The Boston, Mass., area offers many affordable outdoor and indoor winter skating opportunities — here are some of our recommendations:
Winter Skate at the Patriot Place North Marketplace in Foxboro, Mass., offers an excellent controlled outdoor skating environment on its 60X140 ft. refrigerated ice surface. Specifically made for recreational skating, non-contact hockey and figure skating, Winter Skate is a great antidote for those not quite comfortable with pond skating. The ice surface is pretty much perfect and there’s an excellent observation deck, skate rentals, concessions and restrooms.
If, however, you want to do some advanced skating, this is not the place for you — it’s more of an entry level skating destination where it’s best to “go with the traffic.” Another advantage of Winter Skate is that you’re virtually right beside all the shops, restaurants and the Hall at Patriot Place at Patriot Place at Patriot Place, as well as the New England Patriots and New England Revolution games going on at Gillette Stadium! You can find out more info at http://www.patriot-place.com/winterskate.aspx
The Boston Frog Pond in Boston, Mass., offers public ice skating, freestyle lessons and the Frog Pond Cafe for sandwiches, snacks, soups and drinks, located right in the heart of the city at the Boston Common. This is a wonderful
Boston tradition! You can find out more info at http://www.bostonfrogpond.com/info/pricing-season-passes.
Southwest of Boston is Turner Pond on Route 27 in Walpole, Mass. If we ever get cold weather again to properly freeze the pond, Turner Pond is a fantastic outdoor skating destination. The 17-acre pond is scenic, the dedicated skating area is well-maintained and checked on a regular basis for safety. The repainted, renovated lodge has a rustic feeling with a large fireplace with sofas, a big picture window overlooking the pond a fireplace, television, a skate changing area and restroom, as well as books, DVD movies, snacks and hot chocolate. The story is a great one too: named after famous Olympic skater Roger Turner — seven time 1928–1934 U.S. National Champion and two time 1930–1931 World silver medalist — local townsfolk brought the Lodge and skating area back to life through a collective, determined volunteerism. You can find more info on Turner Pond — including nominal fees and when the ice skating area is open — at http://walpole-ma.gov/PondMgt.htm.
Also southwest of Boston is the Norfolk Arena in Norfolk, Mass. Public skate occurs twice daily and is a bargain at $6 per adults and $5 per child for nearly two hours of skating. Additionally, Jessica Martley and staff leads a great “Learn to Skate” program that is also quite affordable. Very welcoming and family-oriented, the Norfolk Arena might have a cold climate but the atmosphere is very warm. Additionally, the ice surface recently underwent a major resurfacing for an added quality skating experience. Norfolk Arena is located at 1 Dean St., Tel. (508) 520-9200. You can find out more info at http://norfolkarena.com/.
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