Just because the temperature has dropped and the sun goes down before you even get off work doesn’t mean you can’t make the most of Cincinnati winters.
From getting active outdoors to cozying up with books and cats and handcrafted candles or laughing away some of the seasonal depression, Greater Cincinnati offers plenty in the way of wintertime fun. Keep scrolling to see all the ways you can embrace the hygge — snow and all — of the season.
Go Ice Skating or Do Curling at Fifty West
7605 Wooster Pike, Columbia Township; 5224 District Park Drive, Mason
Fifty West Brewing Company transformed its burger bars into winter wonderlands for the season, complete with ice skating, plus keg curling at its Columbia Township location. Admission to the popular, family-friendly ice skating rinks is $10 per person — children under the age of 4 can skate for free — and admission includes skate rental and an hour of ice time. Patrons can also rent lanes for curling (a sport where players slide stones on ice toward a target) for $40 an hour. Curling lane rentals are available Fridays and Saturdays from 8-10 p.m.
Explore the New Elm Street Plaza
Speaking of skating, the UC Health Ice Rink has found a new home at the brand new Elm Street Plaza, a two-and-a-half-acre outdoor park and venue. 3CDC says the rink offers a bigger and better experience, with more space to skate, an upgraded WGU Warming Tent, cozy igloos and firepits. The rink and surrounding areas are also available to rent and will remain open into February with a variety of programming. The rink’s prime location also puts you close to plenty of downtown’s restaurants, bars and entertainment.
Try Cold Water Immersion with Great Parks
If you really want to embrace the cold, Great Parks has an all-new series for you to try out this winter. On select dates until March 1, Great Parks will host a cold water immersion program at its Campbell Lakes preserve in Harrison. At each session, participants will gradually enter the cold lake, even going neck deep for up to three minutes. As they acclimate to the water temperature, they’ll focus on breathing, concentration and meditation. The water level will be 5 feet or less and each session will be guided by a certified cold water therapy coach. Afterward, you can warm up with drinks, snacks and camaraderie in a warming tent.
Dine Al Fresco While Staying Warm at These Restaurants and Bars
Just because the mercury’s dropping doesn’t mean you have to move the party inside. There are a number of restaurants, bars and breweries in the Queen City offering ways to eat, drink and stay warm on their patios and rooftops this winter, whether you’re looking for an igloo to cozy up in with your friends and family or if you want to gather ’round a firepit with other winter revelers. You can find a list of places where you can eat, drink and be cozy outside this winter in the link above.
Hit the Slopes at Perfect North
19074 Perfect Lane, Lawrenceburg
Embrace the cold and get out in the fresh air for a variety of winter sports and fun at Perfect North Slopes. Perfect North offers plenty of freshly powdered hills for both skiing and snowboarding, as well as lessons for those wanting to learn how to pizza and french fry their way downhill. Visitors can also glide downhill in snow tubes, and when it’s time to warm up, visit the Lodge for a snack and hot beverage.
Get Sticky at Cincinnati Nature Center’s Maple Fest
4949 Tealtown Road, Milford
Winter is maple season at Cincinnati Nature Center. Sweet Maple Days runs through February with a variety of maple sap-themed activities and events. You can go on a guided sap-collecting hike, get a behind-the-scenes look at the tools used to turn sap into syrup, learn how to collect sap and make syrup in your own backyard and even enjoy a date night featuring food, stories and, as Buddy the Elf would say, SYRUP.
Take a Walk on the Wild Side at Krohn Conservatory
1501 Eden Park Drive, Walnut Hills
Located in historic Eden Park, the Krohn Conservatory is an aluminum-and-glass Art Deco destination (in the shape of an upside-down heart) filled with more than 3,500 plant species from around the world. Permanent displays include a rare orchid house, a steamy tropical room, a succulent-filled desert space and a fun walk-through rainforest rock waterfall. The conservatory’s spring show, Moonlight Menagerie, kicks off Jan. 17 and runs through April 19. The show will feature a traditional moonlight garden, with white and silver flowers. You can also learn all about Ohio’s nocturnal animals, as well bioluminescence and night-blooming flowers.
Make a New Feline Friend at Purrfect Day and Kitty Brew Cafes
Purrfect Day Cafe: 25 W. Eighth St., Covington; Kitty Brew Cat Cafe: 6011 Tylersville Road, Mason
One of the best things about winter is getting to take the time to snuggle up with a furry friend. Greater Cincinnati is home to two cat cafes where you can reserve a time to get in some kitty cuddles. Purrfect Day Cafe usually has about 15-20 cats you can pet and play with, and at Kitty Brew, you can usually find up to 25 cats. And, if you fall in love with one of the feline residents, you can fill out an adoption application to bring home your new furry family member. Also, both Purrfect Day and Kitty Brew Cafe have their cafe portions separated from the cat lounge, so you can just stop by for a coffee and pastry while admiring the cats from afar.
Try a Different Kind of Workout
Fly Bungee Fitness: 394 Wards Corner Road, Loveland; Swift Movement: 4460 W. Mitchell Ave., Spring Grove Village; Climb Cincy: 1708 Blue Rock St., Northside
If being more active is a New Year’s resolution for you, but the traditional gym experience isn’t really your thing, Greater Cincinnati offers plenty of fun, alternative ways to move your body. Some different activities include bouncing and dancing in a bungee harness at Fly Bungee Fitness, learning some sweet parkour moves at Swift Movement or pushing yourself to the summit at a climbing gym like Climb Cincy in Northside.
Feel One With Nature at These Greater Cincinnati Hiking Destinations
Don’t let the cold keep you inside all winter! Lace up your hiking boots, bundle up and get some fresh air by hitting one of Cincinnati’s many trails. You also don’t need to go it alone; Hamilton County’s Great Parks is hosting its annual Winter Hike Series every Saturday Jan. 10 through Feb. 7. Each week features a hike at a different Hamilton County park AND you get soup at the end. For a comprehensive list of some of Greater Cincinnati’s best hiking trails, check out the link above.
Catch a Cyclones Game at Heritage Bank Center
100 Broadway St., Downtown
If your holiday binge of Heated Rivalry has left you wanting to visit the boy aquarium, head downtown to catch a Cincinnati Cyclones game. Even if you don’t know much about hockey, the Cyclones’ games are always a good time. The crowds are full of energy and the action on the ice is mesmerizing. The Cyclones also know how to throw a party with their creative theme nights, like Star Wars and Marvel Superhero nights, and plenty of giveaways and $2 beer nights.
Make Your Own Candle at The Candle Lab
1325 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine; 6837 Main St., Newtown
Candles are one of the top things people think of when it comes to “hygge,” a Danish and Norwegian word that becomes popular in the winter because of its evocations of being cozy and making the most of cold weather. To hygge up your space a bit, you can visit The Candle Lab, which offers pour-your-own candle-making, where you can create a custom candle and scent from over 100 fragrance oil options. You can choose from a variety of sizes, or create custom-scented aromatic mists, reed diffusers or wax tarts instead.
Catch a Comedy Show
Commonwealth Sanctuary, 522 Fifth Ave., Dayton, Ky.; Go Bananas Comedy Club, 8410 Market Place Lane, Montgomery; Bombs Away! Comedy at The Comet, 4579 Hamilton Ave., Northside; Funny Bone, 7518 Bales Street, Liberty Township; Clifton Comedy Theatre, 404 Ludlow Ave., Clifton
Fight off the seasonal depression with a night of laughs at one of Greater Cincinnati’s comedy clubs. Located in a historic former Methodist church, Commonwealth Sanctuary offers weekends packed with entertainment, including many local comedians. The venue also hosts The Workshop, a comedy open mic night every Monday to help both budding and veteran comedians work on their jokes. Catch more local comedians, plus touring up-and-comers at Bombs Away! Comedy at The Comet on Saturdays, or bigger acts at Go Bananas and the Funny Bone. For something different, stop in for an inventive and hilarious show from the Improv Cincinnati troupe at the Clifton Comedy Theatre.
Peruse All the Floors in the Ohio Book Store
726 Main St., Downtown
Ohio Bookstore is a book lover’s paradise: This shop features FIVE floors full of books and magazines – over 300,000 items in stock at any given time. And as a rare and used book store, you never know what literary gems you’ll discover. And if you need a book that needs repairing or a custom binding, Ohio Bookstore can do that as you explore. Likewise, check out some other beloved Cincinnati indie bookstores here.
Explore Centuries of Art at the Cincinnati Art Museum
953 Eden Park Drive, Mt. Adams
The Cincinnati Art Museum features a diverse, encyclopedic art collection with more than 67,000 works that span from the ancient world to modern times. Walk through time to examine artifacts and artwork from thousands of years ago, browse locally crafted paintings and furniture or think about the symbolism and colors in an Impressionist piece. The museum also hosts special exhibits, like What, Me Worry? The Art and Humor of MAD Magazine, which “examines the unforgettable art and satire of MAD, from its start in 1952 as a popular humor comic book to its evolution into a beloved magazine that spoke truth to power and attracted generations of devoted readers.” The exhibt runs through March 1.
Fill Your Cart With Food From All Over the World at Jungle Jim’s
5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield; 4450 Eastgate S. Drive, Eastgate
Jungle Jim’s is an amusement park for foodies, and not just because of its kitschy statues and animatronics. The huge store (more than 6 acres) contains equal parts weekly shoppers scanning the aisles for super fresh seafood, exotic produce and international eats from more than 70 countries and visitors wandering, mouths agape at the wacky decor, likely with a beer in hand. The singing soup can is a beloved sight to snap a photo of; same goes for the elaborate restroom hidden behind a port-a-potty facade. This Disney World of grocery stores also offers nearly 1,500 different kinds of hot sauce, and the aisle is pretty hard to miss: It’s the one with the giant fire truck on top of it.
See What’s Under the Sea at Newport Aquarium
1 Levee Way, Newport
Newport Aquarium aims to take visitors beyond the glass of their tanks and discover the wonder of the underwater world. Named one of the top 10 aquariums in the country by USA Today’s 10Best, Newport Aquarium is home to some of the sea’s coolest animals. Walk over the Shark Bridge, a tightrope bridge over the shark tank, or explore the aquarium’s newest exhibit, Jellies: Go With the Flow.
Catch a Free Show at MOTR Pub
1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine
Get out of the cold and warm up with a drink and some great free music. MOTR has free shows — featuring both local and national artists — DJs or other events almost every night of the week. There is no cover charge for any of these performances. Just simply show up and get ready to rock.
Go thrifting or antiquing
Ohio Valley Antique Mall: 7285 Dixie Highway, Fairfield; Riverside Centre Antique Mall: 3742 Kellogg Ave., East End; Valley Thrift Store: 9840 Reading Road, Evendale; 4301 Dixie Highway, Fairfield
Escape the cold and head to a Greater Cincinnati thrift store for the ultimate indoor treasure hunt. Sift through all the great finds at Valley Thrift on a solo mission, or go with friends or a partner and compete to see who can find the coolest item under $15. If you’re more into antiquing, you can check out Riverside Centre Antique Mall in the East End or Ohio Antique Mall in Fairfield. Over-the-Rhine and Northside are home to a slew of vintage shops, as well.