Where to go ice skating in Los Angeles

L.A. doesn’t typically seem like much of a winter wonderland, until, that is, you create an ice skating rink right in the midst of Downtown skyscrapers. Come glide around and pretend there’s snow on the ground at Pershing Square’s outdoor holiday skating rink. Skate rentals are included in admission, though lockers and skating aids cost a few dollars extra.

RECOMMENDED: The best places to go ice skating in Los Angeles

Located just blocks from the ocean, Ice in downtown Santa Monica brings a bit of winter to the comfortable coastal city. The 8,000-square-foot outdoor rink runs daily from November to mid-January on the corner of Fifth Street and Arizona Avenue (less than a 10-minute walk from the E Line). Tickets for an hourlong slot ($24) include skate rentals, and you can book private parties and cabanas if you’re looking for something a bit more premium. Look out for treats for sale, plus special themed nights and Classical Sundays, when you can skate to classical music for your own Charlie Brown Christmas moment.

RECOMMENDED: The best places to go ice skating in Los Angeles

The annual L.A. Kings ice skating rink once again returns to L.A. Live. Skate around the dazzling Christmas tree that stands in the middle of the outdoor rink, and take in an LED holiday light show on the huge screens around the plaza. Choose from four nightly skating sessions. Note: Tickets, which include skate rental, are only sold on-site, and can’t be purchased online.

RECOMMENDED: The best places to go ice skating in Los Angeles

It’s always Christmas at this charmingly kitsch amusement park outside of Lake Arrowhead. But it’s extra Christmassy toward the end of the year at Santa’s Village—especially if we’re lucky enough to have had some fresh mountain snowfall. Swing by the park’s Silver Bells Arena, which flips from a summertime roller rink to a seasonal ice skating rink. Though rentals are included, this is, of course, more expensive than your average rink since you’ll need to purchase a ticket to the rest of the theme park ($69–$89).

If you’re shopping in Orange County and dreaming of a white Christmas, the open-air Irvine Spectrum Center is your answer. Located in Giant Wheel Court by Nordstrom, this rink offers an opportune time out from a busy shopping day. Following each 90-minute skating session, the rink is closed for resurfacing, so you’ll never have to skate on slush. Head to the adjacent Ferris wheel during the half-hour the rink is closed for nonstop fun. Tickets—$25 with skate rental, $22 if you bring your own—are available at the rink, but if you want “jump the line” tickets, you can buy them online ahead of time for $45.

RECOMMENDED: The best places to go ice skating in Los Angeles

Right down the hill from Universal Studios Hollywood, at the Hilton hotel, you’ll find this ice skating rink with views of the Hollywood Hills. For the kids, there’s Santa’s Workshop and face painting. Grown-ups can opt for the “date & skate” package, which includes two tickets and two themed cocktails from Jingle Bell Tavern, a holiday pop-up bar. Theme nights include “Wicked Wednesdays,” when the rink is lit up in green and tracks from the musical provide the soundtrack starting December 4 (timed perfectly not only for the film version of Wicked but also the musical’s return to the Pantages). On opening night, November 30, skating will be free from 6–8pm after performances by a Wicked cast member and the Los Angeles Ice Theater.

This Christmas-themed Costa Mesa event is celebrating 10 years of turning Orange County into a winter wonderland. Expect a North Pole walk-through, snow play, ice tubing and photo ops, plus an all-new holiday light show twinkling with more than 2 million lights. There’s also ice skating, naturally, which here is an add-on that costs $25 on top of admission (and don’t bring your own skates—they’re not allowed here).

Okay, forgive us, but we snuck a roller skating rink in here. Rancho Palos Verdes used to offer outdoor ice skating—albeit on a synthetic rink—but now it’s changed things up to host wintertime roller skating, which is still pretty fun. After a tree lighting ceremony and holiday pop-up shop on Friday evening, you can skate around atop a bluff overlooking the ocean, sled on real snow and enjoy live entertainment all weekend long.

RECOMMENDED: Where to go ice skating in L.A.