Winter In Big Bear Lake 2 Day Itinerary For Couples

My first trip ever to Big Bear was a weekend getaway in Winter.

JP and I rented a cabin and kept the fireplace roaring the entire time.

Strolling the village while it was dusted in snow and covered in Christmas lights was the perfect date night.

Since then, we’ve visited several more times, staying a week at a time, all throughout the year.

You can hear all the details about visiting Big Bear in winter in our Youtube video below.

Winter In Big Bear Lake 2 Day Itinerary For Couples

JP and I have visited Big Bear a couple of times in the Winter and a couple of times in the Summer and even though both experiences are vastly different, they’re both so much fun.

This itinerary combines our favorite activities and restaurants we’ve done across all of our trips into the perfect 2 day winter itinerary.

Day 1: Explore Big Bear Village

Big Bear Village is a few blocks in the center of town with shops, restaurants, and a handful of activities.

In the winter, it’s very scenic with their Christmas lights and usually a dusting of snow.

You can spend a full day just exploring this general area.

Breakfast: The Copper Q

We come here for their bagels and hot apple cider.

You can build your own bagels or croissants or sandwiches.

JP is a morning coffee drinker, so he gets his coffee here too.

Morning: Village Shops

After getting breakfast, spend your morning exploring all the village shops.

We like to get a Christmas ornament everywhere we travel as our one souvenir and there are plenty of gift shops here.

There are also clothing and specialty shops.

It’s not all just typical tourist gift shops.

Lunch: Wine Tasting At Barrel 33

Enjoy a wine flight with some appetizers and flatbreads once you’re ready to get out of the cold and relax for awhile.

You can choose from a red, white, or mixed flight.

They also offer sangria flights, mimosa flights, Gluhwein, and so much more.

We opted for a red wine flight which included a label called High Altitude that is especially made for Barrel 33.

Another thing we like to do when we travel is try the local wines and take home a bottle of whichever wine was our favorite.

We actually took home a few bottles from this visit:

• High Altitude – Nebbiolo 2015 (Red Blend)
• High Altitude – Syrah 2021
• Vines on the Marycrest – So What 2019 (Cab Sauv, Sangiovese, Syrah)

To pair with our wine tasting, we ordered some baked brie with crackers which was so good.

I’d love to go back and try the bacon wrapped dates though because they’re my latest obsession.

Afternoon: Escape Room and Scavenger Hunt

Mountain Room Escapes has a great room called Inventor’s Workshop and it was actually one of the hardest escape rooms we’ve ever done together.

Maybe if we had a few more people we could’ve had more ideas flowing to solve the riddles.

But what else is neat is that they also have a scavenger hunt where you run all over town solving clues and puzzles.

You can do it in bits and pieces instead of all at one time or in a rush.

Since you’ll be exploring the village all day anyway you’ll kill two birds with one stone.

Dinner: Oakside

Oakside is a very popular dinner restaurant right inside Big Bear Village.

We started our meal by sharing a Peanut Colada.

It’s essentially a Pina Colada, but with an added peanut butter whiskey.

It’s very good and I highly recommend trying it.

For our meal, they have several signature dishes as well as unique appetizers.

We chose the Cajun Turkey Meatloaf Sliders as our appetizer and they were so good.

When looking at the menu before visiting we had also wanted to try their Cowboy Bites because we had only seen them at a restaurant outside of Zion National Park before, but we forgot and couldn’t eat that much anyway.

For our entree, we picked one of their signature dishes, the Chicken Scaloppini.

It’s an Italian breadcrumb crusted chicken breast, finished with a white wine lemon caper sauce.

It also comes with two sides, so we shared mac n cheese and mashed potatoes.

Evening: Cozy Night In

Enjoy the evening at your resort or cabin, wherever you’re staying, and maybe make use of the hot tub or sit in front of a cozy fireplace.

Day 2: Big Bear Outside The Village

Today will include venturing outside the village a bit, but also still coming back into town for meals.

Breakfast: Teddy Bear Restaurant

Teddy Bear Restaurant is a great place for breakfast or a casual lunch.

We ordered lunch to go on our last visit, but they’re more popular for breakfast.

We got sandwiches and pie, which was the perfect to-go meal.

Morning: Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain

Our favorite activity outside of town was the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain.

It is known for being the only authentic bobsled experience in Southern California.

You take a chairlift up and take a winding bobsled back down to the bottom and it’s pretty fast.

You have to slow yourself down toward the end or you’ll crash.

Lunch: Himalayan Restaurant

My favorite restaurant in the Village is the Himalayan Restaurant because they have Butter Chicken with Basmati Rice, and that is one of my favorite meals ever.

I also love Naan Bread and it was great for dipping in the variety of curries and soups.

They’re also really affordable for the quality and quantity of food you get.

Afternoon: Free Time

If you want to get out and ski or snowboard, now’s the time to do it.

Or if the roads aren’t too snowy or icy you can take a scenic drive around the lake.

I like to build in a little bit of free time into our itineraries in case something catches our eye that we didn’t know about before or to have extra down time to relax.

Dinner: Peppercorn Grille

If you’re looking for a more upscale dining experience, Peppercorn Grille is the best there is in Big Bear.

I recommend the Capellini Pomodoro if you love pasta.

It’s angel hair pasta with roma tomato sauce, basil, garlic, romano cheese, and parsley.

Another great dish is the Filet of Alaskan Halibut.

It’s macadamia nut coated and topped with black cherry Maui onion marmalade.

As sides, you get garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed veggies.

Evening: Cozy Night In

Once again, in the evening, I recommend more cozy activities.

Definitely stay in town long enough to enjoy the lights after the sun sets, but in the winter you’ll always find me in the hot tub or in front of the fireplace.

There is a movie theater in town, so if you want to do dinner and a movie, then this is a great time for that as well.

Where to Stay in Big Bear Lake

For our first trip we decided to go through AirBnb to get a cabin since we brought other people with us.

There are plenty of other rental companies to go through as well since cabin rentals are big business in Big Bear.

Depending on what you plan to do in Big Bear, it may be to your advantage to stay as close to the Village as possible.

That’s where all the shops and restaurants will be.

However, another great option if you have the budget is a cabin or house rental anywhere around the lake.

Of course this would be better in the Summer when you can do all the lake activities, but you’ll still have nice views in the Winter.

We were able to find a cabin in our price range that had the perfect set up and it was only a couple miles from the Village.

We were visiting a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, so peak season hadn’t started up yet and parking was still easy to find in the Village when we wanted to go there.

Worldmark by Wyndham Big Bear

This is a beautiful resort up in the mountains with all the amenities you could want.

The perk of staying here is that you can get a full kitchen, dining room, living room, patio, and more.

We stayed in a one bedroom unit that comes with an in unit washer and dryer and has a grill on the patio that we used to cook some excellent steaks for dinners in the room.

There are several hot tubs throughout the property, an activity center with a fitness center, pool tables, arcade games, a playground, and more.

Click Here To Book Your Stay At Worldmark by Wyndham Big Bear Lake Today!

The Lodge at Big Bear Lake

The resort really fits the feel of Big Bear Lake and is usually a more budget friendly property since it is owned by Holiday Inn.

Our room had a fireplace, which was a nice touch, and I’m sure is very helpful for visitors in the Winter months.

Click Here To Book Your Stay At The Lodge At Big Bear Lake Today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of our most frequently asked questions about visiting Big Bear Lake in the winter.

More Fun Things To Do In Southern California In Winter

Here are some of our favorite things to do around Southern California in Winter, outside of Big Bear.

Some of our past favorites are long gone like Malibu Lights: Winter Nights and Snow Day LA, but there are so many local favorites that are still going strong.

Winter Fest OC

Winter Fest OC is held every year at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Each year there are some slight changes, but in general you can expect live entertainment, snow play, snow tubing, carnival rides and games, and more!

LA Zoo Lights

The LA Zoo hosts a winter holiday themed zoo lights event every year and it’s such a unique way to experience the zoo at night.

You can see some of the animals, but the focus is really the lights, live entertainment, and photo ops.