10 road trip ideas from the author of 'Ottawa Road Trips: Your Weekend Getaway Guide'

Even with gas prices at an all-time high, Laura Byrne Paquet will make you want to pack up the car, fill the tank, and head off for a “close to home” adventure.

Byrne Paquet doesn’t call herself a travel writer. She says instead, she is a writer who travels.

And some of her favourite trips are close to her Ottawa home.

“I’m an unabashed fan of this region. I love meeting the people, trying the foods, learning the history, exploring the trails—everything, really,” says Byrne Paquet.

“It helps me feel rooted in this place. I like knowing where my food comes from, who was here before me, why our buildings look the way they do, where the rivers flow. And I don’t think I’m the only one.”

Fortunately, the award-winning writer and ardent explorer shares her findings in Ottawa Road Trips: Your Weekend Getaway Guide.

It’s her third published nod to everything fabulous about our region and it’s a gift to those who aren’t enthusiastic jetsetters, an adventure guide for those who like to stay closer to home.

This book is on the heels of the successful Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100 km Getaway Guide published last year.

“That came about because Ron Corbett—who I’d worked with a million years ago in my first job out of school, as a reporter at Ottawa Business News—called and suggested the idea. We pulled that first book together incredibly quickly, as we realized things were about to open up a bit that summer.”

Corbett is a co-founder of Ottawa Press and Publishing and features many authors, who like him, are dedicated to the stories of this region.

"Laura is one of the most talented and diligent journalists working in Ottawa, and travelling is her great passion,” says Corbett.

“Her Ottawa Road Trips books, and blog, are becoming the definitive day-tripping and road-tripping guides to the Ottawa area. Her research is exhaustive. No other guidebook comes close to replicating what Laura has done." 

Corbett emphasizes that even if you consider yourself a local, these books will ensure you are more “in-the-know”.

"These books are filled with places you've probably never seen, and people you've never met. It's just a wonderful local book."  

“I’d love it if these books encouraged people to get out and connect—especially after the last two years, when it has been so hard to do so,” says Byrne Paquet.

“The small communities that depend on visitors are really eager to welcome people back. And I think many people don’t realize the huge variety of experiences available right in our backyard.

“You can sit in an aircraft simulator, leap from Canada’s highest bungee jump, raft some of Canada’s best whitewater, go to a concert in a cave, have dinner under Canada’s highest lift lock, zip line above a waterfall, learn to blow glass or bake a soufflé or any of a million other things that might float your boat—all without getting on a plane.”

The official publication date for: “Ottawa Road Trips: Your Weekend Getaway Guide” is May 1^. You can pre-order the book, but if you want to get a jumpstart on the road trips these are some of Byrne Paquet’s top picks from the book.

1. Alexandria - Priest's Mill

"Alexandria has some pretty shops and restaurants. Priest’s Mill Arts Centre is a combined studio and exhibition space for local artists. You can see people doing glass blowing and sign up for lessons in that and other types of art. In the same old mill building, the North Glengarry restaurant has a deck overlooking a waterfall. And across the street, Buvette du Marché is a great gastropub."

Calabogie's Eagle's Nest is one of Laura Byrne Paquet's top 10 road trip suggestions from Ottawa. (Photo: Ottawa Valley Tourist Association)

2. Calabogie - Eagle’s Nest

"You can reach this gorgeous lookout via a short hike from Calabogie, but I have a few caveats. First, the trail will still be muddy for a few weeks. Give the forest time to heal from the winter before putting pressure on the trail. Second, this hike is quite easy and it has great rewards, so it became VERY popular during the pandemic. It was almost loved to death and created a lot of traffic hassles for local residents. So, if you go, try to go on a weekday or first thing in the morning. Nearby, you can have an amazing dinner overlooking Calabogie Lake at On the Rocks. And the Somewhere Inn is a former motel that has been transformed into a great little hipster boutique hotel."

3. Deep River - Canadian Clock Museum

"I am fascinated by labours of love—those big projects that individuals take on, often without much time or resources, simply because they love something and want to share it with others. That’s why I really enjoyed the Canadian Clock Museum in Deep River. It is the “retirement” project of founder and curator Allan Symons, who started it two decades ago and is still buying new items. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the hundreds of clocks in the collection. He’ll also wind up old gramophones for you, or hold up a geiger counter to an old clock painted with radium paint to show you how the needle twitches."

4. Foresters Falls - Whitewater rafting

"Again, this is something people can’t do immediately, but now is the time to start thinking about it and make a booking. Everything related to local travel was snapped up quickly last year, and I predict that this summer will be even busier. The whitewater rapids about an hour west of Ottawa are some of the best in Canada, and there are multiple companies around Foresters Falls and Beachburg (on the Ontario side) and in the Pontiac (on the Quebec side) that will take you out whitewater rafting. At most of them, you can stay overnight, too."

5. Ithaca, N.Y.

"Now that it’s easier to travel to the United States again, I have a recommendation. Ithaca, New York is a bit of a hike from Ottawa—a little over four hours—so why do I recommend it? The city’s slogan is “Ithaca Is Gorges,” and they’re not wrong. Within the city limits, you’ll find dozens of waterfalls, including this one (in photo) in Buttermilk Falls State Park. You can hike along paths along both sides of the falls, and have a very scenic picnic at the bottom. Ithaca is also home to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, one of the world’s leading bird research centres. You can visit it to learn about birds and go birdwatching."

6. Kingston

"What can I say about Kingston? It has just about everything you could want in a great weekend getaway destination. It’s only two hours from Ottawa. It has hotels for every taste, from big chains to quaint B&Bs. It has great restaurants—try Tango Nuevo for some of the best tapas you’ll ever eat. It’s packed with history, from the Martello towers and Fort Henry to the Maritime Museum of the Great Lakes. You can hike the K&P Trail, take a ferry to Wolfe Island, enjoy some craft beers at the Kingston Brewing Company, and shop until you practically drop. (Don’t miss Cooke’s Fine Foods and Coffee, which has been selling food to Kingstonians since 1865."

7. Laval, Que.

"This huge suburb immediately north of Montreal is the perfect bad-weather destination, because there is so much to do inside! You can try your luck “landing” a plane at one of 24,000 airports around the world in the flight simulator at Aerosim Experience, go “skydiving” in an indoor skydiving chamber at iFly, check out one of the many escape rooms, climb the walls at Clip ’n Climb, learn about space at the Cosmodome or catch an indoor wave at Maeva Surf."

8. Peterborough

"The Canadian Canoe Museum is a fascinating spot for anyone who loves to paddle. You’ll find Indigenous birchbark canoes, high-tech kayaks, a canoe that a Canadian adventurer paddled to South America, Bill Mason’s canoe, and even Pierre Trudeau’s canoe (complete with the fringed jacket he famously wore while paddling it). You’ll learn all about the history and construction of canoes. There are some 600 watercraft in the collection, along with 500 paddles and all sorts of other items. In 2023, the museum is going to move into a gorgeous-looking new building on the shore of the Otonobee River."

9. Pontiac, Que.

Did you know there’s a winery in the Pontiac? In fact, there are several. This photo is of the Little Red Wagon Winery near Shawville, which also serves meals and hosts lots of live music events.

10. Rideau Lakes

"The Delta Old Stone Mill (pictured) in Delta is a national historic site. The Rideau Lakes area is best known as a summer cottaging destination, but there’s a lot to do in and around Rideau Lakes even at this time of year. Drop into the Jubilee Bakeshop in Delta for amazing sandwiches, shop for gifts at the Green Gecko in Lyndhurst and stay overnight at the Cove Inn in Westport. The Delta Maple Syrup Festival is coming back this year, on Easter weekend (April 16 and 17)."