Plan ahead this year for Valentine’s Day!

Want to celebrate Valentine’s Day in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais or northern New York in an unforgettable way? You should probably start planning now, because spaces for the hottest events, activities and dinners get snapped up quickly! Check out these romantic suggestions and make your Ottawa Valentine’s Day extra special.

Photo by Kerri Shaver on Unsplash.

Valentine’s Day on a budget

• Take a couples’ dance class and/or attend the Valentine’s Night Dance Party at Arthur Murray Dance in Little Italy.
• Treat your sweetie to a non-alcoholic drink or a cocktail—a Cupids’ pink hot chocolate or a Love Potion of gin and Malibu, maybe?—at the Luxe Blooms Flower Cafe on Dalhousie Street in the ByWard Market.
• Share some chuckles with your significant other at the Valentine’s edition of Musical Comedy Night at the Seaway Valley Theatre in Cornwall on Saturday, February 11.

Mid-priced Valentine’s Day ideas

• Nosh on the take-home Valentine’s meal from Red Apron in Centretown. The menu includes roast Cornish hen, raspberry chocolate brownies and more.
• Stretch out with a night of yoga for couples, with wine and chocolate, by Yoga with Ivory. It’s happening at Smokie Ridge Vineyard in Mountain (just south of Ottawa) on February 10 and 11.
• Book high tea for two at the North Folk Cafe and Bakery in Perth (February 10 to 14).
• Channel your inner cowboy or cowgirl with a winter horseback ride at Captiva Farms in Wakefield.
• Choose from three options for each course (including vegetarian dishes) on the Valentine’s Day menu at the Locks Restaurant in Perth (offered on Saturday, February 11, and Tuesday, February 14).
• Or try the three-course take-home Valentine’s menu at Take Another Bite, which also includes multiple options for each course. Pick up in Nepean or Manotick.
• Get a four-course meal to enjoy at home from Zola’s Restaurant and Pasta Shop in Bells Corners.
• Fancy a bit of a road trip? Check out Sweet on Chocolate, a fundraiser for the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) in Syracuse. After enjoying chocolates and sparkling wine, you can see a “star-crossed lovers planetarium show.”
• For something completely different, how about The Diablo Manor: An Evening of Enchantment, a Victorian-style supernatural show and fancy dinner in Spencerville on Friday, February 10?

Valentine’s Day splurges

• Fly to a romantic location with this Air Canada seat sale. (Note: Your definition of “romantic” and Air Canada’s may differ. Maui? Sure. Moncton? Umm…)
• Indulge in a luxe all-inclusive wilderness wellness weekend at the new Dimensions Algonquin Highlands resort, northwest of Haliburton.

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in Eastern Ontario, the Outaouais, northern New York state and beyond? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your Weekend Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.