Statistics show that millennials spend over 10 hours a week on dating apps. If you’re over 40, maybe you’ve used dating apps to find a date, but the chances are you’re not wasting your time looking at a screen when you could be getting to know somebody in person. Life’s too short for analysing and scrutinising a dating profile so let’s get straight to the date. While you’re at it, let’s skip those boring coffee dates too! What better way to get to know your new beau than with these active date ideas to get the mind whirring, the heart pumping and hopefully, the conversation flowing.
Take a look at these nine exciting active date ideas to help you make your next date one to remember:
1. Coastal Fun
If you live near the coast, or near enough to get there and back in a day, then there are tons of coastal activities you can enjoy on your date. The more adventurous can try a surf lesson, paddleboarding, kayaking or maybe even some coasteering. If you’re looking for something a little more gentle, how about some wild swimming, or maybe some snorkelling to spot the thriving marine life around the UK coastlines.
Looking to keep your feet dry? Why not have a bash at some rock pooling to find hermit crabs, anemones, starfish and a world of colourful rocks and seaweed. You could take a trip on a boat to check out the land from a different perspective, or maybe to spot wildlife like dolphins, basking sharks or even whales depending on your location. At the very least, a long walk across the beach or cliffs followed by a shared bag of hot chips is a heavenly afternoon by anyone’s standards.
2. Rock Climbing
Rock climbing is a fantastic active date idea if you’re looking for a challenge. If you’re never done it before rock-climbing centres are a great choice and have various walls and challenges for visitors to try. You can support each other as you work through challenges and work your way up to the top.
3. Axe Throwing
Axe throwing is the latest trend in activity dates, enabling men and women to channel their inner lumberjack and safely blow off some steam. The element of competition is ideal for daters who want the opportunity to show off to their potential new beau. At the very least, if you both fail miserably you’ve got something to laugh about when you go for a drink afterwards.
4. Escape Rooms
Perhaps you fancy flexing your thinking muscles as well as your physical muscles, and you want the opportunity to show your intelligence. Or maybe, you want the chance to see how you work as a team with the person you’re dating. Escape rooms are the perfect venue for an active challenge with somebody special. You can work together to solve clues and crack codes, enjoying an afternoon adventure that hopefully results in you winning the game. At the very worst, even if you’re both rubbish at it, you’re stuck in a room with somebody you fancy.
5. Virtual Reality Arcades
The global VR market is set to grow by over $200 billion dollars within the next 5 years. Part of that growth sees accessible high-tech arcades opening their doors to the public, enabling everybody to enjoy a piece of the latest in VR technology. The best part is, you don’t have to be aware of the latest computer games or trends to enjoy a virtual reality arcade. They are suitable for all ages, enabling you both to experience something entirely new and different to anything you have experienced before. It isn’t all shooting zombies either, there’s even one arcade in London that has a VR accounting game! The perfect date for making memories and providing lots of talking points afterwards.
6. Wild Foraging
Wild foraging is the perfect way to earn your dinner if you’re both a little bit foodie, and you’re both keen on nature too. With an experienced guide, you could go foraging for berries, mushrooms, leaves and even seafood depending on your location. Have a look at this handy edible mushroom guide for inspiration as to the many types of mushrooms in the UK you can forage and eat. Do always forage with an experienced guide; as there are many deadly plants and fungi that look similar to the safe varieties. Consuming a poisonous food type will certainly make your date the wrong kind of memorable!
7. Zip Lining
If you’re OK with heights zip lining is a quick way to get a thrill. So even if your date isn’t that thrilling, you’re still guaranteed a great time. You can go to centres that only offer zip lining. Or there are tree-height obstacle courses to go through to get to the zip-lines if you want more of a challenge.
It is a risk to love. What if it doesn’t work out? Ah, but what if it does.
Peter McWilliams
8. Bike Ride
The more physically fit will love the thigh-burn of a hilly bike ride through the countryside or across a challenging forest route. If you’re looking to sweat less, you could hire a tandem bike and cycle flat roads and paths. Or maybe stretch to electric bikes which do a lot of the work for you, leaving you more energy to chat as you ride. Take a look at these ten gorgeous bike rides in the UK for inspiration.
9. Trampolining
There are now entire buildings filled with trampoline assault courses for active daters like you to enjoy. You won’t be able to hold back the laughter as you both bounce your way into soft foam pits, across angled trampolines, and bounce into each other as you’re challenged to a gladiator-style duel. It certainly gets the heart rate going. And if you really like your date, you’ll definitely be bouncing to dizzying heights and beyond in this kind of activity venue.
Even if you use a great mature dating site like Maturity Dating, statistics tell us; you’ll kiss 15 people, have two long-term relationships and have your heart broken twice before finding the one. Even when you do find someone you like, further studies say that you need to have 9 dates with somebody before you’ll even think about committing to romance.
That’s a lot of dating, isn’t it? You may as well make it fun and avoid monotony by trying the active date ideas above. At the very least you’ll have a memorable experience. And at the most, it will be a date to remember with your new beau years down the line.
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