Fun day trips and weekend getaways from Ottawa for every day of July 2019!

Are you in the midst of planning ahead for all your summer road trips? Whether you’d like to see acrobats on ice, learn about the history of plants, scuba dive among shipwrecks or paddle a voyageur canoe, read on for day trip and weekend getaway suggestions for every day of July 2019! (For additional ideas, please sign up for my free weekly e-newsletter, follow me on Facebook or see my events calendar.)

• July 1: Wave a flag and watch fireworks! Check out my comprehensive list of 30+ places you can celebrate Canada Day in Ottawa and beyond.
• July 2: Go for a hike at the Shaw Woods Outdoor Education Centre near Eganville.
• July 3: See Crystal—a Cirque du Soleil acrobatic show on ice—at the Leon’s Centre in Kingston (July 3 to 7).

Canada Day on Parliament Hill. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Tourism Commission/Destination Canada.

• July 4: Learn about prehistoric flying reptiles at the Canadian Museum of Nature’s big summer show, Pterosaur: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs (until September 2).
• July 5: Take the family to the Wonders of Sand festival in Gatineau to see sand sculptures, play in floating bouncy castles and more (July 5 to 7).
• July 6: Browse for artworks on the Glebe Art in Our Gardens and Studio Tour (July 6 and 7), or head to Chaffey’s Lock for the Opinicon Lake Music Festival.
• July 7: Stroll through fields of fragrant flowers at the Prince Edward County Lavender Festival in Hillier (July 6 and 7, and July 13 and 14), or check out the Jessup’s Falls Festival near Plantagenet.
• July 8: Learn about the history and evolution of growing things on a new self-guided trail, The Plant Odyssey, at the Montreal Botanical Garden (running until October 31).
• July 9: Take a gospel-singing workshop or groove along to a Woodstock tribute at the Tremblant International Blues Festival (July 5 to 14).
• July 10: Looking for fun for the little ones? There’s a Teddy Bear Picnic at Gananoque Town Park from 10am to 1pm, featuring children’s entertainer Magoo.

• July 11: Dig into jerk chicken and so much more, and learn a few dance steps, at A Taste of the Caribbean, a four-day food and culture festival at Montreal’s Old Port (July 11 to 14).
• July 12: Tour the world without leaving Ontario at the Belleville Waterfront and Multicultural Festival (July 11 to 14).
• July 13: Check out the Rideau Lakes Artists’ Association’s Paint the Summer art show at Algonquin College in Perth (July 13 and 14).
• July 14: Enjoy beer-brined pork loin, cheesy corn bread and other classic summer treats at the Big Backyard BBQ at Saunders Farm in Munster.
• July 15: Learn about the past, present and future of Indigenous architecture in North America at Unceded: Voices of the Land at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau (until March 22, 2020).
• July 16: Scuba-dive among shipwrecks near Brockville, Kingston or Picton with the Dive Brockville Adventure Centre.

Everybody gets into the sandcastle action at SandFest at Sandbanks Provincial Park. Photo by John A. Brebner/Friends of Sandbanks.

• July 17: If you’re going to Sandbanks Provincial Park, pack your sand pails and shovels and head to Outlet Beach for SandFest, a morning sand-sculpting event (rain date is July 18). UPDATE: SandFest has been cancelled entirely due to the forecast of heavy rain for Prince Edward County. Closer to home, you can check out the Meet Me on Main Street outdoor community dinner in Hallville (about halfway between Russell and Chesterville).
• July 18: Jump on your motorcycle and hit the road for a night of munchies, craft beer and live music at Winchester Bike Night, or sample apple libations at Ottawa’s Craft Cider Celebration at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.
• July 19: Catch Steve Earle in concert at the Kemptville Live music festival, which runs from July 18 to 21.
• July 20: Take a one-hour tour of Thousand Islands National Park near Gananoque in a huge reproduction voyageur canoe (offered on July 1 and July 20), or check out the Arnprior Dragon Boat Festival.
• July 21: Shop for artworks outdoors at the Fantasy in the Forest Art Show in South Frontenac (July 20 and 21), or try your luck at the Tay River Duck Race in Perth.
• July 22: Unwind with a day at Ofuro Station ZEN, an Asian-style thermal spa in Morin Heights in the Laurentians.

Boldt Castle.

• July 23: Grab your passport and take a tour of Boldt Castle on an island in the St. Lawrence River.
• July 24: Catch a performance of The Winter’s Tale at the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Prescott (July 12 to August 17).
• July 25: Bite into some juicy ribs and enjoy live music at the free, family-friendly Cornwall Ribfest (July 25 to 28).
• July 26: Admire vintage watercraft at the Skaneateles Antique and Classic Boat Show (July 26 to 28).
• July 27: Giggle at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal (July 10 to 28).
• July 28: Gather a team of four and try your luck on the Great Carleton Place Amazing Race, one of a large slate of events to celebrate CP’s 200th anniversary.
• July 29: Thrill to a whitewater rafting adventure with one of many rafting companies in the Ottawa Valley.

Family fun at Lac Philippe in Gatineau Park. Photo courtesy of the National Capital Commission.

• July 30: Cool off at one of the beaches in Gatineau Park.
• July 31: Take an architecture tour in the Adirondacks to discover buildings designed by architect William Prescott.

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