11 best ice skating rinks in Boston

Located in the center of the Boston Common, the magic of the Frog Pond is apparent as you stroll up. Open from December to March, depending on how cold the winter is, you can take a spin around the pond—or just watch skaters zoom by. Bring your own skates or rent some at the concession stand. Lessons for all ages are available, and there are cute seal-shaped skating aids for children. Open seven days a week, the weekends and holidays are the busiest. While you wait your turn, there’s a café and free WiFi to keep you occupied.

Located between Time Out Market and Trillium Brewing—and just steps from historic Fenway Park—you can take to the ice this winter at this seasonal, 6,000-square-foot outdoor ice rink after grabbing a bite to eat (but before a beer, please). It’ll cost adults $10 to skate, but kids, students and seniors get in for $6, and the rink is open Thursday through Sunday.

At Boston Landing in Brighton, this enormous indoor rink is the home of the Boston Bruins. This is where the team trains, but their practice facility is open for public skating for all ages and skill levels. If you’ve ever dreamed about skating on the same ice as the Bruins, this is your chance. Dates and times vary—the Bruins sometimes need their practice space outside of the usual schedule—and you’ll need to pre-register, so check their website beforehand to sign up.

This pretty outdoor rink is located in Kendall Square’s North Plaza, off Athenaeum Street, perfect for some after-work fun, if you’re an office-goer in this tech hub. The rink is planning on opening mid-December, but be sure to check their website before visiting. There is a concession with a snack bar, skate rentals, lockers and skate sharpening. Lessons are available, and the rink can be rented for private events.

This indoor rink—owned by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)—has been a Southie staple for public skating since 1965. The facility offers on-site parking, two rinks, and skate and balancing walker rentals. Open to the public Nov 25 through March, don’t miss the better than you’d expect snack bar offering Italian sausage, house-made chips and more.

Enjoy piped in music, rentals and holiday lights at Worcester’s 12,000-square-foot rink, which opened in 2012. The massive rink is 4,000 square feet larger than the rink at New York City's Rockefeller Center! There’s concession stands and more fun when the season kicks off.

If you grew up here, you’ve probably laced up your skates at this long-time North End staple. Like many rinks, it’s open seasonally, November through March, and the rink offers some seriously lovely water views. There's on-site skate rental and a snack bar serving hot dogs and the like to keep skaters fueled. You can skate for free, but if you don’t have your own blades, be ready to rent, and as it's a community hockey arena, check ahead to make sure it isn’t booked for a game or private event.

This seasonal, public outdoor rink in Jamaica Plain is very kid-friendly, so it’s gonna be packed with little people during winter weekends and holidays. One plus: Skating is free and skate rentals are cheap (and for even greater savings, just bring your own pair). There are lessons on Saturdays. Skating begins in mid-December and continues through March, usually. Just remember that because it’s outside, it may be closed if the notoriously fickle New England weather isn’t cooperating.

Brookline’s Jack Kirranne ice skating rink is open to the public for skating and hockey league practices, with dates and times to be released soon. You can take a class with the Bay State Skating School, join a hockey team for the season and of course, just go skating. Concessions are available, and admission is usually $8 ($6 for residents of Brookline), with $6 skate rentals.

The Patriot’s place of play offers so much more than just football! Winter Skate at Patriot Place at Gillette Stadium offers day and evening public skating, normally starting mid-November. The 60-by-140-foot rink is big enough to accommodate all levels, and the professional surface means conditions are always ideal. For non-skaters, you can hang out on an observation deck overlooking the rink.

This arched building off Soldiers Field Road in Allston is a private, members-only figure skating club as well as a public rink. Public skating hours are limited, though, and you should check ahead of arrival to make sure an event isn’t happening before you go. The public skating sessions are in operation year-round. The club is the third-oldest US Figure Skating club still in existence and has been around in various iterations for more than a century.