Usually, I am over winter weather by mid-January. This year, however, real winter has not reached the east coast until February. It’s been cold and snowy over the past couple of weeks. Instead of fighting what’s left of this season, we decided to embrace it.
What could be a more quintessentially Canadian way to celebrate winter than go ice skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa? Ever since we decided on our move back east, I thought of the places I would love to visit and a list of things iIwould like to accomplish while living in this part of the world. I wanted to see Quebec City, visit Boston and Newfoundland, rock climb in Quebec, go on weekend trips to NYC, and skate on Rideau Canal in winter. I was happy to get that last one off my list during our first winter out east.
Ottawa in Winter
Ottawa turned out to be the perfect winter weekend getaway. Just over 4 hours away from Toronto, Ottawa has plenty of affordable hotels located in the walkable historic downtown. There were also a ton of things to do in the city. During our visit, the city was hosting Winterlude: a city-wide festival that celebrates the season for three weekends each February.
There were ice sculptures, live music, and winter menus at the local restaurants. In addition, it is Canada’s 150th birthday this year so the city was upgrading its structures and memorials and getting to host a huge celebration in July.
We drove in on Saturday morning, visited the Hill and a few of the sights nearby, spent about 4 hours skating, grabbed some dinner and had a nice evening in our cozy hotel. The following morning we checked out ice sculptures around the city and visited the National Art Gallery, which is probably the best art museum in Canada.
The Canal
The weekend of our visit was the first time this season that the entire canal was open for business. 7.8k in length, Rideau Canal claims to be the largest natural skating rink in the world. We skated the full length of the canal and back, completing the 15+ k outdoors skate in about 4 hours (we skated VERY leisurely and made stops for food and photos).
The skating rink is seriously awesome. I skated outdoors my entire life: natural frozen lakes in Ukraine, the man-made rink in Nathan Phillip’s Square in Toronto, and the artificial Central Park rink in NYC. Skating on Rideau beat all of those experiences by a long shot.
First of all, the ice is natural so you get a completely different feeling against your skates. The ride is rougher and noisier and the ice “groans” as you slide across it. It felt like going for the first spring run outdoors after a winter of training on a treadmill.
There are five entertainment areas on the Canal with skates rentals, food trucks, hot chocolate, fire pits, and music stages in certain areas.
The Canal has its own informative website. The website is frequently updated so that you can check it to learn about ice conditions.
Lastly, Ottawans (?) know how to enjoy winter. There were thousands of people out for a skate or a walk on the Canal. People wore snow gear, put their babies in sleds, and went skating with the entire family.
