Edmonton 
Creating a memorable Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to involve breaking the bank.
Credit: Alex Pugliese/Unsplash
In fact, you can enjoy several free things to do this Edmonton on Valentine’s Day. So, bundle up! Most of these free dates in Edmonton will take your Valentine’s Day celebrations outside for the day, evening, or weekend (all of these activities are available after Valentine’s Day if you can’t celebrate on the 14th).
You can combine many of these free Valentine’s date ideas to fill an entire day with winter activities in Edmonton.
More: Ideas to Celebrate Valentine’s Day in Edmonton
Skating on Edmonton’s Iceways
Usually, the only time we hope for cold weather in Edmonton is when we want to skate or play hockey. So, let’s hope for some chillier February temperatures leading up to Valentine’s Day because it is totally free to use Edmonton’s ice ways and outdoor skating rinks. The Victoria Park Ice Way, or the City Hall rink, are both fully lit with their own lights, and the downtown lights, and both make for an extra romantic skating date. For more downtown skating, you can also check out Edmonton’s newest rink within the Ice District Plaza.
Sledding on Gallagher Park Hill
This is considered Edmonton’s best toboggan hill for several reasons. First, the top of Gallagher Park Hill gives you epic downtown views. Second, the ride down the hill is the most thrilling sled ride you’ll get in Edmonton. And last but not least, the hill is in a convenient central location. This can easily be one of the most fun group date ideas for Valentine’s Day in Edmonton- and access to the hill is free. If you can’t make it to Gallagher Park, you still have several other options for maintained hills around Edmonton.
Where: 9505 96 Avenue NW
Winter Walks outside of the city
Edmonton is surrounded by an abundance of beautiful parklands, natural areas, and even a National Park. These are all beautiful opportunities to take a short drive, and enjoy the quiet, the wildlife, and the scenery. No matter where you are in Edmonton, you can make a quick trip out of a variety of park and hiking areas:
- Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park is a short drive from those in northwest Edmonton, and can offer an evening or afternoon of walking the boardwalk, listening and watching for wildlife, or watching the sun set over Big Lake.
- Those in southwest Edmonton can take advantage of the peaceful and often romantic scenery of the Clifford E. Lee Natural Area.
- And the Cooking Lake-Blackfoot PRA’s Waskahagen Staging Area is only a 30-minute drive for those in southeast Edmonton.
Silver Skate Festival
There are many different ways to enjoy the 10 days of the Silver Skate Festival at Hawrelak Park, and they’re all free activities! The pond will be open for skating (weather permitting), while the grounds of the park will be decorated with a variety of artistic displays. Sunset is the perfect time to arrive at the festival and gives you time to see the Folk Trail, fire sculptures, and snow sculptures all lit for the night. The festival also hosts an outdoor film festival in which movies are cast onto a giant snow screen.
When: February 10-20
Where: 9330 Groat Road
Free AGA Admission for Alberta Students
Being a student can have some effects on your dating budget. But a great way to spend Valentine’s Day for free is with the Art Gallery of Alberta’s free student admission. As long as you both bring valid student I.D., you both get in for free! So, what’s on right now at the AGA? The 5 Artists 1 Love Black History Month art show and more!
When: current exhibits run for all of February
Where: 2 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Romantic City Walks in Edmonton
The river valley, of course, gives us huge expanses of winter trails. These can all make a romantic setting for an evening stroll. But so too do some of Edmonton’s more urban areas. And, all of these walking routes can take you past cafes, restaurants, art galleries, and several other local businesses to check out.
- Campus St. Jean and Old Strathcona walks can lead you to river valley views, Whyte Avenue, or the Mill Creek Ravine and its north-south trails.
- Downtown Edmonton’s Ice District has several new features to check out including the skating rink, several pieces of public art, and all the excitement from Rogers Arena.
- Saskatchewan Drive, between 99th and 109th Street, follows the river valley from a higher altitude. From the sidewalk, you can see all across the downtown skyline, and the river as it moves west to east. There are several rest stops along the way, and ways to access the University area, downtown, or Whyte Avenue.
- A walk down Ada Boulevard provide similar views as Saskatchewan drive: elevated above the North Saskatchewan River. However these views are from the east side of Edmonton, and allow you and your date to look out over the sunset, the treetops, and downtown.
Cross-country Skiing
Take your pick from a number of groomed trails to try with your partner inside and outside of Edmonton. Get your ski on together this Valentine’s Day with the Edmonton trails (all addresses are for the parking lots and trailheads):
- Gold Bar Park (10955 50 St NW)
- Rundle Park (2909 113 Ave. NW)
- William Hawrelak Park (9330 Groat Road)
Or you can try the trails close to the edge of the city:
- The Devon Golf Course & Conference Centre (1140 Saskatchewan Ave E, Devon)
- The St. Albert Nordic Ski Club (Kingswood Park 395 Sir Winston Churchill Ave, St. Albert)
Pack a Romantic Picnic
If you take advantage of Edmonton’s winter recreation, you’re likely to find several options for picnic sites near the rinks, the parks, and the trails. Plus, you can find fire stoves at a number of city parks whether you need it to cook on, or for warmth. There is a cost to reserve picnic areas and shelters, but you can find several first-come, first-served, and free picnic sites.
- Borden Park (7507 Borden Park Rd. NW) has six drop-in picnic sites around the park. There are no fires, but you can warm up with an art walk around the decorated park.
- Warm up with your date or partner around the fire pits and stoves at Emily Murphy Park’s (11904 Emily Murphy Park Road NW) picnic sites.
- South Edmonton’s Whitemud Park (13204 Fox Drive) also offers picnic sites with a firepit, or cook stoves, and access to ravine trails heading north and south.
Edmonton Art Walks
Edmonton’s outdoor spaces are decorated with a wonderfully large amount of public art pieces. Many of these public pieces in Edmonton are all found within the same neighbourhoods, too. So you can your date can bundle up, fill a thermos with hot chocolate, and enjoy a winter walk through Edmonton’s art scenes. Follow the City of Edmonton Public Art Map, and find the public art closest to you.
Skate Somewhere New for your Valentine’s Day Date
Edmonton certainly offers its fare share of great skating areas and ice ways. This is true of the areas surrounding Edmonton, too. And for some, these natural skating areas may be shorter of a drive than central Edmonton’s skating areas.
- The South Cooking Lake Skating Pathway (100, 22106 South Cooking Lake Rd.) is in the town of Cooking Lake, and overlooks the lake itself.
- Sherwood Park’s Emerald Hills Skating Pathway is conveniently close to Highway 16 and east Edmonton.
- The City of St. Albert maintains a Freezeway in Rotary Park, and in Lions Park. Both are lit up with colourful strings of LEDs for nighttime skates.
