5 Activities to Do in the Winter in Toronto
If Canada is known for anything it's definitely for our intense winters! It’s some people's favourite season, while others prefer to hibernate indoors until the spring. Regardless of how you feel about this particular season, Toronto is filled with some great winter activities that are worth leaving your house for. While you can’t keep the temperature from dropping you can certainly make the most out of this season! Grab your friends, or go by yourself, to check out these places for some winter fun around the city!
1. Go ice skating at one of Toronto’s many rinks!
This is one of my personal favourites and activity you will catch me doing quite often around this time. Toronto is filled with ice rinks around the city where you can go with friends or even by yourself. Grab your skates or rent a pair at some of these locations and skate at different rinks around the city. On-campus, Lake Devo transforms into an ice rink during the winter where students can bring their ice skates and skate around! Nathan Phillips Square also has a great ice skating rink (which is beautiful at night), and is filled with twinkle lights and sometimes even surrounded by food vendors. A new edition to the city is the ice rink under the Gardiner expressway called The Bentway (external link) . What’s unique about this spot is that you can skate around the figure-eight skating rink right under the expressway — talk about living in a big city!
2. Visit Toronto’s Light Festival!
The famous historic Distillery District is well known for its festive Winter Village (which happens every year during the holiday season and is definitely worth checking out), but in January holds an annual light and art installation for the Toronto Light Festival (external link) . The festival holds incredible light exhibits that cover 44 buildings in the area with some great Instagram-worthy picture opportunities!
Image source: Shutterstock (external link, opens in new window)
3. Watch a hockey game!
Support our varsity team and go out to one of our hockey games! Grab some friends, buy some snacks and cheer on our team. A good ol’ hockey game is a great way to get into the winter spirit... and it’s right on campus! You don’t have to be a sports fan to enjoy catching a game at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly Maple Leaf Garden). Tickets to all varsity hockey regular-season home games are free for students – just show your OneCard. Plus, for those who may not be the biggest fans of the outdoors during the winter, these games are indoors!
4. Visit Allan Gardens!
To those who want to escape the winter and cold, visit Toronto’s only downtown botanical garden, Allan Gardens (external link) ! This spot is the perfect place to warm up, look at some greenery and feel like you're in the tropics (all while still seeing a snowy Toronto city outside the glass walls). The landmark has been in the city since 1858 and is home to some of the most exotic plants in Toronto.
5. Walk around a museum!
Toronto is filled with exciting and beautiful museums like the Art Gallery of Ontario (external link) (AGO) and the Royal Ontario Museum (external link) (ROM). Hey, the internet is great, but seeing these pieces in real life is definitely a cool experience. Stay away from the cold and keep warm indoors by visiting these museums, strolling through the exhibitions and seeing all the art (you might even learn something).
Now I’ve listed five different activities you can do in the winter in Toronto, but there are a lot more! Some of these take place indoors, while others allow you to embrace the winter and enjoy all that it offers. Regardless of how you decide to spend this season, Toronto is beautiful in the winter and is full of activities that guarantee there’ll never be a dull moment! Go out and explore the city —you won’t regret it!
xoxo, Eva Oseen