Ottawa

By car

By car, Ottawa is about a 4.5 hour trip from Toronto via the 401 and 416 highways, or via highway 7. Montreal is 2 hours away via highway 417. The American border at Ogdensburg, NY is only 1 hour 15 minutes away to the south, and the border at I-81 is a little further west at an additional 15 minutes' drive.

By bus

There is a Voyageur/Greyhound (http://greyhound.ca) terminal in Ottawa with regular service to Montreal departure on the hour from 6 a.m. to midnight, Toronto and all other cities in North America. The bus terminal is downtown on the corner of Catherine Street and Kent Street, between Bronson Avenue and Bank Street. Though the bus terminal is downtown, a 15-20 minute walk will get you to most hotels and downtown attractions. Alternatively, a 5-10 minute local bus ride will do the same. Bus #4, with its stop around the corner from the terminal on Kent Street, is the bus that you will want to take.

Greyhound busses coming from Montreal also usually make an intermediary "University of Ottawa" stop actually at Laurier Station near the corner of Laurier Avenue East and Waller Street and stop before going to the Catherine Street terminal. This stop is closer walking distance to the Byward Market, the Rideau Canal, and Parliament Hill, and is a more central city transit hub. It may be necessary to request the stop with the driver.

A taxi to most downtown hotels should cost between $8 and $15, and buses are $3.25 one-way $2.50 with pre-purchased tickets or $7.50 purchased only on the bus for an all-day pass.

By plane

The newly renovated and expanded Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (http://ottawa-airport.ca) IATA: YOW is Ottawa's main airport with regular arrivals and departures from most major Canadian and many American cities. Services outside North America, however, are limited to a daily flight to London Heathrow and a daily flight to Frankfurt with Air Canada, plus seasonal service to London Gatwick. Air France, KLM, and Swiss International Airlines provide shuttle bus service between Ottawa and Montreal that facilitate connections with their flights operated from Trudeau International Airport. This trip takes about two hours. Via Rail also operates a shuttle bus from the Dorval train station to nearby Trudeau International Airport. This free shuttle service allows one to travel from Ottawa to Dorval a suburb of Montreal by rail, and then transfer directly to the airport on a dedicated on-demand bus.

Macdonald-Cartier is easily reached by public transit or taxi and most of the major car rental agencies have a presence at the airport terminal in the parking garage. A taxi to downtown hotels should cost between $20. and $30., while a taxi to nearby hotels should not cost more than $10.. YOW Airporter (http://yowshuttle.com/) operates a mini-bus shuttle to most downtown hotels for $14 one-way and $24 return.

To reach downtown via public transit, take the #97 bus the only bus at the airport and get out at the Mackenzie King transitway stop 14 stops away at the Rideau Centre shopping mall. If you take this route before 6:00AM, you will likely follow the more meandering early morning route but will still get to Mackenzie King. To get to the train station, you still take the #97 bus but get out at Hurdman station 10 stops away and transfer to the #95 eastbound bus to the next stop which is the train station. The bus fare is $3.25 $2.60 with pre-purchased tickets which gives you 1.5 hours of unlimited bus travel or $7.50 for an all-day pass. Exact change is required, Remember to ask the bus driver for a transfer even if you do not intend on transferring to another bus--OC Transpo security personnel may get on the bus at any given stop and ask passengers for proof of payment. You will be required to show your transfer or else you will be fined. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it can be embarrassing and expensive.

By train

Passenger train service is run by VIA Rail (http://viarail.ca/) in Canada and the main train station in Ottawa, Ottawa Station IATA: XDS (http://viarail.ca/cgi-bin...), is less than ten minutes from downtown by car, taxi or bus. There are six trains daily leaving for Montreal and intermediate points, with five trains daily to Toronto and points in between. Service is reduced on Saturday, Sundays and holidays.

Ottawa has two train stations, the Ottawa Station near downtown, and a secondary station, Fallowfield Station (http://viarail.ca/cgi-bin...), in the western suburb of Barrhaven, convenient for Nepean and Kanata points. All trains to Toronto stop at Fallowfield; two of the six weekday trains to Montreal originate or terminate at Fallowfield.

Ottawa Station is on a high frequency bus route '#94 or #95 and takes only 5 minutes to get you downtown, heading west. Fallowfield station is also on the #94 and #95 bus route but at the far south-west end.

It is possible to get downtown from the main train station on foot, although it requires a bit of navigation. This path should not be taken alone after dark and may be flooded after periods of intense rain or snow melting. Have a street map with you so you can locate yourself once you have reached Strathcona Park. The station to Strathcona Park takes about half an hour 2.5km. Another half hour from the Park to downtown. A map is available online (http://stepwhere.com/maps...).

On exiting the station, walk along the west left-hand arm of the vehicle loop and across the Transitway bridge.

Before reaching Tremblay Road, take the bike path to your left going west.

The path will take you along the bus lanes and will pass over Riverside Drive.

You will merge with a path coming up from Riverside Drive; continue walking west, away from the street.

Shortly after that, you will come to a fork; go right north and continue until you see a pedestrian bridge on your left.

Take the pedestrian bridge over the Rideau River.

Immediately after the pedestrian bridge, turn right towards the north.

Take the paved bike path, go under the highway bridge and keep following the Rideau River northward for about 1 km.

Once you reach the end of of the path, you are in Strathcona Park.

Use a street map or an on-line map service to find your way from Strathcona Park to your downtown destination; at the north end of the park is Laurier Avenue, a major east-west street; parallel to it and several blocks north is Rideau Street.