The biggest open air ice rink in Europe measures 15,000 square meters (49,000 square ft.) and has literary connotations. The park is named after Russian author Maxim Gorky, and close to the nearby Gorky Park metro station you'll find author Leo Tolstoy's house. In his novel "Anna Karenina" a pivotal scene in chapter nine is set on a Moscow ice rink.

Every year some 7 million visitors climb up, either by stairs or by lift, the 137-meter (449-ft.) high Eiffel Tower, making it one of the most visited attractions in the French capital. From December until February you can also spin some pirouettes on the ice at the foot of the tower or on its first floor, just some 57 meters up.

From January until March, the town hall square in the Austrian capital is turned into a huge 8,000-square-meter area of ice. The "Vienna Ice Dreams" has been a highlight of the city's winter season since 1996. Some 65,000 visitors strap on skates and stay warm by moving to the Waltz music.

On Cromwell Road in the district of Kensington and Chelsea, the stately Victorian building of the Natural History Museum creates an impressive setting for an ice rink. Those who prefer a more modern setting can opt for the ice rink under the London Eye Millennium Wheel. But there you have to book the tickets in advance.

This man-made ice rink in front of the Prometheus statue at the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan has been permanent festive season fixture since 1936. The 18 x 37-meter (59 x 121-foot) area can only ever be used by a maximum of 150 skaters, which makes the pleasure a little more exclusive. From October to April the rink is visited by over half a million skaters.

In the United Arab Emirates the outside temperatures measure over 40 degrees Celsius in the summer and around 20 degrees Celsius in the winter. But ice skating is still possible in one of the world's biggest shopping malls, the Dubai Mall, which has an Olympic sized rink. What are known as "Ice Marshalls" help people in this desert state glide across the ice.

Surrounded by impressive industrial architecture and running along a huge furnace, in which at 1,000 degrees Celsius coal was once turned into coke, there is an ice rink measuring some 150 meters in length. The Zeche Zollverein was a coal mine until 1986. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an important landmark of the city of Essen in the Ruhr industrial area.

On Alexanderplatz, between the television tower and the Red City Hall, you'll find one of Berlin's oldest and most beautiful fountains: the Neptunbrunnen. In summer the fountain helps cool the air while in winter it serves as the center piece of a popular ice rink. Use is free of charge, though skates can be hired for 4 euro (4.2 $) and skaters get enjoy hot beats as they slide along.

A small but top-notch ice rink can be found in the inner yard of the Baroque building, which today is a grand, five-star hotel, popular with tourists. Hotel guests get to use the ice rink free of charge, of course. Otherwise it costs 9.50 euro (10 $), which includes the hire of the ice skates.

Though the Dutch are happy to skate on any ice, they get the greatest joy from natural ice. The world-famous "Eleven Cities Tour" was invented here in 1909. Since then it has been held a total of 15 times, as it depends on a winter cold enough for the freshwater canals to freeze solid. The tournament involves ice skaters completing a 200-kilometer (120-mile) tour on frozen lakes and canals.