It's difficult planning out the day. You research, make reservations, buy tickets, and do…read moreeverything you can. Then the traffic takes longer than anticipated, you got lost on the way, the card was declined because you forgot to call your credit card company. For some people, these little disasters ruin trips. Me? Just roll with it. For our schedule we wanted to do a canal tour, but it wasn't going to work for itinerary, so we opted for the river cruise instead. I am very glad we had done so. Rolling down the Ottawa river was a welcome break from all the walking, and you get to see these beautiful views of the city from the water that you otherwise would be completely unknown to you, like who really shot JFK. Our guide was a sweet and cheery girl, she enjoyed talking with guests and answering questions. The other staff were quite friendly, the boat was clean, and even had a bar (thank you sweet baby Jesus!) which allowed for my wife and I to enjoy a glass of wine on the river. Definitely recommend.

If you are in Ottawa and don't have much time this is the way to see the city, the boat is not the…read moremost beautiful but is big and they have food and drink on board, I really enjoy the tour on this boat, they guy explaining everything was awesome he was funny and he new a lot of stuff so I learn a lot about Ottawa and we know that a lot of Canadian history is in Ottawa, take the tour of u wanna see the city from another perspective, this was my favourite boat ride tour ever!!!!

We tried a new tour called Hidden Ottawa. It's Not a haunted tour. It's a history based tour that…read morehighlights things even most locals don't know or have never noticed about the town. Our group were all locals and we all enjoyed the tour and didn't know the majority of what was talked about. Get ready to learn some real colourful stories of Ottawa! I also appreciated the path the tour takes. It's very scenic and uses areas none of us had been before which was also super cool to learn about and made for some amazing photo locations too!

Walking through downtown Ottawa and came across the sign for a ghost tour. They tend to be fun. So…read morewe inquired and wound up taking the 8pm haunted prison tour. Cost me for 2 adults, 2 kids just under 100 cad. Our guide was Hanna and she was excellent. Overall she seemed extremely knowledgeable about the area and added a little theatrical approach to her story telling. It's a short walk to the prison but once inside it's a throw back to 100+ years in the past. Spooky and fun. Not overly scary for my 10 and 7 yo. If I'm ever back in the area I'll definitely be checking out one of their other tours. My kids loved it.

Relaxing boat cruise & tour, beautiful view of the Rideau canal, locks & some history of Ottawa…read morefrom a wonderful guide! Overall great experience!

Thankfully it was rain or shine as we booked an early morning cruise along the Rideau Canal as the…read moreprevious day was booked solid. My suggestion is to purchase the tickets in advance on line and not necessarily from the kiosk at across from Chateau Frontenac. We we on the first departure of the day, the boat had rain windows which were pulled up as the rain tapered throughout the journey. The folks leading the tour were well versed and informative, with a smattering of humor throughout. You learn a fair amount about the canal, how water is drained in the winter to avoid damage to the canal and how it becomes one of the longest skating ring in the world. It's a marvel of Engineering and definately a highlight of our trip to Ottawa. A bit pricey at over $100 for three people, but we'll worth it! -Zuk

Read the fine print -- Utracks regularly resells tours to third party operators. In our case, the…read moreTour du Mont Blanc classic trek was turned over to a company called Cairn. It is in the fine print that they can do this. BUT: the actual pre-trip instructions obfuscate this. Many travelers arrive at the trailhead looking for Utracks only to find out they've been re-assigned to Cairn. And Cairn should be called "don't Care-n". Our Cairn guide barely acknowledged our arrival and when she did it was with a scowl and a scold. Our fellow travelers were given different arrival instructions. None of us knew we were with Cairn. Utracks and Cairn had failed to share other logistical info with the guide and it was the basis for much sourness on her part taken out on customers. The bonus is that a Cairn tour costs $100's less than Utracks. So if you want a cairn tour, book direct with them and save your hard earned money. This is a true shame. Utracks will insist that communication about this switch is clear. It is not. I read my pre-departure and trip arrival packets like a little kid studying a christmas catalog. They make the Cairn travel partner switcheroo info subtly imbedded in a "travel voucher" that may have been in a document portal, but never in the materials sent as the very detailed arrival and preparation instructions. And even those instructions were different for other members of our group. When a traveler has saved for years, gotten precious time off work, trained for a beautiful trek, it is just wrong to treat that traveler's time and money so cavalierly. After several rounds of thoughtfully given feedback with utracks, their position is that this is a perfectly legal and common practice in the industry and my expectations are the issue. They are likely to defensively and elegantly feign dismay at this review and insist that their guides are seasoned pros. On our trip the guide was clearly an established mountain pro but her lack of process, her absolute unpleasantness and disinterest went far beyond being "direct". Being in her group was like spending 7 days as a dog worrying about when I'd be verbally assaulted next. Our little band of travelers bonded over the needless persecution. And to think we could've endured that for $100's less by booking with Cairn!

Terrible experience on self-guided cycling trip Prague to Vienna. Bike not tuned up upon delivery…read moreand zero support from UTRacks to locate a bike shop in foreign country to have it tuned up. Accommodation very dirty and poorly located. Worst was they changed our itinerary with no explanation - shunting us off to a small out of the way town, booked into a Soviet-era hotel that is run down and filthy. We booked this trip 4 months in advance and there were plenty of suitable 3 star hotels with bike storage available but UTracks prefers to shunt the paying customers to the cheapest options. I am an experienced cyclists - self guided trips in 6 different countries. Avoid UTracks!

It's a beautiful and historic church in the heart of Ottawa. There's no admission fee, instead, you…read morecan make a donation to the church. Whether you're visiting or coming here to say prayers, it's definitely worth the trip. The painted glasses, the craftsmanship and all the details included in them is so impressive; I could spend hours in the church, admiring the artwork. The ceiling is the most impressive part about this beautiful cathedral; I loved it.

This cathedral is located in a residential area, which makes it easy for people to come and visit…read moreor attend mass. When we entered and saw the church it was a Wow moment. Omg it's beautiful, the Colour's used , glass painting looks amazing when the sun shines on it. It's a huge basilica, the architecture is amazing, it's a must see . The choir sits on top floor and sounds soooo good .

Very well kept bikes on the canal at a perfect location. Prices are very reasonable and the canal…read morepath was fun to bike though it is poorly maintained. Ottawa City needs to repair the canal path

It was a beautiful day for a bike ride! We rented a couple of e bikes, which really allow you to go…read morelong distance without getting too tired, and had a wonderful day on the canal. There were waterfalls, picnic sites and some cool bars overlooking Dow's lake. It was easy to rent online and they were very accommodating and really helped with directions. I might go again tomorrow!

Did one of their tours recently and had a blast! The guide was great, the trail was amazing, and I…read morethoroughly enjoyed myself! Some things to note to make it a 5-star experience: I would recommend walking through some basic safety rules at the start. Things to cover include how and where you should park yourself if you have to briefly stop on the trail, how to deal with someone who is stopped in front of you on the trail, or how to pass pedestrians safely, where should you do when you stop as a group if you have multiple people, etc. Given that Ottawa can be busy, a little overview of these rules/guidelines would go a very long way. I also felt that we ended up stopping a little more frequently than I would have liked on the latter half of the tour - mostly buildings I don't really even remember! Nevertheless, had a blast and would recommend it anyway!

Rented the Marin bikes. Well built solid bikes, happy with the quality. This is a busy bike shop…read morewith bike mechanics fixing bikes and sales people running around renting bikes. Not overly friendly to us as tourists, but..whatever. We got a bike route map and the guy explained where to go and off we went. Ottawa is a bike riders heaven with flat routes that go along the canal. We rode for 4 hours easy, but stopped for an hours' lunch by the canal. I'm not too in shape and it was an easy ride. 5 stars for quality bikes and cheap price.

We were on the Historical Highlights tour on a Saturday morning with Adrienne...and it was…read moreAWESOME!!! She knew so much about the history of Ottawa and made the tour fun and engaging. History isn't always the most interesting, but Adrienne made sure to mention all the fun and interesting facts that sometimes get glossed over. At the end of our tour she also stuck around to calla cab for one group member and to make restaurant suggestions for the rest. I would definitely recommend this to anyone in the Ottawa area.

I took one of these walking tours in the summer of 2012. It was very enjoyable and informative…read more The distance was not challenging and we kept a good pace. Our tour guide was pleasant and fun. A lot of history and interesting political tidbits tucked in.