List of Cool Date Ideas

Valentines Day is coming up! So lets go off topic with some dating ideas. Everyone needs these. Even once you’re married, going on a “date” every so often is good relationship maintenance.

But rather than make a list of Valentines Day date ideas, I’ll just drop a general list, so this post helps all days of the year.

I’m going to divide the ideas into three categories. It’s how I imagine them. For Valentines Day you might break the rules, but otherwise I divide ideas into:

1. The Screening Dates: this is if you don’t know the person well. It’s cheap, public, lets both parties make sure there’s some mutual interest. Pick a safe, public environment. Small time commitments only.
2. The Early Dates: These are when you are still learning about each other, so you want high-interaction. Better not to bring expensive or overly romantic ideas into play yet.
3. The Later Dates: This is once you both know each other, like each other, and are passed the first jittery stages of dating. Now it’s about having fun together, and you can open it up to more options: it’s OK to be passive (like a movie), to go somewhere private, to be more daring or more expensive, to bring friends along, etc.

Screening dates:

• Meet up for coffee/tee for half an hour and get to know each other.
• Go to a “cool” shop that sells treats. (Muffins, chocolates, the best Montreal Smoked Meat in town, etc.).  Bonus points if it is a spectacle behind the counter when they make it
• Visit a park
• Visit a festival, flea market, dog show, ethnic part of town, etc. that has is cheap or free and has and lots of things to see and poke around in
• Wander around a shopping center (“I need to buy my sister something and you both love knitting; help me out”)
• A leisurely sporting activity you both enjoy like biking, skating, etc.
• Optional: You can have a second date idea in your back pocket, and invite them on the second idea if you really hit it off

Early Dates:

• All the screening dates can be used here
• Meet at either person’s home to cook a dinner, and play a board game / watch a movie. (“But don’t think you get to stay over!”)
• A picnic in a park or festival. You can pre-make the food, or buy it together – I like to cryptically “meet at the grocery store” and give no other information, then buy some pre-made sandwiches there
• Arcade, or simple video games
• Fair
• Zoo
• Pool / swimming
• Competitive sport (mini-golf? Tennis? Snowball fight? Cosmic bowling?)
• Visit an interesting restaurant for lunch or dinner. Bonus points if it’s an unusual cuisine or you have some insider knowledge of the place.
• Museum or art gallery
• Dancing or clubbing

Later Dates:

• All the screening or early dates can be used here
• Activities with friends or double dates are now OK
• Movies, theatre, music, shows, etc.
• Parties, game nights, movie nights, etc.
• Tougher sports, or ones that require you two to be alone
• Unusual or specific interests you are both interested in (e.g. hobbies, political, religious)
• Road trip: planned or spontaneous
• Fancy meals
• Go to attractions outside your city
• Visit family members at some fun occasion (Holiday? BBQ?)

Some other ideas:

• See your city or area through the eyes of a tourist: try tripadvisor.com or the local tourism bureau or city website might have some ideas
• See if you can get on mailing lists for local events, read the local paper, etc.

Think cool, think fun, think interaction, think adventure, and pick something that will show off your good side. Best of luck, and drop a comment to add to this list.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Related posts:

1. Use VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP to use Data Tables in Calculations

 Print This Post