You have gone through the vagaries of the first date with flying colors; after you delighted in your first victory, there looms another difficulty ahead of you – the problem of the following date. Now you can just make it a good restaurant, playing a safe game – but you could do it in a lot more creative style! If you suggest something not quite ordinary, you may enjoy a shared experience and understand each other far better than sitting at the restaurant table. Ready for striking out into a range of simple pleasures? Check out for a long list of good ideas to see which of them might make your girl (or boy) smile!
Good old arcade
You don’t have to be a pro at games for that, it would be quite enough if both of you played a little back then. An old game reminiscent of childhood fun can loosen you up and make you feel younger and playful. Find a barcade nearby for an additional pleasure of moistening your insides during the game.
A walk in an apple orchard
If it’s fall, new harvest promises both gastronomic and visual pleasures. Nature, nice views, tasting fresh cider and apple pies will make a nice memory for an outdoor couple.
A Train Ride
Public transport for a date? Why not? Choose a spot to your liking within a couple of hours’ train ride from your city, choose a time when the train is not crowded, and enjoy the conversation and the visit to an exciting site.
A home film festival
To arrange a whole Netflix evening would probably not be the best idea, but a private cozy sit-in for a nice entertaining movie (or the next episode of your favorite TV series) with some pizza could be a success – especially in cold weather.
Go listen to some live music
Once you’ve eaten, you can take your date to a local live show. Of course, it will mean doing some homework so you pick a band that can play and will fit in with your mood, and it will provide you with a good chance to learn about the other’s preferences in music and how they feel at a performance.
Choose a sporting event
Both of you are active people fond of sports? Pick a sporting event in the neighborhood. It doesn’t matter if you don’t root for the same team, it can make the date even more exciting! This is one to make your adrenaline rise.
A Trivia contest
For those who know a lot about everything under the sun a trivia evening at a bar seems indicated. You can show off a bit, or maybe gain a few new pieces of knowledge from your date? Enjoy good beer, and if you won, you usually don’t pay for them.
Have you been to a botanical garden?
No, you haven’t? It’s sure a good time to check up on it. It will be much more than just a stroll about a forest or a shore. Afterward, you can share a chat and a snack on a bench in a nearby garden.
Bowling night
Some bowling, beer, and pizza can join to make one hilarious evening. You don’t really need to be very skillful – there are bumper guards to help you, and it may be even more fun!
Boat and water
Summer heat? Your date will be glad to spend a day on the water. To make it absolutely lovely you will have to have some prowess in rowing, but there are easier ways, like hiring a paddleboat on a park lake.
Look around for a museum
It won’t be difficult to find a museum that will fit in with the atmosphere you would like to create. A thorough exploration will take you the best part of the evening and will leave you with a lot of things to discuss. For a more festive occasion look for an opening. Moreover, you can brush up on the theme and come across highly knowledgeable.
Visit a palmist
You don’t need to believe everything that you are told by the chiromancer. Try to steer clear of love life, and exciting topics for conversation may ensue, as well as a good opportunity to tell each other about your lives.
Mini-Golf as an entertaining part
That would be stimulating without being overtiring, exciting without being overtly sportive. A round of mini-golf will have you wanting your nourishment at dinner and discussing your childhood outdoor games over your meal.
Horse riding
You can always sign up for a riding lesson and get an experience of the year trying to mount a horse – or are you experienced already? Then it is unadulterated fun, hopefully for you both.
A Farmers market may be interesting
Healthy simple food galore for those who love products straight from the soil. So much to discuss, sample, probably even learn things about what you eat. You can even go there prepared to knock up a meal with what you have just bought together.
Art gallery possibilities
You can always take your date to a gallery opening where you don’t pay for entrance but receive plenty of impressions which you will be able to share and discuss for days afterwards. Besides, you get to know each other’s tastes in color and subject matter.
Pool pleasures
An engrossing evening at a dive-bar – easy! Beer and pool, or beer and foosball, or beer and darts – or all of it jumbled together as you will fancy is sure to keep you entertained for the evening.
Ghost tours for the imaginative
That’s an outlandish idea which may turn out to be fun, if you are on your best believing and imaginative attitude and delight in a little scare put into you for that rush of adrenaline.
An evening of self-made treat
Ice-cream will be twice as delicious if you make it yourself first, working the electric machine and going back in time to childhood birthdays and festivals.
A visit to the Zoo
Go on a visit to the wildlife in the zoo or an aquarium for some unusual fun rich in cuteness, exchanging jokes and stories from your travels to the sea or in the wilds. Feel closer with animals and sea life surrounding you.
A dinner with a difference
This is an excellent option for foodies – get together and expand your food boundaries. Think of cuisines and dishes that you haven’t tried yet, and whose names may sound a little weird and definitely unwelcome when you consider them for a routine dinner. But it can be interesting for the second date! Take a gastronomic risk together and see how you come off. Chances for enjoyment and for a good laugh run high.
Challenge a maze
It may seem easy to negotiate a corn maze, remembering it’s a teenage staple, but it may turn out to be more exciting than you thought! Get lost with a beautiful date and see how you can handle the situation as a team.
A serious proposition at a biergarten
This is a familiar kind of fun, only German style. A garden can’t be firmly promised, but a lot of bier is guaranteed – you can’t always be oh so cultural, try old-time pleasures.
Outdoor movies
As the summer hits the town, the popularity of outdoor movies can’t be overrated. Here you are, comfortably ensconced on a blanket, with snacks and drinks at your elbows, what could be better for winding down? A local drive-in theater can also be considered if the weather fails. Fun and fresh air!
Picnics in the open
It’s an old idea, but it works. Depending on your preference for a public place or an intimate nook, choose a park or a place outside the town with beautiful scenery. Make your own food, too.
Games outdoors
No lying down on the grass and chewing on sandwiches lazily for you? Yes, get moving. If the basketball court sounds too intimidating, there are Frisbees, for one. Choose teaming up or playing against each other, both ways are sure to bind you tighter afterward, plus an outburst of endorphins.
Fireplace for warmth and grills
It’s cold outside – think fireplace! Get cozy, buy or lend a mini-grill and have smokey goodies to keep you warm, happy and totally satisfied.
A poetry recital
There’s some risk in it since you can run into bad poetry which of course will kill the pleasure instead of being enlightening. If you and your date are fond of literature, you can enjoy it anyway, exchanging critical remarks. If you’re not, you can go there prepared to walk out as soon as you’re bored and start to implement Plan B.
Outdoor pool at sunset
In the peak of summer there is nothing like a pool; and if there’s a local pool that doesn’t close until very late, you can enjoy a quiet swim after most people have gone home and watch the sky changing color – all quiet and romantic.
A lesson in pottery
Yes, that came from Ghost. But what’s to prevent you from trying whether the magic will work for you too?
Go for a bike-ride
That’s another old one, for a good reason: it still retains its charm. You rent bikes, get to know the surroundings, find beautiful places and have a lot of exercise and fresh air. It’s up to you to choose an easier route or a ride where fancy takes you, depending on the mood and your biking skills.
Roller fun
Roller-skating, too, doesn’t show any sign of slipping in popularity! Plenty of movement, a lot of good music for all tastes, from evergreens to today’s top charters, a nice chance to hold hands. Take care of the balance, or you will have to do some grabbing to prevent each other from falling!
Prepare a meal together
Now you can really showcase your kitchen-table abilities. Which of you is the better cook, and who is more experiment-prone? Who chops and peels better and faster? Who will end up the chef and who – sous-chef? Does it really matter? One thing is sure, you will enjoy the meal more than the one you could have ordered at a restaurant.
Have fun at a carnival
Modern amusements are all right, but they failed to replace some old ones. Carnivals still hold their own, and you can be sure that they are just as hilarious to attend as to be seen on television. Dressing up, stuffing up with cotton candy, riding on a ferris wheel and putting your hands to every game that can be played – you won’t notice the passing of time.
Stand-up comedies
Sharing a good laugh is a great way to spend an evening. Incidentally, you generate endorphins that can make your night brighter. A little bit of advice is to take places further back so as to avoid being picked at by an observing comedian.
Tasting wine at a distillery
This is where drinking wine meets culture. You will learn something about grapes, wine making, vintages, hone your tastes by learning to pinpoint flavors. After a couple of glasses, you will have no trouble chatting gaily.
Why not try a burlesque show?
For those who don’t shy away from nudity it can be quite an option. A good burlesque group can put up an engrossing show you will enjoy if you don’t mind attending a risqué performance together.
Go-cart races
This is great for people who like it when adrenaline runs high and are happy to vie against one another negotiating difficult ground with almost-impossible turns. A bold invitation for the second date to impress the girl!
Go exploring
There should be parts of your town (or outskirts) where none of you has been before. Get your bearings around, see what there is to be seen, find a good place to have a snack.
Take a dog for a walk
Animal shelters just love to have volunteers for walking their dogs – and having a tail-and-ears friend in tow can make your walk greatly different! Besides, you can see if your date is patient and attentive to pets. Later you may want to own one!
Get board games for the evening
The weather can let you down for outdoor entertainment, so be prepared for a spell of indoor pleasures. Board games to your rescue! Learn a new card game, get out your Scrabble outfit, don’t forget about Trivial Pursuit. Special stores will be a great help for this option.
Challenge slopes
Many of those who live around ski resorts are good on skis and snowboards. If so, here’s your second date idea – to spend a healthy time together, sport your skills and get to know your date better.
Watch the stars
Get out of the city to a place where the sky is clear (okay, you may be adventurous enough to hazard a roof of a high building), equipped with a warm blanket and thick clothes, and succumb to stargazing. You don’t need binoculars, but reading up on ancient myths related to constellations can come in handy.
A walk in a beautiful place
Practically every place on earth has beautiful corners and nooks that take good walkers to discover and enjoy. Embankments in towns, beaches and village scenery will provide you with any amount of marvelous views that are even better with sharing. You can have long talks which are impossible at many town events.
Try special food at festivals
There is no-one who could resist a great meal, and the place to get it is a food festival! Unhurried strolls about street carts, a wide range of foods to sample, a merry atmosphere are enough for a delightful day together!