Hotels near National Gallery of Canada

Moshe Safdie's glass-and-granite building above the Ottawa River holds the national collection, and its Canadian and Indigenous galleries are the reason to come rather than the European rooms. Louise Bourgeois's giant bronze spider Maman stands outside, free to photograph. Hours to 13 September 2026 are daily 09:30 to 17:00 with Thursdays to 20:00; from 14 September it closes on Mondays, and it shuts entirely on 25 December and for annual maintenance from 18 to 22 January 2027.

Admission is 22 dollars for adults, about 13.65 EUR, 20 for over-65s, 15 for ages 18 to 30, 12 for ages 12 to 17 and free for children 11 and under, with 3 dollars off when you buy online. Indigenous Peoples enter free year round. The move worth planning around is free admission every Thursday from 17:00 to 20:00, which also comes with free tours and art activities. Special exhibitions can carry a surcharge, and parking is paid and underground.

Pro Tip: Build one Thursday evening around the free window and you can walk from here to the Museum of Nature or across the Alexandra Bridge to the Museum of History, all free after 17:00 on the same night. Three hours, four galleries, nothing spent.