National Gallery of Canada Review

Love their commitment to showcasing Indigenous art. Gorgeous building with a lot of pieces, some of which you can stand on or otherwise touch and interact with. The gigantic Maman piece outside its main entrance really sets the tone for what's inside. Good balance of modern and classical, meaning much heavier on the latter. I'd allocate at least two hours, even if you're not one to stop and read placards. I can't comment on the value of a ticket since I've only gone as a student for free on Thursday nights. This is my favourite museum in Ottawa nonetheless.

Must-go if in Ottawa. If you can manage, take the crazy stairs to the top. One of the best gift shops in any museum. Great for unique Christmas presents too.

Took advantage of the free entrance every Thursday from 4 to 8pm. This is a large and comprehensive art museum housed in a modern building with striking architecture.

Enjoyed Chris Cran's bright and playful collection and First Nations art. Works by Monet and Picasso also figure prominently.

The grand entrance provides sweeping views of Parliament Hill and the gift shop is well-stocked with art books and souvenirs. I recommend alloting at least three hours for first time visitors.

Lots of beautiful art including the building itself.

My first gallery and I was not disappointed. Great collection of Canadian contemporary art. The European selection was great too!!

My wifs new favorite restaurant in canada....
We might have to drive back to ottawa before we head back to korea.

It's reasonable priced and well collection. Pleasant to enjoy a day inside.

Quite nice gallery. Beautiful building, interesting permanent collection of modern and autochthon art. Less so of European (just one van Gogh, e.g.). We also saw temporary collection of impressionists from Denmark. That also was pretty nice.

National quality museum. Lacks a bit of soul. Beautiful outdoor site. The welcoming sculpture is to be seen.

Amazing gallery. Thoughtful design and excellent space for artwork.

Awesome collection. Health and safety was observed to prevent spread of covid.

Omg I can just sit in front of the oil paintings for the whole day~~~~~ for EVERYDAY~~!

I have enjoyed going to this museum in the past, but my experience this afternoon was horrible. I couldn't enjoy any of the art as I was continually stalked and given no personal space by the security guards. It is their job to protect the art, but I felt targeted as they would only follow me around and no one else. As soon as I walked into any room they would automatically be on me and at one point a security guard was less than an arms length away from me, over my shoulder, as I looked at paintings from far away. Another time I was at the water exhibit and was actually cornered in by security on BOTH sides of the exhibit, meanwhile they were completely fine with letting young children run wild throughout the entire museum. Absolutely ridiculous. I believe myself to be a very respectful and respected person and my experience here made me feel degraded and utterly disrespected.

An attractive place to view art works. I paid extra to view a touring exhibition: Gauguin Portraits - well worth a visit. Would need 3 hours to view all galleries but who says we need to do that if we can make a return visit.

Has a bit of something for everyone. Free on Thursday evenings

A true gem! A wonderfully designed national showpiece. The "Gallery" also provides visitors with a great restaurant for more casual and inexpensive, good quality dining. It also offers diners a fine view of the Samuel de Champlain monument at Nepean Point and the expanse of the Ottawa River.

Nice,
You can see nice things, I was in museums much more successful

Excellent experience. I will be back and will bring the family.

This place takes you through a journey of Canada history looking via the prism of art. It has an impressive collection of contemporary art and a few exhibit. I really enjoyed the building itself it's architecture and location are stunning.

One of the most interesting and ever-fun places in Ottawa. Multiple spots to read, to see and enjoy many manifestations of art and culture.

Very affordable for students. The pass is in the form of a sticker. Thus, it is possible to go out and re-enter the building.

Worth the trip.
The catering offer is much improved.
Attention the price, 18 $, is not indicated for a quarter of a liter of wine except at the moment of paying

Absolutely 5 stars! The first floor with Canadian painters and the Inuit art section should not be missed for any reason on a trip to Ottawa

I'm sure it would've been 5 stars if all the contemporary exhibits had been open. Unfortunately only the upstairs is currently, which was a shame as that was really good. Other exhibits were good. Enjoyed the temporary Impressionist thing from the Dutch collector. The indigenous contemporary art was also fascinating. Less keen on the Middle age European art but that's often just a personal opinion and I've seen few places do something very interesting with them.

Amazing gallery filled with tons of artwork that includes Van Gogh, Delas and Monet. Thursday's after 5pm is free admission so take advantage of that.

So much to see. It is hard to do it all in one day. The chapel display is mesmorizing.

Nice Thursday evening outing with free admission! Lots to see and not too many people :)

enjoyed every minute. great gallery well exhibited. go and enjoy

We visited this gallery a week ago. It included a special exhibition which was amazing. I believe it is a must-see place to visir in Ottawa. It takes a full day to visit all exhibitions.

The National Gallery of Canada building itself is a work of art.

There are more beautiful exhibitions in my opinion.

If you love art, then you will definitelt love the place. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of it, but still love the peaceful aura of the whole museum.

If travelling with someone who needs to take the elevator, make sure to ask clear and detailed information on which elevators to take/switch to as there are barely any indications

Well organised and a lot of stuff to see. You can spend a entire day here

I don't really know anything about art, but I still had a good time walking around exploring the exhibits. The gallary is quite large and is bound to have things that just catch your eye, even if you have no idea what your looking at. It was a great experience and was quite reasonably priced. I was able to go with my family, on their family package(2 adults and 3 youths) for $30. Most definitely worth giving a shot.

Wonderful art and the layout helps expand your mind. Lots of cubbyholes and seats so that you can relax and do whatever pleases you; read, rest, think about what you have seen, have a coffee.

A must visit when in Ottawa. Wide range of art on display, both classic and contemporary. Make use of the free enrance on Tuesdays!

Excellent Art Gallery. It just seems to go on and on. A great variety of artists.

One of our favorites! Just the architecture of this place alone is worth visiting it. However, it is not just the architecture that you'll see there!!!

You can visit for free Thursday night, very nice exhibitions!

It has quite a selection of art. The area on contemporary art has a few parts which are just lame to say the best, but at least half of it is worth it. The rest of the museum has very nice paintings and some statues which are amazing.

I love this gallery, the permanent collection is fantastic and there's almost always a great exhibition on. Go sit in the courtyard and just read for a while. Also take a walk outside past the gallery to Nepean Point (up the hill towards the river), great view of parliament.

Beautiful architecture and all the stuff inside is even more beautiful

It's very nice and clean. I'm not a big fan of art though so most of it's lost on me.

My rating is based on the personnel working as security. Some of them couldn't even understand English. We spoke to 4 of them for directions and were very disappointed in their inability to speak to us clearly in English. It was embarrassing. If there are people being hired to be accessible to the public (they are positioned at all exhibits) then they should be fluent in both official languages and especially in Canada's first official language. Tourists should not have difficulty getting assistance

The most awesome collectio of Canadian indigenous art and first painters.

Outstanding! My four year old daughter took advantage of an opportunity try on a costume. Her challenge was to find the painting that the costume was based on. It was remarkable to watch as she scoured the gallery and really looked at the paintings while trying to find a girl wearing the same cloths as her. I would really like to thank the person who thought of this activity.

I lived in Ottawa many years and I made the mistake of not visiting this excellent gallery sooner! Loved the anthropocene exhibit! Could easily spend all day here.

I and my children spent many pleasant rainy afternoons here when they were growing up. The contemporary collection, and the collection of Group of Seven paintings should not be missed.

Beautiful exhibitions, the security guards are a little too worried about my water bottle even though there are kids running around touching stuff, but otherwise very nice! We parked around on a street for free instead of their paid parking.

The collections are worth a visit. A lot of European Art of the past centuries, as well as modern Canadian and Indigenous Art.

A beautiful collection of paintings, sculptures, and other works in a architectural jewel of a building. Don t miss the chapel!

Wish more displays were open right now but overall it was enjoyable.

Beautifully designed glass and steel museum, hosting some of the best artwork by Canadian artists. Don't miss the Alex Janvier exhibition going on as of the date of this writing (Jan-09-2017).

Beautiful architecture. Impressive permanent collection.

Great place to visit and recharge your creative batteries. It is an amazing space as well as great works from Canada as well as amazing international artists as well.

They have mobility scooters to use as well for those with mobility difficulties.

A very beautiful experience, beautiful museum to see for lovers of painting and sculpture.

Gorgeous building, Alex Janvier special exhibit was spectacular. Inuit art and contemporary art section also were well worth a visit. Currently undergoing installations for a large exhibit for Canada 150 anniversary but still an excellent museum

Gorgeous building. Vast collection. Check out the new Aboriginal art. Must stop in if you are visiting Ottawa. Very affordable compared to other museums of similar status in other cities.

It takes a minimum of 3 hours to complete the tour!

Amazing place and marvellous exhibits. Particularly the special showing of French impressionists on now.

If you've git a family with kids, the annual membership is incredibly reasonable and provides cultures experiences in all 4 seasons. The Artismo program is bilingual and well structured. Support the arts!!!!

I am a lover of the fine arts museums: NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, St Petersburg, Montreal, Washington, Baltimore. And I find that the Ottawa museum is one of the most pleasant to visit. Spacious, welcoming and bright, we stroll pleasantly. The collection of Canadian painters is superb.

Wonderful building with the main foyer made of glass that provides one of a kind views of the river and Parliament Hill

It is one of the best museum in Ottawa, the design of structure and contents inside, all top notch even on world stage! I would like to recommend every tourist to pay a visit to the great museum! It is very close to Parliament Hill (almost all tourists come to Ottawa will visit), the Museum is only 10 to 15 minutes walk there. Pass by Fairmont Chateau Laurier, another landmark Ottawa scenery spot right by Parliament Hill. Turn left on Sussex Drive, then walk about 10 minutes, The museum at your left side.

Very disappointed! Went there to see Alex Janvrier, in the moment I went into the exhibition hall a group of about 50 teenagers came in with their teachers. It was an unbelievable noise, the teachers didn't calm them down, I left with a few other visitors to another floor where I found the same situation. Drank a coffee, went back 30 minutes later, next group, loud, overcrowded... haven't seen Janvrier, left to the parking... payment with an European credit card not possible. This took me an half hour to find this out with the help of 2 security guys! Wow! Tried to pay in cash, not possible. I think, something is wrong with this place. Finally lucky that I could leave.

Amazing art work! The customer service, security, and other personal that work here are useless, rude, and generally nasty. For being a Canadian landmark I expect a bare minimum of kind service. I was astonished at how disrespectful everyone was.

A wonderful gallery of key and fabulous art from the Indigenous people of Turtle Island, Canadians, and international artists. Must stop in Ottawa.

The gallery is a great example of all the amazing canadian art. I especially love all the Tom Thomson paintings since he is my favourite artist. There are landscape paintings of many different areas of Canada by many different artists. On Thursday evenings, the museum is free between 5-8pm. There is a great view of parliament from the foyer.

Very large Museum, almost too much to walk the whole thing! Very clean, nice place to be

Great place too kill time and learn some canadian history.