Although the main building is currently being renovated you can still tour the House of Commons and the Senate. Tours are free, each building has a separate tour. You can book your tour time online, which I highly recommend, as they were turning away people without advance tickets when we arrived for our early afternoon tour because all of the tickets for the day had been booked. Tours start from the visitors center and you will have to go through a security screening in which all loose and metal objects must be put through a scanner and you must walk through a metal detector - similar to airport security. Allow time for the security lineup or you might miss your tour. Bag size is strictly limited - check dimensions online before coming for your tour.
Once inside you proceed to the waiting area until your tour is called, where there is plenty of comfortable seating, restrooms and a gift shop. You will come back through the same room following your tour, so wait until you return to shop.
We had a lovely tour guide, Mireille, who was fluent in both English and French and had a thorough knowledge of the architecture, history and trivia related to Parliament - there was a quiz (just for fun).
There is no parking at Parliament, so you will need to park at a public garage or take transit (there was a bus stop directly opposite).
The tour for each building lasts about 45 minutes and you will be standing and walking the entire time. There are accommodations and options to borrow a wheelchair to use if you don’t think you can stand for so long.
A very interesting and educational tour - highly recommend!
Such a beautiful and historic building with a really big importance for Canada. We went there right after July 1, the Canada day, and they had a light/visual show, explaining the story of how Canada was built, different phases, historic fights, changes in this building itself with very detailed story. You should have at least 35-40 minutes if you ever get the chance to attend this show. During day time, entire hill with parliament buildings just look fabulous.
Steven Jusino-Sullivan
+5
Parliament hill is a great family tourist area. It’s a nice area to take pictures with the family and it has a lovely view of the water and the big magnificent buildings. YOU CAN NOT GO INSIDE as they are doing construction around the parliament building but there’s many other things to see and check out. Highly recommend going and check it out.
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