Can the key to a great and lasting relationship really be great date ideas? It can be, and it is! According to the National Marriage Project, couples who go on frequent date nights have more stable relationships, higher levels of satisfaction, and are 14 percentage points less likely to get divorced.
If you’re looking for date ideas, you’ve come to the right place. The free LoveTrack app is filled with over 500 fun date night ideas that are unique, romantic, and easy to pull off. In fact, every single date idea on LoveTrack comes with step-by-step instructions, notes on where to get any supplies you might need, expert guides, and neat tips to make the date extra special.
If you’re ready to get way more than just date night ideas—it’s time to download the free LoveTrack app.
Features of the LoveTrack Date Night Planner
Before we look at some date ideas today, we quickly want to share a few of the features of the LoveTrack Date Night Planner that we know you’re going to love. The app is designed so you never have to search for date night ideas again; you’ll have an endless supply or fully planned options in your pocket.
- 500+ unique date night ideas. – With hundreds of ideas and more being added all the time, you’ll never run out of ideas.
- All dates are fully planned. – We don’t just give you date night ideas. We give you step-by-step instructions to make the date happen so you don’t have to ever worry about how to pull it off.
- Never miss a live event thanks to Ticketmaster. – Want to know what events are going on in your area that are perfect for date night? In addition to LoveTrack’s unique date nights, we also have a partnership with Ticketmaster where we’re able to show you everything awesome happening in your area that would be perfect for a date night idea.
- Dates come with everything you could ever need. – Not only does every date idea have step-by-step instructions, but they come with expert guides, playlists and recipes (if needed), links to get supplies if they’re needed, and tips to make the date truly special.
- Sort and save dates based on how you’re feeling. – You can sort and save ideas based on whether you want to go out or stay in or if you’re looking for something active or more relaxing, so you always find the perfect date idea.
If this sounds amazing, we’d encourage you to download the free LoveTrack app (available on iOS and on Android) to get all of this now (yes, it’s really for free)!
Date Ideas by Type
In case you haven’t gotten the LoveTrack app yet or you just want to see a few ideas, we did want to share some of our favorites.
Date ideas come in all shapes and sizes. Depending on your mood, logistics, and the state of your relationship, you may be looking for something in particular when it comes to planning for date night.
Here, you’ll see a healthy list of date ideas broken down by category:
- Fun Date Ideas
- At Home Date Ideas
- Cute Date Ideas
- Romantic Date Ideas
- First Date Ideas
- Second Date Ideas
- Indoor Date Ideas
- Daytime Date Ideas
- Date Ideas by Location
Fun Date Ideas
Every date idea should be fun (in our opinion), but we fully understand what people are asking for when they say fun date ideas. You’re most likely looking for something high-energy that will have you laughing and feeling alive.
Here are some of our favorite fun date ideas.
The Nerf Gun Battle Date Idea
- Planning Time: In-depth (Medium with LoveTrack)
- Cost: $, $$
- Time: 1-2 hours
Nerf guns aren’t just toys for kids! If you’re looking for a nostalgic throwback date night idea, the Nerf gun battle just might be up your alley. Set up obstacles, get your Nerf guns, turn on some epic battle royale music, and have some fun!
- If you want something a little less active, you can always do target practice instead of a battle royale.
- This date idea can be done indoors or outdoors.
- Ideally, you’ll need a minimum of (2) Nerf guns, but if you have more, it can make things a bit more exciting.
- If you want help planning this date, this is one of the member-favorites on the free LoveTrack app. We’ll walk you through everything you need, how to set it up, and we even have a playlist of epic battle royale music already set up for you.
The Axe Throwing Date Idea
- Planning: Easy
- Cost: $$
- Time: 1-2 hours
Depending on where you live, this fun date night idea could be one you can try. In a lot of cities, there are new axe throwing companies opening up. It’s a lot like bowling (with lanes), except instead of rolling a ball at pins, you’re throwing an axe at wood.
- If you’ve never done it before, no worries. They will walk you through everything you need to know.
- If it’s a first date or you’re not sure how your date will respond to axes, you might elect to play it safe and skip this date idea.
- Most axe throwing places also have food and drinks, so you can turn it into a longer date night if you want to.
The Bowling Championship Date Idea
- Planning: Easy
- Cost: $, $$
- Time: 1-2 hours
Speaking of bowling, don’t ever discount bowling as a great date night idea (or a great first date idea). The small twist we’re suggesting here is to play it up like it’s a big championship night. The best way to do this is by purchasing a small novelty trophy for a few bucks that you can bring along and present to the winner.
- If you’re really good at bowling and your date is not, you’ll have to be creative to make it fun for everyone.
- If you struggle with being too competitive, this might not be the best date idea for you.
- Make sure you check that lanes are available on the night of your date. If it’s mid-week, there’s a good chance there are leagues going on. And if it’s the weekend, you may want to see if you can reserve a lane if it gets busy.
The Dance Party At Home Date Idea
- Planning: In-depth
- Cost: $, $$, $$$
- Time: 1-2 hours
Going out dancing is an exciting date idea. However, taking the time to recreate that atmosphere at home can be just as fun (if not more)! With this date, it’s completely up to you how in-depth you want to get.
If you want to keep it easy, just set up some music, adjust the lights, put out some drinks and snacks, and have fun. If you want to go all out, you can really tweak the lighting to feel like a club, set up an elaborate snacks and drinks area, and add several more elements to give it that dance club feel.
- Make sure you have a good playlist of music you both like. If you want help, we have several for you already prepared (and free) in the LoveTrack app.
- Lighting will be the trickiest part. Take some time to figure this out well before the date so that when they show up (or come into the room if they live there), it already feels like a club. The key is having it feel authentic BEFORE they enter the space. We’ve got several free guides to help you with this in the LoveTrack date ideas and planner app.
The Emoji Scavenger Hunt Date
- Planning: Medium (Easy with LoveTrack)
- Cost: Free
- Time: 1-3 hours
This is a really unique and fun date idea that you can do just about anywhere. It’s like a traditional scavenger hunt (where you look for things on a list), except the big difference is your list of things to look for are all emojis! What’s neat about this is that it can leave a lot of room for interpretation, which can be super fun.
- You can come up with your own list of emojis to look for, or we have several lists ready for you on the LoveTrack app (pictured below).
- We’d recommend doing this date idea together and not competing with each other. If you want a competitive element, get another couple and do it as a double date. Take pictures of everything you find to share and laugh about together later.
At Home Date Ideas
Sometimes you want to go out for date night, and sometimes you just want to stay home. In this section, we’re going to look at some of our favorite at home date ideas.
Remember, if you get the LoveTrack app, you can sort all the date night ideas by ‘at home’ or ‘going out’ which helps you find the perfect idea. In the meantime, though, here are some of our favorites.
The Build a Fort Date Idea
- Planning: Easy
- Cost: Free, $
- Time: 30 minutes – 2 hours
Building a fort is not just fun for kiddos, it’s fun as a date night. Get out blankets, pillows, couch cushions, and other things from around the house to use to build your fort.
- You can build the fort before they come over and use it to watch a movie from. Or, you can build it together when they get there. Our recommendation? Build it together!
- There are some at-home fort building kits you can buy if you’re really wanting to jazz things up. These work in conjunction with your pillows, sheets, blankets, etc.
The Grow Your Own Vegetables Indoors Date Idea
- Planning: Medium
- Cost: $$
- Time: 1-2 hours; multiple dates
What’s neat about this at-home date idea is that it can be used for several different dates throughout the stages of growth. The “big” date is the planting of your vegetables or herbs. But after that, you can have dates to check on things and dates when it’s time to harvest and eat or drink what you grew!
- You don’t need to live in the country to do this date. On the LoveTrack app, we show you several indoor growing kits that are affordable and perfect for beginners.
- We also have several guides that tell you how long certain things take to grow, what you can grow, and unique ways you can use what you grew for a follow-on date.
There’s nothing more fun than having a nice mocktail made with the fresh mint leaf you both grew together!
The UFO Movie Marathon Date Idea
- Planning: Medium (Easy with LoveTrack)
- Cost: Free, $
- Time: 2-3 hours; multiple dates
UFO and alien classic movies are a blast to watch on a date night or as several concurrent dates. With this date, all you have to do to start is pick out some great movies to watch together. If you want to take it up a notch, you can get UFO-themed decorations, snacks and drinks!
- Want some help picking out movies? We have several playlists set up for you based around different themes like Alien comedy, UFO documentaries, or Independence Day themed. Each playlist comes with movie lists and exactly how long they’d all take to watch together.
- The LoveTrack app also has cool UFO snack and drink recipes for you too! (And it’s all free)
The Indoor Picnic Date Idea
- Planning: Medium
- Cost: Free, $, $$
- Time: 1-2 hours
Who said picnics had to be outside? Not us! Even if the weather is nice (but especially if it’s not), it can be a lot of fun to set up a picnic indoors.
- To elevate this date idea, you can play some nature music as background noise.
- Getting a picnic basket and other staples of a real outdoor picnic are what make this date special so it doesn’t just feel like eating inside
The Ice Cream Sandwich Making Date Idea
- Planning: Easy
- Cost: $
- Time: 1 hour
Ice cream sandwiches are delicious. But instead of buying them from the store, why not make your own together on your next date night? That’s what this date is all about. Buy or bake some cookies, get some ice cream, and get some chocolate chips to roll the sandwiches in. It’s that easy, and that delicious!
- If you want to extend the date, bake the cookies yourselves instead of buying them! We have several helpful recipes for you on the LoveTrack app.
If you want to see more options, you can check out our more in-depth at home date ideas list too (or get the app!)
Cute Date Ideas
Hollywood and romcoms get us excited about cute date ideas. However, it always feels like a challenge to think up ideas that are actually cute and not just cheesy. Here are a few of our favorite cute date ideas that we know you and your significant other are sure to love.
The Invent a Holiday and Celebrate Date Idea
- Planning: Easy
- Cost: Free, $
- Time: Variable (depends on the holiday you choose)
Spoiler alert, we love this date idea because it is so stinking cute and it’s something that you get to celebrate every year. All you have to do is come up with a quirky and unique holiday idea and decide how you’re going to celebrate. Then, put it on the calendar, and celebrate it as your own special couple’s holiday every year.
- Need ideas? We have a massive guide of inspiration for you on the LoveTrack app to check out. Ideas like dessert for dinner day, glow up gala day, or pajama parade day!
The Baking Donation Date Idea
- Planning: Medium
- Cost: $, $$
- Time: 2-3 hours
Baking cookies or brownies together in matching aprons is already cute. But! There is a way to make it even cuter, more meaningful, and romcom worthy. Instead of just baking treats for yourselves, bake a batch to take to a deserving group like local first responders, teachers, nurses/doctors, etc.! You get to enjoy the fun of baking together but also the joy of delivering the treats to some special folks.
- If you want some help on how to pick out and approach an organization about bringing them some treats, we have some really helpful expert guides in the free LoveTrack app with this date idea for you.
The Candle Making Date Idea
- Planning: Medium
- Cost: $, $$
- Time: 1-2 hours
Candles are cute by themselves. How do you make them cuter for a date night? You make them together. And guess what? It’s actually not as hard as you might think. With this date, you are doing exactly what you think—making candles.
- If you want, you can plan a romantic or cute activity later (that night or another day) to use your candles.
- There are candle making kits (we share a few on LoveTrack) that have all the supplies you need if you really want to make it easy-peasy.
The Christmas Anytime Date Idea
- Planning: In-depth
- Cost: Free, $, $$
- Time: 1-3 hours
It doesn’t matter if it’s December or July or any other part of the year, the Christmas Anytime Date Night is an absolutely blast. Much like all of these ideas, it’s totally up to you how in-depth you make the date. You can keep it simple with a few decorations, holiday music, and some hot cocoa. Or, you can go all out with all the decorations, a tree, a Christmas dinner, stockings, and more.
- Mixing this with ugly sweaters or over-the-top Christmas attire is super fun.
- The food and drink component of this date idea is pretty important to get the feeling right.
- Make sure you get a playlist of Christmas songs as well! (We have one prepped for you on LoveTrack).
- Don’t feel obligated to do gifts for this date (unless you want to). It’s much more about the experience.
The Cloud Watching Date Idea
- Planning: Easy
- Cost: Free
- Time: 30 minutes – 2 hours
There is something super cute about laying outside (or sitting) and watching the clouds go by. You can talk about what you see, what it makes you think of, and even try drawing what you see!
- Sorry to sound like mom, but make sure you wear sunglasses to protect your eyes and sunscreen (even if it’s overcast)! Nothing sours a great date like a bad sunburn.
Want more options? Check out our longer list of cute date ideas now.
Romantic Date Ideas
While romantic date ideas are closely related to cute date ideas, they are somewhat different. Generally, these options are going to be a little more in-depth when it comes to planning, and focus more on things that are ideal for married or serious couples.
Pro tip: Because all of these romantic date night ideas are more in-depth, we would highly, highly, recommend you check them out on the LoveTrack app. It will walk you through all of the little details that we don’t have the space to list here. If you want these dates to be truly memorable and unforgettable, this is the play.
The Time Capsule Date Idea
- Planning: In-depth (medium with LoveTrack)
- Cost: $, $$, $$$
- Time: 1-3 hours
With this date, you’ll prepare a time capsule of your memories to be opened at a later date. There are so many unique things you can include in here like pictures, letters to each other (you haven’t read), song playlists, knickknacks, and so much more.
- Make sure you each have some time before this date night to collect the things you’re going to want to put in the time capsule.
- You don’t have to bury it like traditional time capsules. Just sealing it and putting it on the mantle or somewhere special is plenty.
The Appreciation Letter Date Idea
- Planning: Easy
- Cost: Free, $
- Time: 1-3 hours
Letting your special someone know you appreciate them is important. Hopefully, this is something you do on a regular basis in day-to-day life. But sometimes it can feel extra special to really put into words (on paper) what you appreciate about them. With this date, you’ll set the romantic mood, get some nice stationary and pens, and write appreciation letters to each other.
- If you need help with what to write, we do have helpful guides for inspiration on LoveTrack that will help.
The Create a Lover’s Coupon Book Date Idea
- Planning: Easy
- Cost: Free, $
- Time: 1-3 hours
Couples coupons are a lot of fun. They are coupons you make for each other that can be redeemed for things like a back rub, doing a chore you normally do, movie night of your choice, etc. With this romantic date idea, you can make the coupon books and then each cash one in afterward!
- Again, if you need help with ideas and inspiration, we’ve got a huge list that you can pull from on the LoveTrack app.
The Fancy Cheese and Charcuterie Date Idea
- Planning: Medium
- Cost: $$, $$$
- Time: 1-2 hours
Want to feel romantic and fancy? If you do, this date night idea is perfect. Collect some different cheeses and charcuterie (little meats) and create a nice spread or a tasting.
- We’d recommend getting dressed up for this date to add some fun to it.
- We’d also recommend a nice romantic and elegant playlist to accompany the evening! (Yes, we have some prepared for you)!
The Spa Night at Home Date Idea
- Planning: In-depth
- Cost: $, $$, $$$
- Time: 1-3 hours
Relaxing is a big part of romance when you do it together. Instead of going to a spa, why not recreate that experience at home? You can keep this quite simple or quite elaborate, it’s up to you. The idea, though, is to create a spa-like environment at home that you can either treat your partner to or enjoy together.
- We’d recommend enjoying this together!
- We’ll walk you through all the different treatment options you can do and how you can replicate them at home (and save money doing it) on the LoveTrack app.
Date Ideas Compared
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you can sort through all of these dates and hundreds more on the LoveTrack app with great ease. But, in case you want to see something in particular from this list, here are the essential details for each date idea in a sortable table.
| Date Idea | Planning | Cost | Time | At Home? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Nerf Gun Battle Date Idea | In-Depth | $, $$ | 1-2 hours | Yes |
| The Axe Throwing Date Idea | Easy | $$ | 1-2 hours | No |
| The Bowling Championship Date Idea | Easy | $, $$ | 1-2 hours | No |
| The Dance Party At Home Date Idea | In-Depth | $, $$, $$$ | 1-2 hours | Yes |
| The Emoji Scavenger Hunt Date | Medium | Free | 1-3 hours | No |
| The Build a Fort Date Idea | Easy | Free, $ | 30 min. - 2 hours | Yes |
| The Grow Your Own Vegetables Indoors Date Idea | Medium | $$ | 1-2 hours; multiple dates | Yes |
| The UFO Movie Marathon Date Idea | Medium | Free, $ | 2-3 hours; multiple dates | Yes |
| The Indoor Picnic Date Idea | Medium | $, $$ | 1-2 hours | Yes |
| The Ice Cream Sandwich Making Date Idea | Easy | $ | 1 hour | Yes |
| The Invent a Holiday and Celebrate Date Idea | Easy | Free, $ | Variable | Yes/No |
| The Baking Donation Date Idea | Medium | $, $$ | 2-3 hours | Yes/No |
| The Candle Making Date Idea | Medium | $, $$ | 1-2 hours | Yes |
| The Christmas Anytime Date Idea | In-Depth | $, $$ | 1-3 hours | Yes |
| The Cloud Watching Date Idea | Easy | Free | 30 min. - 2 hours | Yes/No |
| The Time Capsule Date Idea | In-Depth | $, $$, $$$ | 1-3 hours | Yes |
| The Appreciation Letter Date Idea | Easy | Free, $ | 1-3 hours | Yes |
| The Create a Lover’s Coupon Book Date Idea | Easy | Free, $ | 1-3 hours | Yes |
| The Fancy Cheese and Charcuterie Date Idea | Medium | $$, $$$ | 1-2 hours | Yes |
| The Spa Night at Home Date Idea | In-depth | $, $$, $$$ | 1-3 hours | Yes |
First Date Ideas
While many of these date ideas would work for a first date, there are certain ones that won’t. First dates should be fun, but the focus is more on connection than it is on how exciting or impressive the activity is. If you’re looking for options, check out our full list of the best first date ideas now,
Date Ideas by Location
In case you’re looking for things to do for a date night in a particular city or metro, we wanted to support you. Here are our favorite date ideas by location for you to check out.