Known for long winters and icy temperature, Canada’s snowy season offers visitors the chance to experience some of the country’s most iconic activities. Travelers can expect more than just ski hills and hot chocolates by the fire if they take a page from the locals by packing on the layers and heading outdoors. Here are a just a few ideas on truly Canadian activities to add to a wintertime itinerary:
Experiences
Try your hand at ice canoeing: row the frigid waters and push your canoe atop the frozen ice of the St. Lawrence River for a uniquely Quebecois adventure.
At the oceanfront Wickaninnish Inn, climb into slickers and gumboots and embrace the wind, waves, and wild weather on a walk along Vancouver Island’s long, open beaches.
As the water of The Rideau Canal, in the heart of Ottawa, freezes each winter, it becomes the largest skating rink in the world.
Via Rail’s The Canadian will bring you from Toronto to Vancouver, through the stark white of the prairies and the breathtaking, snow-capped Rocky Mountains.
Head to Whistler, Newfoundland’s Marble Mountain, or Quebec’s Mont Tremblant for a winter ziplining experience.
Join a tour operator and explore Canada’s ice roads in the Northwest Territories — you can even ride the ice in a limousine!
Every year in the Yukon, competitors risk life and limb travelling hundreds of kilometres on dog sleds in some of the most grueling races on earth: The Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race and the infamous Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race.
In Alberta’s Jasper National Park, strap crampons to your boots and join a guide as you take on towering walls of iridescent blue ice in Mailgne Canyon
Assets
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