NAFOW Tours 2025 ~
All tours are priced individually and are not included in the Festival Pass.
#1 ~ Thursday, August 28, 2025, Bus loads at 8:30am, Return 12:30pm
"Ottawa with a Welsh Flavour"
A 3-hour coach tour of the sights of Ottawa, identifying early Welsh settlers, personalities and connections. It includes a 1-hour visit to Rideau Hall, official residence of the Governor-General. The tour includes locations of important events over the years for the Ottawa Welsh Society, the Ontario Welsh Festival, and the North American Festival of Wales. Guide David Jeanes is vice-president and treasurer of the Ottawa Welsh Society and a former president of Heritage Ottawa. His father was from South Wales and he has travelled throughout Wales in search of his roots.
The tour mentions 15 persons from Ottawa's history with Welsh connections, including one of the founding settlers whose family house still stands as one of the oldest wood-frame houses in Ottawa; the founder of the Ottawa St. David's Society, (later Ottawa Welsh Society), Eisteddfod and St. David's Day dinners; and a Governor-General whose grandparents were famous personalities in Wales. There are about sixty places of interest along the 25-kilometre (15-mile) tour route. About half of them have a Welsh connection and they include many of Ottawa's tourist attractions and landscapes.
"Ottawa with a Welsh Flavour"
A 3-hour coach tour of the sights of Ottawa, identifying early Welsh settlers, personalities and connections. It includes a 1-hour visit to Rideau Hall, official residence of the Governor-General. The tour includes locations of important events over the years for the Ottawa Welsh Society, the Ontario Welsh Festival, and the North American Festival of Wales. Guide David Jeanes is vice-president and treasurer of the Ottawa Welsh Society and a former president of Heritage Ottawa. His father was from South Wales and he has travelled throughout Wales in search of his roots.
The tour mentions 15 persons from Ottawa's history with Welsh connections, including one of the founding settlers whose family house still stands as one of the oldest wood-frame houses in Ottawa; the founder of the Ottawa St. David's Society, (later Ottawa Welsh Society), Eisteddfod and St. David's Day dinners; and a Governor-General whose grandparents were famous personalities in Wales. There are about sixty places of interest along the 25-kilometre (15-mile) tour route. About half of them have a Welsh connection and they include many of Ottawa's tourist attractions and landscapes.
#2 ~ Monday September 1, 2025 – Bus loads at 8:30am, return 5:00pm ~
Upper Canada Village
Our full-day tour on Monday will start with a one hour bus trip to the village of Morrisburg on the shores of the St. Lawrence River where we will spend the day at Upper Canada Village. Established in 1961, Upper Canada Village is a premier living history destination, depicting rural life in English Canada circa 1866. The village offers an immersive journey into the past. There are over forty meticulously preserved historical structures, including homes, mills, and workshops. These buildings were saved and moved up the hill before the river was flooded to make the St. Lawrence Seaway. Guides are dressed in period clothing and give demonstrations of life and work in the 1860’s. Bread making, cow milking and cooking demonstrations are on offer, and we expect to see lots of horses that weekend. In addition, there is a flour mill, shoemaker, broom maker, cheese factory and woolen mill on site. A village store sells souvenirs of all sorts.
Our lunch will be at the Willard Hotel. Servers are in period dress, and the menu is based on foods eaten around that time.
Upper Canada Village
Our full-day tour on Monday will start with a one hour bus trip to the village of Morrisburg on the shores of the St. Lawrence River where we will spend the day at Upper Canada Village. Established in 1961, Upper Canada Village is a premier living history destination, depicting rural life in English Canada circa 1866. The village offers an immersive journey into the past. There are over forty meticulously preserved historical structures, including homes, mills, and workshops. These buildings were saved and moved up the hill before the river was flooded to make the St. Lawrence Seaway. Guides are dressed in period clothing and give demonstrations of life and work in the 1860’s. Bread making, cow milking and cooking demonstrations are on offer, and we expect to see lots of horses that weekend. In addition, there is a flour mill, shoemaker, broom maker, cheese factory and woolen mill on site. A village store sells souvenirs of all sorts.
Our lunch will be at the Willard Hotel. Servers are in period dress, and the menu is based on foods eaten around that time.