Experience the heart of Canada on this day trip from Montreal to Ottawa. Begin by visiting Parliament Hill. Have lunch and then visit famous landmarks, including the Canadian Museum of History, Rideau Hall, and the Royal Canadian Mint.
Depart at 7am and enjoy a 2-hour drive to Ottawa. Upon arrival, visit Parliament Hill, the political and cultural center of Canada. Enjoy sightseeing on the Ottawa River, which defines the border between the Quebec and Ontario province.
After lunch (not included), you will visit the Canadian Museum of History - the most popular and most visited museum in Canada. You'll then head to Rideau Hall, the official residence as well as the principal workplace of the Governor General of Canada since 1867. As one of the National Historic Sites of Canada, Rideau Hall is a national gathering. Afterwards, you'll have the opportunity visit the Royal Canadian Mint, where all hand-crafted collector and commemorative coins, gold bullion coins, and medals and medallions are produced.
This tour will depart Canada’s capital around 6pm and arrive in Montreal’s Chinatown around 8pm.
Our first stop at the Parliament didn't had enough time to enter the Parliament... This was disappointing. The visit to the Royal Canadian Mint was only to the gift shop... with no time to visit the place. Rest of the visit places were fine._br/_ Our visit was in winter and the temperature was freezing, during our transportation to Ottawa the heating in the van was terrible... we were freezing the whole trip. I wouldn't recommend this tour.
Review by: Jimmy T, August 2017
If I could give this less I would. First of all the tour was to leave at 7am but the bus did not arrive until 7:45. We got there as asked by 6:45am. The driver then had to make up time to get us in to Ottawa in order to see the switching of the guards. We were traveling at an average speed of 140 to 160 kph. I was with my wife and 10 yr old daughter, so you can imagine how I felt with my family traveling at such a speed. We also booked the English tour but 98 of the tour was in chinese/mandarin, which we do not understand. There would be 5 to 10 minutes in mandarin and then less than a minute in english. This happened at every stop. We were quoted prices for each stop including lunch for an adult at 18, when the restaurant charged 13.99. This is definitely the worst tour we have ever taken. They even asked for a 7 tip as a minimum.
Review by: yowneee, January 2017
I wanted to rate this higher than 1 star but I just could not do it. First of all, the moment we got in the van, we were asked to pay a separate payment for tickets and lunches. Our group of 6 ended up spending an additional 300 for this. This was not clearly stated in our booking.
Review by: J H, November 2016
This was the worst trip I've ever had the misfortune to take. I've given it 1star because Ottawa is a beautiful city that deserves to be seen. However the tour company that viator subcontracted to is unprofessional in the extreme. They basically provided a taxi service, did not allow any time to see the sights, bullied us into only going where they received concessions, took additional fees wherever they could, including taking their tip. Although I expected French to be the main language spoken, Chinese was the predominant language with pigeon English being attempted when some form of communication was needed. I know you get what you pay for and I would have happily paid a lot more to have had a properly organised trip. I would advise anyone wanting to visit Ottawa from Montreal to get on the train. Viatour offered apologies and a refund on receipt of my complaint but that wasn't the point as my stay in Montreal was ruined by a company that not only bullied me I was travelling alone but also scared the living daylights out of me by taking me on an unauthorised night time trip around the back streets of Montreal before dropping me at my hotel because the office told them to run some errands first. Moral of the story-check your tour provider with your hotel reception BEFORE taking a trip. They will know if the company is recognised and make recommendations. If in doubt don't go.
Review by: Jane R, October 2016
We were very disappointed with this trip,the only good thing is we can say is we went to Ottawa. We thank Viator for the follow up from our review
Review by: Marcela L, September 2016
Beautiful city! Guide very good!
Review by: PS S, August 2016
It was okay. Hope next time there will be an option of dropping you off in Rideau canal versus doing the river cruise. I felt rush on this trip
Review by: Digna T, August 2016
I would have rate this high but because it was raining that day we can't do much. We were not able to explore and walk around. The most eventful was the visit to the Royal Canadian Mint. It was very interesting...
Review by: maiusana, July 2016
It's worth it, you just need to make sure you have cash for all the fees during the trip.
Review by: Ilham G, July 2016
Good tour. We had a small group of 7 people, so was quite customised. The tour guide was friendly and sympathetic he managed to guide in chinese, as the most of the participants were from China and he himself was chinese, and fairly well in english. The only comment is that he didn't lead us at the sites and we had to walk around by ourselves, However, it wasn't a big problem, in my opinion, and is good for those who'd like to explore the areas by themselves. Moreover, Ottawa is a very pretty city.
Review by: Elena G, September 2015
I will not recommend this tour with the local tour companyCompass Holiday that Viator used. We were taken by a guide on a 7 seater vanSienna which is uncomfortable for seating esp if you occupy the middle seat. Just 3 months being a guide, heavily accent, started collecting 7/person for service fee/tips just barely 1 hr from the begiining of the tour. Company charges this which is not listed on Viator. And they want cash. Guide Richard tried several times to sell the cruise option, lunch buffett and some tours. He will take you to the only restaurant in that area where you dont have the choice other than wait for them to finish, if you do, you have to pay him and he refused us to pay the restaurant directly. Doesnt know about history of Ottawa, doesnt know the name of the Basilica all he said is it is a beautiful church, go inside and said it is the Lafayette Hotel not Fairmont near the parliament. He said it is difficult for him to pick us up at the Parliament since we were not doing the cruise, consumes gas and he needs to rest. Mostly 2 hrs total wasted in him trying to sell us.Guide drives while entering information on his GPS and occupies 2 lanes while driving, drives to close to the front of the vehicle. he was even given a finger side by another vehicle. Didnt feel safe at all. Good thing the Parliament hill is beautiful._br/_ Doesnt even deserve 1 star, but the site wont allow you to submit if there is no rating. Would not recommend this company to see Ottawa. Pls avoid this tour if they are using this company to see OttawaCompass. I already submitted my complaint to Viator. Very disappointed and frustrated
Review by: Daniel L, September 2015
Completely unprofessional and totally waste of money. Nothing what was promised by Viator was accomplished no comfortable bus: back breaking Toyota Siena, didn't see much of Ottawa, wasted time for lunch outside of Ottawa, unprofessional driver/tour guide was late everywhere was late for all local tours and _br/_ only spoke about not being able to bring more fees to his company. Will not recommend tour nor Viator for booking next trip.
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