Ottawa Senators Travel Guide for Fans

There is something about pulling off Highway 417 toward the arena on an Ottawa Senators night, the red and black banners hanging inside the rink, the cold winter air still hanging over the parking lots, and the buzz of a fanbase that has carried hockey in the nation's capital through every era of the modern game. After years of building Ottawa Senators travel for fans heading in from across Ontario, Quebec, and the northeastern United States, I can tell you the difference between a great Ottawa weekend and a stressful one comes down to a handful of decisions made before you leave home. This Ottawa Senators travel guide pulls together what my team has learned about Ottawa and the area around the venue so your trip runs the way it should. I walk you through where to stay near the bowl, how to reach the rink on a hockey night, where Senators fans eat near the building, and how to lock in the right Ottawa Senators tickets for your budget. If you would rather skip the planning altogether, our Ottawa Senators travel packages bundle hotels, tickets, and flights into one booking.

What makes an Ottawa Senators trip work is the way two worlds fit together in one weekend. Canadian Tire Centre has been the franchise's home since 1996, sitting out in the suburbs roughly twenty-five kilometres west of Parliament Hill, while downtown Ottawa, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, and the museums along Sussex Drive give you a national-capital trip wrapped around the hockey. The rink itself is anchored by Canadian Tire branding that has marked the building since the naming deal of 2013, a short drive from Kanata Centrum, the Marshes Golf Club, and the highway interchanges that feed back into the area. That blend of a suburban arena setup and a true capital city is why Ottawa Senators travel has become one of the most rewarding NHL trips on our books.

Throughout this Ottawa Senators travel guide you will find links to deeper resources my team maintains, covering hotels near the rink, transportation, Ottawa Senators tickets, behind-the-scenes tours, and where the team stays on the road. Think of this page as your starting point for Ottawa Senators travel and click through to whichever guide matches the part of your Ottawa trip you are sorting out. The planning principles hold whether you follow the Ottawa Senators from city to city or you are flying in for your first Kanata visit.

Why Every Fan Should Travel for an Ottawa Senators Game

Watching the Ottawa Senators on television is one thing, but standing inside Canadian Tire Centre while they pour over the boards is another entirely. Hockey moves at a speed broadcasts flatten, and in person you finally see the whole sheet at once, the way a defenseman steps up at the blue line and the constant motion cameras never catch. You hear the puck rattle off the end glass and feel the crowd inhale before a power play, and that sensory rush is why so many people build an entire weekend around the hockey.

The Senators crowd is the other half of what makes Ottawa Senators travel worth the trip. The bowl holds just over 18,500 for hockey, and on a big night the crowd generates a wall of noise that rises and falls with every shift. You become part of an Ottawa crowd that has carried this franchise through every era of the modern game, and the room has been at its loudest for divisional matchups against Toronto, Montreal, and Boston, with playoff atmospheres that rattle your chest from puck drop. Once you have felt the building erupt over an overtime winner, the appeal of traveling for Senators hockey stops being a question and becomes a habit.

Beyond the action, Ottawa Senators travel gives you an excuse to dig into Canada's capital. The rink sits in the suburbs, but you are a short drive from Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, and the museums along Sussex Drive, so you can split your weekend between a suburban gameday setup and a true capital city itinerary. You can build a complete Senators weekend that pairs the hockey with morning coffee in the Market, an afternoon skating the canal in winter, and an evening on Elgin Street, none of which require deep planning once your trip is anchored to the team's schedule.

Best Hotels Near Canadian Tire Centre for Ottawa Senators Games

Where you stay shapes Ottawa Senators travel more than almost any other choice. The simplest rule I give every traveler heading to the capital is to pick a pole and commit, because the area around the venue is more suburban than the downtown setups in Montreal or Toronto. Hotels cluster in two zones: walking or short-drive distance from the rink in Kanata, and the downtown Ottawa hotel core fifteen to twenty minutes east toward Parliament Hill. Each carries its own trade-off between price, proximity to the bowl, and access to the rest of the capital.

Budget should steer the search rather than shrink the fun, and the area offers strong hotels across every price tier within reach of the venue. Travelers watching their spending can find well-located hotels near the venue, often a short ride from the rink, at properties like Holiday Inn Ottawa Kanata, Fairfield Inn by Marriott Kanata, and Comfort Inn Ottawa West-Kanata. People ready to treat themselves often pick the Brookstreet Hotel beside the Marshes Golf Club, a four-and-a-half-star resort that has anchored the upmarket end of Kanata since the early 2000s. For travelers who want capital city character, the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market, and Le Germain Hotel sit downtown, fifteen minutes from the rink and steps from Parliament Hill. Booking your hotel as part of Ottawa Senators packages alongside your Ottawa Senators tickets is the move that keeps the trip simple and well priced.

The area around the bowl is built more for cars than for foot traffic, with Kanata Centrum, the rink, and the major suburban hotels separated by short drives rather than blocks. Each hotel carries its own trade-off between price, proximity, and amenities, which is why I lay them out side by side in the dedicated guide. For the full breakdown near the rink, explore the complete guide below, and see how the right hotels feed into Ottawa Senators packages.

Best Hotels Near Canadian Tire Centre for Ottawa Senators Games

How to Get to Canadian Tire Centre

Reaching the venue cleanly is one of the most underrated parts of an Ottawa Senators trip, and it is where I see first-time visitors lose the most time. Unlike a downtown rink with rail lines into the gates, the area was built for the car, with the building sitting just off Highway 417 at the Palladium Drive exit. From most local hotels you can drive to the bowl in fifteen minutes or less, and Canadian Tire Centre carries roughly 6,500 on-site parking spaces across multiple lots. Reserving a parking pass in advance and mapping your exit before the crowd hits the 417 is the smart move on a Senators night.

If you are coming from downtown Ottawa, the Queensway, which is the local name for Highway 417, runs straight from the core out to Kanata, and most rides take twenty-five to thirty-five minutes depending on game-night traffic. For fans without a car, OC Transpo runs the Route 404 bus on Senators game days, with direct service from Tunney's Pasture Station and Hurdman Station out to the venue, which is one of the cleanest options for travelers who base downtown. The rideshare network also covers the city, though surge pricing kicks in around puck drop and gets steeper after the final horn.

A few details about the building are worth knowing before you go. The address at 1000 Palladium Drive puts the rink minutes from Kanata Centrum, the Marshes Golf Club, and the 417 interchanges that connect back into the city. Out-of-town fans flying in land at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, roughly twenty-five minutes from the rink by car or about forty minutes by transit through downtown. The full directions live in the guide below, plus how transportation pairs with Ottawa Senators packages.

How to Get to Canadian Tire Centre for Ottawa Senators Games

Top Restaurants Near Canadian Tire Centre

Few parts of an Ottawa Senators weekend are more enjoyable than eating your way through the Kanata Centrum corridor before puck drop, and the dining near the building has become a genuine reason to arrive early. I always tell people to treat the meal as part of the evening rather than an afterthought, because the right pre-game table sets the tone for everything that follows. The blocks around the rink are dominated by the Kanata Centrum complex and the strip along Hazeldean Road, where you find everything from quick counter bites to sit-down rooms ready to handle a full Senators crowd.

For Senators fans who want to stay close to the rink, a cluster of spots sits inside Kanata Centrum and the adjacent plazas. Lone Star Texas Grill is the unofficial pre-game home of Senators supporters, packed with team flags, screens, and a Tex-Mex menu built for the hours before puck drop. The Keg Steakhouse handles fans who want a proper steakhouse evening before the game, while Jack Astor's covers the big group with pub fare and a long beer list. Local Public Eatery and Joey Kanata round out the Kanata corridor with patio-friendly menus that pull a strong Senators crowd on game nights.

If you would rather slow the evening down, downtown Ottawa rewards the drive east. Riviera in the heart of Sparks Street turns out one of the most ambitious dinners in the capital, while Play Food and Wine in the ByWard Market pairs small plates with one of the best wine lists in town. For something more casual, the brewpubs of the Market and the patios along Elgin Street are a Senators fan tradition. The streets and plazas around the rink cover everything in between.

Where the Ottawa Senators Stay on the Road

A question I hear more often than you might expect is where the team itself stays when they travel, and the answer offers a useful window into how the professional side of the sport operates. Like most NHL clubs, the Ottawa Senators gravitate toward upper-tier hotels close to the opposing rink, prioritizing properties that deliver privacy, security, and the quiet recovery space a roster needs between games. The logic mirrors the advice I give Senators fans, which is that proximity cuts down on friction and lets the team focus on hockey rather than the commute.

The patterns hold across the league and are worth understanding if you want to travel the way the pros do. Visiting clubs like Ottawa tend to book established luxury hotels in the heart of downtown, the same properties that combine top-tier service with an easy walk or short ride to the rink. When the Ottawa Senators visit Toronto, for example, they favor prestigious properties near the harbor that put them within reach of Scotiabank Arena, and a similar logic plays out in every market they enter. Those choices reflect years of accumulated knowledge about which hotels handle a traveling roster best.

My road hotels guide breaks down the kinds of hotels Ottawa and their opponents favor across the league, and it helps you find comparable hotels that fit your budget. You do not need a professional travel budget to stay somewhere excellent, since many of these properties offer rooms accessible to visitors who book ahead. Understanding how the Ottawa Senators approach their own travel gives you a smarter framework for planning yours.

Where the Ottawa Senators Stay on the Road

Best Seats and Ticket Options at Ottawa Senators Games

Choosing where to sit is one of the most personal decisions in an Ottawa Senators trip, and the right answer depends on what you want from the night. Down in the lower bowl at Canadian Tire Centre, the seats close to the glass put you near enough to feel the speed and hear the chatter, where every hit along the boards lands right in front of you. Seats along the blue line in the lower level give the cleanest sightline of plays developing end to end, which is why they are among the most coveted Ottawa Senators tickets and the first to go for marquee dates.

For Senators fans chasing a true premium night, the club and 200-level Ottawa Senators tickets offer a different kind of value. These mid-tier tickets pair excellent sightlines with access to upgraded lounges, shorter concession lines, and a more comfortable concourse, which makes them a favorite for travelers who want a polished evening without the price of glass seats. Groups marking a milestone often find these levels strike the right balance.

Budget-minded Senators fans should not overlook the 300 level at Canadian Tire Centre, because views from the upper bowl at Canadian Tire Centre are genuinely strong. Hockey is one of the few games where elevation helps, since a higher vantage point lets you read the flow end to end. Many savvy travelers I know deliberately choose upper-level seats both for the value and for the panoramic view. The right Ottawa Senators tickets ultimately come down to an honest read, and the best Ottawa Senators tickets fit into packages built around your dates.

Best Seats and Ticket Options at Ottawa Senators Games

Ottawa Senators Tours at Canadian Tire Centre

One of the most rewarding ways to deepen Ottawa Senators travel is to add a tour of the rink, especially given how much franchise history sits inside the bowl. The team runs guided behind-the-scenes experiences that take you well past anything a ticket allows, walking you through the spaces where the team actually works. Standing in a locker room, looking out from a press box, or stepping toward ice level gives you a perspective on the Senators you simply cannot get from your seat.

What you actually see depends on the day, but the highlights cluster around a few areas every Senators fan wants to experience. Access to the team spaces is usually the centerpiece, offering an insider's look at where players prepare. Walking near ice level lets you appreciate the true scale of the sheet and the steepness of the lower bowl, a perspective that reshapes how you watch the Ottawa Senators later. Many tours also fold in the premium spaces and the displays that honor the franchise's playoff runs and the long Eastern Conference history.

Pairing a tour with the rest of your weekend is easy, since they run on non-game days and slot neatly into an Ottawa itinerary. I often suggest travelers arrive a day early, take the tour while the venue is quiet, and return for the game with a deeper appreciation. Kanata Centrum sits right outside the doors, with downtown twenty-five minutes east, and the tour can fold into Ottawa Senators packages.

Ottawa Senators Tours at Canadian Tire Centre

Game Day Checklist for Ottawa Senators Fans

After building so much Ottawa Senators travel, I have learned the gap between a smooth gameday and a stressful one comes down to a handful of details handled in advance. The single most important item is your Ottawa Senators tickets, loaded onto your phone and confirmed before you leave the hotel, so the tickets are ready, since wrestling with a login at a crowded gate is the last thing you want as puck drop nears. If you are driving in, your parking reservation belongs right alongside those Ottawa Senators tickets, sorted ahead of time.

Dressing for an Ottawa winter is the next layer, and it matters more here than first-time visitors expect. Game nights in the area can run brutally cold, so a proper coat and layers you can shed inside the bowl keep you comfortable through all three periods, and the walk from the parking lot back to your car after the game can be the coldest part of the night in January. Wearing Senators colors is part of the fun too, so a Senators jersey, hat, or scarf earns you a place in the Canadian Tire Centre crowd.

Carry your Ottawa Senators tickets, a portable charger, a valid ID, and a card for cashless spots. Arriving early gives you time to walk the concourse, find your section, and soak in the pre-game atmosphere without rushing. Having your hotel, Ottawa Senators tickets, and transportation locked in before you arrive removes the variables that derail so many Ottawa weekends, and bundling those pieces through Elite Sports Tours is the simplest way to handle it.

Plan Your Ottawa Senators Trip With Elite Sports Tours

After years of sending hockey fans into the capital, I built Elite Sports Tours to take the guesswork out of the parts of an Ottawa Senators trip that have nothing to do with the hockey itself. The hardest part has never been wanting to go; it has been coordinating Ottawa Senators tickets, hotels, and flights into a single plan that holds together. Rather than piecing together separate reservations and hoping they line up, you can build complete Ottawa Senators packages in one place, with your hotel and your seats locked together near the rink. Bundling those pieces into Ottawa Senators packages does more than save time on the trip, since these packages also unlock pricing and combinations you will not find booking each element on its own.

What sets our Ottawa Senators packages apart is the way every piece of these packages reinforces the others. When your hotel sits near the rink and your Ottawa Senators tickets are confirmed in the same booking, the whole weekend flows. My team can fold flights and downtown hotels into your plans to round out the Ottawa Senators packages, turning a scattered set of bookings into one coordinated trip. For high-demand games and any playoff run, locking in Ottawa Senators packages early protects your inventory as the biggest dates sell through.

Explore the Ottawa Senators Travel Packages available through Elite Sports Tours, and pair them with the guides linked throughout this page to build an Ottawa weekend tailored to your budget. Our packages are designed for fans who want one source of truth, and these packages keep the weekend coordinated from booking to gate. We handle the coordination on our packages, you handle the cheering, and the hockey takes care of itself. Our packages reward fans who plan ahead.

FAQs About Ottawa Senators Travel for Fans

How much are Ottawa Senators tickets?

Ottawa Senators tickets swing widely depending on the opponent, the day of the week, and where you sit, so understanding the tiers of tickets up front matters. Upper-level Ottawa Senators tickets for a midweek matchup against a non-rival are the most affordable Ottawa Senators tickets at Canadian Tire Centre, while lower-bowl and glass seats against an Atlantic Division rival sit at the top of the range. Premium club Ottawa Senators tickets land in between. Because pricing shifts with demand, the most reliable way to lock in value is to bundle your seats with a hotel through Ottawa Senators packages rather than chasing the market on its own.

What is the best section to sit in at Canadian Tire Centre for a Senators game?

The best section at Canadian Tire Centre depends on what you want from the night. The lower-bowl sections along the sides give the closest view of the speed and physicality, while seats near the blue line deliver the cleanest sightline end to end. Fans who value comfort often prefer the club seats at Canadian Tire Centre, which balance a strong view with upgraded amenities. Budget-minded visitors are frequently surprised by how good the 300-level views are at Canadian Tire Centre, since elevation actually helps you read the flow of hockey.

How do I get from downtown Ottawa to Canadian Tire Centre?

Getting to Canadian Tire Centre from downtown Ottawa is straightforward, because Highway 417, locally called the Queensway, runs directly from the core out to the Palladium Drive exit in Kanata. From most downtown hotels you can drive the corridor in twenty-five to thirty-five minutes, depending on game-night traffic, and Canadian Tire Centre sits right off the 417 with 6,500 parking spaces around it. For travelers without a car, OC Transpo runs the Route 404 bus on game days, with direct service from Tunney's Pasture and Hurdman stations into the rink.

Where should I stay for an Ottawa Senators game?

The smartest place to stay depends on your trip style. Fans who want to maximize game-day convenience pick a hotel in Kanata, like Brookstreet, Holiday Inn Ottawa Kanata, or Fairfield Inn by Marriott Kanata, all within a short ride of the rink. Travelers who want to combine Ottawa Senators hockey with a capital city itinerary should base downtown at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, Andaz ByWard Market, or Le Germain, then drive the corridor west on game days. The choice usually comes down to whether you want the suburb or the city as your home base.

How early should I arrive at Canadian Tire Centre before a Senators game?

I generally recommend arriving sixty to ninety minutes before puck drop, which gives you time to clear security at Canadian Tire Centre, find your section, grab something to eat, and settle in. Senators warmups begin around half an hour before the game and are worth catching, since you get an up-close look at the team before the building fills. Arriving early lets you beat the worst of the 417 traffic at Canadian Tire Centre. If you are planning a pre-game meal at Kanata Centrum, build in extra time, because tables fill quickly on Senators nights.

How early should I book an Ottawa Senators travel package?

The earlier you plan, the better your options, especially for the marquee Ottawa dates that draw visitors from across Ontario, Quebec, and the northeastern United States. For high-demand games, heated Atlantic Division rivalries, and any playoff run, I recommend locking in your Ottawa Senators travel package three to six months ahead, because the best seats and the strongest hotels near Canadian Tire Centre disappear first. Through Elite Sports Tours, planning ahead opens up Ottawa Senators packages pricing that grows harder to secure as the date approaches, so treating Ottawa Senators packages as the first step is always the smart move.

Can I add other Ottawa attractions to my Senators trip?

Absolutely, and folding extra experiences into a Senators weekend is one of my favorite ways to help travelers get more from an Ottawa trip. Few cities reward exploration the way Canada's capital does, with Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, the National Gallery, the War Museum, and a short drive to Gatineau Park all within easy reach of Canadian Tire Centre. A Senators night pairs naturally with a morning on Parliament Hill, an afternoon at a museum, or a winter day skating the canal. Through Elite Sports Tours, my team can arrange these additions.

Why should I book my Ottawa Senators trip with Elite Sports Tours?

Elite Sports Tours exists to make Ottawa Senators travel simple and coordinated. Booking with us gives you access to Ottawa Senators packages that combine Ottawa Senators tickets, hotels near Canadian Tire Centre, and optional flights into a single plan, along with the value that comes from building those packages around your dates. My team brings hands-on knowledge of Ottawa and our Ottawa Senators packages, so we point you toward the right seats, the best-located hotels, and the local details that make a trip work. We handle the coordination so you can focus on the team and the capital.

Explore More Ottawa Senators Travel Guides

Planning a trip to see the Ottawa Senators involves more than just buying a seat. Hotel location, venue access, seating strategy, and transportation timing can all shape your Ottawa weekend. These guides break down each part of the planning process so you can compare seats, hotels, and Ottawa Senators travel options more efficiently.

• Best Hotels Near Canadian Tire Centre for Ottawa Senators Games: Compare where to stay based on price, location, and convenience for a Senators trip.
• How to Get to Canadian Tire Centre for Ottawa Senators Games: Learn the most efficient transportation options, including driving routes, parking, and transit tips.
• Where the Ottawa Senators Stay on the Road: See where the Senators stay in each NHL city and how those locations can guide your own planning.
• Best Seats and Ticket Options at Ottawa Senators Games: Break down the seating tiers to find the right balance between view, price, and experience.
• Ottawa Senators Tours at Canadian Tire Centre: Take a closer look at behind-the-scenes access and the attractions around Kanata.
• Ottawa Senators Travel Packages: Explore complete Ottawa Senators Travel Packages that include tickets, hotels, and optional flights.

Editorial Note

This guide was written by the Elite Sports Tours team because Ottawa is one of the most frequently booked NHL trips in our season, particularly among fans crossing from Toronto, Montreal, and the northeastern United States to catch an Atlantic Division night in the nation's capital. The combination of a compact, well-run rink, a real capital city wrapped around the visit, and a fanbase that travels in numbers makes Ottawa one of the most rewarding NHL travel weekends to plan. Everything in this guide reflects what Elite Sports Tours is actively booking for Ottawa Senators fans on Travel Packages.

Travel Disclaimer

Ottawa Senators home schedules, venue policies, transit routes, hotel availability, and ticket pricing all change throughout the season. Always confirm specific Ottawa gameday details with the team organization, the hotel, and the transport provider directly before traveling. Elite Sports Tours updates Travel Packages and Ottawa Senators tickets as the schedule and venue policies change.

Updated June 2026