Keeping the romance alive when you’re stuck together 24/7 doesn’t have to be a chore!
It’s amazing how many things you can do if you’re housebound or everything is shut. We’ve compiled 30 great date night ideas for staying loved up in lockdown.
1. Get dolled up and play bartender
The bars may be on pause, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get glammed up and spend an evening supping with your favorite person. Try a virtual cocktail making workshop or even learn to make your own vermouth (!) with Devour’s very own Luke, a guide in Barcelona.
2. Bring your favorite country to you
Just because you can’t go to your favorite country right now doesn’t mean you can’t bring said favorite country right into your home. Play traditional music, hang up some beautiful images of monuments or beaches, get some vacation clothes and of course, cook some authentic local food.
Need some ideas? For everything from delicious Madrid-style gambas al ajillo to Parisian soupe à l’oignon, check out our digital cookbook with more than 50 easy-to-follow recipes from all over Europe.
3. Be a culture vulture on a virtual trip to the theater
With free virtual performances from London’s West End to New York’s Broadway at the ready, your inner theater buff need not wait to get your fix. Watch your favorite productions complete with tiny pots of ice cream for an authentic intermission experience—when you’re at your home theater, there’s not a bad seat in the house!
4. Pamper yourself with a spa day
Get your bathrobes on—it’s time for you both to get some TLC. It shouldn’t be expensive, either: with some candles to set the scene, a cozy bath soak and face masks, you’ll be pampering your worries away in no time.
5. Make sweet, sweet music
Okay, we’re not all piano virtuosos or expert flamenco guitar players—but that doesn’t mean we can’t try our hand at making beautiful music! It’s as simple as finding karaoke versions of your favorite songs on YouTube for the ultimate singing showdown. Tequila shots are optional but certainly help with your confidence.
6. Celebrate a random public holiday
With literally thousands of public holidays globally every year celebrating everything from saints to monkeys, a fun way to spend the day is to just pick one and celebrate it. Want to do Cinco de Mayo in June? Go for it! Fancy St. Paddy’s Day today? Get the Guinness out!
7. Learn something new together
With a little (okay, a lot) more time on our hands than usual, learning a new skill has become one of the most popular things to do in lockdown. You and your special someone can learn everything from drawing manga to poetry writing to learning how to trade stocks (how romantic!) from sites like Udemy or Coursera.
8. Double date
Bring a sense of normality to housebound social events by having a Zoom double date with your favorite other couple. Grab a bottle of wine and some snacks, and it will almost feel like normal times (with some pretty nifty backgrounds)
9. Write letters
As the world’s communication goes virtual, hark back to simpler days by putting pen to paper and writing each other epic love letters in the spirit of Frida Kahlo, Johnny Cash and John Keats. Maybe even wait to read them until post-quarantine days, message-in-a-bottle style. Bonus points for the use of scented notepaper!
10. Taste wine like a professional sommelier
Swill, sip and spit like a pro as you taste the boldest reds and most floral whites. Whether you’re a wine newbie or already fancy yourself a sommelier, join our very own events for the discerning lover of the grapes as you learn to pair wine and cheese live from Paris with Jess or get the lowdown on Spanish wine with oenophile Nika in Barcelona.
11. Game on!
For those of a competitive nature, a game night could be just the ticket to a great time at home. Be it a Scrabble showdown or a DIY crazy golf course, just avoid Monopoly, the greatest cause of squabbles in the history of board games.
12. Take a romantic walk
This walk will look very different whether you’re a city dweller or rural rambler, but a romantic stroll hand in hand (observing social distancing, of course!) is almost guaranteed to get the endorphins up and the conversation flowing. This is also the perfect excuse to head to your favorite spot in town to get that perfect shot without the usual crowds.
13. Go to a virtual gig
Okay, two people dancing at home is never going to have quite the same vibe as a club full of people, but grab a lukewarm bottle of beer and enjoy—for the first time ever—a horde of locked-down musicians bringing their art directly into your home, for free! Highlights so far have included Post Malone’s Nirvana tribute and Neil Young’s fireside sessions. After all, they do say music is the food of love!
14. Hobby swap
Maybe you have a passion for painting and your partner has perfected the craft of cooking. Spend an evening enjoying each other’s hobbies, a sure-fire way to feel closer and a whole heap more valued.
15. Create a dance
From the Cannibal to Jawsh 685 Laxed, there have been hundreds of global dance crazes on Tiktok this year so far. Create a new one and you could be going viral together across the globe before you know it. But if that’s not your jam, you could always try perfecting the Dirty Dancing lift instead.
16. Take a trip to the movies
Who needs an expensive trip to the movie theater when we have a world of Netflix and Amazon Prime at our fingertips? Make some popcorn, grab an absurdly large soda and get ready for a home cinema experience. Just remember: phones must be on silent.
17. Go stargazing
There are few experiences more romantic than laying on a blanket cuddled up and tracing constellations with your fingertips. Leave lockdown far, far behind as you search for Sirius A.
18. Cook a Meal Together
They say that the way to the heart is through the stomach, so cooking a meal together has to be, by default, another thoroughly romantic experience. Make an event of it and join Abbie cooking authentic carbonara live from her Rome apartment, or make a proper paella with chef Arantxa in Madrid.
19. Build a fort
Live your childhood fantasies by creating the ultimate fort using whatever you can find around the house. Hang up some fairy lights to make it extra-romantic and cozy up together in PJs with candy, chips and your inner child’s favorite movie.
20. Turn your home into a hotel
Missing the full luxury experience? Fear not—it’s actually pretty easy to recreate it in your own bedroom. With your most comfortable sheets, an aroma diffuser, some sprinkled rose petals, a chocolate on the pillow, some minibar items and possibly a towel folded into a swan, you’ll be beating bedroom boredom in no time. And come morning, why not try a romantic breakfast in bed?
21. Sip and paint
Wine-and-paint evenings have taken off around the world, but even with venues shut, there’s no need to stifle your creative vision. With a bottle of your favorite wine, a couple of canvases and some watercolors, you can follow a guided YouTube tutorial, Paint By Numbers or even up the ante by picking an iconic painting and trying to recreate it. The bonus? The more wine you drink, the better it looks!
22. Plan your dream vacation
We will travel again… but until we do, spend an evening designing your ultimate vacation together. Be it hiking in the Himalayas or sipping an Aperol spritz by the Venetian canals, remember, this is your dream trip… it even comes with a dream budget!
23. Unleash your inner history geek
We here at Devour believe one of the best ways to understand history is through its food! So join us on a live virtual deep dive into thousands of years of history in England with Shabby or in Portugal with Melissa, each told through their 10 most iconic dishes. You can even cook a medieval Catalan recipe with Hannah, a guide from Barcelona.
24. Make a collaborative playlist
Gone are the days of making your love a mixtape, but you can still bring the concept up to 2020 by making the ultimate collaborative playlist on Spotify—be it slow jams, folk classics or headbanging heavies.
25. Go on a scavenger hunt
Keep your body and brain active by creating and taking part in a house-wide scavenger hunt with clues and prizes. If you’d rather use a pre-made one, there are some awesome ones out there online from scavenger pros like GG Treasure Hunts.
26. Life is a picnic
Whether you have an outdoor space or not, a romantic picnic can be a great way to reconnect over your favorite foods and tipples. (Spanish tortilla always makes an awesome addition!)
27. Have a cook-off
One box of surprise ingredients from the cupboard and a time limit is all you need to take each other on in the ultimate cook-off to see who will be crowned culinary champion. Who says a box of dusty risotto rice and an aging carrot cannot make the most sumptuous of meals?
28. Take the ultimate pub quiz
Pick a witty team name (Les Quizerables, anyone?) and pit yourselves against people all over the globe in an ultimate pub quiz. Highly recommended is the Love and London quiz hosted by the wonderful Jess.
29. Recreate your first date
Take it back to the night it all began with a recreation of your very first date. Don some similar clothes, cook that meal over which your eyes first met and take a nostalgic trip back to the start of a beautiful relationship.
30. Talk
This may sound silly, but in a world of screens, computer games and working from home, sometimes we forget the simplest thing of all: how to talk. So turn off those phones and spend time properly conversing; sometimes just giving your loved one undivided attention is the most romantic gesture of all.
Want even more inspiration? We’ve got a full lineup of incredible online experiences coming your way live from Europe every night. Get ready to travel the world with your special someone—from the comfort of your own home!
Shabby is an experienced tour leader, London guide and punk rock musician. She has a great passion for all foods of the world, particularly if they involve offal! As Devour London’s Operations Manager and first guide, she’s on a mission to smash the reputation that the cuisine of London is bland and uninteresting, one glass of award-winning sparkling wine and spoonful of spicy curry at a time.