There are billions of travel blogs out there. Many written by young, unencumbered travelers who want to tell you about packing hacks, and cheaper flights. All of that is wonderful and incredibly useful! I am here to provide you with how to survive, and even enjoy a 5 Day trip to Ottawa with a full family. I always wanted to travel, and for a long time didn’t think I could afford it or thought having kids would hinder my ability to go anywhere. Once I realized it was possible to do with a family of five, I felt everyone should know about it. As I stumble along, I find things to do, and things to definitely NOT do, I blog about them, and share them with you, so you can make the most of your travel experiences.
If you are planning on travelling to Ottawa this guide is for you.
Preparing for the trip
This is the FIRST international trip we’ve gone on as a family, so we figured we would start with the country next door, Canada. Now, you may be thinking, why Ottawa? Well, my husband had a business trip there, and I thought, “let’s make this a family adventure!”
The first thing I did when I decided we were going to go to Canada, was to look up the area we would need to be close to for my husband's meeting. I google mapped all over the place to find what we could do. I looked on Viator, and Expedia for trips, and mapped out a fun little trip for the family. Since we were road tripping it, I also looked for little places to stop along the way, since no doubt we were going to need potty breaks, and “mom, I’m hungry” stops.
Since times are so crazy with COVID, I did research on what was needed to enter Canada at Canada International Travel Information (state.gov), and discovered they required vaccinations for everyone in order to cross the border as well as a passport or US birth certificate. So, step 1 had been established – get everyone vaccinated. What I did NOT find, was that you also need a negative COVID Test, in order to cross the border. We did not have this, and had to be flagged as "rejected from border entry to Canada" and turned back to the US. We squeaked in as the last appointment of the day and got our COVID tests, and were able to enter Canada. Be sure to research requirements in advance, and again a week or so before you leave.
Step 2 was developing an agenda, and fine tuning my initial research. Planning out when we would leave, what stops we would make, where we would stay, and which locations would we dine at. I use an amazing app called wanderlog to map out all my little plans.
Step 3 was packing. I’m mom, so I pack for the whole family, which is totally not stressful at all, really. We have color coded suitcases so everyone knows where their stuff is, and who’s is who’s.
Step 4 – Get everyone in the car! This sounds easy but someone is always missing, or shoes can’t be found, and someone needs to be convinced that, no they can’t hold it all the way to Canada, go pee now. Once potty trips were done, all shoes were found, and everyone was in the car…. It was time to head out!
Day 1 – Day 5 in Ottawa
Now that we are all prepared, let’s get this Vacation started!!
Day 1 – The Arrival
A road trip necessity is Good Old Fashioned Raisins and Peanuts (GORP) or trail mix. This is something I had on road trips in my youth, and wanted to share with my kids. We arrive at our spot for lunch, Camelot, and Tristan gets out of the car, and has no coat. Some one always forgets something.
Camelot was a cute lunch spot we stopped at in PA, before getting back on the road. As we load back into the car, and I feel a breeze, I realize, I too forgot my coat. What a start.
As I mentioned previously, we got stopped at the border, and had to turn around to get rapid COVID tests. That was an unexpected 2 hour delay, but we DID successfully make it into Canada.
After our exciting border crossing debacle, we made it to our hotel, Cartier Place Suite Hotel just before midnight, unpacked, and unwound a bit. As we were unwinding, Oli, my youngest, found that she was fascinated with the different looking stove top, and touched a hot burner, getting blisters on her hand. Note to self - in the future pack a first aid kit.
Day 2 – Exploring Canada
Some of the things we noticed immediately upon entering Canada, was the use of the metric system. I knew they used it, I just wasn't prepared to start reading the KM on my dashboard to monitor my speed. Gas is also more expensive, and sold by the liter. I also knew that French was spoken in Canada, but I thought it was the way Spanish is spoken in the US. No. At least in Ottawa, French is widely spoken, and to many as a primary language. You do not have to speak French to get around though, it seems everyone also speaks English. TV channels were about 1/3 in French, and 2/3 in English. We stopped for breakfast at Tim Hortons, which seems to be the Canadian Dunkin Donuts, and they greet you with Bonjour, and the menu was in French. Thankfully, (because my French is very limited, and slightly harsh on the ear) they spoke and understood English, along with gestures.
Early in the morning (for us, so like 9am) we got up and travelled out to Quebec to see Parc Omega. This was a really cool drive through safari with areas to park, and go hiking. This was a really nice way to spend the day. Of course my family brings the crazy though, and Tristan lost his earring in the car causing an anxiety episode. We got him some buffalo earrings in the gift shop, and then we were allowed to continue with the day. While we were on a hiking path, I asked the kids to stay out of the snow, but kids are kids, and snow is damn near irresistible. So my kids get in the snow, some how lose their shoes, and got wet and cold. If I ever return, I will bring snow boots, and snow pants.
After a fun day out with animals, and cold wet kids, we returned to the hotel to relax for a bit. I really didn't want to leave the hotel again, but food needed to happen. Then I remembered our hotel had its own restaurant connected downstairs. So we had dinner (and a few drinks) in the hotel restaurant Big Daddy's Bourbon Street Bistro before calling it a night.
Day 3 -Canada Agriculture and Food
On our third day in, I thought it would be sweet to make breakfast for my husband before he departed for business. He picked me up some groceries the prior evening, so I went into the kitchen to whip up some breakfast.... but there was no frying pan in the room. I called down to the reception area, but house keeping had not come in for the day yet (This was before 8am). Coffee was a success though! (and I mean, c'mon, that is the most important part of breakfast anyway, right?)
As soon as housekeeping came in, they were up to my room with a frying pan right away. OK, at least I can cook breakfast for my kids. I just bought some maple syrup yesterday, and am looking forward to some pancakes, yum! I start getting out the ingredients together, and my darling, wonderful well meaning husband bought garlic and herb flavored butter. Sooo - savory pancakes it is!
Once my kids didn't eat breakfast, (because that's kids) we were off to the Canada Agriculture and Food museum. This was a really cute interactive museum with animals, that explains where our food comes from, how it is made and processed, and finally how we store it. We came in the spring so we got to see a lot of baby animals, which was sweet. I also want a cow now. We only spent about an hour there, and we returned to the hotel to unwind a bit, and let the kids get there video game fix for the day.
Once my husband returned from his seminar we went out to dinner at the Prohibition Public House. I was totally drawn to this place because of the name, and didn't do abundant research before hand. As an adult, I loved it, but it wasn't exactly appealing to my kids Dino-nuggie needs. So, we had some apps, and delicious drinks, and then ordered Portuguese take out from Nando's for dinner afterwards. Which, big surprise, my kids didn't like, because there were bones in their chicken. These kids have no idea how delicious of a world they are missing. I ate the hell out of that food. It was damn amazing. We closed the night out with a family game of Red Dragon Inn.
Day 4 – Enjoying the last day of the Canadian Adventure
Our fourth and final FULL day in Canada was a Sunday in March, and I am a crazy Outlander fan, and I woke up at 8am, as to not be interrupted as I streamed outlander on my laptop with my starz app. Did you know that Starz doesn't stream in Canada? Yea, neither did I. After abundant panicked research, I discovered that I would get my outlander fix, on the WNetwork at 9pm. I felt like we travelled back in time to the 90's. I had to be home by 9pm to not miss my show.
After some breakfast, the kids and I went to the Canada Museum of Science and Technology. Oli was particularly high maintenance this day. The museum was really cool, and had a lot of interactive sections where kids could touch and experiment with things. The theme seemed to be progress of technology from home wares to medicine, to transportation. The older two kids really enjoyed it, but Oli was loosing her mind, hooting, whooping, hiding, and climbing.... so we had to leave early. We finished the evening having dinner at Big Daddy's again, and coming back to the room to pack and get prepared for our departure in the morning. 2 of the kids decided to sleep in the closets. 3 beds.... they slept in closets.
Day 5 – The Journey Home
After a good night's sleep, we woke, made breakfast, finished packing and headed out for a 7 hour drive home, which was blessedly uneventful.
I think the biggest take away from this trip, was not everything goes right, or as planned, but you have to learn how to roll with the punches. Try some savory pancakes, laugh about it, and move along. Next time you know to specify "plain butter", or joke about "you DID read the country entry requirements this time right?" and maybe even remember to make sure you have your own coat, while your checking on everyone else. These things are part of what makes the experience memorable. Enjoy it.
Start Planning Your Trip
So now you’re ready to plan your own trip to Ottawa!
You can make your reservations online, and buy your tickets in advance using the links below:
Don’t feel ready to book it all yourself, or need further guidance/planning assistance?
You can always reach out to me to help plan your trip with Travel Wright Vacations!
Already traveled to Ottawa or used the guide? Please feel free to comment below and tell me about your experience!
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