Best day trips from Perth: how to get there and what to see

Distances are road distances from downtown Perth. Times assume a car and normal traffic; add 20–30 minutes for Ottawa on a summer weekend or a holiday Monday.

Ottawa is the obvious day trip: a national capital with Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market, the National Gallery of Canada and the Canadian Museum of History across the river in Gatineau. Drive Highway 7 through Carleton Place for a slower, prettier run, or take Highway 417 if you want speed. Parking downtown is the main friction; the World Exchange Plaza and ByWard Market garages are the usual fallbacks, and street parking near the market fills by mid-morning in summer.

Plan the day around one or two anchors rather than trying to see everything. Parliament tours and the big museums need timed tickets in peak season, so book before you leave Perth. Change of the Guard on Parliament Hill runs in summer mornings; the Rideau Canal pathways are free and walkable year-round. If you stay into the evening, the ByWard Market is where dinner is easiest.

Driving back after dark on Highway 7 means watching for deer between Carleton Place and Perth. It is a real hazard from dusk, not a formality.

Smiths Falls is the closest proper day out and the easiest one without a car. The town sits on the Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage waterway, and the combined locks in the middle of town are the thing to see: boats raised and lowered by hand-operated mechanisms, with a lockstation you can walk around for free. The Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario occupies the old Canadian Northern station and is a good wet-weather backup.

The Rideau Ferry and Big Rideau Lake area, 25–35 minutes south, is the local swimming and picnic run: a conservation area, boat launches and waterfront. In summer, go early; the small parking lots fill by late morning on hot weekends.

Merrickville, about 45 minutes east, is the postcard version of the same canal story, with a lockstation, stone buildings and craft shops. It pairs well with Smiths Falls as a half-day each if you want a full loop.

Partly. Perth has no train station of its own, so the rail option means getting to Smiths Falls first, then taking VIA Rail to Ottawa. That works, but door-to-door it eats two and a half hours or more each way once you add the taxi and the wait, which turns a day trip into a long day. Check current VIA Rail schedules and fares before committing, because frequency on this corridor is limited.

Smiths Falls itself is reachable by local bus, which makes it the only straightforward car-free day trip from Perth. For everything else, a car, a lift from someone local, or a taxi is the practical answer. Rideshares are thin outside town.

Fuel is the main variable. At 2026 prices, a Perth–Ottawa round trip is roughly CAD 15–20 in fuel for a mid-size car, and parking downtown adds CAD 10–25 for a full day. Smiths Falls and the lake runs cost CAD 6–10 in fuel. Museum admission in Ottawa is the biggest single line item if you go inside; check current prices, as they change.

Pack food if you want to keep the day cheap. Perth has supermarkets on the way out of town, and both Smiths Falls and the Rideau lockstations have picnic tables.

Start early. The difference between a relaxed Ottawa day and a frustrating one is usually whether you left Perth before 8am.

Check the season. The Rideau Canal locks operate through the boating season, roughly late May to mid-October, and lockstations are quiet outside it. Winter driving here needs proper tyres and daylight planning.

Fill the tank in Perth. Gas is cheaper here than at highway service centres, and there are long stretches without a station on the back roads.

Keep an offline map. Cell coverage drops between towns on Highway 7 and around the lake.