10 Best Things to Do This Winter in Ottawa

Rideau Canal Skateway offers the chance to get out with blades on your feet and glide across a natural skating rink as part of an iconic Ottawa winter experience. The city waits every year for the canal to freeze over as an unofficial start to the winter festivities. This skating rink is one of the largest in the entire world and is also a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. It's been a landmark for centuries and is even listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

In fact, some locals in Ottawa even skate down the canal as part of their commute to and from work every day. This rink spanning nearly 5 miles is in the heart of downtown.

Winterlude is an annual winter festival that's one of the city's main events every year, with massive ice slides, ice sculptures, winter delicacies, shops, and other attractions. This is a gigantic festival that celebrates all things winter. Best of all, it's completely free. The ice sculptures alone are worth dozens of photos for your social media feed. You can skate along the canal or hit up the Snowflake Kingdom snow playground. The festival includes many indoor attractions as well with speakers, live music, dance, and entertainment as well as education about the local indigenous peoples.

Don't forget to grab a hot cocoa or try a frozen maple syrup on a stick. It takes place all across town.

Camp Fortune is a local ski resort offering a wide range of courses over 3 mountain peaks with downhill and cross country skiing as well as tons of outdoor family fun. If you're a novice skier, you can tackle the easy slopes and even take lessons from an expert instructor. You can even rent or buy all the equipment you need right on site from La Boutique, from poles and skis to gloves and face warmers, pants, and jackets so you're completely geared up to tackle all the slopes.

Even off-season in the summer, you can enjoy this destination with a variety of hiking, biking, and outdoor adventures. It's all about 30 minutes west of downtown.

Gatineau Park offers the chance to get out on the slopes yourself or to watch some of the best skiers in the entire world compete in epic downhill races. This is the site of one of the world's most famous international cross-country ski events, attracting over 2,000 skiers from more than 20 countries every year. The energy here is infectious and it's hard not to get caught up in it when you come here, and many who watch the competition one year sign up the next. The competition includes 8 different races, all of which are truly incredible.

The park is right across the river from Ottawa. It's about an hour west of downtown.

Mont Cascades offers scenic splendor in the heart of the Gatineau Hills with a family ski resort where you can enjoy skiing, snowboarding, and scenic views. You can take chair lifts to the top of the slopes that will offer panoramic views of the surrounding forested hills, which will light up your social media feed. You can choose from any of 20 runs, including 15 that you can use for night skiing and snowboarding. The mission statement here is simple: family fun no matter what your skill level might be.

This resort is even fun off-season when in the summer it offers a waterpark. It's also just 20 minutes west of downtown.

The SENS Rink of Dreams is a free attraction where you can strap on ice skates and glide across a well-maintained skating rink right outside of City Hall. The rink is also directly across the street from a major public park where the trees are lit with stunning colorful displays of light throughout the entire holiday season. It's also a major venue during the Winterlude event where you'll see breathtaking ice sculptures.

In many ways, this location is a centerpiece of the city's winter and holiday festivities and a spot to make memories with the entire family. If you're on a romantic escape, you'll be sure to find that intimate connection with your loved one here as well.

Mer Bleue Bog freezes over in the winter, and during this period, the city offers an interpretive trail of just around 1 mile, allowing you to view the local ecosystem. You can walk through untouched wetlands that are covered in snow and ice, making the entire place a winter wonderland, and view the wildlife that populates this region even in the winter, like dozens of species of birds fluttering and singing in the cold winds. While you hike, you'll also learn all about the local ecosystem.

Parking and entry are free, and snowshoes are recommended. The bog is only about 27 minutes southeast of downtown Ottawa.

ByWard Market is a vast and iconic public market in central downtown that covers several blocks of space, including arts and crafts shops, boutiques, retail stores, restaurants, and bars. The street food is without a doubt one of the primary attractions of this marketplace, which is also indoors, so you can use it as an escape from the frigid temperatures. It's the ideal spot to come if you want to experience local Canadian street food like nowhere else. You can also choose from tons of sit-down eateries covering everything from fresh fish to vegan options.

The 600-plus vendors inside are also worth browsing, offering everything from new and discounted merchandise to handmade arts, crafts, antiques, and collectibles.

Stanley's Olde Maple Lane Farm is a stunning Christmas village where you'll enter a true winter wonderland complete with a greeting by a Christmas Elf and sleigh rides. You can warm up by a bonfire, visit with Santa Claus, and grab homemade hot cocoa that you can enjoy with homemade cookies right from the Stanley family kitchens. The village opened in 1993 and is a labor of love from 3 generations of the Stanley family.

You'll get to explore a traditional maple farm that's transformed into a magical village that serves as the home of Santa Claus in the lead-up to Christmas. It's about 30 minutes southeast of town.