If you’re craving a quick burst of festive cheer, Ottawa is an unexpectedly enchanting weekend escape. Hop on a relaxing VIA Rail ride to the nation’s capital and, in under five hours, you’re stepping into a city where history, arts, markets and standout restaurants shine even brighter under a canopy of twinkling holiday lights.
Ottawa is no stranger to the silver screen — the city often doubles as the backdrop for Hallmark’s greatest holiday hits — and this year, the team at Ottawa Tourism decided to flip the script. Magic on Set, their new short film, casts Ottawa as the undeniable star. We followed the itinerary of the film’s characters, tracing their footsteps to experience our own version of this festive rom com.
We kick off our stay at the Fairmont Château Laurier, the iconic, castle-like hotel perched above the Rideau Canal. The hotel feels like a love letter to Christmas: There’s a forest of beautifully decorated Christmas trees in the lobby, and a speakeasy called 1912, where the décor and ambiance draw on the Château’s past, but the hand-crafted cocktails take on a holiday theme.
Ottawa Tourism
From there, we head to Lansdowne for the Ottawa Christmas Market, which bursts to life each season with its annual tree-lighting ceremony. We wander through rows of wooden vendor cabins stocked with local, handmade gifts, then warm our hands around mugs of hot mulled cider by an outdoor fire pit. If you’ve packed your skates, glide around the Lansdowne Skating Court before capping it off with the most iconic of Canadian treats — a classic BeaverTail.
Katherine Palumbo
Ottawa’s dining scene continues to impress, even on a whirlwind weekend. Riviera — the acclaimed restaurant set inside a former bank — wows with its soaring ceilings and its shimmering 25-metre brass bar, recently named Best Restaurant Bar in Canada in 2025. For something equally memorable, Raphaël on Elgin Street serves beautifully executed Peruvian-inspired dishes in a warm, modern space.
If you need a mid-day caffeine hit, Little Victories Coffee Roasters is a charming local favourite to visit before heading off to explore the ByWard Market — a historic district that houses a lively selection of artisans, food stalls, indie boutiques and cafés that spill out onto cobblestone streets. By day it’s a feast of local flavours; by night it transforms into one of the city’s most energetic social hubs.
Ottawa Tourism
Art, culture and curiosity thrive in this city, and December might just be the best time to explore it all. Tour the House of Commons, wander through the Canadian Museum of Nature — home to ancient fossils, sparkling minerals, wildlife dioramas and rich Indigenous storytelling — or make time for the National Gallery of Canada. The newly opened Winter Count exhibition is a standout, bringing together artists from the early 19th century to today who use winter motifs to explore identity, heritage and tradition through paintings, objects, sculpture and works on paper.
Mark Gorokhovski
Before you leave, don’t miss a walk to Kiweki Point, a newly opened lookout offering sweeping panoramas of the city and Parliament Hill — a breathtaking final scene to a weekend full of movie-worthy moments.
