The Best Things to Do in Winnipeg in Winter: Your Guide to All That Makes "Winter-peg" A Special Snowy Destination!
With special events and activities focused on culinary delights, history, culture and snowy climes, “Winterpeg” is a city celebrating what winter in Canada is all about. From Winnipeg’s outdoor activities to the friendliness of its locals, Chris and I not only had fun on this getaway with friends, but felt warm and cozy long after the trip was over.
Chris and I embracing all that winter has to offer in Winnipeg!
Something I love about working as a travel blogger is that my preconceptions about destinations are constantly being challenged. As a born and raised Canadian from Toronto, I didn’t grow up with any family or friends from Manitoba, so I ended up not really knowing much about the province aside from what I’d heard from others. A tale as old as time.
Up until a few years ago when Chris went to some of the top places in Winnipeg in the summer, my knowledge of Manitoba’s capital was slim to none. He came back with so much reverence for the city, so I knew I’d need to join him on the next trip. When the opportunity arose for Chris and I to return to Winnipeg with some of our dear friends—but this time in winter—I’ll admit, I didn’t know what to expect!
Growing up I’d heard so much of what I thought I knew about Winnipeg in the winter. I had heard it was cold (which it is!), but I’d also heard people complain that there was nothing to do…and after this winter trip, I now know that is far from the truth of visiting my now beloved “Winterpeg.” This city is filled with some of the kindest people, so many memorable indoor and outdoor attractions during its winter months, and a warmth of community and celebration that radiates through the coldest of winter days.
Believe me when I say that Chris and I had so much fun on this winter trip to Winnipeg, and I know that you will, too!
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How to Get Here & Where to Stay
We happened to visit Winnipeg over Valentine’s Day—a fitting time to be in the heart of Canada!
Chris and I flew from Toronto to Winnipeg Richardson International Airport with Air Canada. You can search for the right flight for you, since there are plenty of other airlines that land in Winnipeg, including Porter Airlines, WestJet and Air Transat.
Richardson Airport is a small airport, and while there are public transit options to connect you with the city, you’ll likely want to rent a car to make the most of a winter trip here. The city is quite spread out, and with the cold weather it’s nicer to have this option to get from place to place.
(Chris and I took this trip to Winnipeg on a larger trip to Manitoba that brought us outside the city to Riding Mountain National Park. If you have the time, I’d highly recommend adding this to your trip so you can get a taste for some of Manitoba’s nature in the winter, too.)
Stay at Inn at the Forks
Chris stayed at Inn at the Forks the last time he visited Winnipeg, and we stayed here again on our most recent trip. It really is such a great base to see the city! It’s conveniently located right at The Forks, which is where the Red and Assiniboine rivers connect in town, and has been a trading and historical meeting place for thousands of years.
The hotel is close walking distance to parks, restaurants, outdoor activities, The Forks Market and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, on top of being a short distance from downtown Winnipeg. I’d recommend requesting a room at the back of the property for your stay, as these rooms offer beautiful views of the “Winnipeg” sign and the downtown skyline.
Of course, you’re also welcome to use this map to help you find the right place to stay while you’re in town!
Gearing Up for a Winnipeg Winter Visit
If you’re visiting from outside of Manitoba, it’s important to understand that winter in Winnipeg is no joke! Since the province is relatively flat, there’s nothing to shield or curb cold winds. During our visit to Manitoba it was an especially cold stretch, with some days reaching as cold as feeling like -45C with the windchill! Days that aren’t so windy can be sunny and more comfortable, but if that wind picks up, the days get cold quickly.
For a winter trip anywhere in Manitoba, I’d recommend making sure you have these items:
All the technical gear came out with us at the world’s largest snow maze!
Good Quality Base Layers: Long underwear and thermal long sleeve shirts are a must! Take it from a Canadian that the key to keeping yourself warm on cold winter days and nights is to keep your core temperature high. Get your base layers on before leaving your hotel (synthetic materials or wool is key—cotton isn’t insulating enough), and only take them off if you’re in a warm space.
Comfortable, Insulated & Waterproof Winter Boots: Once winter has been around for a few weeks in Winnipeg, you’ll find that there will be a layer of snow and ice on the ground in most places. Plus the air can just get so cold that having properly insulated winter boots is a must. I’m constantly on the lookout for new winter boots to try, but my UGG Adirondacks have been tried and tested for years. I rarely go on a winter trip without them!
Waterproof Winter Coat & Snowpants: If you only think snow pants are for skiing and hiking in the winter, think again! They are an essential piece of clothing to protect your legs when you’re out and about in the winter.
Hat, Scarves, Balaclavas and Garbage Mitts: The first three speak for themselves—again, focus on functional base layer materials for a balaclava, warm or synthetic knits and wools for hats and scarves…but Garbage Mitts are unique to Winnipeg! They’re solid winter mittens made of genuine leather on the outside and warm lining on the inside. I can confirm that we used these throughout the trip, and my hands didn’t feel cold once!
Winnipeg Winter Achievement Patch: If you’re taking a winter trip to Winnipeg, I’d highly recommend getting yourself a Winnipeg Winter Achievement patch! It makes for such a fun souvenir to bring home, and you’ll get all the warm and fuzzy feelings celebrating your success long after your trip is over.
Because of the cold temperatures in Manitoba winters, the best version of a winter trip here will involve a mix of indoor activities and outdoor adventures. Even for the most bundled of travellers, it’s downright dangerous to spend the whole day outside on seriously cold days. Fortunately, there is a great mix of indoor and outdoor things to do in Winnipeg, so you’ll have no shortage of fun ways to spend the trip.
Unique Winter Experiences in Winnipeg That We Loved
RAW:almond Winter Dining Experience
Owned and organized by chef Mandel Hitzer (deer + almond) and architect Joe Kalturnyk (RAW:Gallery of Architecture), this three week boutique fine dining festival pops up from late January to mid-February each year in Winnipeg. Every year a new and uniquely designed location pops up and, depending on how frozen the rivers are, the dining space and kitchen is either over a river, or close by.
Every other evening, a different collaboration of celebrated chefs prepares an inventive multi-course menu for a small group of diners to enjoy for two nights. If you wanted to come every other night for two weeks, you’d be trying upwards of 10 different menus! The chefs who make this event so special hail from all over Canada to share their culinary delights and inspiration with new foodies.
Between the experimental delicacies you’ll dine on, the people you’ll meet and the cozy spaces set up indoors and outside by the fire, this is truly a unique dining experience not only in Canada, but in the world.
Outdoor Activities at The Forks
Walking and running trails, warming huts and skating trails abound at The Forks in winter
The frozen Red and Assiniboine rivers at The Forks become a giant outdoor ice rink, skating trail and fat biking path in the winters! There are kilometres and kilometres of mixed use paths with locally designed warming stations, fire pits and sitting areas to enjoy the sun on a cold winter’s day.
Bring your own skates, or start your visit by heading to Kendrick’s Outdoor Adventures for all of your other rental needs. Kendrick’s rents out snowshoes, fat bikes, ice tricycles and ice bikes! To be honest, when we first headed to The Forks for ice biking, I thought we were just going to rent fat bikes to take on the frozen rivers. I had never heard of ice biking before, but was it ever fun! Especially since Chris and I enjoy cycling in all forms, this was an exciting new experience for us.
Ice bikes are essentially a bike frame set up on four skating blades. Despite how precarious this may sound, they’re actually incredibly stable, and you can go quite the distance on them!
Rentals from Kendrick’s are available inside of the Forks Market, and they have a small shed down by the rivers for most of their skating accessories and ice bike rentals.
Festival du Voyageur
Festival du Voyageur is western Canada’s largest winter festival. Taking place in mid- to late Feburary each year, this festival celebrates Franco-Manitoban culture, art, music and outdoor activities. Come dressed for winter, and enjoy food stalls, ice and snow sculptures, and a celebration of the Voyageur history at Fort Gibraltar.
There are different events taking place throughout each day and night. Make sure you head over to the historic event space in Fort Gibraltar to try Caribou—a sweet, French-Canadian drink made of red wine, rye whisky and maple syrup—along with some other traditional French Canadian snacks. And don’t forget to shift from tent to tent to enjoy some of the incredible musical performances throughout the evenings.
Chris and I were on this trip with our friends Scott and Megan (boboandchichi.com), and I’d highly recommend visiting this festival with a small group if you can. It makes it so much fun to celebrate the cold and have fun together!
A Maze in Corn (St. Adolphe)
Ready to take on the world’s largest snow maze at A Maze in Corn
While this maze is technically outside of Winnipeg, it’s only about a 30 minute drive from the centre of the city (which is nothing by Canadian standards!) and easy to get to with a rental car.
A Maze in Corn is the world’s largest snow maze. It opens in the middle of January each year, and on top of being a challenging yet not overwhelming snow maze, you’ll find ice sculptures, snow carvings and unique covered areas as you get lost in the maze.
We had so much fun spending a few hours here, and loved that there are so many things to do. In addition to making our way through the maze (which is home to its own snow castle and throne in the middle of the maze) and taking fun pictures throughout, they also have warming areas set up with bonfires, a Giant Luge run and the enclosed Snow Bar serving up hot alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages once you’ve had your fun outside.
It’s recommended to book your ticket in advance from their website.
More Memorable Things to Do in Winter
Appreciate Winnipeg’s Indoor Attractions
After all of our fun outside, visiting The Leaf’s tropical climes was a welcome respite
Of course, a lot of the activities Chris highlighted in his article about Winnipeg are still fair game in the winter. On especially cold winter days, you’ll want to make sure you work in plenty of indoor activities to keep yourself warm, but more importantly to appreciate more of what Winnipeg has to offer.
Here are a few activities we loved to keep us warm during our winter trip:
Seeing Canada’s tallest indoor waterfall at The Leaf. The Leaf is a giant, tropical indoor horticultural space in Assiniboine Park. It’s great to visit during the day, but the lights feel extra special in the winter at night. There are four different biomes within The Leaf, each with their own unique plants and some rotating exhibits. And in the centre of it all flows the tallest indoor waterfall in the country, which you can hear and see from most places inside.
Visiting the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. This is the only museum in the world solely dedicated to the topic of human rights, and it’s a must-visit on a trip to Winnipeg. On top of its architecturally investigative design and layout, its ten core galleries explore what human rights issues are, and examine human rights abuses and atrocities that have happened across Canada and internationally.
Admiring art and sculptures at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Founded in 1912, the “WAG” is Western Canada’s oldest public art gallery, and the sixth-largest in the country. It’s also home to the world's largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art, which is the part of the museum I enjoyed the most because of the intricate detail and natural materials used in the sculptures and artworks.
Head to The Forks Market
The Forks Market
All of The Forks—including the parks, the Inn at the Forks and this market—is in what was once an abandoned railyard. The revitalization of the market building in particular has led it to become an excellent place for shopping and dining. It has several floors, each with local makers and independent shop owners, curated snack and beverage shops and a food and drink hall.
There is no shortage of places to come here for breakfast, lunch, a snack or a craft beer, and with so many wonderfully curated shops you’ll be hard pressed to not walk away with something good. Some favourites from our stop here included scratch hot dogs from Wienerpeg, Ellement Wine + Spirits, McNally Robinson Booksellers, Sweet City Candy, Tall Grass Prairie Bread Co., and The Common.
Dive Into Winnipeg’s Restaurant Scene
We were only in Winnipeg for a few days for this winter trip, so we by no means were able to visit all of its amazing restaurants, but there were a few standouts from our visit:
Clementine Cafe is a must for breakfast and brunch, but you have to come early since it’s a popular spot! You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, but the Smoked Steelhead Trout and Braised Bacon Benedict were amazing!
Nola was a stop on our trip for lunch, but I’m told their dinners are delicious, too. I loved their Maple Mustard Glazed Pork Belly dish.
Pizzeria Gusto is a fantastic stop for dinner. Excellent crafted cocktails, homemade pastas and wood-fired pizzas are served here in abundance.
Where I’m Going the Next Time I’m Back in Winter
There are a few spots that we weren’t able to visit on this winter trip to Winnipeg, but I definitely plan on checking them out next time. Thermëa by Nordik Spa-Nature is first on my list for when I return! Chris and I are both big fans of their Chelsea location in Quebec, and I know it would be such a great way to warm up and feel relaxed on a winter getaway to Winnipeg.
I also plan on making a point of visiting Deer + Almond restaurant during my next visit. It’s been listed as one of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants a few years in a row, and after enjoying the RAW:almond dining experience in Winnipeg, I have to see what chef Mandel Hitzer has going on at his permanent restaurant in town.
And that’s all she wrote! I hope this post has inspired you to not only give Winnipeg a chance during the winter months, but jump into all that it has to offer with enthusiasm! I know you’ll find that Winter-peg is more than worth it.
I’d like to thank Travel Manitoba and Tourism Winnipeg for hosting Chris and I as media on this trip to Winnipeg. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Bri Mitchell
Bri Mitchell is a travel writer and content creator from Toronto, Ontario. She loves to highlight all things nature, food, wellness, sustainability and adventure in her work. Bri writes and shares her travel experiences from across Canada, the United States and around the world on Instagram and TikTok (@brimitchelltravels), and in her articles for travelingmitch, Ultimate Ontario, and We Explore Canada.