Ottawa

Ottawa needs 2 days: the National Gallery of Canada, with the giant spider sculpture Maman at the entrance and the country's largest Inuit art collection, on one, and Parliament Hill, seat of the federal government on the Ottawa River, with the summer changing of the guard, on the other. May-September is best, avoiding the extreme Canadian winter. It's mid-priced for Canada. As the federal capital, chosen in 1857 by Queen Victoria herself for its strategic location between then-rivals Toronto and Montreal, it combines institutional solemnity with the Rideau Canal -a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the world's longest ice skating rink every winter- that runs through the city end to end.