Located along the Atlantic coastline, Virginia has an average winter temperature of approximately 32 F from December through to the end of February. Local residents and visitors in Virginia can go snowmobiling, skiing and snowboarding, take a horse carriage ride through the snow, play hockey and go ice-skating. For those in favor of a more tropical climate, escape the winter cold at an indoor water park or aquarium.
Spend a day at the Charlottesville Ice Park, which offers public skating sessions, figure skating freestyle practice and skating and hockey lessons. Public skates take place every day of the week except for Mondays and freestyle sessions are an hour in length and take place at various times throughout the week. For individuals living in the area, the ice park makes a unique birthday party venue with packages available for at least 10 children, skate rentals, a private party room, balloons and a gift for the birthday child.
Spend a weekend at the Massanutten Resort with a terrain park for snowboarding and snow tubing and 14 ski trails that are lit up at night. The resort offers lessons for children and adults, from beginner to advanced skiers and both group and private lessons are available. Guests can warm up with a cup of hot chocolate at the resort's ski lodge and listen to live entertainment every evening. The resort also has an indoor water park for those that are yearning for summer, with waterslides, a flowrider, rapid river, hot tub and interactive water play center. Other on-site amenities include an 18-hole golf course, spa, indoor volleyball, arts and craft center, indoor pool with scuba diving lessons and apartment-style accommodations.
Go on a winter whale-watching cruise offered by the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. Available from December through March, the tour departs from the Virginia Beach coast and travels past the Cape Henry Lighthouse and the Old Coast Guard Station. Throughout the cruise, guests can see brown pelicans and double-crested cormorants, all the while searching for signs of humpback and fin whales. When the tour is finished, visitors can venture into the aquarium to see harbor seals, sand tiger sharks, komodo dragons and barracuda. The aquarium also offers an interactive experience through which guests can get in the water with the harbor seals.
