Date Night Ideas in Ottawa

Setup.Comfortable shoes, a blanket and a snack. Before you go, download the Friends of the Farm self guided walking tour of the Ornamental Gardens and look over their bloom times list so you have a rough idea of what is out. Parking on the Farm is free.

1. Start at the Ornamental Gardens, on the west side of the Prince of Wales roundabout. Check the bloom list and each claim one collection: lilacs, peonies, heritage roses, Explorer roses, or the irises and daylilies.
2. Walk your collections slowly. Whoever is leading has to pick a favorite plant and say why.
3. Cross to the Dominion Arboretum on the east side of the roundabout. It was started in 1889 to test which trees and shrubs could survive here, and its slightly warmer pocket of land lets it grow magnolias, so go looking for them.
4. Spread the blanket on the arboretum's rolling ground toward Dow's Lake and stay until one of you gets hungry.

Talk about:If we planted one tree together today, what would it be and where would it go?

Setup.Park at lot P22 for the Mer Bleue Bog Trail. Parking is free, but the lot closes at sunset, so check the NCC page before you go and give yourselves enough light to walk out and back. Bug spray in summer, layers in spring and fall.

1. Walk from the lot to the start of the boardwalk and follow the self guided storytelling route about the bog's history.
2. Once you are out over the bog, slow right down. Look for black spruce, tamarack and the white tufts of cottongrass.
3. Stop at the most open stretch and stand still for two full minutes without talking. Listen for birds, and watch the water for beaver or muskrat.
4. Head back while the light is still good so you reach the car before the lot closes.

Talk about:This bog has been quietly growing for about 7,700 years. What is one small thing we do that you hope we are still doing in forty years?

Setup.You need a car or a ride; the museum says it is not reachable by public transit. Parking is free. Buy tickets online ahead, either for a 60 or 90 minute guided tour at a set time or for general admission with the free audio guide. Bring a layer, since the temperature shifts from room to room. Check hours before you go, because it is not open every day.

1. Head down into a bunker that sits 75 feet underground and let the scale of it land.
2. Join your guided tour, or plug in the audio guide and set your own pace.
3. Look for the War Cabinet Room, the Prime Minister's Suite and the Bank of Canada Vault, plus the rotary phones and early computers in the old workspaces.
4. Back in daylight, each of you picks the room you would have wanted to be assigned to and defends the choice.

Talk about:If we had to live somewhere with no windows for a month, what three things would you bring for the two of us?

Setup.Leave backpacks and big bags at home or in the car: they are not allowed in the residence, and everyone goes through a metal detector. In high summer the tours are first come, first served; the rest of the year you reserve at least three days ahead. Free street parking nearby has a time limit, or walk the 3.5 kilometers along Sussex Drive from Parliament Hill. The grounds close an hour before sunset, so go earlier in the day.

1. Come in through the Thomas Street gate; the visitor center there is open from May to September.
2. Take the free 45 minute guided tour of the state rooms, where the Governor General welcomes dignitaries and honors Canadians.
3. Download the self guided grounds brochure and go looking for some of the more than 150 trees planted by members of the Royal Family, visiting heads of state and other dignitaries. Each of you picks the one with the most unexpected planter.
4. Pause at the Heart Garden, which remembers the First Nations, Inuit and Métis children who died in the residential school system, and those who survived.
5. Walk over to Rideau Falls Park on Sussex Drive and watch the twin falls, split by Green Island, drop into the Ottawa River.

Talk about:If we planted a ceremonial tree for one moment in our story so far, which moment would it be?

Setup.A warm layer, a thermos, and no dinner plans until afterward. Check the NCC page for seasonal hours before you go: Kìwekì Point stays open late from April to mid October and closes early in winter.

1. Meet in Major's Hill Park about an hour before sunset and find the remains of the house where Colonel By lived while the Rideau Canal was being built.
2. Walk to a lookout over the Ottawa Locks and watch the canal step down toward the river.
3. Cross the Pìdàban Passage footbridge to Kìwekì Point and find the Samuel de Champlain monument and the Kichi Sibi Inini (Great River Man) monument.
4. Settle into one of the nooks at Whispering Point, the lookout shelter, or along the long concrete seat wall, and stay until the lights under the wall come on.

Talk about:Kìwekì means returning to one's homeland in Algonquin. Where do you feel most at home: a place, or us?

Setup.Two bikes (or inline skates, or good walking shoes), water, a lock and a snack. Weekend Bikedays run on Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays from May into October, and the Kichi Zībī Mīkan closure is mornings only, so start early. Check the NCC schedule before you go.

1. Start near Vimy Place at the eastern end and head west with the river on your right.
2. Stop at Remic Rapids Park and Bate Island to watch the water.
3. Keep riding past Westboro Beach to the Deschênes Rapids Lookout.
4. Turn around near Mud Lake at the Carling Avenue end; the closed stretch is about 9 kilometers end to end.
5. Ride back at an easy, side by side pace.

Talk about:What is something you loved doing as a kid that we should bring back?

Setup.A pub with a weekly quiz night. Most pubs run them, usually free entry.

1. Order food before the quiz starts. Eating mid-quiz is hard.
2. Pick a team name. Submit it confidently.
3. Argue every contested answer.
4. Stay for the prize round even if you cannot win.

Setup.A drive-in cinema. A blanket for after sunset, snacks pre-packed.

1. Arrive 30 minutes early for a good spot.
2. Tune the radio to the listed FM frequency.
3. Recline seats for sightlines.
4. Coffee on the way home, drive-ins end late.

Setup.A small brewery, cidery, or distillery with tastings. Many do a flight under $15.

1. Order the standard flight, not your usual style.
2. Score on smell, taste, finish.
3. Ask one staff member how they got into brewing.
4. Leave with one bottle from the flight.

Setup.A loud cart-style yum cha or dim sum place. Cash for the bill.

1. Stop the first three carts that pass. Take one of each.
2. Order tea, jasmine, oolong, or pu-erh.
3. Stop ordering ten minutes before you think you should.

Setup.An omakase sushi counter. Booking required for most.

1. Sit at the counter, not a table.
2. Eat each piece in two bites max, within a minute.
3. Tip in cash if you can.

Setup.A small/microbrewery. Most run flights for under $20.

1. Order the flight, not your usual style.
2. Score on smell, taste, finish.
3. Ask one staff member how they got into brewing.
4. Leave with one growler or bottle.

Setup.An indoor skydiving facility. Closed-toe shoes, comfortable clothes.

1. Watch the safety video twice, listen.
2. First flight is the hard one.
3. Second flight, you actually look around.

Setup.A weekend farmers' market. Reusable bags, a budget cap.

1. Walk the whole market once before buying.
2. Each picks two ingredients the other will use.
3. Brunch at the breakfast cart at the market.
4. Cook dinner at home with what you bought.

Setup.A salsa, bachata, or kizomba social. Dress for dancing, shoes that pivot, layers for sweat.

1. Arrive after the lesson but before the social peaks.
2. Dance every other song. Rest between.
3. Drink water, most clubs sell it.
4. Walk for 20 minutes home before transport.

Setup.One room you both find annoying. Garbage bags, two boxes labelled "donate" and "decide later".

1. Empty everything onto a bed or floor in a different room.
2. Sort: keep, donate, bin, decide-later.
3. Wipe down surfaces before anything goes back in.
4. Order takeout. Eat in the new room.

Talk about:What is one thing in this house that has been around longer than us?

Setup.A balloon company near you. Book months ahead. Warm clothes, even in summer.

1. Wake at 4:30am. Tea in a thermos.
2. Listen carefully to the safety briefing.
3. During: phones away after the first photo. Just look.
4. Champagne breakfast usually included afterwards, stay for it.

Setup.A guided street-food tour (Airbnb Experiences, Withlocals, GetYourGuide). Booking in advance.

1. Eat lightly the morning of.
2. Listen to the guide as much as you eat.
3. Tip well, they hustle.