Hello!! Hope you’re doing well! I recently took a small weekend trip with my sister in law to Thornbury/ Collingwood. I’m starting a new job soon and I had some time off between jobs. My sister in law was also off for March Break, so we decided to go on a small trip! We only stayed one night but I think we were able to get a lot done during that time! I wanted to share what we got up to. If you’re looking for a short stay-cation or a day trip, I would definitely recommend coming here!
Drive Up
The drive wasn’t too bad at all. We’re located in Toronto and it’s about a two hour drive one way. We weren’t sure what the traffic would be like, but it ended up being okay. We left around 10am and stopped at one of the roadside On Routes to pick up a small lunch from Starbucks. I really love these On Routes in Ontario just because they always have really clean bathrooms and a pretty good variety of food to choose from.
Scenic Caves Nature Adventure
Our motel check in was at 4pm so we had a bit of time to kill. The first stop was the Scenic Caves Nature Adventure. This is an area with both snowshoeing and cross country skiing trails. They also had a small play park for kids so this might be a decent place for those with little ones. We both have our own snowshoes (a purchase during the pandemic to try and get some more time outside). Admittedly, we haven’t had a chance to really use them much. It was WARM this day (double digit Celsius) so actually we weren’t sure if we would still be able to do the snowshoeing. The people at the front did ensure us that you couldn’t NOT snowshoe apparently for liability purposes (there did end up being some steep inclines in some places). As you can see from the picture there was enough snow for sure to do snowshoeing.
There were definitely some challenging parts with hills. Most of the trails were listed as intermediate with only one beginner trail pretty far off of the main building. The biggest ‘attraction’ was the suspension bridge. It’s Ontario’s longest foot suspension bridge. It was really amazing to see. We were a bit worried because earlier in the day it was quite foggy, but it cleared up nicely when we got to the bridge!
One thing to say about this activity is that it’s not overtly cheap. We only needed the trail pass since we had our own gear and it was $25 per person. The rentals it looks like are another $20 each per person. With this being said I’d definitely come back to try and explore some more of the trails. They were well groomed and there was lots to see. Even though not as cheap as say a provincial park, I would say this is something to see if you enjoy snowshoeing or cross country skiing!
Accommodations at Penny’s Motel
We were still a bit early for our 4pm check in but we decided to see if our room happened to be ready. We were staying our one night at Penny’s Motel. Penny’s has almost the same story as The June Motel in Prince Edward County and Sauble Beach. I’ve never stayed at The June Motel so I can’t really compare, but I heard about Penny’s in a Toronto Life article which describes the full story of massive renos and what it took to re-open the motel.
When we arrived, we went to the check-in/ reservations counter which actually was in their restaurant. Usually you are able to have a contact-less check in. A few days before your stay they text and email you the code key to your room. When you arrive you text them that you’re checking in and when you’re leaving you text them that you’re checking out! Super easy! Since we weren’t sure if our room was ready yet, we trudged inside.
The inside part of the restaurant is quite small. It’s mostly only the bar. There were a few areas to eat inside but mostly you could tell the majority of effort was put towards their patio / fire pits for people to eat outside. We actually didn’t end up eating at the hotel at all just because there were so many fantastic options in the area.
When we went inside, the woman at the reception/ …bar(?) told us that our room was ready and we could check in!
We got one of the two queen bed rooms. The room was SUPER cute and exactly the vibe I was looking for. The wallpaper was beautiful and the room was actually very spacious. I loved the little eclectic touches with the pineapple pillows and the pottery and fake plants on the desk.
The one thing was the bathroom was a bit small. Definitely much smaller than a traditional hotel. The bathroom itself looked so nice though. It had heated floors and the tiles really looked great with the place.
I wanted to do a quick rundown on Pros and Cons just so I don’t bore you to death.
Pros
- Biggest would just be the vibe. Love the decor and just the overall look and feel. It was very clean (with it being so new)
- The room size was very good. My sis in law was saying we should have brought our yoga mats and we could have done some yoga, the rooms were that big
- The toiletries were from Malin + Goetz. I had briefly heard of the brand but never tried anything. They were definitely much nicer than any other hotel toiletries I’ve used in awhile
- Free Flow water and a bag of chips (small, but nice touch!)
Cons
- The radiator heaters were LOUD. Like, extremely so. When the radiators would kick in there would be a loud crack and you could hear it starting. The floor radiators worked very well (it got the room warm quickly) but if you are light sleeper I feel like this could affect you
- Lack of outlets around the room. There wasn’t from what I could see an outlet available on the shared nightstand so I had to charge my phone over by the desk. A small thing, but with obviously so many things to charge nowadays, it would be nice if there were more accessible outlets
All in all, it was a fantastic stay and would definitely recommend. This wasn’t a cheap stay, but I would say we definitely got what we paid for. I would definitely come here again.
One last thing before we move on from accommodations. They have a Samsung smart tv that you are able to log into your own Netflix, Disney Plus, Prime, Crave etc. When we arrived every single service was already logged in. I guess the people before us had forgotten to log out? This just definitely felt so creepy that we could use their account. Personally, just because of the cyber ick factor, we weren’t going to log into our own accounts. After we left, we logged out of everything just to be good citizens haha.
Blue Mountain Village
After checking in, we decided to go to the Blue Mountain Village just because my sis in law had never been before. We probably just walked around 10 mins or so just because it was SO BUSY. Like extremely so. This wasn’t a surprise really because it was March Break, but it was just a bit overwhelming. I ended up wearing my mask the whole time just because there were so many people. You could tell the lines for the lifts were INSANE.
We decided to grab a Beavertail and then skedaddled out of there. It had been so long since we last had a Beavertail! I swear they’ve gotten smaller!
End of First Day
After going back to the motel and resting for a bit, we ended up deciding what we wanted to do for dinner. We ended up going to Winifred’s Pub. The food was FANTASTIC. It was also walking distance from our motel which was really nice. We both stuffed ourselves silly. I don’t have any pictures of that food just because we both ate it so quickly!
After walking back to the motel, we decided to call it a night. I was a bit disappointed I was so stuffed because our motel had s’more kits you could buy for their open bonfires. Hopefully next time!
Last Day!
So after a semi-restful night (that darn radiator!) we were ready to head to breakfast and get the day started. We actually had a busier day booked for our last day compared to our first. We got all prepped up and then checked out of the hotel around 9:30am. We went into Thornbury for breakfast and ended up eating at a local bakery, Thornbury Bakery Cafe. They had a really great selection of breakfast foods and it was so good. Again, would highly recommend.
Hello Pottery Class
After breakfast, we drove into downtown Collingwood (about 20 mins if that) for our pottery class. On the motel’s website, they have a full listing of fun things to do in the area and Hello Pottery was listed. We are both decently creative people (her more than me!) so we wanted to try it out. The pottery studio is a bit of a hole in the wall down a laneway. We weren’t sure what to expect!
The store was super cute with some retail area up front and then the pottery tables at the back. The two of us were the only ones that were taking the class that day (which was actually really nice). We were introduced to our instructor, Maria, who helped us along the way. The March Break classes were all set in terms of what you would make. The day we chose was a painters palette. Since we were the only ones, we were able to edit the project a bit. Instead of a true painters palette we ended up making small flat trays.
Above was what I created. It doesn’t look like much right now, but after it goes through the kiln, the colours (peach paint) and clay (we both picked speckled) will come through! The class was super engaging and fun. Maria was great, she really helped us throughout! Our pieces will be mailed to us in 2-4 weeks! Can’t wait to see how they come out!
Scandinave Spa
Last but not least before we drove home was the Scandinave Spa at Blue Mountain. We had just booked access to the baths as the massages were all filled up. I have no pictures of this place because they are VERY strict on no talking and no phones at all. The lodge itself was quite nice along with the change rooms. This was probably the busiest spot we went to other than our quick jaunt through the village. After you changed into your swim suit you have a pretty big area for you to go around. There were a few hot baths, cold baths, steam rooms and saunas. It was busy but not busy enough to be uncomfortable. You could distance decently well.
For this one I would definitely come back, but what we were thinking was that we should have been better prepared. Maybe brought a book or something just to relax on some of the chairs. It’s a decently unique experience and if you’re into the spa like feel, then I would recommend trying this place out!
So all in all, that was our two day one night trip! We both kept on saying that it felt longer just based on all the stuff we did! If you are looking for stay-cation I would definitely recommend everything that we ended up doing and seeing. The best thing about Thornbury and Collingwood is that it’s a year round destination. I would love to come back here during the summer time too!
Thanks so much for reading! Have a great day!
*Purchased