Going out to a fancy restaurant for a Valentine’s Day date can be fun, but where we are it’s always crowded and not to mention expensive! Sometimes coming up with other Valentine’s Day date ideas requires a little additional work and creativity.
The Professor and I are both introverted homebodies, so we’re all about staying at home, or finding something kind of low-key to do.
If you like the idea of something more casual and creative, here are 9 creative Valentine’s Day date ideas for couples, friends or family that aren’t stressful and won’t break the bank!
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1. Take a Painting/Pottery/DIY Art Class
These are so much fun to do with your significant other or your friends! Sometimes these are held a local restaurants or you can bring in your own food to enjoy while creating your masterpiece. Check around online to see what’s available in your area.
Tons of virtual classes are out there too- like Online Experiences from Airbnb or virtual cooking classes from ClassPop!
2. “Virtually Attend” an Opera, Symphony, Broadway Show, Concert, Comedy Performance, or Take a Virtual Tour
Online you can find full operas, symphonies, Broadway show performances, stand up comedy shows, and more! Check the streaming services you subscribe to, along with YouTube to see what you can find.
Tour a famous attraction together for free! Over 20 virtual tours are listed here.
Get comfortable, stay in, and enjoy the show!
3. Have a Thrifty Theme Night
Go thrift/dollar store shopping for gifts and eat at your favorite cheap comfort food restaurant.
For the thrift/dollar store shopping, you each have a budgeted amount and a time limit. Try to find something either as thoughtful and useful as you can for the other person, or you can do gag gifts. It’s about enjoying each other’s company, not how much money you spend!
4. Go to an Escape Room or Do One at Home!
Work together to find the clues and solve the puzzles to help you escape! Normally you’re in a larger group for these, so you could perhaps go with other couple friends, or just have a bunch of friends get together.
You could make your own escape room, but it’s a lot easier to buy one from Etsy. They even have printable ones!
5. Set up a Board Game,Video Game, or Puzzle Night at Home
Get some of your favorite games (of any type) together and play the night away!
A new twist on puzzles is speed puzzling- see how fast you can complete it together, or get two puzzles and see who can complete theirs the fastest.
If you’d like some ideas, several of our favorite board games are included below. Some are perfect for family games and others are great two player games for couples.
- Scrabble
- Sushi Go!– Always makes me hungry when we play!
- Pandemic
- Blokus
- Jenga
- Carcassonne
- Azul
- Codenames: Duet
- …I should have known that! Trivia Game
Don’t forget Twister or Mad Libs!
6. Visit a Museum or Zoo
Museums or zoos will often have special events going on for Valentine’s Day that are tailored for adults. You may find discounts for these online, or if you have a membership, ask if there’s a discount for members. Many also have virtual events- check their even calendars for details.
7. Have a Progressive Dinner
Especially fun if you both are foodies! A progressive dinner is where you go to different places to eat each course of your dinner.
You can make this as elaborate or as simple as you’d like, by either going to different restaurants, or going to an upscale supermarket where you each pick prepared foods for certain courses and surprise the other.
Related Post: How to Save Money Eating Out
8. Play Miniature Golf
Enjoy a casual round or two, or make it competitive where the winner gets a prize! You may be able to eat there and play some skeeball while you’re at it! Sometimes these will have special deals going on also.
9. Go Geocaching
Geocaching is considered the world’s largest treasure hunt! If you’ve never geocached, it’s free and easy! Create an account, use a GPS or your phone, and hunt for a cache. To learn more, check out these websites: Geocaching 101 or How to Get Started Geocaching.
If you aren’t up for geocaching, try a hike, bike ride, or long walk around a park or local lake.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Many of these ideas can also work for a Valentine’s celebration with family, friends, or your galentines.
Whatever you do, whether you binge-watch some shows and eat pizza, take dance lessons together, go axe-throwing, or anything in-between, be sure to enjoy your time together!
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A progressive dinner sounds so fun! I would love to do that.
Author
It does to me too- my only problem is trying to limit the courses, lol!
I love this. Thank you so much for sharing. I am going use some of your ideas!!!
Author
Great, I hope they’re helpful!
Fun ideas! And if you planned one a week, you’d be set for several months of date night.
Author
Yes, that’s a really great idea too- thanks!
These are all so unique and creative! Totally beats the typical dinner and a movie!