Ottawa Premium City Tour with Parliament Hill & Canal Cruise
Badge of Excellence
Ottawa, Canada
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Have only a limited time to explore Ottawa? See the best of the city—and travel by air-conditioned minivan and by boat—on this time-saving, two-in-one tour. With just a small group for company, you'll see Rockcliffe Park, which is off-limits to larger tour vehicles. Next, trawl the Ottawa River and admire a new perspective on the sights. Then, go for a narrated drive past the Parliament Buildings and more, plus time to sightsee on foot.
- Hit the highlights of Ottawa in one time-saving, convenient day out
- This small-group tour offers a more personal way to explore
- Round-trip transportation from your downtown hotel included
- See dozens of Ottawa landmarks from the water's edge
What's Included
- Rideau Canal Cruise (Admission Included) (Seasonal: April-November)
- Complimentary Hotel Pick-Up and Drop-Off in Downtown Ottawa
- Small Group Driving Tour (Max 9 Guests)
- Stop at Parliament Hill for self-guided walking tour of the grounds
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Itinerary
Ottawa (Pass By)
1
Rockcliffe Park Pavillion
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Rideau Hall
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Prime Minister's Official Residence (Pass By)
3
Parliament Hill and Buildings
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Supreme Court of Canada / Cour Supreme Du Canada (Pass By)
Notre-Dame Basilica (Pass By)
4
Fairmont Château Laurier
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Ottawa Boat Cruise : Rideau Canal Cruise Departure
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Ottawa River cruise is a seasonal attraction, when the cruise is not operating it will be replaced with a Canadian War Museum of History tour
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 6 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4,4
based on 191 reviews
Sort by: Most recent
Our guide was informative, friendly and courteous. The canal cruise was relaxing and beautiful, well worth the time.
Was a really nice tour and Risa was very knowledgable - very relaxed and chilled out tour and loved that it was a small group
Ottawa is a beautiful city and friendly people. Rachael was an excellent tour guide. I would recommend her.
This is a very good tour, especially if staying in Ottawa for a short period of time. The guide was very pleasant and helpful. She showed us most of the highlights and gave us the history behind them . I loved the photo ops along the way. I"m definitely recommending this tour to friends, family and coworkers. Great value for money.
Raissa was very knowledgeable and the tour was enjoyable. However it was not exactly as advertised… we visited the National museum of history ( which was not included?) but did not stop at Parliament Hill for 20 minutes self guided tour as indicated in the ad. Also the boat tour of the canal is actually 1.5 hrs. Enjoyable but not as advertised.
Tour guide was very knowledgeable and took us pass and into some of Ottawa's monumental sites. However what was disappointing was not being able to stop at the Parliament building, which was stated in the itinerary as a stop point for 20mins.
The tour was an excellent overview of the main attractions of Ottawa. We had just arrived the afternoon before for our first visit to the city and the experience helped to orient us and prepare us for our days ahead by reinforcing what we wanted to experience more fully and the proximity of the various sites and and landmarks. Much of the tour involved drive-bys with a few strategic stops to give us more connection to the location, especially the boat tour along the Rideau Canal to conclude the afternoon. Our guide Raissa was a wonderful travel companion with lots of insight and terrific personality to make the experience very enjoyable.
Our tour guide Raissa was wonderful and so well informed. She answered most of our crazy question and gave us a bit of an insiders’ view of living in the city
Fantastic, very informatic and our guide and boat trip was great. Would highly recommend, something worth doing.
I think it’s a perfect tour of the city. The small group made it feel very personal and friendly. Just the right amount of touring in the van, interspersed with a few stops for pictures, and then a relaxing boat trip down the canal. Rachel was a wonderful, knowledgeable tour guide and Driver. Alexi, the guide on the boat tour was also quite knowledgeable and informative. It was impressive how easily he was able to switch between English and French so smoothly. Rachel, I’m sure would’ve been able to do it as well; however, we only had English speakers in our van. There are no stops along the Van tour for drinks or snacks, so bring them with you.
On time, very interesting. We saw a lot of historic buildings in Ottawa, plus many important government building. The canal cruise was relaxing, and informative. The guide, Raissa (sp?) was very knowledgeable. A good afternoon.
Our bilingual guide by the name of Rachel was super professional, polite and she was very knowledgeable. The trip with her was fun and we enjoyed every bit of it. I highly recommend
Very educational. Rachel was wonderful and super helpful and pleasant. Got stuck in some traffic which was fine. The boat ride was a little long but still s nice experience.
There’s so much to see and know about Ottawa and our guide, Raissa, did a phenomenal job driving us around and showing us the city. We were lucky enough to be the only family in the city part of the tour that day so got to ask lots of questions, see all the sights and learn about the history of the city.
She dropped us off for the Rideau Canal ride, and picked us up perfectly.
Next time we would love to do more of the city tour part, especially if it would be with Raissa.
Would have been good to know to be prepared that there would be no stop to pick up some food ……..thank you
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thank you for flagging that, it is genuinely helpful for future travelers to know to bring snacks along for the journey! 🙏
The tour was very educational. Raissa was very knowledgeable and has a great personality for her job!
Response from Host, May 2026
Raissa’s knowledge and great personality sound like the perfect fit for an educational tour! It’s lovely to hear she made the experience both informative and enjoyable
Despite the rainy weather, our tour guide Raissa was very helpful and pleasant to show us around. The canal cruise is better taken on a sunny day.
Response from Host, May 2026
The canal cruise definitely shines more in sunshine, so we appreciate the honest note and are glad she still showed you around with care ☔
We enjoyed the tour and the guide, Denis, was knowledgeable. The tour was a bit disorganized as they didn't coordinate with Denis that the Canal cruise wasn't running yet. We didn't know when booking that the river tours weren't running yet. Denis seemed not to know either. He didn't know they substituted it with the National Arts Gallery. We wouldn't recommend this tour based on the disorganization. We feel we didn't the full value for the tour. I texted the company but have yet to get a reply.
Response from Host, May 2026
We’re truly sorry for the confusion and frustration around the Canal cruise not running yet. We understand why that felt disorganized and why you felt the value was not what you expected. please contact See Sight Tours directly again or reach out through Viator so our team can help review this properly for you. We sincerely apologize for the missed communication.
We were a group of 6 (3couples) Dani our tour guide did a good job in bringing us around the main tourist sites, river cruise was relaxing and saw more of Ottawa, we ended in By Ward Market and drove us around showing which resto serves good food.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Sounds like a perfect day out with Dani! 🚐
We're so glad you enjoyed the destinations, the cruise, and the tasty recommendations. Showing off Ottawa’s beauty and flavors is what we (we mean Dani) do best!
We'd love to know how we could've grabbed that fifth star, and we hope to next time you're with us! 😊
Very friendly guide (Trevor). Customized the tour based on our interests. Would recommend it to anyone wanting a quick overview of Ottawa
Not a river cruise. Otherwise it was fine. Denis was very accommodating and tailored the tour to our interests.
The tour was very informative referencing the history of Ottawa. The sites are beautiful, the tour guide was very courteous and fun.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
We're delighted you enjoyed learning about Ottawa's history and sightseeing the city. Our guides love sharing fun facts and making the tour both engaging and courteous – it sounds like your guide nailed it!
We hope you left with fantastic memories and photos. Out team can't wait to welcome you back on another tour soon! 🍁
Great overview of Ottawa. Mostly drive by sightseeing with a few brief stops for a photo op of scenic views. Would have been nice to walk inside a couple government buildings to at least see the lobby or entry areas.
Response from Host, Sept 2025
We're glad you enjoyed the driving tour and scenic stops around Ottawa 😊. We appreciate your suggestion about visiting inside some government buildings – access can sometimes be limited due to official events or security, but we'll definitely look into including interior visits whenever possible.
We hope you still captured some great photos and enjoyed seeing the beautiful sights of the capital. Hope to welcome you back on a future tour! 🏛️📸
Great sights. Denis was a great guide/driver.
Boat ride was great, but guide on boat spoke a lot of French.
Totally enjoyable and would highly recommend
Response from Host, Sept 2025
Thank you for sharing your experience! We’re so glad you enjoyed the beautiful sights and that Denis made the day so enjoyable with his guiding and driving. The Hornblower cruise is always a highlight, feeling the spray while taking in the Falls is something unforgettable. Even with the mix of French commentary, it’s wonderful to hear the experience was still a highlight for you. Thanks for the warm recommendation! 🌊
Tour guide was nice, but he said it was his second day and he “didn’t know much”. Took us around, but didn’t see much other than parliament and a couple other buildings. Drove by a park and said “I’m supposed to stop here and show you around, but there’s nothing here, so let’s keep going”. The river cruise was nice, and that guide was informative. But this was worth no where near the $433 it cost for me and my three kids. Total ripoff.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
We’re genuinely sorry to hear the tour didn’t meet your expectations. It is clear that your guide faced some challenges during your, we'll be getting in touch with him about how to avoid them in the future.
This isn't the experience we aim to provide and your feedback helps us raise the bar. Please email us your booking details at at info@seesight-tours.com, your eligible for a partial refund for any missed attractions or destinations.
We hope you'll gives us a chance to make it up to you on your next tour, red carpet and all!
Very convenient. Driver comes to your residence to pick you up. Get a little history of Ottawa. Boat tour is great
The tour itself was just ok. Guide was fairly knowledgeable and tried to be helpful when the tour wasn't what it said it was. Honestly it you are doing it to save time and don't want to rent a car it's good but if you have a car you Can do anything on this yourself. The thing that really upset me was that the description on viator specifically stated and I read it to the guide that the boat was described to be a tour on the ottawa River and they said not for the morning tour. The morning tour was a Rideau canal tour which was also just ok but something you can go hope on anytime yourself on Elgin st
Because the tour said specifically it was a river cruise not the canal I had booked a canal tour later in the day. Luckily I was able to call and switch my canal tour for a river cruise for the same day just be aware the tour may not be as described and you can do everything yourself very easily minus the knowledge of the area.
This tour could have been fantastic, but I think the tour guide (I cannot remember his name) was not the right person for the job. Very nice man and he wanted to accommodate us, but his English was not fluent enough and he did not give a lot of information on the tour. Also, we did not make all the stops that we were supposed to. I travelled with my 18 year old daughter. There was another English speaking couple in the group. It was a minivan. Pick up was at the hotel. All good. He drove to the highlights and pointed out things. Traffic was great. We made a couple of stops, but missed others. Per the itinerary, we did not stop at the Supreme Court, and we did not get the 1 hour Parliament Hill audio walking tour. Instead we stopped for a restroom break at the National Arts Centre for a long time, to wait for our boat tour. There was nothing to do at the Centre, so we walked to the war memorial to watch an event in progress just to pass time. Then he took us to the boat. The boat tour was very good. It was with a different tour guide. But here too was an issue. Our tour guide from above should have told us there was going to be a line up for the boat instead of us "passing our time" and not really doing anything, and he should have coordinated with the 4 of us and the boat operator. We didnt know there was going to be a line and therefore we were at the back of the line. Boat Tour was of the Rideau Canal. Enjoyable. Good guide. But was it supposed to be the River tour or Canal tour? It's hard to say whether I would recommend this tour. Per the description, it sounds great, and per other reviews, people have been pleased. Based on not having a complete tour, I would say no.
You see the main parts of Ottawa, Gatineau, government residences.
Very informative and educational.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Thank you for Sight Seeing with us!
We’re glad to see you recognise our aim with your Ottawa sightseeing tour. We definitely hope to cover major parts of Ottawa with our guests small group tour.
The tour is designed to go from the Rockcliffe Park Area to the Rideau Canal and then Downtown Ottawa (including Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Canadian Museum of History. We try to immerse our guests in the stately and natural splendor of the capital of Canada.
We’d be pleased to host you on another small group tour soon!
This tour did not deliver as per the itinerary. Denis was well informed, though struggled at time to find the appropriate English terms, so I had to help him out on a couple of instances since I was more bilingual than he was. This was an English tour. We didn’t stop at the Supreme Court building, he seemed surprised our90 min Roseau canal cruise came back in less than 2 hrs. His minivan would be a tight squeeze for 6, though a little tired, well maintained. What bugs me the most is the itinerary said we would have a walk around the parliament grounds with a self guided audio tour. No such tour exists. So we finished without the parliament grounds tour and got no refund for that hour we were supposed to have. I’d steer clear of this one.youre better off booking the cruise yourself, book the free parliament ahead of time. We were supposed to stop at the Supreme Court building and we didn’t. I requested a partial refund, Seesight hasn’t even acknowledged my message.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
We’re sorry to hear your experience didn’t go as expected.
It sounds like your guide may have encountered some challenges during your tour, which understandably impacted your overall experience.
We’d appreciate the opportunity to look into this further. Please email us at
info@seesight-tours.com with your booking details—we’d love to make it right.
Member Pricing
From
US$96,56
per personWas US$101,65(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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