Bank Street, block by block: a walk through the Glebe
TL;DR · 30 seconds
- The Glebe’s shopping strip runs along Bank Street from roughly the Queensway down to Holmwood Avenue.
- It mixes independent shops, cafés, vintage stores and street murals, with Lansdowne Park anchoring the south end.
- Best way to see it: start at the Queensway and walk south to Lansdowne, and give yourself a couple of hours.
Bank Street is Ottawa’s main north–south commercial street, but the stretch that runs through the Glebe has a personality all its own. Between the Queensway and Lansdowne Park, it’s the kind of street you walk slowly: coffee in hand, ducking into shops, stopping to look at a mural you didn’t notice last time.
Here’s a block-by-block way to explore it.
Start north: the Queensway end
Coming south from Centretown, you cross under the Queensway and the street changes character. The buildings get lower, the storefronts get smaller, and the shops are mostly independent. This end is a good place to grab a coffee before you set off.
The middle blocks: shops, cafés and murals
The heart of the Glebe strip is a run of bookshops, boutiques, specialty food stores, restaurants and cafés. Vintage hunters should keep an eye out for secondhand shops like Big Kimmy’s and The Jungle.
Keep looking up and around corners too. The Glebe BIA’s mural guide lists 18 artworks along the strip, and the “Chinese Aces Skate the Canal” mural at Bank Street and First Avenue is a lovely nod to local history.
Some businesses here go back generations. The Glebe Meat Market has been part of the neighbourhood since 1920; it started at 793 Bank Street and later moved to 869 Bank, where you’ll still find it today.
A bit of history
The Glebe was one of Ottawa’s early streetcar suburbs. In June 1891, Ottawa’s first electric streetcars ran down Bank Street through the Glebe to the exhibition grounds at Lansdowne Park. That line helped turn farmland into the leafy neighbourhood you see today.
And a fun fact for your next trivia night: despite what many people assume, Bank Street isn’t named after the Bank of Canada building at the corner of Bank and Wellington.
Finish south: Lansdowne Park
The walk ends at Lansdowne Park, home of TD Place, where the Ottawa Redblacks and the Ottawa 67’s play. On game and concert days the whole street gets busier, so if you want a quiet browse, check the event calendar first. From here, the Rideau Canal is just steps away.
Tips for your visit
- Go on a weekday morning for the calmest walk; weekends are lively but busy.
- Parking is limited on side streets, and there is a garage at Lansdowne. Buses run along Bank Street.
Sources: Bank Street (Ottawa), Wikipedia; History of the Glebe, Glebe BIA; Glebe mural guide, Glebe BIA; Ottawa Tourism.
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