Hotels in Perth, Ontario

A little about Perth...

Perth is a town in eastern Ontario, Canada (pop. 6,003 in 2001). It is located on the Tay River, 83 km southwest of Ottawa, and is the seat of Lanark County.

An interesting feature of the downtown core is the Crystal Palace, constructed from the remnants of the glass street enclosures that used to be on Rideau Street in nearby Ottawa. This building on the Tay Basin is the location of the new Crystal Palace Market where primarily local artisans offer crafts on Saturdays.

The heritage downtown core of today's Perth now boasts of over 80 unique stores, boutiques, specialty shops and restaurants, including crafts, antiques and flea market, and summer Farmers' Market, for the visitor looking for alternatives to the big city shopping malls. Most of these operate out of the century old stone buildings in town. The drugstore on Foster Street in the downtown core (now called Perth Pharmasave, formerly Girdwood's Drug Store) is the oldest continually operating pharmacy in Canada. The Perth Courier is the second oldest weekly newspaper in Canada. It was independently owned for 155 years until sold in 2006 to a larger publisher. The Link's of Tay Golf course, walking distance from the downtown core, began its trek through golfing history in 1890 and is now Canada's oldest continuously operating golf course. The Perth Citizens's Band, still giving concerts in the band stand behind City Hall is a tradition dating back over 150 years.

At the edge of town there is an interesting Round Garden for the blind. On a circular walkway, raised beds have signs in English, French and Braille. Attention is paid to the senses other than sight. The Perth Farmers' Market that used to operate at the downtown Crystal Palace, started their 15th season at this location at the Lanark County Administrative Building at 100 Sunset Blvd.

Perth is the winner of multiple awards including the "Prettiest town in Ontario" and the Prince of Wales Award for architectural preservation. In the summer of 2006, Canada AM selected Perth as one of four unique communities from across Canada to feature on their Breakfast show.