Description
Things to do in Ottawa, the Ottawa Scavenger Hunt is a 3.4 km / 2.1 mi self-guided walking tour with challenges along the way. It should take 3 hours to complete, and ends near the start location.
Click here for this tourist scavenger hunt’s complete tour details, specifications, requirements, and city history. You’ll also find there the complete list of locations seen.
On your Ottawa scavenger hunt, you will see:
- Rideau Canal
- Château Laurier
- ByWard Market
- Parliament Hill
- Canadian War Memorial
- National Arts Center
- Confederation Park
- Sparks Street
- Bank of Canada Museum
- Supreme Court of Canada
- US Embassy
- Ottawa City Hall
- Major’s Hill Park
- et plus encore
We have visited Ottawa on several occasions since the 1990s. We tested this pedestrian tour in June 2018 and again in August 2021.
This scavenger hunt has a difficulty level of EASY.
The ideal group size is between 2 and 6 people – but is not restricted to this. Children are welcome and will enjoy most of the challenges.
Attention: many areas of this scavenger hunt are not easily accessible in winter.
After purchase, to begin your Ottawa Scavenger Hunt, you will need to head to the Government Conference Center / Canadian Senate, 2 rue Rideau, Ottawa, ON, K1N 8X5, across the street from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel. This is the start location.
Once there, log in to this website and begin your hunt, or go to My Account for instructions.
Alternatively, you can access “My Account” and follow the instructions there.
Never hesitate to contact us if you experience any difficulties.
Ancient History
Ottawa is in Ontario, on the south shore of the Ottawa River, facing Gatineau, which is in Quebec.
The Outaouais nation occupied this region for a long time before the French arrived. The Algonquin (their language) term for this region is Odawa, where the name of the city comes from. The Ottawa River was called Kichi Sibi by the Algonquins, which means “big river”.
The first European settlement here is a farmer named Philemon Wright, from Massachusetts, dating back to 1800, on the Quebec side of the river. He hauled wood logs from Ottawa to Montreal on the river. This industry increased the number of settlers.
During the War of 1812, Lieutenant-Colonel John By settled on the hill overlooking the river to oversee the construction of the Rideau Canal. He built a hospital and several military barracks. In 1800, there were already about 1000 settlers, the village took the name of its founder. Bytown is fast becoming a center for the wood industry.
Recent Ottawa History
Ottawa was founded in 1826 during the construction of the Rideau Canal. In 1857, the site was chosen by Queen Victoria to host the new capital of the province of Canada (a province of the British Empire at the time). It is mainly because it resides on the border of Upper and Lower Canada, and resolves the conflict between the cities of Montreal, Toronto, Quebec, and Kingston that are vying for the permanent title.
In 1959, Ottawa becomes the capital of the Canadian Confederation, under the British Parliament and Monarchy. On July 1st, 1867, it became the capital of the sovereign country of Canada, which only has links to the British Monarchy, but no longer to the British Government. All of its principal federal institutions, including Parliament, the residences of the Governor General (British Crown’s representative), and the Prime Minister of Canada are located there.
In 1916, a major fire burned down most of the parliament, except for the library which is located at the back. Reconstruction was completed in 1920.
Ottawa now has more than 900,000 inhabitants and is the fourth-largest city in Canada. Its metropolitan area has more than 1.2 million inhabitants, spread over Ontario and Quebec. 34% of the population is bilingual (French and English) in Ottawa.
Véronique Mercier –
*** (3 stars on Groupon)
Should be noted that this hunt is not totally doable in winter. 2 of the questions were buried under snow, one of which I was not able to uncover. Also, need to be creative on how to get to the next point as some paths are clearly closed in winter. Would also be nice to be informed of the general trajectory and the end point beforehand. That apart, the hunt went fairly well.
Véronique, 20 March 2019
Andrea Rosenfield –
* (1 star on Groupon)
Excellent customer support from the provider. Thank you. Too bad this scavenger hunt is so long and poorly designed. Only good for keeping the driver awake on long-distance trips.
Andrea, 20 March 2019
Phillip Tompkins –
***** (5 stars through Groupon)
Ok the English is pretty bad on the site but we had a lot of fun!
Phillip, 10 April 2019
Christine Darmawan –
***** (5 stars on Groupon)
Did it as a family of 4 with kids age 9 and 12. We separated into 2 groups to make it more exciting for the kids, so mom+son vs dad+daughter. (So we bought 2 coupons). The kids really got into it and loved it. We got through it in about 3 hrs on a beautiful spring day. Walked 10km all in all without any kid complaining!! Some of the hints/questions were a bit confusing so we just skipped those. I had some technical difficulty to set it up on the cell phones after the Groupon purchase but I called the scavenger hunt support number and they were very helpful.
April, Christine, 17 April 2019
Ray Bedard (verified owner) –
**** (4 stars on Google)
Ray, 23 June 2019
Rose France (verified owner) –
**** (4 stars on Google)
Ottawa! I hesitated between a 3 * but I give a 4 * because I think it’s a great idea as a treasure hunt when you know the city. If you have to respect a schedule I would tell you to leave rather to find a parking. Parking meters run at 2 o’clock for $ 6 and you must come back to get another coupon to add to the car.
Difficult to find the starting point. The site only gives an address. In a city that we do not know, it is very difficult to orient ourselves then in one hour, we did that the 1/4 of the hunt. I imagine that would be very interesting in a city we know, to teach children history. must actually have a good battery on his cell phone, water, and snacks. In short, maybe we will do it in Montreal …
Rose, Aug. 23, 2019
Karen Schmitz –
***** (5 stars on TripAdvisor)
My husband and I were in Ottawa for 2 nights and looking for something to do for a day. The scavenger hunt was so much fun and a great way to see the city, learn some history and get out steps in. It was well organized and kept us entertained and thinking. It would be a great activity for a family with children. Would love to try it in another city as well!
Karen, 10 January 2020
Frenchie Family –
**** (4 stars on Google)
Ottawa! I hesitated between a 3 * but I give a 4 * because I think it’s a great idea as a treasure hunt when you know the city. If you have to respect a schedule I would tell you to leave rather to find a parking. Parking meters run at 2 o’clock for $ 6 and you must come back to get another coupon to add to the car.
Difficult to find the starting point. The site only gives an address which is the curtain center (commercial center). In a city that we do not know, it is very difficult to orient ourselves then in one hour, we did that the 1/4 of the hunt. I imagine that would be very interesting in a city we know, to teach children history. must actually have a good battery on his cell phone, water and snacks. In short, maybe we will do it in Montreal …
Frenchie Family, June, 2020
Maryse Viens –
***** (5 stars given)
Group 1 achieved 77% in 3 hours and 13 minutes
Group 2 achieved 31% in 2 hours and 50 minutes
Group 3 achieved 77% in 2 hours and 50 minutes
Group 4 achieved 77% in 2 hours and 50 minutes
Maryse Viens, 30 July, 2020
Caroline Crepeau (verified owner) –
Belle façon de découvrir la ville et de voir des paysages que nous aurions manqués. 🤩
Je suggérerais toutefois de joindre une carte aux indications car la gauche et la droite ce n’est pas très précis. Je dirais plutôt: en direction de telle rue.
Nous avons eu des Problèmes avec deux questions mais le reste était super!!
(Nous l’avons fait en deux jours)
Caroline, 7 August 2020
Patrick Jacob –
*** (3 stars given)
Achieved 84% in 4 hours and 13 minutes
Patrick Jacob, 12 August, 2020
Christina Hill –
**** (4 stars given)
Achieved 95% in 2 hours and 59 minutes
Christina Hill, 12 August, 2020
Yannick Riel –
**** (4 stars given)
Achieved 84% in 2 hours 41 minutes
Yannick Riel, 14 August, 2020
Karen Rybka –
***** (5 stars given)
Achieved 80% in 2 hours and 15 minutes
Karen Rybka, 18 August 2020
Christine Loubier –
**** (4 stars given)
Achieved 88% in 2 hours and 54 minutes
Christine Loubier, 15 August, 2020
Irina Melnicenko –
**** (4 stars given)
Achieved 84% in 3 hours and 17 minutes
Irina Melnicenko, 25 August, 2020
Rhonda Reimer –
***** (5 stars given)
Achieved 95% in 2 hours and 41 minutes
Rhonda Reimer, 25 August, 2020
Julie Letford –
***** (5 stars given)
Achieved 67% in 2 hours and 50 minutes
Julie Letford, 12 September, 2020
Lucie Aubertin –
***** (5 stars given)
Achieved 91% in 2 hours and 48 minutes
Lucie Aubertin, 18 September, 2020
Nadia Filion –
**** (4 stars on TripAdvisor)
It was a fun hunt to do with the kids (13 & 8 yrs old). If you book through Trip Advisor, you’ll get a code. Then you need a create an account on the provider’s website and enter the code. It was a bit long but used the helpline and it got answered right away, so was ok. Once you get to the first designated area, it is pretty easy to follow the next steps. We did it over 2 days and took about 1.5 hours each day (we took our time). I gave 4 stars instead of 5 since I would have appreciated a link with a google map (or equivalent) to walk through the hunt and show us how to get from one place to another (would be a nice addition). 🙂
Nadia, 22 September 2020
Maria Borisova –
***** (5 stars given)
Achieved 70% in 3 hours and 5 minutes
Maria Borisova, 11 October, 2020
Erika Ylönen –
***** / *** (5 and 3 stars given)
Group 1 achieved 96.6% in 2 hours and 33 minutes
Group 2 achieved 89.5% in 2 hours.
Erika Ylönen, 15 October, 2020
Nicolas Paradis –
**** (4 stars given)
Achieved a score of 64% in 2 hours and 4 minutes.
Nicolas Paradis, 18 October, 2020
Susan Perry –
( stars given)
Achieved 81% in 5 hours and 11 minutes
Susan Perry, 12 November, 2020
Monya Ostiguy –
**** (4 stars on TripAdvisor)
Belle activité à faire à l’extérieur (COVID « proof »). On découvre le centre d’Ottawa et l’histoire du
Canada. On a passé un bel après-midi!
Monya, 2 January 2021
Stefan Tschunitz –
***** (5 stars given)
Achieved 49% in 2 hours and 3 minutes
Stefan Tschunitz, 3 March, 2021
Amélie Desjardins –
***** (5 stars given)
Achieved 60% in 3 hours 11 minutes
Amélie Desjardins, 4 March, 2021
Frérédric Piché –
***** (5 stars given)
Achieved 57% in 3 hours and 10 minutes
Frédéric Piché, 6 March, 2021
Heidi-Marie Jones –
Great way to spend the afternoon. Easy to follow but makes you think at some points. Really great!
Heidi-Marie Jones, 14 March 2021
Leanne Pollard –
***** (5 stars)
Good times
Leanne Pollard, August 1, 2021
Monica Kalistar –
***** (5 stars)
That was fun!!
Monica Kalistar, 3 August 2021