Forget autumn in New England and head instead for Canada and Ottawa's parks to see the leaves turn crisp and colourful. Look a little harder and you'll find an increasingly hip city trying to shake off a boring image hiding between those trees.
"Ottawa" and "extreme" are not words often uttered together, but between summer and winter the temperature swings from plus to minus 30C. And that makes autumn a great time to visit, with the climate just perfect for walking or cycling around Canada's diminutive capital or a spot of kayaking on the Rideau Canal.
This being harvest time, foodies can reap the rewards of Ottawa's growing reputation as a gourmet destination, too, at its award-winning restaurants.
This city also ticks those rainy-day boxes. Its museums have wide appeal, championing everything from agriculture and aviation to philately and photography. There are cutting-edge art galleries showcasing emerging local artists. And you'll find plenty of shopping in bespoke boutiques - with lots of independent coffee shops providing handy pit-stops along the way.
But Ottawa wasn't always such a pleasant place to visit. The city started life as Bytown, a rowdy backwater named after Colonel John By, who built the Rideau Canal in the early 1800s.
Bytown was such a squalid place that By wanted nothing to do with it: it had the dubious honour of being the most violent town in North America, drunken navvies and leery loggers frequenting the bawdy brothels in Byward Market.
In an optimistic piece of rebranding the city was renamed Ottawa - after the Odawa natives. The ploy worked well enough for Queen Victoria to choose it as Canada's capital in 1857.
Don't miss...
- Soaking up the pomp and circumstance at the very familiar-looking government buildings on scenic Parliament Hill. Stand on ceremony at the changing of the guard.
- Eating a beavertail - a flat, fried dough covered in sugar and cinnamon, not the furry critter - at the red shack in Byward Market.
- Counting the locks, and adding up the price of the speedboats passing through them, on the Unesco-protected Rideau Canal.
- The chance to go museum mad: Ottawa has more than a dozen. Check out the world's biggest indoor collection of totem poles at the Museum of Civilisation, or learn about the country's military history at the Canadian War Museum.
- Cheering "Go the Sens!" and swigging a Molson beer at an Ottawa Senators ice-hockey game at Scotiabank Place.
- Celebrating at one of Ottawa's hundreds of festivals - whether chamber music, tulips, or Turkish food is your bag, there's an event dedicated to it here.
- Skating along Rideau Canal in winter and cycling through the Gatineau Park in the warmer months.
- Checking out eclectic native Canadian art and stroking your beard at contemporary collections in the huge National Gallery of Canada.