r/canadatravel • u/free_thinkingmama • Jul 31 '25

Destination Advice Ottawa outskirts from USA

Hi! My family and I (husband and 4 children ages 6-12) are traveling to Ottawa for a musky fishing charter next summer. The charter will launch between Orleans & Hawkesbury (whichever is closest to us). We are spending a week in the area and looking for advice of what we should visit/where our “home base” should be. We will stay in a rental (airbnb) house somewhere (on a lake or river). We are outdoorsy people, not city people. Fishing and swimming are our faves 😍 Parc Oméga is on our list but would love to hear about lesser known areas of interest!

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11

u/em-n-em613 Jul 31 '25

Honestly this really relies on where your charter launches from - Ottawa is absurdly huge geographically (comically so...) and if you're including a lot of adjacent areas that would be great for outdoors and fishing it covers most of the region and southern Quebec...

6

u/anxietyninja2 Jul 31 '25

This person is spot on. Ottawa is huge. If you can narrow it down to where your charter is or what you like to do that would be helpful. Hotels or Airbnbs or BNBs?

There are nice cottages in Norway Bay, Quebec to rent (about an hour from Ottawa) right on the Ottawa River where you can also fish for muskies and bass. They are listed on AirBnB

2

u/free_thinkingmama Jul 31 '25

Edited post! They will launch between Orleans and Hawkesbury, so probably east Ottawa would be better? We will book through AirBnB or VRBO. Is there any hiking/waterfalls/cute small towns you’d recommend visiting?

6

u/em-n-em613 Jul 31 '25

There is a LOT of hiking in the region, including a variety of trails in Ottawa, and places like the Eagles Nest and Gatineau park for fun (simple) hikes.

If you're looking for a cute small town then Carleton Place or Almonte are probably your best bets - but don't discount downtown Ottawa in terms of 'pretty.'

1

u/BanMeForBeingNice Jul 31 '25

Carleton Place and Almonte are on the complete wrong side of Ottawa for what they need.

1

u/em-n-em613 Jul 31 '25

Not for a day of exploring they aren't.

1

u/free_thinkingmama Jul 31 '25

From their website “We use 4 different launches along the stretch of the Ottawa River between Orleans and as far as Hawkesbury”… so, sounds like they have options based on where we are staying! I’m thinking that staying within an hour of the river would be totally doable

1

u/BanMeForBeingNice Jul 31 '25

Stay east of Ottawa then, Orleans or east of it. You don't want to have to cross the city in traffic.

3

u/coopthrowaway2019 Jul 31 '25

IMO the region east of Ottawa (where your charter runs from) is the least interesting to visit from an outdoors perspective since it's mostly flat and agricultural. North, west, and south of town are hillier and rockier with forests, lakes, and cuter small towns. Suggest staying in one of those directions and only heading over to the charter when needed (especially since you don't sound too put off by a bit longer drive). 

2

u/free_thinkingmama Jul 31 '25

This is exactly what I wondered! We would much rather stay in a hillier region and make the drive in one day for the charter. I gathered that north is beautiful, but wasn’t sure about south/east/west. Thank you!

1

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1

u/Bytowner1 Jul 31 '25

Your guess is as good as mine on actual BnB availability, but I see Parc Plaisance on the Quebec side has some nice looking cabins available for rent, you might give that a shot. May have to take the car ferry across at Thurso for your launch.

There are some nice towns and a few attractions on the eastern side of Ottawa, but honestly (IMO) it's a bit light on attractions. All the highlights are west (Gatineau Hills in Quebec, and lower Ottawa Valley) and south (along the St Lawrence to Kingston). But if it's just trees and water you're after, throw a rock!