This station is west of Nepean. It is 15 mins away from the main Ottawa train station…read more There is plenty of parking. There are no any covered passenger waiting areas outside of the main station. When we arrived, it was cold, damp and starting to rain.

If you're taking the train in or out of Ottawa, I would absolutely recommend travelling via (ha!)…read morethe station in Barrhaven. Yes, it's small, but it's cozy, and I find it much cheerier and cleaner than the city station. I agree with Fauve - I think taking the train is the most pleasurable and civilized way to travel. No checked baggage, no taking off my shoes for security and free wifi. If I could take the train everywhere, I totally would. Note that this station is also a major transit hub, so there's a ton of buses to get you anywhere in the city you need to be. The service here is good, and it has a much more calm and relaxed feeling than any airport I've ever been in. Don't be alarmed - it is, in fact, right next to a field.

O-Train station right in the middle of the Central Business District in downtown Ottawa. Fully…read moreaccessible with lifts and escalators. Clean and well signed. Good bus connections to Gatineau and only 2 short blocks walk to the Supreme Court. Direct underground access to Place De Ville.

Convenient OC Transpo LRT Line One station built right into the CF Rideau Centre. The entrance…read moreclosest to the intersection where the Fairmount and CIBC is located has a tunnel with an art in the underground exhibit, showcasing how local art has been incorporated into all the LRT Transit Stations. Note there are no public restrooms or any other amenities in the Transit Station, so do everything you need to do before entering the station!

What an amazing stay we had with Richard during our visit to Ottawa. This B&B is set in a…read morebeautifully restored 100+ year old Victorian home in the heart of downtown, within minutes of walking to the Byward market, Parliament Hill, museums, restaurants, U Ottawa campus, etc. Our room was set on the second floor with a beautiful balcony to sit on and enjoy a glass of wine and some sun shine. Richard was a fantastic host with great local knowledge and went the extra mile making sure we had a good stay in Ottawa in sharing his local knowledge. Upon our arrival he had a printed map of Ottawa ready for us and show us the best routes for where we needed to go as well as great suggestions on local sights to visit. Breakfast was great and always on time! Honestly I don't know why you would stay anywhere else! The value was remarkable and we can't wait to return on our next trip to Ottawa!

Beautiful and easy to navigate OC Transpo LRT Line One station that is a also a transfer station to…read moreLRT Line Two. There are no public restrooms at this station. Be aware there is no parking nearby. In case of weather, there is little shelter on the Line Two platform. Plus there are nil amenities inside the station. Simple and rustic perhaps, but it is a fully functional transit station!

This shuttle runs to and from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. It starts running…read moreat 7:45am at Ottawa U, and the last shuttle is at 10:40pm at Carleton, 5:10pm on Fridays. The ride is about 20 minutes long, and depending on the time, also stops at the St. Paul campus and Lees apartments. It's available to students, professors, and employees at both universities, and is absolutely free. It's extremely convenient if you don't have a buss pass, but it's extremely inconvenient if you have a schedule to keep - the bus only runs once every 40 minutes at each location and only runs Monday to Friday, and not on holidays. You can catch it at 150 University Private in front of the portable if you're at Ottawa U, or at the entrance of the Minto Case Building at Carleton. There are a few other stops where you can catch it, but these are the main locations. The schedule is available here, as well as online. It was a great service when I was a student at Carleton!

Budget traveling often requires some sacrifice as to what is basic comfort and security to name…read morebrand properties and the bells and whistles that come with the $$/night rate. For this recent travel to Ottawa, Canada during May 2016, I decided to stay about 10 minutes north of downtown Ottawa, across the provincial lines up in Gatineau, Quebec. I checked out Hotels.com and Priceline to find this gem called Motel Montcalm. Sure, it's not the Marriott or the Hyatt by any means, but to me, it's affordable and very much budget friendly for multiple days and it makes for a nice extended stay worth enjoying. I would say that this property, like most motels, mirrors the Motel 6 or Red Roof brands in the states. The rooms are typically small, but they are worth their rates, since it's very much an attraction for us budget minded travelers to look for in a good nights rest after a day of traveling. The hotels in downtown Ottawa was fairly outside my price range for an extended 5 night stay, so I decided to spend 3 nights here in Gatineau and the rest in downtown Ottawa. I was in town for a nice long holiday (vacation) and to run the 2016 Ottawa marathon for fun. I arrived here on a random Wednesday night around 9:15pm via Uber and it was nice. The service at the front counter was nice, fast, and pleasant. The lady at the counter seemed like she was the owner, but I could be wrong. I received room #108 and I'm glad that it didn't smell like cigarette smoke. The property itself was separated 3 buildings with 2 stories each on them. Thank goodness that I had gotten a ground floor unit, since I didn't feel the need to climb stairs - especially when there's no elevator when it came to these hotel categories. The property had a small swimming pool, which was pretty good. I took a dip in the pool on Thursday afternoon and it was nice having it all to myself. Motel Montcalm is located conveniently at 175 Boulevard Greber, one of the main thoroughfares in Gatineau. They accept major credit cards, which is nice. Hotels.com has properties where you can book the hotel online, but do not pay till you actually stay there, which is really good, when you want to budget things out. Motel Montcalm, as you would imagine, has its own parking lot for registered guests. It's small enough to where you can park your rental car to the door of your unit for ease. While the television did not seem to cooperate with me, the remotes didn't really do much for me either, I didn't bother with it, since the wifi hotspot here is very killer. Strong wifi and it's not spotty at all. Very very good! For the most part, the room is small and very well maintained by the housekeeping staff here at the motel Montcalm. It's like being in my own home, spacious yet, not too big to be a bother cleaning it when you have to. :) The bed itself was kind of comfortable, although you'd need a couple of nights sleep to really make it conform to your body. It's not as comfortable to other beds used at higher tier properties, but it's as adequate as you can get. The surrounding area is very much like small town USA, with surrounding residential neighborhoods, which makes Gatineau a good choice for my stay here. Just be fare warned that the Quebec side has its share of French speaking citizens. I've had my fare share of that experience already. I felt like being in Paris again, but it ain't. The overall experience was decently good. Good room rate for a comfortable basic stay. I don't need all the bells and whistles, but it's always nice to have them! 5 stars for sure. Support local! A+

I found myself needing to find a quick place to stay on short notice during an unexpected trip to…read moreOttawa. I headed to take a chance on the Hotel Montcalm. I wad pleasantly surprised to find a clean room that had quality wireless internet & cable TV. The room was also equipped with a fridge and microwave and was newly renovated. The hotel staff was friendly and knowledgeable, and the room was very clean. The hotel is located near the border to Ontario near Ottawa. It was only a short drive to Rideau street. We stayed in room 311 in the rear of the building. I suggest asking to stay in this section of the hotel. A leather jacket was left in the broom, and we realized this after returning home. We called the hotel and they had found the jacket. We were able to arrange pickup of the leather jacket at the front office. It is a simple hotel but was a quality place to stay for two nights. I recommend staying here for trips to nearby Ottawa attractions.

I had an amazingly wonderful time on my World Expeditions vacation to Southern India! The itinerary…read morewas super (active, fun, fascinating), the bikes were top-rate, our guide, Francis, did everything possible to help us feel happy, comfortable and as though we were in good hands, the accommodation was far beyond expectations, the food was out-of-this-world, and everywhere we went we were made to feel like visiting dignitaries! I booked through Stacey in the Ottawa office. She took care of everything for me, right down to getting my preferred seats on the airplane (Air Qatar - luxurious!). This is my fourth World Expeditions trip (others were Sikkim-Bhutan, China, and Myanmar), and every one of them has been far better than I imagined. And they seem to keep getting better! I'll definitely travel with them again.

I just returned from the Annapurna Trek in Nepal…read more The good: 5 stars. The pick up, transport, Kathmandu city guide, trekking guide, Radisson in Kathmandu, amazing food of abundance on the trek, porters, porter protection benefits. The terrible: 0/5 stars 1) The World Expedition agent in Canada/USA office who does pre-departure planning has sub-optimal customer service skills and lack of knowledge of the products. I didn't find her "highly competent" as their website claims. It's like pulling teeth to get info. After being so fed up with her poor responses, I sent this:"I would appreciate that if you are not certain, you inquire to someone who may know. Please contact your company's actual guide|Nepal team to see if they can assist with this upon start of my trip." 2) They claim and preach sustainability. Saying multiple times not to use wood burning teahouses along the way due to Nepal deforestation. But they don't tell you that you are camping in a tent on the teahouse property, surrounded by teahouses that WE pays for the space. And many of these places are burning wood. Oh yeah, and those porters, they are sleeping at the teahouse shed. So really they ARE supporting these tea houses directly. Public health advisory! Our toilet tent was in front of the teahouse patio where teahouse visitors are eating their dinner while you are doing your business, and hearing locals laugh at you probably for pooping on their lawn when there are 10 toilets with styptic system in place close by. Also having our poor porter digging/filling a hole in someone's teahouse yard for us to deposit human waste, instead of using a tea house that has fully functioning septic system, is a public health violation. Oh btw the toilet seat is carried sandwiched between the dining tables... Yum 3) camping in teahouse yards. That's like camping in the yard of a b&b. Do yourself a favor and stay at the tea house like everyone else. In no way shape or form is this "the pass less traveled" nor do the trek or camp go "beyond the teahouses" as the company loves to say. Its actually the path MANY travel and from teahouse TO teahouse. This defeats the purpose of camping, there's no solitude from crowds, peace of nature. 4)though our guide was nice and his English was ok, one of our travel mates described the hike as "prison march"as we didn't get to learn about anything along the way. They didn't know flora, fauna , the villages. 5) its very pricey for camping! Definitely go to the Annapurna. But definitely don't do this company as they falsify their claims, misrepresents their brochure itinerary and clearly exaggerates their environmental position. I just don't think they know what's happening in their own business.