The first snow has officially fallen, the smell of pine trees fill the farms up North, and the malls are filled with holiday shoppers. We are in the thick of the winter and holiday season my friends. And although I tend to feel a sense of doom and gloom when the Canadian winter first begins to creep up on us, I also look forward to all of the fun winter activities.
The winter doesn’t need to mean you need to hibernate. Get out there and the enjoy it!
For a while, I used to think that a snow fall meant that I needed to throw on the pajamas and stay hidden in my house until summer melted all the snow away. Now, Dave and I like to find fun activities to head out to… and girl, let me tell you, there are SO many fun things to do in the winter time.
I’ll be honest, the fall of snow does mean you have to be careful on the roads, but it doesn’t mean you have to throw your hands up to the world and cocoon inside all day. So this year, for our annual #MDVPHoliday excursion, we decided to hit the open gravel for a road trip, and find a few fun activities just a hop, skip, and a jump outside of Toronto for you to do.
Stop 1: Buckle Up and Find Yourself Good Company
This goes beyond saying, but it’s true that the journey is just as important as the destination. Vic, Peter, Dave, and I have traveled around the world together, but some of our fondest memories come from the ones where we’re all in a single vehicle on the open road. Road trips have kind of become a bonding moment for the four of us and we weren’t about to let it get away from us this holiday season.
Our Volvo CX90 was also great company. This car handled so incredibly well, even in the thick of a recent major snow fall. The safety features on the vehicle are astounding. It alerts when a seat belt has unbuckled (even in the back seat) and we never felt unsafe, even driving down snow filled county roads hours from the city.
I have to admit, we also pack up quite a bit for a road trip. Even on just a day trip, we’ve got loads of camera gear, outfit changes, and admittedly, more snacks that we could probably consume. But the Volvo CX90’s storage space is remarkably spacious. It also didn’t sacrifice passenger space to provide cargo space (something I find sometimes happens in other SUVs we’ve driven). Dave is 6’3, so he almost never sits as a passenger in the back row; but in the Volvo CX90, he was so comfortable that he even crossed his legs. This. Never. Happens. In the passenger row, you’ve also got the option of passenger environment control, with custom temperature control and heated seats. Ahhh. Needless to say, luxury and comfort is a big plus of this vehicle.
By far, something that really stuck out to me in the Volvo CX90 was the entertainment system. The Sensus connectivity is so on point and you have options to control even the type of sound of your entertainment. My personal favourite is the “concert” mode that legitimately makes the vehicle interior sound like you’re in a concert hall. And yes, Mariah Carey “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was on full blast. Thank you for asking. I’m also quite a big fan of the intuitive vertical screen in the dashboard. I find that it’s easier to use and a lot more intuitive than typical horizontal screens.
Stop 2: Kortright Centre For Conservation
Nestled not too far from the city, in Vaughan, the Kortright Centre is a winter wonderland. For the holidays, they actually have quite a few festivities going on. It’s called the Magical Christmas Forest, and even for a couple of adults, this place is magical indeed. The actual festivities for their Magical Christmas Forest happen in the evening, you can check their schedule and get tickets for the activities here, but the landscape and trails are gorgeous in their own right.
We happened to stroll in while they were having “Breakfast with Santa” appointments and the energy and magic of the place was buzzing. In the Centre, you’ve also got a theatre playing holiday movies, a General Store with all of the cute Canadian holiday things, and vendors selling handmade crafts. We also had a chance to stroll through the part of the trail that had large inflatable characters nestled around it. It was fun for us, but girl, if you’ve got kiddos, this will be the highlight of their week.
Stop 3: Horton Tree Farms
Picking up a tree from a tree farm has been on my winter bucket list for years now! My parents and I would always pick up a fresh tree, but it would always be close to home, and we would never go to a farm. So this year, especially because we had the Volvo XC90, we decided to make the trek up to Horton Tree Farms (just outside of the city, but what feels like the middle of nowhere).
Horton Tree Farms is quite the fun day trip. If you’ve got some time, you can actually take a wagon ride into the deep of their forest and pick out a tree of your own. Of course, you have to cut it down yourself. If you want to pick up and go, they’ve got some pre-cut trees ranging from $70+, depending on the size. If you decide to go the route of cutting down your own tree, any tree, no matter what the size, is only $65! I highly recommend the latter. Sadly, we didn’t have time to cut down our own tree, but we did still get to enjoy the festivities at the farm.
Horton Tree Farms has an open fire pit you can sit around and also have this quaint shack in the centre of the farm, where they have unlimited hot cocoa brewing and free for you to serve yourself (marshmellows included). This definitely was the highlight for us (and all the families around us). If you’re worried about how you’re going to transport your tree, they’ve got this fancy machine that bundles it up for you. I’d recommend getting a rack for you car (we had one mounted on our Volvo XC90), so that you can tie it up and bring it home safe and sound (both for your tree and your car).
That’s all we were able to check out in a day, but here are a few other spots we didn’t get to this day, but have both been to, and have our eyes on checking out this winter season:
- Crawford Lake Conservation Area: for snowy winter trails
- Niagara On The Lake: it’s always a magical, old-town feel here
- Inglis Falls: they have a waterfall that freezes over in the winter, and it’s magical
- Christkindl: in the town of Kitchener, for a German Christmas Market
- Kingston’s Lumina Borealis: they’ve got twinkly light displays you can walk through!
- Dog sledding at North Ridge Ranch: it’s expensive, at over $100/person, but it’s been on my bucket list for years
- Arrowhead Provincial Park: Dave and I have done this before and it’s magical! It’s a skating trail through the forest!
- Muskoka Lakes Farm: they have a winter skating trail as well. We’ve never been to this one before!
There’s so much more and Ontario has such an abundance of magical things to do in the Winter. Before you know it, it’ll be summer and you won’t have finished everything on your list. After making lists like this, I find that the Winter season doesn’t feel so doom and gloom anymore, it’s actually quite magical. So strap up your winter boots, get your snow-pants on, throw on your Roots sweatpants, make sure you’ve got winter tires and a vehicle that can trek through your winter adventures with you, and get out there!
Happy winter-exploring friends!
***This post was made in generous partnership with Volvo Canada. All thoughts, opinions, and recommendations are exclusively my own.
