Whether you’re elegant or awkward on the ice, there’s no denying that heading along to one of Sydney’s best ice rinks is a great way to spend a few hours. Gliding around on slippery ground while trying to maintain perfect posture is a tricky endeavour, whether your indoors or outdoors, but it sure is fun.
Me? I can barely stand up for longer than a minute on an ice rink, but that has never stopped me from trying. Yes, it’s awkward watching all those kids zip by my arms flail around as furiously as one of those car dealership tube men, but it’s still such a great, refreshing atmosphere that takes the edge off on a hot day, or helps me get into the spirit with an outdoor skating rink during winter.
Plus, gliding around ice is just such a calming, stress-free experience (if you do it properly).
Sydney has a great mix of Olympic-sized ice rinks, smaller family-friendly ice rinks (some with disco nights) and cool ice skating rinks that pop-up outdoors in spots like Darling Harbour and Bondi during the winter months. These are my favourite.
Year-Round Ice Skating Rinks in Sydney
1. Macquarie Ice Rink, North Ryde
Macquarie Ice Rink is the most recognisable of its kind in Sydney, having run for over 40 years on Level 1 of the enormous Macquarie Shopping Centre. It’s also the biggest; this is a full-size Olympic rink that hosts ice sports on occasion, as well as daily public skating sessions that are both affordable and generous. There’s even an all-ages skate school and a kid’s club so everyone can get involved.
Expert Tip: Macquarie Shopping Centre offers three hours of free parking and sessions at the ice rink at two hours. If you’re with the little ones, I suggest heading up to Time Zone to kill another hour if you want to make the most of it.
Type: Indoors
Open: Monday – Sunday (9:30am – 6pm)
Price: $12 for children under 5; $25 for children under 16; $29 for Students; $30 for adults (based on a two-hour session)
Address: Corner of Herring Road and, Waterloo Rd, North Ryde
Note that pricing has remained unchanged for years, but costs may rise when the refurbishment is complete in late 2025.
2. Ice Zoo, Mascot
Once upon a time, Ice Zoo was hiding in Alexandria; now it calls Mascot home, just 15 minutes from the CBD. It feels like entering a little icy oasis in the city. The rink runs relaxed public sessions daily, plus disco nights, skating classes for all ages, and a café (licensed! so adults can take the edge off while their kids struggle on the ice) for warming up.
Expert tip: Ice Zoo’s skating lessons are comprehensive and vast. You can even learn how to figure skate and join the morning Coffee Club skating workshops to turn this into a social meet-up.
Type: Indoors
Open: Monday (5:30pm – 10pm); Tuesday – Thursday (5:30am – 11:15pm); Friday (5:30pm – 10:45pm); Saturday (5:30am – 10pm); Sunday (8am – 10:45pm)
Price: Toddlers for $17; children for $25; students for $25; adults for $27 (skate hire is included; it’s $10 extra for “penguin hire” – which is assistance on the ice).
Address: 253 Coward St, Mascot
3. Liverpool Catholic Club Rink, Liverpool
Famous for its after-dark weekend discos, where DJs and lighting rigs bring the ice to life, the LCC Skating Rink is enormous, start-of-the-art and fun. You’ll find everything from ice hockey to figure skating and movie screenings on the ice, if you head along at the right time. But LCC is busiest for its school holiday and playgroup programs featuring comprehensive skating lessons, games and morning tea. Best of all? It’s one of the most affordable skating rinks in Sydney.
Expert Tip: Given that it’s part of the Liverpool Catholic Club, you should back a session of glide and slide with lunch or dinner at one of the precinct’s six restaurants. There’s also a huge indoor playground in case the kids feel like running around on more stable ground.
Type: Indoors
Open: Monday – Thursday (6am – 6pm); Friday (6am – 10:30pm); Saturday (6am – 11pm); Sunday (7am – 5pm)
Price: Toddlers for $16; children for $19; adults for $22
Address: 424 – 458 Hoxton Park Rd, Prestons
4. Erina Ice Arena, Terrigal
Erina Ice Arena is another state-of-the-art Olympic-sized sports facility, but this one is found all way out of Terrigal. It’s great if you want to pair an ice skating session with a little road trip with the family, or engage in the various ice sports that regularly occur on the field. There’s a 500-capacity grandstand for spectators, making this one of the only places where you can watch ice sports as a spectator without waiting for any specific sports event to come to Sydney.
Expert tip: Terrigal is beautiful. Book in for a night or two with the kids and use Erina Ice Arena as just one stop on a wider Terrigal itinerary.
Type: Indoors
Open: Monday (11:30am – 3pm); Tuesday (11:30am – 3pm, 3:30pm – 5pm); Wednesday – Thursday (11:30am – 3pm); Friday (11:30am – 3pm, 7:30pm – 10pm);
Price: children for $22; adults for $26
Address: Erina Fair, Shop A08 Terrigal Dr, Erina
Seasonal Ice Skating Rinks in Sydney
5. Darling Harbour Ice Rink, Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour Ice Rink is one of the few seasonal ice fields that pop-up during the winter months, cosying up next to Sydney Harbour for a picturesque outdoor ice skating experience. You’ll typically find it stays put from mid-June to late-July, but timings have differed each year. And it’s always worth heading along, with a festive atmosphere that’s great for both date night or a family-friendly school holiday activity. It’s also just nice to see the city so alive during the colder months; even if I’m not out there on the ice, I love just heading on down and soaking up the vibe. You’ll find it just outside of IMAX Sydney and the W Sydney hotel.
Expert tip: This seasonal ice skating rink is usually open until 9pm each night. If you’re with some friends or on a date, it’s best to show up in the later hours when everything is lit up and it feels like Christmas time. Note that all sessions are 45 minutes each and the price includes skate hire.
Type: Outdoors
Open: Times and dates vary by year
Price: Toddlers for $15; children for $20; adults for $28 ($10 for penguins)
Address: Near IMAX Sydney, Darling Harbour
6. Bondi Festival Ice Rink, Bondi Beach
From early to late July, the Bondi Festival Ice Rink acts as the main drawcard for Bondi Beach’s yearly celebration of local community. With the great big ferries wheel nearby, the pop-up ice skating rink is dressed in twinkling fairy lights for a gorgeous, wintry scene after sunset. The pop-up also offers casual and expert-led ice skating sessions for ages 4 and under. The ice skating rink used to be the beach, which added to the magic of Bondi Festival, but now it’s closer to the Campbell Parade; that breaks immersion, but you’ve still got that unforgettable view of the ocean when you’re slipping and sliding around the cosy field.
Expert tip: Pair a skate-and-glide session with a swim in the morning and a shop in the afternoon if you really want to do it like a local.
Type: Outdoors
Open: Early July to late July
Price: Toddlers for $15; children for $22; adults for $28 (penguin hire $10; free helmets)
Address: Bondi Beach, Sydney
Are there enough ice skating rinks in Sydney?
I do wish there were more outdoor ice skating rinks in Sydney. We used to have quite a few. Cathedral Square would always set up an ice rink right next to Hyde Park during the Holiday season, but it hasn’t popped up in the past few years. Sydney really needs more holiday season ice skating rinks to build up a festive atmosphere on par with romantic cities like New York and Vienna, but until then it’s good to know we’ve got some stalwarts running around the scene like Ice Zoo and Macquarie Ice Rink.
Wait a minute, an outdoor ice skating rink in summer? Yes. We need more of those. Organisers can use synthetic ice that doesn’t melt but still has the same effect. Synthetic ice typically means you can have a year-round outdoor ice skating rink without having to worry about maintenance, or the ice melting. Traditional outdoor rinks typically rely on complex refrigeration systems, which are expensive to maintain.
