Looking for new date night ideas? Whether you’re planning a big night out or a quiet evening in, I hope you find some date night ideas on this list that spark your creativity. Sometimes it can be hard to balance your desire to stick to a budget with your wish to treat your partner. Date nights can get expensive fast! But spending quality time with the person you love doesn’t need to break the bank.
It can be tough to make date nights a priority, especially when life gets busy, but they’re so important. Taking the time to reconnect is one of the best ways to manage the stresses of every day life. Just like self care, it’s important to prioritize date nights when life get busy, because it’s likely that’s when you most need them.
Trying something new can get you out of a date night ideas rut, or back in the habit of prioritizing your relationship. Check out this list of budget friendly, but totally fun, date night ideas for inspiration.
In-Home Date Night Ideas
- Movie night
- Break out the board games
- Have a picnic indoors, or in your yard
- Cook a fancy meal together
- Put together family photo albums
- Pick up supplies to make the ultimate ice cream sundaes
- Play “Would you rather?”
- Tackle a DIY project together
- Try a new cocktail recipe
- Make your own pizzas
- Carve pumpkins
- Challenge yourselves to watch all of the movies that have won Best Picture at the Oscars, or all the films nominated in the years you were born, or started dating
- Get dessert to go from your favorite restaurant
- Work on a puzzle
- Play video games
- Have a game tournament. Choose a game you love and keep track of who wins for a month, or a quarter. Don’t forget to come up with a fun prize for the winner!
- Put together a playlist of songs that remind you of each other
- Cook all your favorite appetizers for dinner
- Take silly magazine quizzes together
- Learn a new card game or two
- Bake cookies
- Take turns planning a surprise date for each other
- Plan your dream vacation together
- Make s’mores
- Try a new recipe
- Stargaze from your backyard
- Make your own candy
- Have a cheese or chocolate tasting
- Decorate coffee mugs for each other
- Brew your own beer
- Write each other love letters
- Read the same book and discuss. It’ll be your own mini book club date!
- Listen to a podcast together
- Have a DIY wine and paint night
- Try a new cuisine – order takeout, or hit up an ethnic market and cook in
- Set up a projector in your backyard and watch a movie
- Learn a new language through online classes and practice together
- Have breakfast in bed
Out of Home Date Ideas
- Go out for ice cream
- Take a brewery tour
- Pick a cute nearby town and go for a walk through their downtown
- Go to the beach
- Attend a free local concert
- Wander through a farmer’s market
- Go for a hike
- Watch the sunset or sunrise
- Visit a winery
- Plan a day trip
- Swing on the swings at a park
- Share appetizers and a drink at your favorite bar or restaurant
- Go to a drive-in
- Fly kites
- Go to a bingo night
- Visit a bakery and sample the most decadent looking treats for dinner
- Go to a driving range
- Take a workout class
- Go to open houses and imagine yourselves living in each place
- Check out your local wildlife reserve
- Double date with friends
- Play mini golf
- Go to a local flee market and see who can find a random item fastest (i.e. something nostalgic from the decade you were born, the perfect gift for a cat lover, etc.)
- Grab brunch at your favorite diner
- Visit a botanical garden
- Get pedicures together
- Check out the baby animals at a farm
- Build a campfire
- Get dressed up and go out for cocktails at a fancy bar
- Catch up on your week at a coffee shop
- Plan a mini photo shoot. A lot of professional photographers are offering short sessions these days, or you could take selfies together
- Have a picnic
- Visit a local landmark or historic site
- Go to an arcade
- See a movie in a movie theater
- Put together a scavenger hunt
- Go to a book signing
- Recreate your first date
- Take a free walking tour
- Volunteer at a local soup kitchen or animal rescue
- Visit a museum
- Sing karaoke
- Take a painting class
- Go to a street fair
- Tackle a DIY project together
- Go camping
- Visit a library or bookstore
- Take a walk in the rain
- Check out a comedy show
- Try something neither of you have done before
- Participate in an open-mic night
- Go to a food festival
- Play pool
- Go GeoCaching
- Check out activities at a local college that are open to the community
Active Date Night Ideas
- Train for a 5k or other race together
- Go for a bike ride
- Try snowshoeing
- Go ice skating
- Bowling night
- Go sledding
- Try a new sport together
- Bounce around at a trampoline park
- Learn to dance
- Visit a climbing wall
Seasonal Date Night Ideas
- Check out the biggest Christmas light displays in your area
- Build a snowman
- Check out a haunted house
- Find your way through a corn maze
- Go apple picking
- Attend an outdoor movie screening during the summer
- Watch fireworks
- Visit a pumpkin patch
- Go berry picking
Group Date Ideas
- Host a blind wine tasting
- Visit an escape room
- Go for a boat ride
- Play flashlight tag, or other childhood favorites
- Host a potluck
- Meet up for kickball or softball at a local park
- Have a board game night
- Go to a local concert
- Plan a murder mystery night
- Host a barbecue
- Go to a minor league baseball game
- Organize a trivia night
- Invite friends over for brunch
- Have a pool party
- Host a theme party (80s, luau, high school prom, etc.)
- Organize a progressive dinner with local friends. Walk from home to home, stopping for a different course at each.
- Meet up for happy hour
- Have a snowball fight
- Play laser tag
- Organize a field day
- Have a darts tournament
Do you have other date night ideas, for couples or groups? Please share them in the comments.
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