“There is no time like Spring
When life is alive in everything,”
penned Christina Rossetti over a century ago. But her quote rings true every year in Ottawa when the snow melts, flowers of all colours – red, blue, orange, purple, yellow, and pink – start to bloom, and the earth comes alive with centipedes.
Just like Ottawa web design companies produce some of the most beautiful websites around, springtime Ottawa is among the most beautiful cities in the world. If you are lucky enough to visit it between March and May, there is plenty for you to see and do.
Try out some of our favourite springtime activities in Ottawa:
Soak in some greenery at Ottawa’s luscious gardens
Ottawa’s picturesque gardens are open to visitors through the spring and summer months. While taking a leisurely walk through the Ornamental Gardens of the Central Experimental Farm, you will see flowers including fresh roses, peonies, and lilacs, as well as a rock garden and hedge collections. On the same farm, you can also explore the Dominion Arboretum, which features an immense collection of trees and shrubs.
If you would like to be transported to the 1800s to experience its walled gardens, head over to the Maplelawn Historic Garden. As one of the only walled gardens in Canada, Maplelawn was declared a national historic site in 1989. With its gorgeous lilac bushes, crab apple trees, hydrangeas and more, pictures of this garden are ideal as your computer screensaver, and can even be used by an Ottawa web design company to embellish a website!
Indulge your sweet tooth in some syrupy treats
Canada is the land of maple syrup, and Ottawa is no different! As winter comes to an end, maple trees start producing sap, from which Canadians derive their delicious maple syrup. About a half-hour ride from Ottawa, the Proulx Farm hosts farm activities and sugar bush visits in the spring. During your visit, you can pick up all things maple – syrup, butter, taffy, and cotton candy. You can also visit Fulton’s Pancake House & Sugar Bush just outside Ottawa, where you can embark on a guided tour, enjoy a horse-drawn ride, and devour stacks of flapjacks with their delightful maple syrup.
Pet some adorable farm animals
The Canada Agriculture and Food Museum – which is the only working farm in the world located right in the middle of a capital city – allows you to meet many farm animals such as alpacas, pigs, sheep, horses, and goats. Animals often birth their young in the spring, and if love baby animals and are visiting Ottawa in spring, you’re in luck! Besides the museum, you can also cuddle farm animals at the Valleyview Little Animal Farm. This farm has a Little Animal Barn, which is home to its baby animals such as bunnies, baby deer, chicks, and kids (the goat kind – not human kids!). You can also meet the larger animals such as horses, llamas, ponies, and donkeys during the Country Walk. In addition, you are likely to see ducks splashing around in the duck pond during the walk.
Try a treat from a food truck
Warm weather is food truck weather, so as spring takes over from winter, you are likely to see food trucks sprouting up across Ottawa. If you’re a fan of seafood, Ad Mare Seafood Truck is the truck to visit! From lobster roll to shrimp tacos and fish & chips, Ad Mare serves mouthwatering seafood at affordable prices. Another great food truck is the Angry Dragonz restaurant which serves Asian fusion food from Wednesday to Sunday.
In addition to the aforementioned mobile restaurants, Ottawa food trucks serve everything from authentic souvlaki to crispy-on-the-outside and soft-on-the-inside churros.
Breathe in the fresh spring air at the Canadian Tulip Festival
Spring in Ottawa would not be complete without the display of over a million tulips during the Canadian Tulip Festival held in May each year. This festival celebrates Canada’s support to the Netherlands in World War II when Ottawa sheltered the future Queen Juilana and her family during the Nazi occupation of her country. In thanks, the Dutch royal family sent 100,000 tulip bulbs to Ottawa.
Commissioners Park is the main site of the tulip festival. Here, you can take a slow one-kilometer walk among over 300,000 exquisite tulips in bloom, breathing in their subtle, sweet scent as you go along. Major’s Hill Park also offers a pleasing view, with lovely tulip flowerbeds overlooking the Ottawa River.
Further, you can take a bike ride along the Rideau Canal to Commissioners Park, stopping to smell the flowers – both literally and figuratively. You can also take a three-hour bike tour with Escape Bicycle Tours and Rentals to explore the tulip gardens spread across the city. Whether you choose to walk or bike, the tulip festival is a sight for sore eyes.
Spring infuses nature with new life, and Ottawa comes alive more than ever during this season. If you happen to be in Ottawa during springtime, we hope that you do not leave without walking among our tulips and getting a taste of pure Canadian maple syrup.
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