My boyfriend and I have been together for a year now and I've often had comments that our dates are varied and interesting so I thought I'd share some of the London dates we've been on in case anyone would like some inspiration (and selfishly so that I can reminisce in the future).
Food & Drink
I am a big foodie and my boyfriend met most of my friends and family in restaurants or pubs. That said, going for food or drinks is a classic date idea, so rather than just listing all of my favourite restaurants and pubs, I'm going to suggest a few combinations of bars and restaurants that I've enjoyed very much and would recommend:
Porterhouse & The Port House: Porterhouse in Covent Garden is where we went for our first ever date, and on our last date of 2023 we revisited, followed by tapas at The Port House down the road. This was one of my favourite dates and I'd strongly recommend.
Frank's Cafe & Connect 4: Frank's Cafe is a rooftop bar in Peckham, which I took my boyfriend to as he'd never been, and then he took me to Connect 4, which is a nearby bar where you can play video games together (including MarioKart)!
La Bodega Negra & Arts Theatre Club: When you first walk into La Bodega Negra, it feels like you're walking into a strip club, however this is actually a Mexican restaurant in Soho, which my boyfriend treated me to and was delicious. We then headed to his favourite bar, Arts Theatre Club, which is nearby and offers immaculate vibes.
Mercato Mayfair & Tawa Roti: This is a slightly rogue one, but we once went for drinks on the terrace at Mercato Mayfair, then got a West Indian takeaway recommended by a close friend of mine, which we ate on my terrace in summer and made for such a lovely date.
Sunday Breakfasts: One of my favourite things that we do is our breakfasts on Sundays. Most days, we have some variation of porridge with fruit and instant coffee, however on Sundays we'll change it up a bit, whether that be with moka coffee, French press coffee, crumpets, pancakes, egg and bacon sarnies, or anything else, we just take a bit more time to really enjoy a slightly different breakfast together. There's also an incredible Colombian café near my boyfriend's that serves the smoothest coffee I have ever had the pleasure to drink, which we like to treat ourselves to.
Outdoor Activities
Both of us are the sort of people who love going on walks and just being outside, so we've been on many dates that allow for fresh air:
Picnics - Throughout the summer, we went on various picnic dates as they are very relaxing and enjoyable. Both of us live very close to parks and whenever we have a picnic we'll play card games too.
Basketball - For one of our first dates, my boyfriend invited me to 'shoot some hoops' with him. I'd never really played basketball but enjoyed it much more than I'd expected and have played again since. We usually play a game called Horse, a well-known basketball game.
Tennis - When we met, I was playing tennis weekly with colleagues as it's a sport I really enjoy, and he'd never played so I taught him. There are tennis courts available all across London, although annoyingly nowadays you often have to pay to book them, whereas even during covid many were still free.
Walks - again, we are both big walkers and enjoy nothing more than a nice morning stroll. One of my favourite routes we've done was through Holland Park, where we played a Sherlock Holmes game in the Kyoto Garden. We have also been on a walking tour focusing on the dark history of Southwark and a Mystery Guide tour in the West End for Valentine's Day!
Dog sitting - I used to dog sit when I lived in Kennington and one of our dates included introducing Leo (the dog) and my boyfriend and going for a walks.
Exploring new areas of London - we live in London, meaning that at all times there is an abundance of places yet to explore. I had never heard of Hackney Wick before I met my boyfriend for example, and similarly he'd never properly explored Dulwich or Streatham until meeting me.
Pedalo - On that note, when I took him to Dulwich, we actually went on a pedalo, which was very relaxing and was preceded by a walk in the park with coffee in hand.
Day trips - Day trips are a fun way to keep things exciting, especially if neither of you have been previously. Our most recent day trips include Epping Forest and Bletchley Park, both of which are a stone's throw from London.
Indoor activities
I feel like this is the main category in which my boyfriend comes into his own, as he loves trying out new things and always manages to find unusual activities for us:
Museums - Neither of us are big museum people, however my boyfriend will occasionally take me to the odd museum, including the Novelty Automation Museum, which was actual very interesting (and was followed by Pimm's on the Southbank).
Shows - Although we both enjoy the theatre, the show that comes to mind when I think of the rogue experiences we've had is 'Wrestling with History', where the Romans wrestled the Egyptians in a retelling of history, with a focus on Cleopatra - again, bizarre, but enjoyable.
Jazz nights - We are both into jazz, with me growing up playing the double bass and him the trumpet, and one of my favourite types of dates are jazz nights, especially where we can dress up a bit and enjoy the music over a few cocktails. My favourites so far have been a Sinatra night at Boulevard Theatre, where we got upgraded seats, and Nightjar in Carnaby, where the pianist played my song request and we took pictures at a photo booth immediately after.
Bookshops - We both enjoy reading a lot and have a little book club together, and we will often pop into a bookshop if we pass one. There is a second hand bookshop in Brixton that we walked to recently (a surprise from him) which I loved called Bookmongers.
Cinema - As the previous idea may suggest, we've both definitely more so readers than film watchers, however we did watch Barbie at the Arches in Battersea last summer, which was very enjoyable (although we are more likely to watch films at home).
Comedy Clubs - One of my favourite things to do in London is go to comedy clubs and just laugh the evening away. Obviously, Top Secret Comedy Club has gigs all the time, and we recently tried Vauxhall Comedy Club (albeit, in Waterloo), which was a great evening out.
Bowling/Mini golf - These are both very popular activity date ideas, however I wanted to quickly mention duckpin bowling, where the ball is smaller and heavier and the pins are fewer and further apart, which is a lot of fun, and Birdies in Angel, where they have lots of board games that you can play over cocktails after the mini golf.
Improv - My boyfriend has more hobbies than anyone I know, and occasionally he'll do improv. Whilst this is my idea of hell, I do really enjoy seeing others perform and I've found myself laughing a surprising amount at what people come up with on the spot. I'd recommend the Hope & Anchor on a Monday night as everyone there was so lovely and welcoming.
Gym - My boyfriend loves the gym and whilst I'm no stranger to the gym, I always stuck to the treadmill and avoided the weights. That said, he's re-taught me how to use each of the machines and target different areas whilst working out.
Bingo - Whilst at Bristol, one of my favourite nights out was Bingo Lingo, where we would get obliterated and play bingo. Therefore, when my boyfriend suggested Hijingo Bingo, I was more than keen. That said, it wasn't my favourite bingo night ever (can you tell I didn't win anything?), but was a lot of fun regardless.
Dancing - Although I'm not a huge dancer, my boyfriend is and he goes to salsa weekly, and to reels dancing every three weeks. I've joined both with him before, and although I wouldn't do either regularly, I did have a lot of fun and would definitely go again.
Homebound
Oftentimes, chilling at home is all that you want after a long day of work, and as ambiverts, both of us enjoy relaxing at home together. Granted, there's only so much you can do at home:
Board Games - My boyfriend and I love playing board games a lot and will often fit one in whenever we have time. If you need ideas for games to play, my favourites include: Who Knows Where, Where in the World, Exploding Kittens, 221b Baker Street, Monopoly Deal, cards, dominoes, Cluedo, Battleships, Rummy, Shot in the Dark, Guess Who, Dobble, and Irish Snap.
Olympic Games - Each day we play what we've termed the 'Olympic games', consisting of the New York Times connections, wordle, mini crossword, and 'travle'.
Movies - As aforementioned, we're not big film people, but every now and again I'll have the idea to watch a film I love and my boyfriend will endure it. Some favourite include: Love Actually, Mamma Mia, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
Work from Home - this is a very easy one and allows you to incorporate meals, walks and games!
Make Food Together - We have done everything from making pizza and pancakes from scratch, to buying takeaways or 'dine in deals' from supermarkets and cooking those together. My favourite meals include making a charcuterie board, having 'dominoes and Domino's' (where we eat Domino's pizza whilst playing dominoes), and our special Sunday breakfasts.
Cook for Each Other - Similarly, it's nice to cook for the other person and vice versa. My boyfriend and I don't make any of the same meals, and at mine I'll often make fajitas, carbonara, and baked goods that we can eat on the terrace, which is simple, yet pleasurable.
Read Together - I'm all for each of you doing your own thing whilst in each other's company, and this is a great example of doing exactly that.
Seasonal
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a seasonal girly. Any excuse for novelty I am here for and I love getting involved in all of the seasonal traditions (and I force my friends and family to join in).
Pumpkin Carving - I carve a pumpkin every year and, despite being part American, my boyfriend had never done it before! I therefore organised an evening to carve pumpkins (and watch The Nightmare Before Christmas), which was a lot of fun.
Christmas markets - Christmas is one of my favourite times of year (if not, my absolute favourite), and although I cannot get enough of all things Christmas, I'm actually not the biggest fan of markets generally, so I usually only visit one Christmas market a year. Last year, my boyfriend surprised me by taking me to the Southbank markets, which were one of the first to open and allowed us to celebrate early as we wouldn't be seeing each other for most of December. We enjoyed mulled wine and bratwurst (alongside Ben's cookies) and it was a lovely surprise.
Covent Garden Christmas Tree - As aforementioned, I wasn't expecting to be able to do many Christmassy activities last year with my boyfriend, however on another date he surprised me by taking me to see the huge Christmas tree in Covent Garden (alongside other events) for what we thought would be our last day of the year together.
Ice Skating - I go ice skating every year, whereas my boyfriend had never been before. It's safe to say that he wasn't a natural, but he gave it a go and I had a great time (him probably less so).
One of the things I love the most about my relationship is the variety of dates we go on, and we have a joint bucket list of things we'd like to do together, which always provides inspiration for date ideas.
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