Are you new to Ottawa and you’re finding difficult to enjoy the outdoors during winter? Do you dread the idea of going out when the temperatures drop to -20 and below?
If you think winter is not for you, and you prefer to stay cozy and warm at home, sooner or later you’re going to find that boring. Well, you have another alternative. Why don’t you go shopping? Or at least go to visit the most popular and visited malls and commercial areas in Ottawa.
Fortunately, during the last period of restrictions due to the Omicron variant, the malls stayed open. The bad thing was that people weren’t allowed to sit or dine anywhere until last week, when the food courts opened again. Hooray!!
In this post I’m going to outline which are the largest, most modern and most visited shopping centres in Ottawa. Take note.
1. Rideau Centre
This is the number one and largest mall, conveniently located in the downtown core. It has many entrances which connect with some well known spots in the city, like the Byward Market, the University of Ottawa, the Westin hotel, and government buildings.
It’s a three-level shopping mall that has its own train station, giving easy access.
There are a wide variety of stores, some of them exclusive to this mall, like Tiffany & Co. In total there are 180 stores and services.
The food court is spacious and has a diversity of restaurants. The parking lot has a capacity of 1,590 spaces.
Update: As of the end of January, Rideau Centre is closed due to protests that have kept the downtown core in a state of unrest.
Address: 50 Rideau St, Ottawa, ON K1N 9J7
2. Bayshore Shopping Centre
This mall is one the largest and most popular in Ottawa. It’s located in the west in the Nepean neighborhood.
Remodeled in 2016, it has over 170 stores over three levels such as Hudson’s Bay, Zara, Sephora. Steve Madden, Birks, H&M, Old Navy, Winners, Homesense, Walmart, among others.
It receives 8 million visitors each year, and has capacity for 4,000 complimentary parking spaces.
It’s easily accessible from the 417 and 416 highways, and by public transit.
Address: 100 Bayshore Dr, Ottawa, ON K2B 8C1
3. Saint Laurent Shopping Centre
It’s a popular two storey shopping mall located in the East on St Laurent Boulevard.
It has almost 170 stores and services such as Brown’s, Pandora, Aldo, Garage, Roots, SportChek, Children’s Place, and others, and is anchored by Hudson’s Bay and Toys R Us. In terms of leasable retail space is the city’s largest mall with 971,000 square feet.
It offers over 4,100 free parking spaces in above-ground lots and garages.
It has its own LRT station and it’s easy accesible by the 417 highway.
Address: 1200 St. Laurent Blvd, Ottawa, ON K1K 3B8
4. Place d’Orleans Shopping Centre
This mall is located in the extreme East in the Orleans neighborhood, but it’s easily accesible by car by the 174 highway, and by train/bus because the bus station is right there next to the entrance.
It has almost 130 stores and services with Hudson’s Bay as its anchor. Other stores are H&M, AUB44, Ardene, Mark’s, Eddie Bauer, SportChek, Children’s Place, Pandora, etc.
The food court was recently renovated and expanded.
It has over 3,800 complimentary parking spaces.
Address: 110 Place d’Orléans Dr, Orléans, ON K1C 2L9
5. Ottawa Train yards
This commercial area is located near Saint Laurent Boulevard. It consists in over 70 big stores. The stores usually offer clearances and bargains.
Some of the brands present there are Sketchers, Gap, Old Navy, Marshall’s, SAIL, Banana Republic, Buy buy baby, David’s Bridal, Carter’s Oshkosh, Reitmans, Ricki’s, etc.
Address: 165 Trainyards Dr, Ottawa, ON K1G 6M8
6. Tanger Outlets
This shopping area is located in the extreme west in Kanata. But even if it’s far away it is worth a visit. There are 76 brand name stores like Coach, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Fossil, Guess Factory, Sasks Fifth Avenue, Nike, Adidas, Columbia, Under Armour, etc.
The best thing is that you can find good deals on name brand clothing and footwear.
In the weeks prior the beginning of the school year, this place is packed, but there’s no problem because the parking area is spacious.
Address: 8555 Campeau Dr, Ottawa, ON K2T 0K5
So, what are you waiting for? A shopping day can be therapy for some people, right? Haha! Take care.
You may also like
Follow me on Instagram: @ottawaisnotboring
