Ottawa is so lucky to have this facility. Located in the Riverside area near Billings Bridge it's…read moregot an unreal amount of stuff happening at all times of the year. Under their umbrella, there's a ton of fitness centres and wellness programs (like the Nepean Tennis Club!) under their "lifefit" heading. I had my first experience here in a summer camp when I was young, and then at a volleyball camp as a teen. As an adult, I appreciate all the clubs and sport leagues available. They also do training courses like CPR and First Aid, and have specialty classes like Fine Art which is cool. Their facility is a big one, and there's a ton to learn and see, so take your time and soak it all in. I'm a big advocate of checking out their website to see what might be of interest to your fine self. You can get an individual or family membership, and there's a lot of options, so if you get confused, maybe go in for a chat. The FieldHouse Bar and Grill is also a part of the centre and serves up breakfast, lunch dinner and snacks and drinks. There's also a sports shop that sells fitness gear like clothing, tennis rackets and they offer restringing which is helpful. They also have banquet and special event services as well as a massage and physiotherapy clinic! If you're looking to get active or make some new friends, this is an awesome place to check out. Also great for kids - they have a massive summer program!

I've never used the sports facilities here, but I really enjoy this location for conferences and…read moremeetings. They have multiple rooms that can be used for a number of different events. The lobby is nice and welcoming and the signage is very helpful to get the guests to where they need to be in the building. The food the catering staff creates is top quality and their event staff must be on point as I've never attended an event where anything went wrong from the venue's perspective. They recently added a temporary extension off the front. I'm not sure what this building houses. It includes an enclosed walkway from the main building to the new temporary building. That walkway is a bit awkwardly placed and makes cab drop-offs and pick-ups somewhat difficult. It's not possible to see the full driveway and getting passed the temporary walkway is a bit of a squeeze in order to get to the cab drop-off/pick-up. But with all new things come a few bumps, so I'm sure they'll figure this out quickly.

The Ottawa River Pathway is a pedestrian and bicycle path along the Ottawa River. The scenery is…read morevery beautiful year-round, but especially in the autumn. The pathway is about 30km, but you can get on and off at certain points, so you definitely don't have to do the entire length. It's fully paved and not particularly hilly. Just watch out for goose poop along certain parts of the path during certain times of the year, lol. Goose poop aside, the Ottawa River Pathway is beautiful. It's great for getting some exercise, be it cycling, rollerblading, jogging, Nordic walking, power walking, or even taking a leisurely stroll, while admiring nature. Sunsets along certain parts of the Pathway are especially breathtaking.

This is a great little escape for the government workers in Tunney's pasture, to break away from…read moretheir computers for a few minutes of fresh air and R&R while they come outside for lunch or a walk or bike ride along the river. Be careful of the goose droppings on the grass, though. The cyclists using this path would rather the pedestrians walked on the grass, and the walkers would prefer if the cyclists used the grass! All of us are avoiding the droppings left by the Canada Geese that frequent this area. Also, look for the man who builds Inukshuk (if I've spelled that right?) For many years now, a man has been building amazing statues out of the rocks at the shoreline - they rocks balance on each other at seemingly impossible angles, threatening to drop at any moment, but seem to keep their balance! There was an article about him several years ago in the Canadian Geographic. It's been a pleasure to watch him work, and he's become something of a tourist attraction. It's May now, and I haven't seen him there yet this year, but maybe the water's too cold yet. Maybe he begins this work after the Victoria Day weekend.

They make you sit inside even when there is like no rain????!?!???…read moreThey do not have value.

I turned to Dovercourt to try to get lifeguarding lessons for my daughter. Unfortunately, classes…read morewere full. Having said that, the administrator with whom I spoke was very helpful and sympathetic. When more instructors were added to meet the demand, she called and got my daughter in. The courses were organized and well taught. So, I found the people at Dovercourt do their jobs well, and seem to truly give a damn. It is rare to find such character and expertise. I highly recommend this recreation complex.

This has to be the best facility in all of Ottawa! It's absolutely huge!! There's plenty of…read moreparking, too. Two hockey rinks for winter sports and lacrosse in the summer. A gym that can be used for a badminton tournament. The facility is massive inside! You don't even know anyone else is in there. Lots of seating in the rink. I was impressed with the size and scope of the facility.

Love bringing my daughter here for extracurriculars. The staff always seem nice and the…read moreinfinity-type pool is really nice.

I went to the Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex to attend a music class, but checked out all the…read morefacilities while I was here. This is a great centre for anyone in Orleans, but would still be great even if you could get to it from farther away, since this complex has a lot to offer. There is an extensive program listing in the City of Ottawa catalogues including sports instruction, music, art, fitness and other classes. I had a friend who taught here and she got full access to all the facilities as a benefit. The gym here is great and so is the pool. Weekend mornings are busy with kids hockey, figure skating and swimming.

It's a top quality facility. I go there to play squash every week and the quality of the squash…read morecourts is better than other places I have seen at other places in Ottawa (such as Carleton U) and the price of admission is cheaper too ($8.00 for adults and $6.15 for students). For indoor racquet sports they have both squash and racquetball courts, including squash courts with a sort of staging area behind the court, which is a nice touch. They also have a pool, arena, fitness equipment, and a large number of other facilities. I haven't used the pool yet but I have heard good things about it while the fitness equipment looks nice (although I am not exactly an expert in judging the quality of fitness equipment). Changing facilities are on the small side, but the washrooms and shower area in the men's area are nice and clean, including a hot tub. Also parking is free, which is an added bonus compared to university owned recreation facilities.

I've had a chance to play a few sessions under Ottawa Footy Sevens and they're a pretty solid…read moreleague. My problems with the league are still there and I find their prices are still very solid. They have started offering some football sessions for beginners which is pretty neat. I don't know the prices but have had some friends who have never played soccer sign up. Their turf leagues are still pretty good prices compared to some of the other leagues. They run a league at Carleton that is a little expensive and you play on some weird carpet. You can sign up for a Carleton league directly bypassing OFS for a bit of a discount. It's a fun workout but they really need to push up competitive players/teams in the recreational divisions. Some other sports leagues in Ottawa are able to do this, I hope OFS can figure a way to do this at some point.

I had a pretty rough experience. The co-ed team had a female captain who was very rude and…read morestandoffish. She would answer everyone's emails but mine. God forbid I could not make it to the 10 pm game, she hated me after that. LOL. I am thinking this is going to be a good experience, you know as an amateur player to get the love of the game, this woman made me hate it now. I eventually broke my ankle playing tennis and emailed them/her about it, she never responded to my emails (could be my race too). BUT she did respond to everyone else (not my race) who was not going to come. So at the end of it all, I have no idea what her problem with was, she was rude and super detached. IF that is the captain then gosh I don't know about the rest of the teams. I am not sure if I will be back to the team next time but I am definitely going to request to NOT have her in my team. She is not a team player AT ALL.

I love this place. Well-appointed gym, huge indoor salt-water pool, very friendly and helpful…read morestaff. You don't have to be Jewish to join, open to all. Lots of free parking. Pricing is very competitive. Ottawa's best-kept secret!

From the owner: The Soloway JCC is home to a first rate fitness centre with expert personal trainers and over 30…read morefree fitness classes per week. We offer a variety of fitness options for exercise enthusiasts of all levels including SpinFit, Bootcamp, Kettlebells, Yoga and Pilates. We also offer specialty fitness programs for youth and teens as well as Heart Wise Exercise Programs, safe and effective fitness classes for people with cardiac disease. Our indoor salt water pool is a great place to swim laps, take part in an Aquafit class, play with the family or just relax in the whirlpool. In the summer, spend the day by our outdoor pool. The SJCC's full size gymnasium is equipped with basketball nets and has squash and racquetball courts. More than just a fitness centre the SJCC offers a full gamut of educational and cultural programs for the entire family including Summer Camps, and After School Programs for children and language, dance, art and music for adults.

Plouffe park is a fairly large-ish park in Little Italy. It's right next to the Plant Recreation…read moreCentre. I think some of the structures might technically be part of the Plant Recreation Centre, but they are side by side, and both are owned by the City of Ottawa, so it's kind of just semantics, lol. I think Plouffe Park proper is the open field where soccer is played and where there is an ice rink in the winter. There's a section with a splash pad, a play structure, a climbing structure, a beach volleyball area, basketball nets, benches and picnic tables (one of which is under a gazebo - I always appreciate this feature as it shields you from the sun and also keeps you dry if it starts to rain, lol). This section is either an extension of Plouffe Park or is part of the Plant Recreation Centre. In either case, it's accessible to the public and is open to all. I like this park as it has a lot of features and while it's in Little Italy, it's close enough to other neighbourhoods so is accessible to those in Chinatown and Hintonburg/Mechanicsville as well. Street parking only. Looking for parks in Ottawa and surrounding areas? Check out my Park Series here on Yelp: https://www.yelp.ca/collection/fhwH7F0hdh8_PpmaXsHSmw?utm_content=Collections&utm_source=ashare

Ottawas Gymnastics Centre cancelled its lessons due to bad weather. This is acceptable and…read moreunderstood. But it does not give a refund or issue a credit, not even make any effort to provide a makeup lesson. It just shows how they NOT care about their clients. Poor parents when you do not have a choice!

From the owner: Established in 1960, the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre is the oldest operating not-for-profit gymnastics…read moreorganization in Canada. Throughout the years, the OGC has created a wide variety of programs and our membership has grown to over 3000 members. We welcome all individuals from ages 6 months to adulthood into our programs. The kindergym gymnastics program is designed for ages 6 months to 5 years and introduces balance, flexibility, and strength through movement and exploration on various gymnastics equipment and circuits. The recreational gymnastics program is designed for ages 5 to 17 years where athletes are taught the foundations of gymnastics and progressions towards skills in a fun and safe environment. The recreation program has classes for all athletic abilities including beginner, intermediate and senior. Aside from our sessional classes, we also offer summer camps, PD day camps, March break camps, birthday parties, group visits, private lessons, and adult fitness programs. What sets us aside from other gyms, is our women's and men's competitive artistic gymnastics and trampoline programs. We are home to not one but two Olympians and countless men's and women's National and Provincial athletes. The combination of our talented coaches, 27,000 square foot facility and commitment to coaching athletes to achieve their personal best has proven to be a winning combination for our team.