On Friday, I took a trip over the provincial border to Québec to go to Le Nordik Spa-Nature because it was recommended to me by several people, and I felt like a day of relaxation and mindfulness was in order! I first tried to go to Gatineau Park but due to rain, I went directly to Chelsea for Le Nordik. This was by far the most expensive day of the vacation, around $250 USD I would estimate. I got the all-day spa access and decided to splurge on a massage. That came to around $160 CAD ($123 USD) and then I had to buy a swimsuit, rent a bathrobe ($12 CAD), and also enjoyed some food and drinks ($35 CAD). So, an expensive day, but I think it was worth it and was a really great experience. One of the great things about Ottawa is how many of the attractions and sites are free or extremely affordable during the majority of my week. The most expensive ticket I paid the whole trip was $13 USD. Others like Parliament were free, the Mint was only $6 USD, and so forth.
The rate to go to the spa all day (called spa access), including the nine saunas and ten temperature pools and hot tubs is $65 CAD ($50 USD) weekends, holidays, and high season, and $55 CAD ($42 USD) Monday-Thursday. They are open from 9 AM – 11 PM (12 AM on Fridays and Saturdays). Your spa access allows you to stay all day as long as you’d like. Massages (with a choice of 60 or 90 minutes and regular or specialty massages) ranged from $105-$160 CAD ($81-$123 USD). Mine was a traditional 60-minute regular massage which came to $105 CAD ($81 USD).
Lunch at one of the restaurants on site, the Mëzz Café. It’s a mango smoothie and Québec cheese platter.
The big thing about Le Nordik is their thermal cycle. This is where you start in hot (such a one of the saunas or hot tubs) for about 5-15 minutes, and then in a cold pool for about 15 minutes, and then a period of rest.
I didn’t follow the steps exactly. I was okay with short periods in the sauna but couldn’t make it long, and the cold pools were pretty cold! But I did the best I could and found it interesting the health benefits.
The spa is beautiful and is integrated into nature, with some of the pools being in natural rock formations and waterfalls.
Photos courtesy of https://chelsea.lenordik.com/
Downfalls of the day: I got a sunburn!! This was especially crappy because I had just gotten sunscreen! Second downfall, I took a Lyft from Ottawa to Gatineau, but when I went to request a ride back, both Uber and Lyft said they were unavailable in Quebec! So, that was some tough stress to handle! After about 10 phone calls, I finally found a cross-provincial taxi that was around the cost of a ride-share.
This place was so great that I’m actually going back with my mom and a few friends in August! I would definitely recommend setting aside a day to do something relaxing and enjoying this unique spa! I suggest going during a weekday because it’s particularly busy Fridays-Sundays. Also earlier in the day (10 AM – 2 PM) was slower then it got later in the afternoon. I recommend trying to see the place at night because I hear it’s beautiful, but I wasn’t able to stay late enough for the sun to set and see it lit up.
