BEST Adventurous Indoor and Outdoor Date Ideas

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Memories Over Things

It’s February, and since it’s associated with Valentines Day we thought it would be fun to create a list of adventurous date ideas that you can enjoy with your loved one or even with a friend! Instead of buying expensive gifts for each other, why not create some incredible memories together that you can look back to!

We always try to put an effort into making time to have fun together and try new things, so a lot of these come from personal experience. Also, we asked our community to help us with their own ideas and they came up with some really good ones!

Here we go!

Adventurous Indoor Date Ideas

1. Build a Fort in Your Living Room

Buy your favorite snacks, and watch a fun movie together! The best part? Your parents can’t tell you when to go to bed!

2. Try A New Recipe From Pinterest

This a great opportunity to try bacon wrapped broccoli, covered in cheese and smothered in maple syrup! Just kidding, but you get what I mean.

3. Dance The Night away

Go to a dance studio and learn a style of dance you don’t know. For inspiration head on over to http://portlanddancing.com or your town’s local dance studio!

4. Have Dinner, Drinks, and Dessert at Three Different Restaurants

Start off the date by having appetizers, then drive or walk to a new place for dinner and drinks, and have desert somewhere else! It sounds like a lot of driving or walking but if you plan what three places you want to try and what you want to order then it should be fairly simple and fun!

5. Get a Couples Massage Spa Treatment or Pedicure

Pamper yourselves with a relaxing couples massage and spa treatment! They are totally worth the money! Many local Spa’s have great value packages for couples so go shop around! Also, I’ve seen some great deals on Groupon

6. Go Rock-climbing at a Local Indoor Gym

Master your fear of heights from the safety of a rope and harness. A lot of gyms have an auto-belay they will train you on so no prior experience is required.

7. Race Each Other on Go Karts

Last time we did this, Alex claimed I had the ‘better’ go-cart, but we all know its truly about your skill!

8. Go To An Observation Tower And Watch the Sunset

This is great for big cities because most likely you’ll find a building that you can go to the top to and enjoy city views from!

9. Relax on a Scenic Train Ride

It’s like a road trip except you can relax, and enjoy the views.

10. Sign up for a Fun Cooking Class Together

What’s better than learning how to make sushi?

11. Take a Pottery Class and Make Your Own Bowl or Mug

Go to a local pottery shop and paint each other cups that you can use for coffee or tea

12. Go on Airbnb Experiences and Do One of the Experiences

If you haven’t noticed already Airbnb has this cool option of not only booking a place but also booking an experience in that city. There’s some really fun experiences that you can be part of and most aren’t too expensive. Check it out! https://www.airbnb.com/experiences

13. Attend a Paint Night Together

Reconnect with your inner artist, you know – the one you left behind in third grade when the teacher thought your meadow of flowers was a couple of cats fighting.

14. Wander Through a Local Bookstore And Read Books

“Going to the library or Barnes and Noble and reading for hours.” @kristinarotar

15. Read Each other Children’s Books At A Local Bookshop or Library

Its like doing the one above except easier.

16. Go Through A Coffee Shop Drive Thru and Pay For the Person Behind You

Let me know when you do this though, I’ve always wanted it to happen to me!

17. Find a local Non-Profit Organization and Volunteer

If we all do a little bit, in can become a lot!

18. Attend a Show at the Local Theatre

Go old school and watch a real play, with real local actors!

19. Go to a Thrift Shop and Pick Each Other an Outfit to Wear

Pick a theme and then shop for each other’s outfit. Afterwards, dress up, take some fun pictures and go out for appetizers or dinner!

20. Jazz Night

Dress up in your finest and go to a jazz club to listen to some jazz music.

21. Buy a New Board Game and Figure out how to Play it

22. Find Old Photos of Each Other and Families and Share with Each Other Fun Memories

Go on ancestry.com and see what you can find. Plan a trip to visit the countries where you’re from.

23. Plan a Spontaneous Surprise Last Minute Trip to “Everywhere”

Check out Skyscanner’s  option of selecting “Everywhere” for your destination. You can see what the cheapest flights are from your airport.

24. Go Bowling

“Bowling! It isn’t expensive and is a really fun thing to pick up!” @ang.onis

25. Try A New Cuisine that you both haven’t tried before

It’s always exciting and a little bit scary to try something new but you won’t know if you like it until you try!

Here are some ideas: Korean, Indian, Ethiopian, Persian, Georgian and so much more!

26. Explore New Coffee Shops Around Town

While you’re at it, you could also try something besides the vanilla latte. Just sayin, no hate.

27. Go on a Food Sample Scavenger Hunt

Our favorites – Costco, Trader Joes, New Seasons, Jam Shops, Olive Shops, and Oil Shops!

28. Book One Night at a Hotel

Booking.com, Airbnb.com, and hoteltonight.com have some great deals! Hotel Tonight is cool because you can only book for that night and there’s some pretty awesome deals!

29. Go Out for Appetizers at a Local Restaurant

“Talking over appetizers at a local restaurant.” @winnieswanderings

30. Do a “Triathlon” of all the Fun Activities you like to Do Together

What’s better than watching a movie? Sitting in a hot tub, and having delicious snacks!

31. Have a Themed Night

” We had an 80’s themed date night. Made a cd full of 80’s jams, roller rink and drive in” @amandajholm

32. Cook Dinner and Meet Your Neighbors

“My boyfriend and I cooked Christmas dinner for several local refugee families last Christmas ” @telesia_napendawatu

33. Make it a Cheesy Night

Trader Joes is great for this. Pick out 3-5 different types of cheese, crackers, fruit, nuts and drinks and make it a night of trying new cheese!

34. Try A New Workout Class Together

Maybe there’s a class you haven’t tried before or your on the fence about, this is your time to give it chance!

35. Stop by an Open House

Drive by some of your favorite neighborhoods and check to see if there is an open house going on. Also, you can check on Zillow and see whats out there. This is fun because you get to see what other houses look like and dream together about your future home!

36. Both Take A Fun Online Class Together and Learn Something New

We’ve done this a couple times now and its been super fun! We’ve been using Skillshare. They have thousands of videos to choose from! Also, our followers get two months FREE!

Another great place to take courses is through MasterClass! They create classes for students of all different levels.

Check out some of these:

Jodie Foster Teaches Filmmaking

Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Home

Thomas Keller Teaches Cooking Techniques

Samuel L. Jackson Teaches Acting

Jimmy Chin Teaches Adventure Photography

Lastly, if you love photography, videography or want to improve your business in any way, check out CreativeLive! They have amazing and affordable classes that are taught by top professionals! They also have free classes that air during the day! Check Out CreativeLive’s Free On-Air Classes

Check out some of these:

Turn Your Etsy® Shop into a Sales Machine Course at CreativeLive

Build a Successful Creative Blog Course at CreativeLive

Mastering People Skills Classes at CreativeLive

Portrait Photography Classes at CreativeLive

Online Business Basics Classes

37. Go to an Outdoor Cafe and People Watch

To make it even more exciting try to think up stories for the people you see. Why are they acting the way they are? Where are they going? Where are they traveling? Where do they work? and so on…

38. A Night at Local Museum

You can see and learn a lot by going to a museum. Many have free museum days or specials so make sure to check their website. Also, there are different events and shows going on during each month!

39. Attend a Symphony or an Opera Show

This can be a truly fun and unique experience. Dress up all nice, go out to dinner and then go out for a show! The ones around Christmas time are great!

40. Jump at a Trampoline Park

There are so many trampoline parks now! Go check one out and jump around and show off your tricks! Many of them have fun events!

41. Breakfast in Bed

Cook up your favorite breakfast and then take it to bed!

42. Make Your Favorite Breakfast For Dinner

Who doesn’t love breakfast!?! Cook up your favorite breakfast and serve it for dinner.

43. Have a Karaoke Night

You can do this one at home or some places have Karaoke Nights! If you’re doing it at home, why not make a playlist, grab a microphone (or make a pretend one) and sing your favorite songs!

44. Movie or Show Marathon Night

Stock up on snacks and have a movie marathon night!

45. Pick a Book You’ve Always Wanted to Read and Read it Together

You can go to a bookstore and both pick 1-5 books you like and then narrow it down. Also, you can get an e-book for your kindle. If you don’t like reading, why not listen to it through Audible or Libby (library app)

Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks

46. Write up a short script and film a video together

If you are daring, put it up on Youtube!

47. Go to an Arcade and play games together

See how many tickets you can earn and then cash it out!

48. Invite a Group of Friends and all do an Escape Room Experience

Most cities now have Escape Room Experiences! They are super fun with a group! Check out Groupon.com for some local deals!

49. Create a Bucketlist Together!

Create a bucket list for your city full of places to see, hikes to go on, places to eat at, activities to do! Check mark at least one item!

50. Have a Tech FREE Day

Put your phones away or even better just turn them off and have a night of no electronics! Just be present together! If you want to take it a step further, delete social media off your phone and take a break for a week! It’s the best, we promise!

51. Drive or walk through beautiful neighborhoods and talk about your dream house!

“We love just walking through beautiful neighborhoods and admiring all the houses. We talk about things we like and what we don’t like. It’s fun to dream together about the future!”

Adventurous Outdoor Date Ideas

52. Go Ride Bikes on a Local Trail

Did you know that you can see bike trails on Google Maps? It’s very helpful and fun to explore new places on bike!

53. Hike a New Trail and Picnic at the Top or Along the Way

Check out https://www.alltrails.com for some ideas in your area.

54. Soak in A Natural Hot Springs

Find the nearest natural hot springs and go soak!

55. Buy Chalk and Draw on a Sidewalk Together

“While we were still dating we went to the dollar store, bought chalk, drove downtown and picked a sidewalk to draw on! It was so fun!”

56. Get in the Car and Drive Around Your Town Exploring New Places

This is especially fun on those rainy and gloomy days! A chance to get out of the house and explore.

57. Local Park Lazy Field Day

Grab a picnic, blanket and just lay around talking and laughing! If there’s clouds out, try to find some animals in them.

58. Go On A Random Road trip and Stop to Take Fun Pictures at all the Places You Find

“Going on a road trip to close small town and exploring their little shops and thrift stores.” @meroshnik

59. Train For a Race Together

Make sure to sign up for one and start training!

60. Go Bird Watching

Having binoculars will help! There’s some great areas to go bird watching. Type in “Bird Watching Near Me” into Google

61. Visit a Farmers Market

Visiting a Farmers Market is so much fun. There’s new things to try and opportunities to support small local businesses. Also, you can stock up on some healthy organic veggies, eggs and locally grown flowers!

62. Try a Fun Water Activity

Such As Canoeing, Kayaking, Stand Up Paddle Boarding!

63. Go Foraging

Do you live in an area where you can go mushroom picking or foraging for berries and herbs?

64. Accomplish your Bucketlist Activity

Maybe you’ve always wanted to go skydiving or bungee jumping, go do it!

65. Go Geocaching

What is geocaching you might wonder!? It’s basically an outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS.  The goal is to find specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden.

66. Plan a Picnic

Stop by a favorite store together and pick out your favorite picnic food, grab a blanket and drive to your favorite park, beach, or trail!

We have an actual picnic basket and it has been so fun to use it! They come in handy. Here are some ideas:

67. Wake Up Early And Watch the Sunrise

Cuddle up in a blanket, get in the car and drive somewhere to watch the sun go up! Stop by for breakfast afterwards.

68. Explore A Nearby Winery And Take a Tour

There are so many beautiful local wineries around. Why not make it a date? Bring your camera, take some pictures, learn about how wine is made by taking a tour and enjoy the day together!

69. Go Camping in your own backyard

Why go somewhere far? If you have a decent sized yard, pitch a tent and go camping!

70. Play in the Rain with Your Rain boots On

“In Portland, we get so much rain but sometimes its fun to explore the city with rainbows on and an umbrella!”

71. Go Stargazing

Make sure to go somewhere where there’s no light pollution. Drive up to hill, mountain or even a little bit out of the city!

72. Go on a Camping Trip to the Closest National Park

There’s most likely a National Park somewhere near you. Plan a camping trip and enjoy a weekend in nature!

73. Watch a Sunset Together

“One of our goals is to watch at least one sunset each week together”

74. Go Skinny Dipping When the Sun Sets

Don’t Forget where you left your clothes and towel!

75. Horse Back Riding Together

This is a fun date idea for the spring and summer! Many local ranches can organize something or look up a business that offers it as an activity.

76. Go Zip-lining

Zip-lining is popping up in most cities and its super fun! Its not as scary as it looks!

77. Hammock Hangs

Hang up your hammock between two trees and relax together! Bring a book along or just enjoy the peace of the nature around.

Did you know there’s two person hammocks?!

78. Where did it all begin?

Go back to those places and laugh about some fun memories you’ve had together!

79. Go to a local Mountain

Depending on what you both want like to do or try- snowshoeing, tubing, skiing, snowboarding or you can just make snow angels!

80. Find a Rooftop to Climb up To or Dine at a Rooftop Restaurant!

There some awesome parking garages that you can walk all the way up to and see the city from the top! Also, more and more restaurants have rooftop dinning if you’d prefer that instead.

81. Go For a Nature Walk

Bring along a field journal and draw the different leaves, plants, berries, birds and animals you see.

82. Go For a Swim At A Lake

Plan a fun day at the lake. Whether you go swimming, boating or just sitting on the dock, it will make for a great relaxing day!

83.Organize A Bonfire and Invite Friends Over

Don’t forget the marshmallows!

84. Go Mini Golfing

Mini Golfing or Top Golfing, they’re both fun!

85. Play Frisbee at the Park Together

This might not sound too exciting but its actually really fun! You can first start off by watching a short instructional video on Youtube on how to throw a frisbee (if you don’t know how) and then practice together at a local park or field!

You can also organize or join an Ultimate Frisbee Game!

86. Play the Bigger and Better Game by trading something and getting something better

Start with a paper click and go around the neighborhood trading the object for something better. See what you can end up with!

87. Visit an Amusement Park

Amusement Parks can be so much fun during the summer! If you aren’t really into crazy rides, go on the less intense ones! Also, some amusement parks have waterparks, shows, fun events, and other fun activities!

Some fun ideas: Disney Land or Disney World, Universal Studios, Six Flags, Lego Land and so many others! Don’t forget about your own local theme park or water park!

88. Random Acts of Kindness

Walk around the neighborhood and do random acts of kindness for others!

Examples: bake cookies and take them to the neighbors, pick up trash around the neighborhood, help a friend move, take someone out for coffee and so much more!

89. Go Fishing

It’s a fun hobby to have and if you don’t have the stuff, find friends who do and make it a double date!

90. Fruit Picking at a Local Farm

This a favorite for the late spring/summer season! Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries..mmm YUM!

91. Neighborhood Cleanup

Organize a neighborhood cleanup or just the two of you, get trash bags and clean up a local park or your own neighborhood.

92. RUN A Fun Race Together

Sign up to do a fun race together such as the Color Run, A Mud Run or if you’re extreme the Spartan Race!

93. Ride Quad Bikes

Get supper muddy going off roading on quad bikes! If you’re not into mud, the Oregon coast has some amazing sand dunes so you can rent a sand buggy!

94. Have a Nurf Gun Battle

Surprise your date with a nurf gun battle. Set a time limit or goal that you have to achieve. Loser gets to wash the dishes! Jk

95. Build a DIY Project Together

Who isn’t intrigued by DIY projects?! They’re amazing! Go to Pinterest and get all the ideas you’ll ever want! You can also go to Goodwill get a piece of old furniture and restore it!

96. Take a Hot Air Ballon Ride

Some of the most beautiful hot air ballon rides are in beautiful open spaces.

Some ideas:

• Rocky Mts. Colorado
• Napa Valley, California
• Lake Tahoe, Nevada
• Sedona, Arizona
• Letchworth State Park, NY
• Moab, UT

97. Rent a Cabin, Yurt or go Glamping Somewhere in the Forest

Retreat away somewhere where you can be near nature and experience something new and different!

98. Mountain Biking

Rent some mountain bikes and look up a local trail that you can go on! This is so much fun and it’s safe as long as you wear a helmet 😉

99. Play Paintball

This is fun to play with a team!

100. Go Waterfall Chasing

There’s most likely a waterfall somewhere not too far from where you live. Mark them on your map and then go chase them down. If it’s warm, go swim in them!

And The List Goes On!

All in all, we hope this gives you a good start to some adventurous date ideas! Do you have any other adventurous outdoor or indoor date ideas? Let us know in the comments below!

Here’s a BIG Thank you to all the people who helped us come up with adventurous date ideas, @darcy_rea @kristinakamalii @kristinarotar @marns_n @k.factor @ang.onis @winnieswanderings @amandajholm @telesia_napendawatu, @ayitsalyssa, @markiemrk02, @meroshnik, @kelseyleffel

We’d love to hear if you’ve tried one of these ideas out! What was your experience?

Katie & Alex

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