10 MAR 2017 Village Vacances Valcartier Quebec The Ultimate Winter Playground by Lauren posted in: Blog, Canada, Quebec, Quebec City, Winter Activities 4 It brings out the kid in all of us! Play for the day at Village Vacances Valcartier.
Village Vacances Valcartier is the ultimate winter playground, just outside of Quebec City. It s the largest winter theme park in North America, with more than 35 snow slides, snow rafting, and a high speed tubing slide. Justin and I had an absolute blast playing in the snow. SNOW TUBING PARK Have you ever gone snow tubing before? Basically, you ride an inner tube down an icy and snowy hill. You go pretty fast, and it s a lot of fun. Typically, Justin and I rode down the hills together, making sure to hold on to each other s tube. Did you know that Village Vacances Valcartier has more than 5000 inner tubes and 17 mechanical lifts? No, you won t have to walk back up the hill every time you ride down it. There s a lift system in place to transport you up to the top of the tubing hill. A series of inner tubes travel up the hill. Hop on board this ride before the slide while hanging on to your own tube. Some of the hills are so big, there are two sets of mechanical lifts to get to the very top. Once you reach the top of the hill, you need to decide which snow slide you re going to ride down. Village Vacances Valcartier rates each snow slide, from easy to very difficult. That way, you can stick to the calmer hills if you don t want anything too scary. If you re a thrill-seeker, you can head to one of the more intense slides. In addition to the regular tubing slides, there are a few other interesting rides. At Tornado, you ll ride in a large, circular tube that seats up to 8 people. It contains a special mechanism that makes the tube spin as you fly down the hill, much like a tornado. For snow rafting, you sit inside a giant raft, similar to something you d see if you went white
water rafting. It seats up to 12 people, with even adventurous young children being able to ride this one. For the extremely adventurous, Everest is the highest accelerating snow slide in North America, reaching a speed of 80km/hour. As for the two of us, our favorite section of snow slides was called Himalaya. These are the steepest and longest slopes at Village Vacances Valcartier. You can also reach up to 80km/hour flying down these hills, just on your inner tubes. Justin and I sat in our tubes facing one another, hanging on tight to each other s rafts. We flew and spun down the hill, screaming and laughing uncontrollably until we reached the bottom. With the cold wind in my face and a blur of white as I spun around in circles, Himalaya was the most thrilling snow tubing hill I ve ever experienced. We highly recommend that you spend at least half a day at the Village Vacances Valcartier winter playground. Give each snow slide a try at least more than once! OTHER WINTER ACTIVITIES Snow tubing isn t the only activity at Village Vacances Valcartier. There s also a 1km skating path, and you can rent skates on site. Justin and I participated in a very Canadian activity eating maple taffy. For a small fee, hot maple syrup was poured onto snow. We rolled up the maple syrup on a stick as it hardened from the cold snow. It s an ooeygooey, sweet and delicious snack that you ve got to try.
EXCITING EXPERIENCES In the winter, Village Vacances Valcartier has the largest outdoor winter playground. In the summer, the winter playground is transformed into an outdoor water park. The snow slides turn into water slides. There are also swimming pools and lazy rivers. We ll have to come back later in the year to enjoy this summer playground. New to Village Vacances Valcartier, you don t have to wait until the summer to enjoy a water park. There s an indoor water park now that s open all year long. Yes, you can go snow tubing and glide down water slides all in one day. For those looking to unwind and relax, be sure to check out the Valcartier Aroma Spa. It s a 6000 square foot spa with an indoor and outdoor pool. There s also a steam room, a sauna, a tea bar, and a relaxing area with a fireplace. If you re looking to be pampered, Aroma Spa is the place to be. ICE HOTEL And to top it all off, Quebec s Ice Hotel is on the property of Village Vacances Valcartier. Even if you re not staying the night at Hotel de Glace, you can take a tour to check out the various rooms and ice sculptures. However, if you are interested in staying the night, you should check out our full review of our Ice Hotel overnight experience. Village Vacances Valcartier truly has something for everyone. From winter activities to water slides, and ice sculptures to spa experiences, you should visit in every season. We do highly recommend that you travel here in the winter so you can experience the exciting snow tubing adventures for yourself.
Want to see Village Vacances Valcartier in action? Check out our Quebec City video! Check out more of our travel photos from our trip to Quebec City in the winter.