Ice skating is a fun hobby that can be enjoyed around the year thanks to indoor rinks, but there is nothing quite like bundling up in sweaters, gloves and scarves and hitting the ice in a scenic outdoor location. One of the signals of cold weather, and of the Christmas holiday season, is when you start seeing lakes freeze over and children run out with their skates. Even if you don’t have a ton of experience on the ice, you can enjoy ice skating in one of these incredible seasonal ice rinks found in some of the most interesting and beautiful locations around the world.
Fuji-Q Highland
This incredible amusement park in Japan is home to the country’s largest outdoor ice skating rink. Taking up more than three acres, it is the perfect place to hone your skating skills in the cold winter weather. Not only is the rink at Fuji-Q Highland conveniently located in an park full of roller coaster rides, shops, restaurants and haunted houses, it is also situated at the base of Mount Fuji. This allows skaters to take in breathtaking views of the peak right from the ice.
2. New York City
This incredible metropolis turns into a winter wonderland during the cooler months, making it a popular destination for ice skating enthusiasts. The most common spot for skating in the city is Rockefeller Plaza, where you can skate right underneath the giant Christmas tree on display. For more space to perfect your skating skills and a slightly cheaper admission price, head to nearby Bryant Park instead. Skating is free within the park, and the only fees are those you have to pay if you want to rent skates at the rink.
3. FlevOnice
You truly have to see this incredible ice rink in the Netherlands in order to believe it. The rink itself is more than three miles long, since it is made up of winding canals and rivers that freeze over during the winter. The rink is a series of twists and turns and loops, making it something different that is unlike what you might expect from a traditional ice skating rink. Special cooling technology guarantees that the rivers will be solid ice when operational, which is only for about three months of each year.
4. Strasbourg Christmas Markets
Strasbourg is a beautiful city in France, and it is best known for being home to a Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral and a stunning Christmas market. One of the highlights of the market is the ice skating rink, which is open daily between December and February. You can skate at night under the twinkle of city lights of the surrounding architecture, making it one of the prettiest and most charming ice skating rinks in the world.
5. Rideau Canal
During the cold Canadian winters in Ontario, Canada, the Rideau Canal completely freezes over, making it the perfect rink for ice skating. Admission onto the frozen canal is completely free, and the rink runs for almost five miles. Since the Rideau Canal connects the downtown of Ottowa to the nearby town of Kingston, it is common to see people commuting to and from work on ice skates during the winter. Most local residents have their own pair of ice skates, but you can rent your own from several vendors near the canal.
There are hundreds of different places to go ice skating in the winter when the weather is cool enough to keep ponds, canals and artificial rinks frozen solid. Each of these five seasonal ice rinks is a wonderful and beautiful place to try out your best ice skating moves.
This article was written by Ross who love traveling the world at Christmas time and writes at Netflights.com
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