If you hear the phrase “The winter is coming!” and think about severe frosts, white walkers and dying Jon Show, you’ve gone a little overboard with Game of Thrones binge-watching. Winter means fun, especially in such a small and snug town like Ann Arbor. It doesn’t “scatter” its holiday spirit in all the commercializing – Ann Arbor is the place where you’ll smell and feel the crispy, family-like Christmas atmosphere that you miss so much during your regular student days. That is really the time you can abstract yourself from studies and enjoy yourself, even more so with numerous winter activities popular in Ann Arbor (and affordable for broke college youth like yourself). So, let’s check out what you can do to benefit from the cold season to the maximum!
1. Go Skiing
When snow fills the streets, Ann Arbor parks open trails for ski lovers. Even if you don’t have your own skis, many locations have rentals with moderate prices and discounts for students. The most popular destinations are Rolling Hills Park, Hudson Mills Metropark as well as Huron-Clinton Metroparks. If you have your own equipment, you can enjoy Ann Arbor’s Huron Hills Golf Course and Buhr Park.
2. Go Trampolining
Indoors trampolining is a great way to spend time with your friends when it’s too cold outside to enjoy yourself. Sky Zone, in particular, offers activities like dodgeball, basketball and foam zone diving. If you like to hang around actively, this is your to-go place in winter!
3. Go Snowshoeing
This is a rather unusual winter activity that you have to try at least once in your life. There are special boots that are called snowshoes (you can rent them in sports shops) – they come from the history of Native Americans who made them from wood. Although modern snowshoes differ from the original ones (no wood there), their function stays the same – to distribute your weight so that you wouldn’t slump into the snow. It is always fun to give it a go – check it out and see for yourself!
4. Go Ice-Skating
Last year the city council of Ann Arbor allotted some finances from the public budget to create 3 outdoor natural ice rinks in Northside, Burns and Allmendinger parks. Apart from that, there are many other “older” rinks due to the river and park system in the city. So, use the benefit of so many locations and ice skate enough for the whole year in advance.
5. Visit Ann Arbor Folk Festival
Every year the University of Michigan holds a folk festival where jazz, bluegrass, folk and other musicians perform for real fans as well as for those who like to enjoy high-quality music. Students have a privilege to buy tickets with a discount first before they are released in public.
6. Shop at Midnight Madness
This is a shopping occasion when loads of Ann Arbor stores organize Christmas sales accompanied with different entertaining events. If you wish to buy presents for your family and friends, this is a great option to save up money and spend time nicely.
7. Enjoy the Kindle Fest
It’s a holiday market with a free entrance and a wide range of hand-crafted products. But even if you don’t have any money to spend, you can enjoy the Christmas atmosphere created with foods and drinks, fire-pits, music and Lantern Parade.
8. Keep Track of Ann Arbor Meetups
The closer the winter is, the more meetings and events will be organized and posted on a very popular website Meetup.com. Just subscribe to the newsletter with news and gigs to be always on the know. Most of the events published on this resources are free, so you will be able to participate in engaging and fun activities that won’t strain your student wallet.
Don’t get tricked by the small size of Ann Arbor – in the winter time and holiday period people get lit up and plan many interesting activities for the locals as well as tourists. If you engage in at least half of the opportunities we’ve enlisted, you will feel the true joy of taking pleasure in winter the right way. Consider your holidays already planned!