Sit on the Right side of the plane for the best views on flights from Paris to Ottawa. Left side wins at departure for Paris views, but right side captures the more dramatic Ottawa River valley and Parliament Hill arrival sequence. Over the Atlantic and Canadian Shield the views are broadly similar on both sides, so the landing experience tips the balance to the right.

During takeoff from Charles De Gaulle (CDG), sit on the Left side for the best views. CDG's primary departure runways (08L/08R heading east, or 27L/27R heading west) mean left-side passengers get views over central Paris during the climbing turn northwest. You'll see the Seine river bends, the Eiffel Tower district, and the dense Haussmann grid of central Paris before the aircraft tracks westward over Normandy. Notable sights include: Seine river bends through central Paris, Eiffel Tower and Champ de Mars district, La Défense business cluster to the west, Bois de Boulogne parkland.

When landing at Ottawa Macdonald Cartier International (YOW), sit on the Right side for the best views. Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier typically uses runway 25 for westbound arrivals, meaning the approach tracks from the east over the Ottawa River valley. Right-side passengers get the Ottawa River, the Parliament Hill bluff, and the Gatineau Hills across the river in Quebec as the aircraft descends. Notable sights include: Ottawa River and its broad valley, Parliament Hill on the south bank, Gatineau Hills rising to the north in Quebec, Rideau River confluence with the Ottawa.

The flight from Charles De Gaulle (CDG) to Ottawa Macdonald Cartier International (YOW) takes Approximately 7 hours 30 minutes to 8 hours.

The flight tracks northwest over Normandy and the English Channel, then crosses southern Ireland near Cork before heading out over the North Atlantic. The mid-Atlantic portion shows open ocean with occasional iceberg-bearing waters south of Greenland. The Canadian landfall is typically over Newfoundland near St. John's, followed by the vast boreal forest and lakes of the Laurentian Plateau and Canadian Shield through Quebec, with the St. Lawrence River visible as a major geographic marker before the descent into Ottawa.