Free or nearly free winter activities in Ottawa

Outdoors

• Stroll around Ottawa’s downtown to see hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights as part of Winter Lights Across Canada.
• Visit the Ottawa Christmas Market at Lansdowne for festive food, drinks, live entertainment and seasonal goods. This free, European-style event takes place on weekends at the outdoor Aberdeen Plaza at Lansdowne in the vibrant Glebe neighbourhood.
• Go skating on the Rideau Canal Skateway. From roughly late December to late February (weather dependent), this UNESCO World Heritage Site freezes and becomes the world’s largest skating rink — as designated by Guinness World Records. Lace up your skates and glide along 7.8 kilometres (4.8 miles) of ice with scenic views of Ottawa’s downtown core. Entry onto the canal is free and it is open 24-hours a day! Skate and sleigh rentals are available on the Skateway during regular business hours.
• Go skating on the Rink of Dreams. Located in Marion Dewar Plaza in front of Ottawa City Hall, this free rink offers a longer skating season than the Rideau Canal (roughly December to mid-March) thanks to its refrigerated surface. There’s a heated change hut, picnic tables and benches. At night, the rink is lit up with multi-coloured LED lights! Skate rentals are available during select evening and weekend hours.
• Go skating at Skating Court, another refrigerated ice rink located at Lansdowne (in the Glebe neighbourhood, just south of Ottawa’s downtown core). From roughly December to mid-March, you can enjoy free open skating sessions or learn how to skate in one of its skating programs. Skate rentals are not available at this site.
• If you’re visiting Ottawa in February, you won’t want to miss Winterlude. North America’s greatest winter festival takes place over three weekends in February, offering fun and excitement for the whole family. From spectacular ice carvings to an amazing playground made of snow, Winterlude is a great way to take in the best of Ottawa’s Canadian winter.
• Go hiking or snowshoeing in Gatineau Park. Located just 15 minutes from Ottawa’s downtown core, this beautiful park offers more than 165 kilometres of trails, with most being open year-round. Once the snow falls, 10 kilometres (6 miles) of trails are compacted once a week for winter hiking. The scenic hiking trails are free! Gatineau Park is also a cross-country skier’s dream, though a Cross-Country Ski Pass is required to use the ski trails in the winter season.
• Go cross-country skiing (and more) in Ottawa and the nearby countryside! The popular Kichi Sibi Winter Trail grooms tracks for snowshoeing, walking and fat biking for 16 km (10 miles) along the Ottawa River running westward from the Canadian War Museum, near downtown. And the Greenbelt area encircling Ottawa offers over 150 km (93 miles) of cross-country ski trails. You can use the trails for free and all are suitable for beginner and family outings.
• Go tobogganing. There are several hills in and around the Ottawa area to suit nearly all ages and preferences. The National Capital Commission (NCC) has set aside three areas suitable for tobogganing in the city’s Greenbelt recreational space:
  • Bruce Pit (This hill is not lit at night.)
  • Conroy Pit (Located in the city’s south end, on Conroy Road.)
  • Green’s Creek (Located just west of Orleans.)
• Or if you’re looking to stay closer to the downtown core, visit these tobogganing sites in the Old Ottawa South neighbourhood:
  • Windsor Park (Located between the Riverdale and Belmont entrances. This site is good for younger children.)
  • Seneca Avenue (Located near the Rideau Canal. This site is good for younger children.)
  • Vincent Massey Park (Located near Heron Road.)
  • Hog’s Back Park (Located near Prince of Wales Drive in Nepean.)
• Visit Fulton's Sugar Bush and Maple Shop. Located just outside of Ottawa in Pakenham, Ontario, Fulton’s is worth a visit in the spring to learn all about maple syrup production. You can take advantage of three scenic walking trails: the Children's Trail (15 minutes), Barney's Grave Trail (40 minutes) and the Nature Trail (30 minutes). This site also offers a gift shop, a playground, wagon rides, group visits and team building programs.
• Go hunting for urban art throughout Ottawa’s diverse neighbourhoods. City spaces are beautified by murals, sculptures and graffiti created by talented artists.
• Go on a photography crawl! Take a look at our suggestions for places to photograph indoors and outdoors in winter, including historic sites, museums, hotels and picturesque parks.

Indoors

• Visit the iconic Parliament Hill! While the iconic Centre Block undergoes a decade-long rehabilitation, you can enjoy free guided tours of other interior spaces: The House of Commons in Parliament Hill’s West Block, and the Senate in the Senate of Canada Building (Ottawa’s original train station). Reserve your tickets online!
• Browse over 100 vendors of local crafts and food items at the weekly Ottawa Farmers’ Market on Sundays. In the colder months, the event is held inside Lansdowne’s historic Aberdeen Pavilion. In December, the market’s special Christmas Edition takes place on both Saturdays and Sundays.
• Visit the free Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) to admire historic and contemporary works associated with the Ottawa region, including from the Group of Seven. The OAG also hosts creative gatherings for kids, Happy Hour for adults (for a fee), and even free childcare for OAG visitors on Fridays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., during exhibition openings and some special events.
• Enjoy free programming at the National Arts Centre (NAC)! The NAC regularly offers events for all ages including Toddler Tuesdays, Seniors Pop-up Painting, powwow workout classes, music performances and meditation.
• On Thursday evenings, admission to the permanent exhibits of the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian War Museum and the Canadian Museum of Nature is free from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m./8 p.m.
• The Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Science and Technology Museum offer free admission daily between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
• The Bank of Canada Museum is always free! People of all ages can create their own avatar and learn about the important role they play in the economy through hands-on interactive exhibits.
• Visit the Royal Canadian Mint! Find out how coins are made, see more than one million dollars’ worth of pure gold and hold a solid gold bar in your hands! It’s free to visit the fun boutique and guided tours of the facility are very affordable.
• Visit Rideau Hall. This historic site is home to Canada’s Governor General. The grounds are open daily from 8:00 a.m. to one hour before sunset. Free guided tours of the beautiful residence are available by reservation in the winter. And on Saturdays from early January to early March, you can take advantage of a charming skating rink, originally built in 1872 by Canada’s third Governor General, the Earl of Dufferin.
• Check out local treasures at 613flea! This monthly, and sometimes twice monthly, market features artisans, makers and other independent creators selling their wares (admission is free).
• Go skating indoors! Various arenas in the City of Ottawa charge a small fee for public skating sessions. Public Skating Information Line—613-580-2666.
• If you’re an Ottawa resident, take advantage of the Museum privilege program at the Ottawa Public Library. The Library loans out family passes to several museums at no charge — all you need is a library card.

Affordable sightseeing

Ottawa is a very pedestrian-friendly city, but if you’re looking to venture outside of the downtown core, opt to take the city bus operated by OC Transpo. The OC Transpo DayPass can be purchased for $12.00 CDN and entitles you to unlimited same-day travel on the bus as well as on the O-Train, Ottawa’s light rail network.

For more frugal fun, explore some of Ottawa’s vibrant neighbourhoods!