The Ultimate Guide to Cheap, Romantic Date Ideas

Discovering Cheap, Fun Date Night Ideas

Before I met Andrew, I went on a lot of dates. How many was a lot? Over the course of a year, I went on about 100 dates with around 40 people in total. When I’m on a mission, I am really on a mission. And my mission was to find love. However, I was also on a grad student salary at the time, which meant making about $25,000 a year… in Seattle. So my mission had to be low cost. Through that process, I stumbled upon some cheap date ideas that were fun, unique, and helped me get to know people. While most of the dates were total duds, they eventually led me to Andrew.

Even if you’re in a committed relationship, it’s important to spend quality time and go on regular dates with your partner. Doing so helps boost your relationship satisfaction and closeness with your partner. When we’re feeling tired and uninspired, it is tempting to stick with the old dinner and drinks standby. While going out to dinner with your bae is an easy option, it’s definitely not cheap and not always that fun to begin with.

If you want to spend more time with your partner; go on fun, unique dates, and save money, then read on for my list of inexpensive, but still super romantic date ideas.

Outdoor Date Ideas

1. Go for a Hike or Snowshoe

Hikes and walks are my favorite free dates ideas. They’re a great way of getting your sweat on while enjoying quality time with your partner. Hikes allow for some great conversation time. At the same time, silence still feels totally normal. If you’re early in your relationship with someone, a hike is a great opportunity to get to know them better. And if it’s Winter, just turn this into a snowshoe! You can rent snowshoes at some outdoor retailers like REI for a small fee.

No matter where you live, there are likely dozens of hike options that range from easy rambles to serious climbs. Check out my guide to hiking for a complete resource on how to get started. In particular, I recommend checking out AllTrails. They have a great search engine that will help you find the perfect hike for your interests and fitness level. Alternatively, check your local public gardens and parks for easier, nearby trails.

2. Take a Road Trip to A Spot You’ve Never Explored

We all have towns or viewpoints we’ve never visited that are within a couple of hours of where we live. Taking a short road trip makes for an adventurous and novel date cheap date idea. Plus, you can share your favorite songs and stories on the drive. Going on a small adventure with a new partner offers quick insights into their personalities and how they deal with novel situations.

Roadtrippers has fun guides and trip builders that help you construct a short or long road trip based on your interests. Use this resource to construct creative date ideas for you and your partner.

3. Have a Picnic at a Local Park

A picnic at a nearby park is a romantic standby for a reason. Plus, I’ll take a cheese selection, some strawberries, pistachios, Proscuitto, and LaCroix over a fancy, expensive dinner date any day. If you’re looking for delicious picnic menus, check out this list from Love and Lemons. I am also obsessed with their cookbook. My go-to picnic recipes are a delicious Caprese Pasta that I make with GF pasta and GF brownies. You can find the GF caprese pasta recipe in my post on easy, inexpensive work from home lunch ideas.

4. Bike Ride to a Café, Winery, or Ice Cream Shop

If there isn’t a good coffee shop, winery, or ice cream shop near you, consider combining this with the picnic idea. Remember that it’s a good idea to leave plenty of time between drinking alcohol and riding your bike. It’s dangerous to bike under the influence and illegal in some states.

5. Go Stargazing

Stargazing is super romantic at any time of year. However, sometimes you can catch meteor showers, which makes for an extra special occasion. If you’re interested, check out a meteor shower calendar here. For even better viewing, find a Dark Sky Area. Dark Sky Areas are certified as having very low light pollution. You can most easily see the stars in these areas.

6. Go for a Jog, Kayak, Paddleboard, or Other Fitness Activity You Both Love

If you love jogging (or any other fitness activity), it’s rewarding to find another person who loves it as much as you do. Doing fitness activities together helps you bond over shared interests. And as long as the activity isn’t too strenuous, you’re likely to have some fun conversations. Not to mention, there are usually fewer awkward silences when you immerse yourself in an activity.

7. Ice skating

One of the fun things about Winter approaching is that it opens up all sorts of romantic opportunities to cuddle up with your date. One of those romantic opportunities is ice skating. I’m terrible at ice skating, but it’s a good excuse to hold hands with my partner who is a very good ice skater. Channel your inner Buddy the Elf and Jovie and enjoy a beautiful, nighttime ice-skating session.

8. Go sledding

Sledding is a great idea for couples looking for a little fun and adventure. Admission at sled parks is sometimes expensive. If you can wait for snow in your local area or if you live near mountains, visit a nearby hill with a safe parking spot and create your own sled park.

9. Go to a U-Pick or U-Cut Farm

At most times of year, you can find local produce to pick. It might be flowers in the Spring, berries in the Summer, apples and pumpkins in the Fall, or Christmas trees in the Winter. Regardless, find a local farm to visit and get some local produce, flowers, or plants. Even just walking around the farm can make for a fun afternoon.

10. Check out your local garden center or botanical garden

This was a frequent activity my family and I did when I was a kid. It remains one of my parents’ favorite cheap date night ideas. I still love looking at all the weird plants, from the Venus Fly Traps to different kinds of roses. You can while away quite a lot of time looking at plants at these garden centers which are often acres large. If both of you are into plants, this is a fun way to explore and dream which plants you want to get next (or which plants you’d want to get if you had a massive yard!)

At Home Date Ideas

11. Find a New Recipe and Make It Together

Even if you are not a super talented cook, picking out ingredients at the grocery store and trying to make a fancy meal is most of the fun. If your creation doesn’t turn into a delicious meal, you’ll have some laughs and fun memories. And if it does turn out well, you’ll have a new recipe for special occasions.

An easy alternative is to make a fancy brunch or brinner (breakfast for dinner). I’m a huge brinner fan. Mix up some mimosas, cook up pancakes and bacon, make a beautiful fruit salad, and channel your inner Leslie Knope and Ron Swanson.

To make it extra special, light candles, put on your favorite tunes, and add in your preferred alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage.

Bonus points if you go to a farmer’s market to pick out some fresh produce beforehand! This makes for an even more fun (and eco-friendly!) experience.

12. Load Up on Snacks and Have a Romantic Movie Night

Remember how much fun it was to buy so many snacks at Blockbuster or the movie theater that first time you went to a movie alone? I’m guessing it wasn’t just me. Turns out it’s almost just as fun to load up on nostalgic snacks as an adult. Pop some popcorn, get a selection of your favorite candies (bonus points if you haven’t eaten that candy since you were a kid), load up on fluffy blankets, make your living room as cozy as possible, and Netflix and chill for real.

If you want romantic movie recommendations, check out this great list from Live, Love, and Blossom!

13. Have a Game Night

I especially love doing a double date game night and sharing my favorite board game with my friends. If you prefer a one-on-one date night, there are lots of great game options for two people. You can find a list of two-player board games here. It’s also fun to find a bar that lets you rent board games for free while you drink. This is an inexpensive option to try out lots of games and find ones you like before buying.

Alternatively, you could work on a jigsaw puzzle together. If you’re both into puzzles, this is a low-key, great bonding experience.

14. Write each other love letters

If you’re looking for romantic date night ideas that don’t require you to leave the house, this is a fun one. You might even include old photos, ticket stubs, or other memorabilia in your letter. You could write a heartfelt letter or have a competition to try to write the cheesiest letter (or poem or song!) to have a few laughs. Writing love letters can be especially rewarding for those of us whose love languages include words of affirmation.

15. Create a time capsule

If you’re looking for more at-home date night ideas, you can create a time capsule. Similar to the idea above, gather old photos, ticket stubs, and other mementos from your time together. You can even create an online time capsule through Dropbox or Virtual Time Capsule. Simply upload photos and documents that remind you of your relationship and set a good time for the capsule to open. This is a great chance to relive memories from your relationship.

16. Build a Blanket Fort

Andrew and I tried this at the height of COVID and had such a blast. Gather blankets, pillows, string lights, flashlights, anything you can think of to make a fun and elaborate fort. You might even create a theme for your fort that you have to adhere to. It’s up to you whether you watch movies, read books or do… well… whatever you like in the fort afterwards!

17. Create Your Own Taste Testing Session

For this date night idea, pick a food or drink item and find a few options from different brands or restaurants to try. You might have each partner do a blind taste test and rank their favorites. I tried this once with different brands of soda and was shocked that my favorite of the three I tried was the generic store brand, followed by Pepsi, followed by Coca Cola. I’d always assumed Pepsi would be last!

18. Challenge each other to a Top Chef competition

My friends and I used to do this monthly. You can turn this into a double date (or triple date!) or try this with just your partner. You can also purchase ingredients or challenge each other to make things from what you currently have in the kitchen. No matter which way you go, each of you (or each couple) will try to make the tastiest dish from the ingredients available. This always makes for a fun night and many hilarious concoctions. 

19. Plan and dream together

I love the blog A Dreamy Fantasy’s post on 16 ways to find the magic in simple living. One of their recommendations is to journal and plan for the future. You can do a similar thing with your partner. You might create vision boards together, list out your dreams and goals, or mark places on a map you’d love to visit one day.

If you’ve been with your partner for awhile and want to talk about the future in a fun, low-pressure way, this is one of the best date night ideas for breaking into those conversations.

Date Ideas In Your Community

20. Volunteer at a Local Animal Shelter (or Other Nonprofit!)

I know, I know, this is a dangerous one. Proceed with caution if you don’t want to be strongly tempted to adopt some animals. However, you can check with your local animal shelter to see if they need people to walk dogs, go to the pet store and pick out supplies to donate, or even just stop by for some cuddles (if the shelter allows it). Our local animal shelter even offers activities like puppy yoga and they let you bring adoptable dogs to local breweries!

If you’re looking for a free, fun way to spend time with your partner while doing good for the world, you can’t do much better than this. Check out your local shelters for options!

21. Find a Local Farmer’s or Flea Market

While I rarely buy anything at Farmer’s or Flea markets, I always love browsing. Plus, there are a million conversation starters at Farmer’s and Flea markets, from funky artwork, to great people watching, to weird fruits you’ve never seen before.

You might even create a Scavenger Hunt or Farmer’s/Flea Market Bingo game for yourselves where each of you get points for finding particular items or sights.

22. Attend an Open Mic Night

While the idea of doing karaoke myself sends me into a cold sweat, I enjoy watching other people make a go of it. There are also open mic story times where people tell stories instead of sing or do spoken word, depending on your preferences.

There are many local places that offer low-cost or free admission to events like these.

23. Find Live Music and (Optionally) Go Dancing

On a similar note, search out local bars that offer live music and opportunities for dancing. In Seattle, the Little Red Hen offers live country music and line dance class sessions for $8. While live music sometimes costs $$$, there are plenty of bars that feature local artists for a small cover charge.

24. Peruse Your Local Bookstore or Local Library

This one may sound boring, but I’ve always had a great time going on dates that feature bookstores. Perhaps it’s because I’m a giant nerd. However, you can learn so much about someone by perusing a bookstore with them. You can show each other books you love, books you want to read, flip through the pages of funny books on display, and potentially each pick one out to read while you cuddle under a cozy blanket later.

25. Attend a Minor Sports League Game 

Attending a professional sports game often costs a lot of money. However, minor sports league games are usually just as (if not more) fun and cost a fraction of the price for much better seats. It’s always nice to cheer on your home team while actually being able to see their faces.

Similarly, you can attend sports games hosted by your local high school or middle school. If you are an alumni of the middle or high school, this offers a fun trip down memory lane and a good opportunity to share old haunts with your new partner.

26. Attend a free museum day

Museums frequently offer free days each month. For example, Seattle offers free admission at museums on the first Thursday of every month. Find out what days your local museum is offering free admission and explore some of the local cultural sites with your boo.

27. Trivia night at a local bar

My partner and I do trivia night each week with a few friends. Even if trivia isn’t your forte, you can still have a lot of fun. For example, trivia questions give you built in topics to discuss so you don’t have to worry about conversation starters. Plus, it’s a great way to increase your general knowledge and become a regular at your local bar. Most of us have wanted to be a regular someplace, right?  

28. See a drive-in movie or movie in the park

Some towns have drive-in movie theaters. In Seattle, we have movies in the park in the Summer. If these options are available to you, I highly recommend stocking up on snacks and checking one out. Make sure to bring a comfy blanket and/or lawn chair if you’re seeing a movie in the park.

29. Have a good laugh at your local comedy club

Comedy clubs are often so much fun and very inexpensive. You can see a local improv troupe or standup comic for pretty low admission. Occasionally the humor might not align with your own, but even if it’s awkward, it makes for great conversations afterwards.

30. Attend open houses

Similar to visiting an animal shelter, this could be a dangerous idea if you get too tempted to actually buy a house. Make sure you don’t buy a house just because you had fun visiting open houses! However, if you can keep your wits about you, attending open houses in your local area feels fun and silly, a little like playing house. Plus, open houses often have free food! And they give you and your partner an opportunity to dream about the future and figure out what you might want in a home one day.

31. Find a local food festival

Heck with humdrum dinner dates, find a local food festival to try out a bunch of unique food at a fraction of restaurant prices. Local food festivals still feel like a special occasion, even if they end up making for a cheap date night. Many food festivals also have dances, crafts, and other unique activities.

32. Find a Great View

Challenge yourselves to go exploring for the best view in your town or city. You might look for local rooftops, parks, etc. Bonus points if you find the best viewing spot by sunset!

33. Ride a ferry or water taxi

If you live near a large body of water, there’s a good chance that you have a ferry or water taxi available that offers relatively low-cost rides. This is a good chance to take a scenic boat ride for a fraction of the cost of more fancy boat tours. Either drive or walk on and enjoy the views. You can grab lunch at your destination or hop right back on the ferry depending on your preferences.

Date Ideas Summary

Dating doesn’t have to be super expensive. The good news is that the most inexpensive date ideas are often the most fun date ideas. I hope you try one of these ideas out for your next date night. Let me know what you think if you do! Have other fun, inexpensive date ideas? Let me know in the comments!

And if you’re interested in related material, check out my posts on how to find the perfect present, setting boundaries in relationships, and how to make friends as an adult.

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