Looking for free things to do in Ottawa this weekend? Or are you planning a longer trip, and looking for free things to do in Eastern Ontario and the Outaouais? Bookmark this list of free activities in Ottawa and beyond, and save money on your next day trip, road trip or weekend getaway.
This post is very much an evolving thing; I’ll be adding to it whenever news of free sites or activities crosses my desk. Feel free to send me details of anything you think should be included.
Note: Information in this post was correct at the time of writing, but PLEASE check the websites of the sites and attractions you’d like to visit before heading out for the latest details.
If you have kids, you’ll know that taking them places can be expensive! Fortunately, there are lots of free kids’ activities in Ottawa and surrounding areas, including the following. (These are activities aimed directly at kids, but children might also enjoy lots of the other activities listed later in this post, such as free movies and free outdoor activities—so keep reading!)
Free things to do with kids in Ottawa
Musical Ride photo courtesy of the RCMP.
The National Arts Centre (NAC) offers a ton of free programming, including Toddler Tuesdays, as well as music, dance, storytelling and other events geared to the under-12 crowd.
The Chemistry Magic Show at Carleton University (March) aims to get kids excited about science with demonstrations galore.
Ottawa Chamberfest (July–August) presents free Bring the Kids chamber music performances.
Admission to the National Gallery of Canada is always free for children 11 and under. On weekends and holidays, the gallery also runs an Open Studio for kids aged 4 and up, accompanied by their parents; it’s included with gallery admission.
At the Canadian Museum of Nature‘s collections centre in Gatineau, there’s a free tour once a year in early October. Get your tickets early because they always go quickly.
The Annual Biology Butterfly Show at Carleton University (October) is free, but it is also VERY popular. Reserve a spot in advance online as soon as they’re available.
Home Depot offers free crafting workshops for kids on the second Saturday of every month, at various locations. Registrations open about a month in advance and often fill up quickly.
The RCMP Musical Ride gives free performances in Ottawa and across Canada. The schedule varies each year, but there are usually several performances of the Sunset Ceremonies at the RCMP Musical Ride Stables in Rockcliffe in the week before Canada Day.
Free things to do with kids in Eastern Ontario
Photo courtesy of the CPKC Holiday Train.
The Brockville Railway Tunnel hosts a fun, free sound-and-light show from spring through fall. The tunnel was built in 1860, and the tracks are long gone.
In the late fall each year, usually in October or November, the CPKC Holiday Train trundles through severak communities south of Ottawa. Illuminated with Christmas lights, it stops in several communities to present a free concert and collect money and donations for local food banks.
Free outdoor recreation in Ottawa and beyond
One of many wonderful things about the outdoors is that it’s difficult to fence it off and charge admission! Here are a few free hiking trails, cycling routes, beaches and parks, but this is TRULY just the tip of the iceberg!
One of Ottawa’s multi-use pathways in Vincent Massey Park.
The National Capital Commission (NCC) builds and maintains the Capital Pathway—over 200 kilometres of free, off-road recreational paths throughout Ottawa and Gatineau. They’re open to cyclists, walkers, runners and other non-motorized users. The NCC also has a map of a much-large network of bicycle lanes and other cycling routes.
On weekends from May to October, several roads are closed to vehicles but open to non-motorized users during Weekend Bikedays. And this year, from July 1 until September 2, a section of the Queen Elizabeth Driveway is closed to cars all day, every day.
You can find City of Ottawa parks, splash pads, outdoor skating rinks and more on the city’s parks and greenspaces page.
The NCC River House offers a free supervised swimming area and public dock on the Ottawa River in New Edinburgh/Rockcliffe.
If you are an Ottawa resident, you can borrow passes to the Kanata Nordic ski trails and the City of Ottawa’s Mooney’s Bay Ski Centre from the Ottawa Public Library.
The Great Canadian Kilt Skate is a free February event at Lansdowne Park where—you guessed it—people skate in kilts. (Other Canadian communities often hold their own kilt skate events.)
Free outdoor recreation in Eastern Ontario
Limerick Forest in Leeds-Grenville, just south of Ottawa, is a managed community forest with multi-use trails, an interpretive centre and lots of public events. It’s big—stretching 6,092 hectares (23.5 square miles) across multiple communities, including Kemptville and Merrickville—and it’s open year round. For more details, see the video above.
Speaking of Kemptville, Ferguson Forest is another free woodland with over 20 kilometres of year-round trails. There’s a great dog park, too.
The Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail stretches 296 kilometres from near Smiths Falls to Mattawa, across Lanark County, Renfrew County and Papineau-Cameron Township.
If you are an Ottawa resident, you can borrow Ontario provincial park passes from the Ottawa Public Library.
Admission is free for youth 17 and under to Parks Canada parks. Parks Canada also offers free admission to all active members and veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces. In 2024, new Canadians also have free admission to Parks Canada parks.
The Cycloparc PPJ is a 92-kilometre cycling and hiking route in the Pontiac region of the Outaouais.
There are fees to park and ski in Gatineau Park, but the NCC does run free shuttle buses to the park from late spring to mid-fall, and hiking trails and beaches are free.
For the festivals listed below, admission is free—but food, activities and products will usually cost you. And in some cases, festival organizers note that they appreciate donations. So check those websites for all the details before heading out! (P.S.: You’ll also find a few more festivals listed under “free music” and “free tours.”)
Free festivals in Ottawa
Commissioners Park at Dows Lake right before the Canadian Tulip Festival.
Art in the Park in Wakefield (every Saturday, July and August; see video above)
Free museums in Ottawa and beyond
Free museums in Ottawa
The Canadian Museum of Nature.
Looking for free admission to museums and historic sites in Ottawa and beyond? Check out this list. Some are always free of charge, while others are free at certain times.
Admission to the Ottawa Art Gallery is always free. And from September through June, the gallery also provides free child care during exhibition opening receptions.
The three national museums in the Ingenium group—the Canada Science and Technology Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum—are always free between 4pm and 5pm. NOTE: While admission is free, you still need a ticket. Due to the popularity of these free evenings, it’s a good idea to go online and reserve your free tickets in advance. See each museum’s website for details on doing so.
There’s no charge to visit the Lost Villages Museum in Long Sault. Open from June to September, it preserves 10 buildings from the small communities that were intentionally abandoned and flooded during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Free movies in Ottawa and beyond
Sure, you could watch Netflix at home, but wouldn’t it be more fun to get together with your neighbours—perhaps under the stars?
Also in summer, Capital Pop-Up Cinema brings free outdoor movies to venues across the city, including some unexpected spots (such as the Beechwood Cemetery).
The Ottawa Public Library runs free indoor movie screenings at branches across the city.
From June through August, the Ottawa Bagelshop Musicfest offers free concerts at 2:30pm on Wednesdays and Sundays in the Ottawa Bagelshop in Wellington Village.
From June until mid-October, the Cinq à Sept concert series showcases local musicians in free shows in the ByWard Market from 5pm to 7pm on Thursdays.
Osgoode Porchfest (June) offers free concerts throughout the village.
The Summer Series at the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans offers free lunch-hour music and dance performances on Thursdays in July and August.
Priorpalooza (June) is a one-day music festival at Robert Simpson Park in Arnprior.
Concerts in the Park (June to mid-August) are free Sunday afternoon concerts at the gazebo in Robert Simpson Park in Arnprior.
Arts in the Park (June through August) is a series of free evening concerts at the Lions Club Bandshell in Lamoureux Park in Cornwall.
The Stewart Park Festival (July) is free for an intriguing reason: the public-spirited woman who donated the land for the park stipulated that no admission should ever be charged for events there. The concerts here have a folky focus.
Vankleek Hill Porchfest (July) is, you guessed it, a day of free concerts on people’s porches.
Concerts at the Grotto (July and August) are free Wednesday night outdoor concerts at the Grotto in Alexandria.
Waterfront Live! (July and August) offers free concerts most nights of the week at Waterfront Park in Pembroke.
Consecon Porchfest (September) is another free community music fest, this time in Prince Edward County.
Free fitness and dance classes in Ottawa
Why pay for a gym membership you never use when you could be doing yoga outdoors or taking a salsa-dancing class for free?
A good tour guide can open your eyes to things you’d never notice otherwise—even in your own backyard.
Free tours in Ottawa
Rideau Hall.
Ottawa Free Tours offers tours of downtown Ottawa several times a week from early April until Thanksgiving. And while they are free, the guides depend on tips to make a living, so pay what you can if you enjoyed the tour.
Tours of the House of Commons (West Block), the East Block and the Senate (in the old railway station across from the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel) are free. Also free is Parliament: The Immersive Experience, a 360-degree multimedia show that brings the Centre Block to life while the real thing is undergoing restoration. For all of these, you’ll need to book free tickets online in advance.
At Rideau Hall, one of the official residences of the Governor General, you can take a free guided tour of the house or a self-guided tour of the grounds.
In May, Jane’s Walk Ottawa-Gatineau offers free walking tours with an emphasis on architecture, urban planning and nature.
In June, Doors Open Ottawa is an opportunity to visit and take free tours of a wide range of interesting buildings throughout the city.
North Grenville, which includes the communities of Kemptville and Oxford Mills among others, has developed a series of downloadable self-guided walking tours.
Free tours in the Outaouais
Fairbairn House Heritage Centre in Wakefield, Quebec.
As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.
