DESTINATIONS CANADA |QUEBEC & OTTAWA
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations; immersive forest walk experience Onhwa’ Lumina; the fam trip agents explore Quebec City; Byward
Market PICTURES: Destination Ontario/Ben Hemmings; Stéphane Groleau; India-Jayne Trainor
stone fireplaces, tools and beds laden with animal furs. We go on to see an even more spectacular longhouse nearby at Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations, a property owned by and focused on First Nations people, which is home to the Huron-Wendat Museum. It’s surrounded by woodland, where we experience Onhwa’ Lumina, an immersive walk through the forest. Under a bright moon, we stroll from point to point: one flashes coloured lights in the darkness in time with a gentle traditional song, while another projects the story of the Wendat people preparing for war against the invading Hurons. At nearby Sagamité Restaurant, we reflect on the experience over a dinner of venison, elk and bison paired with maple syrup-infused cocktails.
CAPITAL CHARM Our final stop is Canada’s capital, Ottawa, straddling the provinces of Quebec and Ontario and abuzz with busy shopping streets, museums and markets. On a Gray Line city bus tour, we get the lay of the land, passing the Canadian War Museum and Museum of History. Then comes the Rideau Canal, the city’s metaphorical heart, where locals stroll, kayak and even ice skate every winter. Keen to dig further into the city’s museums, we take a guided tour of the National Gallery of Canada, an art museum filled with both Canadian works and those by artists such as Andy Warhol and sculptor Louise Bourgeois, whose spider Maman stands outside the entrance. But all of the walking leaves everyone hungry so, led by guides from C’est Bon Ottawa, we‘re taken on
32 26 FEBRUARY 2026
Among the tasters we
sample is a BeaverTail – a classic Canadian pastry shaped like a beaver’s tail
a food tour around Byward Market, a central hub of restaurants, bars and entertainment venues that’s home to more than 600 businesses. Among the many tasters is a flavourful wrap cooked in a tandoor oven followed by a BeaverTail, a classic Canadian pastry shaped like a beaver’s tail that can be topped with everything from Nutella to strawberries and cinnamon. We dive back into our Indigenous education at the Canadian Museum of History, where the impressive Grand Hall houses totem poles, a traditional canoe and works by Indigenous artists from Canada’s northwest. A final museum not to miss is the Canadian Royal
Mint. Here, we see hundreds of solid silver and gold bars transformed into Canadian currency and learn about some of the most valuable and interesting coins created, including one that glows in the dark. The guide passes us each a $2 coin and, flipping it over, I admire the limited-edition design by Daphne Odjig – the first by a female Indigenous artist when it was released in 2025. It perfectly represents this region, where there’s something surprising hidden everywhere you look.
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BOOK IT
First Class Holidays offers a seven-night trip from £1,839 per person, based on Air Canada flights from Heathrow to Montreal and back from Ottawa in May. The price includes two nights each in Montreal and Quebec City, and three in Ottawa, business-class travel on Via Rail, walking tours of Montreal and Quebec City, museum entrance and a visit to Wendake.
fcholidays.com
Cosmos offers an eight- day Ontario & French Canada tour from £2,199 per person, based on two sharing, including flights from Heathrow with Air Canada, accommodation, all transport and activities, based on a June 5 departure.
cosmos.co.uk
travelweekly.co.uk
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