Ottawa’s relaxed urban vibe makes it a great winter short break destination. Lace up your skates on the Rideau Canal Skateway, the world’s largest rink. Weekends in February, Ottawa celebrates Winterlude. Admire ice and snow sculptures brought to life with colourful lighting. Have fun on giant snow slides in the largest snow playground on the continent! Treat your taste buds at “Taste of Winterlude” and discover the many flavours unique to Canada’s Capital Region!
Visit www.OttawaTourism.ca or phone 1-888-OTTAWA-8 for some great short break ideas that are easy to book - and great value! Right now until March 31, 2012 – book two nights hotel and the third night is FREE! For instance the The Winterlude Family Getaway package gives you two night’s hotel, family admission to your choice of cultural attraction - plus great shopping discounts. All this, including hotel accommodation, from only $135 per night.
You can create your own Ottawa Getaway thanks to Ottawa Tourism’s website that brings you the ability to book flexible packages online. Get great deals and a wide range of hotel choices as you create your own escape to Ottawa. And look for the special BONUS button for bookings that will include additional FREE items during your stay – participating hotels are offering bonuses like free parking, free internet or food and beverage vouchers.
Ottawa’s premier winter festival is Winterlude – taking place weekends between February 3 - 20, 2012. Winterlude is a unique winter festival that celebrates the joys of winter. It takes place over three fun-filled weekends and during this annual event you can skate on the world’s largest skating rink, check out the ice sculpture competitions or play at North America’s largest snow playground. Plus many many other activities from triathlons to a stew cookoff! There’s fun for the entire family, and all sites are open on Family Day.
What better way to fend off the cold than eat! Ottawa has wonderful cuisine all year round but there are two great culinary events to start off the year and lure you into the warmth of Ottawa restaurants. OTTAWA Magazine is teaming up with local restaurants to create “WinterBites” January 12 - 28, 2012. You can enjoy three-course prix fixe menus at enticing prices (lunch for $15 or $20; dinner for $30 or $40). Beverages, taxes, and gratuities are additional.
And to coincide with the Winterlude Festival – “Taste of Winterlude” runs January 26 - February 20, 2012. Indulge in Canada’s Capital Region’s culinary scene through unique dining experiences and exciting culinary events. Sample cuisine at some of the Capital’s top restaurants and venues or learn a new cooking technique from a local chef, tour restaurants guided by chefs or sommeliers, and more!
There is nothing more closely associated with the Canadian Winter than Hockey! Don’t miss the National Hockey League Tim Hortons All-Star Game - January 26 - 29, 2012, taking place this year at Ottawa Convention Centre, Scotiabank Place and more. The best of the best hockey players in the NHL will come to Ottawa to show off their stuff! Of course tickets are next to impossible to get but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the fun. The Ottawa Convention Centre will play host to the Tim Hortons NHL Fan Fare event where you can get your picture taken with the Stanley cup and show off your own hockey skills at the Molson Canadian NHL All-Star Skills Zone. You can buy your NHL All Star package at www.ottawatourism.ca.
And all season long you can take in an Ottawa Senators game – right through to April 5, 2012. The Ottawa Senators take to the ice during home games at Scotiabank, and if you are a Leaf’s Fan this could be an easier way to get tickets to see your team than at home in Toronto. Check out the “Hockey Night in the Capital” package that you can book at www.OttawaTourism.ca including tickets to the game and hotel accommodations.
Winterlude isn’t the only time to get out and enjoy winter. In Ottawa the whole Winter season is filled with favourite winter activities. Skate along the Rideau Canal Skateway which is open until March 4, 2012 weather permitting - every winter, 7.8 km (4.8 miles) of the Rideau Canal transforms into the world’s largest outdoor skating rink, as designated by Guinness World Records. Stop for a famous Beavertail and hot chocolate at the huts on the side of the canal.
And of course nearby in Gatineau Park you can enjoy 200 km of groomed cross-country ski trails, snowshoeing, and overnight camping in a winter wilderness oasis just 15 minutes from downtown Ottawa.
When you want to get indoors and leave the snow behind – there is always something new at Ottawa’s world class cultural attractions.
At the Museum of Nature there is “Preternatural - Where Art and Nature Collide” until February 12, 2012. This exhibition of contemporary art draws on the themes of nature, wonder and the extraordinary. It features five Ottawa-based and international contemporary artists who use a variety of media including photography, video and sculpture.
At the Canadian Museum of Civilization the exhibition “God(s): A User’s Guide” runs until September 3, 2012. Explore the vast diversity, and the similarities, in the practices of the world’s most widespread religions. The exhibition touches on universal religious themes such as the belief in a higher power, a world beyond our own, the use of spiritual intermediaries (such as priests, shamans and prophets), sacred rituals, spiritual holidays and rites of passage.
The Canadian Children’s Museum at the Museum of Civilization has “Much More Munsch” until April 9, 2012. Enter the world of celebrated Canadian author and storyteller Robert Munsch, whose stories for children reflect the joys and challenges of everyday family life.
And the National Gallery of Canada is getting ready for “Van Gogh: Up Close” – a block buster exhibition on its only Canadian stop in Ottawa from May 25 to September 3, 2012. The first major Canadian exhibition of works by the famous Dutch artist in over 25 years – this exhibition explores Van Gogh's close-up views of nature and features more than 40 of his paintings. The artist depicts nature in very particular ways: he experiments with depth of field and focus, zooms in on a verdant tuft of grass or a single iris and or provides shifting perspectives of a farmer’s field or the corner of a garden.
Ottawa Trip Showcase
- VIA Rail is a great option from Toronto as well as Montreal.
- Stay at the elegant Fairmont Chateau Laurier or the family friendly, pet friendly, Quality Hotel Downtown Ottawa.
- Visit the Canadian Museum of Civilization up until September 3, 2012 and see the “God(s): A User’s Guide” exhibition - and for the kids the Canadian Children’s Museum has “Much More Munsch” focussing on beloved children’s writer Robert Munsch until April 9, 2012.
- Visit the National Gallery of Canada. Right now until 18 March, 2012 you can see “Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010)”, paying homage to the remarkable career of Louise Bourgeois, one of the world’s most-celebrated contemporary artists. Her monumental spider on the Gallery’s outdoor Plaza, Maman, is one of the artist's most-recognized public art sculptures and has become an Ottawa landmark. And watch for the “Van Gogh: Up Close” exhibition opening 25 May, 2012.
- A hidden treasure is the Bytown Museum! Located in the heart of downtown Ottawa, the Bytown Museum explores the stories of an evolving city and its residents from its early days as Bytown to present day Ottawa. Housed in Ottawa's oldest stone building, the Museum is located at the Rideau Canal locks between Parliament Hill and the Château Laurier—one of the most picturesque sites in the city. Open January 24 - May 27, 2012 - “Six Moments in the History of an Urban Forest” is an exhibit exploring the contested place of trees in Ottawa's urban history
- And if shopping is a must – head for the designer stores of the Rideau Centre.
Photo Credits: Ottawa Tourism
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