was basically on the way from the hotel. I’d only been to Ottawa in 1993 and 2012. And once as a wee lad. Covered so much today. Really opened my eyes. You really see the table top when on the 417 going to Gloucester. Yeah, want to see some height mixed in!



As for all the ‘hoods, I had no idea. Would have loved to spend more time instead of just driving through. A lot of vibrancy I wasn’t aware of. I also did do Aylmer after Hull and drove up Gatineau Park to the first lookout. Turns out 5 of the properties I was looking at are just off of Bank with one of them on Bank. I’m glad I did this on Sunday, starting in the morning. In Toronto I don’t know if I could even find street parking Downtown and Downtown adjacent let alone for free. There was plenty. And traffic was pretty much a breeze everywhere all day. No way that would happen in TO.



Last time I did Byward I didn’t see all of it. I walked basically all of it today and then to Parliament and back because it’s been since 2012. Unfortunately, there is also the skid row element around. I imagine it got worse over the past few years like everywhere else.



I’ll have to post about the small towns along on the way on that thread when I get time. Some real gems. I think I will take that suggestion about skipping Westport and doing the more scenic drive to Tweed. Yes, I like curves and ups and downs! Driving the Rockies almost a decade ago was one of my highlights. I used to race gokarts and even have driven a F-1600 race car. I was obsessed with motorsport growing up and watching everything from gokarting to F1 to World Rally to motorbikes, etc. My second cousin would do amateur rallies as a hobby and I’d watched him a couple of times. I was going up Gatineau Park and thought this this would make a nice hill climb. That was more of a thing back in the day when pros would race up some elevation as time trials to determine the winner. The most famous being Pike’s Peak in Colorado, which I’ve also been on. Looking forward to scenic drive. Several years ago I tried to cover all the twisty roads, some dirt, around Hamilton. I did a bunch and put them together as a rally video, speeding it up and adding sound effects lol.

I was going to suggest Rockcliffe Park but I see you just mentioned it. I always enjoy seeing the different styles of housing among many of the wealthiest people in the city and of course the many residences of ambassadors. My wife has relatives who live in a house there so we will sometimes walk around there when visiting. They have an old house that was originally a cottage and has to keep its original appearance.

[niwell]

The small embassy thing is cool to see in person - I remember staying a few days between tenancies at a friend's apartment on the edge of Rockcliffe park. 1960s vintage place (https://maps.app.goo.gl/KoErRUdZjvFgkzAL) and several units on the tenant listing were actually embassies of very small countries.

Originally Posted by megadude

Last time I did Byward I didn’t see all of it. I walked basically all of it today and then to Parliament and back because it’s been since 2012. Unfortunately, there is also the skid row element around. I imagine it got worse over the past few years like everywhere else.

A friend of ours from Ottawa (lives in Aylmer actually) was in town this weekend and we were chatting about this. I haven't been to the Market in years as we usually go out in Hintonburg when in town so not experienced it recently, but it sounds far worse than it's ever been. By his estimation it's actually sketchier than a lot of the "bad" intersections in Toronto as things are more concentrated in one area.

He helps organize / attends a lot of international meetings and at a recent one some international attendees staying in the Market were warned (through their internal security) not to walk through the area after dark. Don't think I'd go that far but kinda telling it's gotten a reputation in government delegations. There was always a bit of an edge in some sections of the area but something I'd never thought / was worried about when I spent time there.

[le calmar]

I pretty much stopped going to the Byward Market for the reasons noted above. I still go about once a year, but with a 4-month old child, I don’t feel like mingling with the junkies in the area. It’s definitely gotten worse. Ottawa Police Service just opened a hub in Rideau Centre close by. Not sure if it had/will have an impact yet.

As for the table-top skyline, I think we should just accept that Ottawa will never have a proper skyline, and will always be a low-rise/high-rise city à la Quebec City. I came to this realization years ago, and to be fair at this point, I kinda like the fact it’s a large city without, or with very few proper high-rises. It’s definitely not in a position to compete with similarly-sized cities like Calgary or Edmonton, and it will probably never will. Developers here just tend to propose lower heights even in areas where they could theoretically go high.

[Acajack]

My kids and their friends are the prime age group for going to the market after dark, and they basically never go there as they say it's too sketchy after 9 or 10 pm.

At the most they'll go there for dinner but don't hang around very late.

[niwell]

On the plus side places like Hintonburg are much more happening than they were even a decade ago. The area was kind of sketchy when I lived in Ottawa, albeit in a different way - not unsafe, just a bit desolate.

[Acajack]

Elgin is also still perfectly fine.