Rear view of couple of hikers holding by hands while standing by water in the evening
Listed below are volumes of inexpensive date ideas.
Hike to the top of a mountain for a picnic.
Take a rowboat out on a lake at sunset.
Go up to the top of a building in a large city.
Dress for a formal party, and then walk down the streets singing love songs.
Find a dark, romantic bistro with great coffees and desserts, or an independent book store that encourages browsing.
Find a rarely-used corner deep in the stacks of your library. Blow the dust off some musty old volume and read it aloud together. Steal a few hot kisses.
Pretend you’ve just won the lottery. “Shop” for your dream furnishings in elegant craft galleries, jewelry stores, and similar locales.
Test drive a sports car together.
Visit a specialty food factory–or a crafter’s studio.
Browse a ritzy museum gift shop or art gallery.
Drive along the outer borders of your city or county, exploring new neighborhoods and villages where you’ve never been.
Ride a city’s entire public rail transit system, going out on remote branch lines, just for the heck of it.
Spend the whole evening dressed and acting as characters from a play, movie, or book that you both enjoyed.
Speak only gibberish and let your thoughts be understood from your emotions, gestures, and tone.
Explore a wild and scenic place you’ve always wanted to check out.
Walk around celebrity neighborhoods, looking for glimpses of the rich and famous.
Do something completely out of character–something you ordinarily wouldn’t be caught dead even thinking about
Go rollerblading. If you know how to rollerblade and he doesn’t, teach him. If he knows and you don’t, let him teach you. This date is great for breaking the ice because both of you will embarrass yourselves so much that you won’t help but be able to laugh. Their true personality will show.
Go for a walk, maybe some coffee after. I know, it seems simple enough, but you’d be surprised about what you’d find out about someone if you’d just give them a chance to tell you. Besides, there’s nothing like the embiance of a great, romantic cafe to get you in the mood.
Visit a psychic. I know, I know, this may seem weird but I’ve tried it and it was a blast. Even if the psychic is a fraud, you’ll never forget it. You’ll always remember what it felt like to see their reactions and gestures. Try it, it’s fun.
There’s nothing like a good picnic. Can’t argue with a classic.
Go see the planes take off. This may be a little difficult, but sometimes there are little nooks and crannies by the highways and roads off of the runways. You can lie down on top of the hood of the car or lay a blanket on the ground and watch as the planes seem to fly right over your head.
Plan a romantic evening with chocolate covered strawberries and slow music. Find some of her favourite songs and compile them onto one cassette and play them while you feed her the strawberries.
Go “Dumpster Diving” at the end of the semester. Recycle or re-sell “good stuff” left when students move. A date and I once reclaimed and cleaned a couch for the homeless shelter.
Attend band or symphony dress rehearsals on campus. These are often free … just quietly slip into the hall or auditorium and sit near the back.
Ditto graduate recitals … these are often free, as are local poetry readings. Even when they’re bad, you’ll have something to talk about.
If you have a junked-up car, get some auto spray paint and go wild! We’ve gathered leaves in the fall and sprayed over them for interesting leaf patterns.
Pick your own fruit or veggies. In the fall, a visit to a working cider mill where you can pick your own apples and then have them made into cider is a pleasant (and inexpensive) way to spend an afternoon
Seasonal Ideas
Winter Ideas
Make a lunch or dinner of hot soup and rolls together and set the table with candles. Play your favorite music.
Have an indoor picnic — lay out a blanket and bring a picnic basket — just have it on your living room floor!.
Build a fire and roast marshmallows. If you don’t have a fireplace, build a small safe campfire outside. Be sure to put it out completely when you’re done and before leaving the area.
Build a snow fort together.
Surprise your date with “Summer in a Bag!” Get creative: Gather together 2 pairs of sunglasses, coconut suntan oil (for the smell of summer), Put on a Beach Boys CD, blow up a beach ball to toss and pretend it’s hot out. It’s silly, but it can take the edge out of the winter blahs.
Make a snowman and snowwoman.
Gather some friends and go holiday caroling. End by having hot cider and making cookies together.
Go ice skating.
Go to a children’s museum.
Make angels in the snow.
Bundle up and someplace to watch the sun set over a silhouette of bare trees. As the sun goes down, watch them appear black and strikingly beautiful against the sky.
Go to a cappuccino bar, drink decaf and get to know one another.
Go sleigh riding.
Go for a walk in the snow and catch snow flakes on your tongue.
End a winter walk with hot chocolate and mini marshmallows.
Go to an arcade.
Rent a movie and pop some corn.
Rent and watch the video “It’s a Wonderful Life!”
Assemble a really challenging puzzle.
Play board games.
Take a night-time walk to look at your neighbors’ holiday decorations and lights.
Go skiing — downhill or cross-country.
Spring Ideas
Go wild-flower hunting. Pick your date a bouquet of wild-flowers. Put some in his/her hair.
Go for a walk in the park together.
Plant a window garden together.
Skip stones on a lake.
Have a picnic.
Go horseback riding.
Go on a hike.
Hire a professional guide and go rock climbing.
Hire a professional guide and go spelunking (exploring caves).
Go on a hot air balloon ride.
Go to the zoo to see the new baby animals who were born this spring.
Go for a walk in the rain (an umbrella is optional) and sing “Singing in the Rain!” really loudly.
Rent a bicycle built for two.
Go to a school play or concert.
Go to a comedy club.
Look in your local paper for free or inexpensive concerts, shows and fairs.
Go to a park and play on the swings.
Play tennis.
Play pool.
Summer Ideas
Go to the top of a very tall building to watch the sun go down.
Jump through sprinklers together.
Go star gazing. Name a star for your date.
Lay on the grass and watch clouds. Use your imagination and talk about what you see in the clouds.
Make giant bubbles.
Wash a parent’s car together. Have fun spraying each other with the hose.
Go to an amusement park, go on scary rides and eat cotton candy.
Go rafting or canoeing or tubing (using a truck inner tube).
Clean out an elderly person’s attic or garage together.
Walk on the beach. Bury each other in the sand.
Visit a boardwalk or carnival and play games.
Get up really early and meet to watch the sun rise — then go for breakfast at a diner.
Run in a 5 K race together.
Do a walk-a-thon (for some cause you care about) together.
Make sand castles. Use a sandbox if there’s no beach nearby (use a bucket of water to make the sand beach-quality).
Go fishing — throw the fish back, if you catch any.
Write a message and tie it to a balloon (or send it off in a bottle). Ask whoever finds it to mail you the message and tell you where they found it.
Get a group together and go camping.
Get a group together, go to a park or camp and have a cook-out.
Make home made ice-cream!
Have a picnic then watch fireworks.
Watch a Little League game and cheer like you’re watching the pros.
Fall Ideas
Decorate the house for Hallowe’en or Thanksgiving.
Carve pumpkins.
Make a two-person costume and go trick-or-treating together.
Go on a hay ride (or a haunted hay ride).
Go pumpkin picking.
Go apple picking and make an apple pie with the apples.
Do homework together. Really.
Go to a school sports event together.
Join a school club together.
Go in-line skating.
Make a scarecrow together.
Go bike riding.
Get a big old barrel, water, and apples and invite a group of friends to dunk for apples. Have a camera available. There will be great shots!
Go to a flea market. Find the silliest thing for sale.
Go to a historic site. Try to talk like people from that period of time.
Take an American Sign Language Course together. This way you can talk to one another in class and not make any noise and not have anyone else understand what you’re saying!.
Go to a football game and cheer for the underdog or for your home team.
Anytime Ideas
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Bring HIM a single rose.
Bring her flowers and bring one for her mom.
Look in your local paper on Friday. They usually list lots of free concerts, fairs, and events nearby.
Go to the mall. Pretend to have a million dollars and spend it ALL on your date. (bring a calculator!)
Listen to CDs.
Go to a concert.
Bake cookies together.
Go to a lecture at a local college or university.
Go dancing. Any and all kinds: square dancing, clubs, country, ballroom — whatever!
Go for a ride in a hansome cab (horse and carriage ride).
Dress up for a formal date…but go out for fast food instead. Don’t forget the corsage!
Watch TV together.
Watch videos together.
Make up a poem or song for your special someone and read or sing it to them.
Go to a museum or art gallery.
Do community service together by working at a soup kitchen on a Saturday or Sunday. It will make you feel really good and really grateful for the things you both have.
Make a pizza together — any kind.
Go to McDonald’s for french fries and a shake (appetizer), Burger King for a hamburger (main entree) and end with Dairy Queen, Friendly’s or TCBY (for dessert)!
Make paper mache masks of each other’s faces. Paint them and give them to each other.
