Date Night Ideas That Aren't Just Netflix and Takeout

Let's face it, gentlemen. If your idea of a romantic evening is scrolling through Netflix for 45 minutes before ordering the same takeout you get every Friday, it's time for an upgrade.

Turns out planning a memorable date is way easier than debating whether pineapple belongs on pizza. Pick a vibe below, copy-and-paste it into your calendar, and voilà — instant thoughtfulness.

Adventure Dates

1. Local Food Tour - Sample four or five restaurants in one evening. It's like being indecisive about dinner, but making it fancy. Sites such as Airbnb Experiences list neighborhood food-and-drink walks in nearly every city.
2. Sunset Picnic - Pack cheese, wine, maybe even remember the bottle opener this time.
3. Nighttime Kayak or SUP Under the Stars - Glide across calm water while the sky puts on a show. GetYourGuide lists sunset paddles that handle the gear and the route for you.
4. Escape Room Challenge - Lock yourselves in a themed room and race the clock together. Escapology has private rooms all over the country, so only your puzzle-solving skills are on display.
5. Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride - Yes, the alarm is brutal, but floating above the world with a post-flight champagne toast scores you serious romance points.

Learning Together

1. Cooking Class - Learn to make her favorite cuisine together. Bonus: you'll finally know how to cook something other than toast. MasterClass even lets you learn from chefs like Gordon Ramsay without leaving your kitchen.
2. Dance Lessons - Warning: this requires actual coordination and can't be done from the couch.
3. Mixology Workshop - Shake cocktails like a pro. Cozymeal streams live classes and emails the shopping list, so you won't "forget" the vermouth.
4. Pottery Workshop - Channel your inner Patrick Swayze; mud is more romantic than it sounds. ClassBento makes finding a beginner class painless.
5. Backyard Stargazing Lesson - A local astronomy guide brings telescopes so you just bring blankets and wow-face. Airbnb Experiences has five-star stargazing nights in dark-sky spots.

Creative Dates

1. DIY Paint Night - Like those wine-and-paint classes, but at home. Pro tip: put down newspapers first. PaintNite ships a complete kit and on-demand video so you can blame the instructor for your abstract giraffe.
2. Memory Lane Drive - Visit spots from your relationship: that first-date restaurant, the place you proposed (you do remember where that was, right?).
3. Time Capsule Scrapbook - Scratch off an adventure prompt, do it together, then glue in photos. The Adventure Challenge scrapbook keeps the ideas coming.
4. At-Home Film Festival - Pick a theme, pop popcorn, and stream classics with a free trial of the Criterion Channel. Bonus points for printing faux tickets.
5. Couples Paint-by-Numbers Canvas - Order a custom photo turned into a paint-by-numbers kit. It's a teamwork exercise that doubles as wall art when you're done.

Pick one, set a reminder, and bask in the fact that you just leveled up from "useless" to "unexpectedly impressive."