Sparks Street is Canada's oldest pedestrian mall — it was closed to vehicles in 1967 as part of the Centennial celebrations and has remained car-free since. The four blocks between Elgin and Lyon Streets run parallel to Parliament Hill and are lined with government buildings, cafes, restaurants and a handful of independent shops. It's not a destination in itself, but it's a pleasant way to move between the parliamentary district and the rest of downtown.
The street has public art installations, outdoor seating in summer, and an ice rink in winter. The east end opens onto Confederation Square and the National War Memorial, making it the natural pedestrian route from the parliament buildings down to the ByWard Market. A weekly farmers' market operates here on Wednesdays from June to September. The architecture along the street is a compressed history of Ottawa government building from the 1870s onward, with some handsome Victorian commercial facades mixed in with 1960s brutalism.