I used to hate winter. I’m talking deep, passionate hatred for everything about the season. The cold, the dark evenings, the way you have to bundle up in seventeen layers just to check the mail. But then I started dating my now-husband, and suddenly winter became this magical time full of cozy moments and adventures I’d never considered before.
Our first winter together, we did things I’d never done before. We went ice skating even though I’m terrible at it. We drove around looking at Christmas lights with thermoses of hot chocolate. We stayed in and cooked elaborate meals while snow fell outside. And somewhere in all of that, I realized that winter isn’t something to survive. It’s actually pretty incredible when you have someone to share it with.
Now, with two boys and over a decade of marriage behind us, winter is still one of my favorite times for date nights. There’s something about the cold weather that makes you want to get close, whether you’re huddled together on a walk or curled up under blankets at home. The season practically begs for romance and connection.
These 50 winter date ideas encompass a range of activities, from outdoor adventures to cozy indoor pursuits. Some cost money, some are free. Some require planning, others are completely spontaneous. But they all embrace what makes winter special instead of fighting against it.
Outdoor Winter Adventures
1. Go Ice Skating This is a winter classic for a reason. Whether it’s an outdoor rink downtown or an indoor one at the mall, there’s something inherently romantic about holding hands while trying not to fall. We do this every year, and I’m still terrible at skating, which somehow makes it more fun.
2. Take a Winter Hike Bundle up and hit the trails. Winter hiking is completely different from summer hiking. Everything is quiet and beautiful, the crowds are gone, and the cold air feels amazing in your lungs. Bring thermoses of something hot and take breaks to warm up together.
3. Go Sledding or Tubing Find a hill, bring sleds or tubes, and act like kids. Race each other, crash spectacularly, laugh until your stomach hurts. Then go somewhere warm and recap your best wipeouts over hot drinks.
4. Build a Snowman Together Yes, it’s something you’d do with kids, but it’s also ridiculously fun as adults. Get creative, give your snowman personality, take silly photos. It’s playful and sweet and costs nothing.
5. Have a Snowball Fight Be playful. Build forts, stockpile ammunition, chase each other around. Get cold and wet and then go inside to warm up. The warming up part is half the fun.
6. Go Snowshoeing If you have access to deep snow, snowshoeing is magical. It lets you access parts of nature you couldn’t otherwise reach, and it’s easier than it looks. The quiet beauty of winter landscapes is incredible.
7. Take a Sunrise or Sunset Winter Walk The light in winter is different, softer and more dramatic. Bundle up and walk through your neighborhood or a nearby park during golden hour. The cold makes you walk close together, and the beauty gives you things to talk about.
8. Go Cross-Country Skiing If you have access to trails, this is wonderful. It’s peaceful, beautiful, and you’re moving together through winter wonderland. No ski experience required for the basic trails.
9. Visit a Winter Festival Many towns have winter festivals with ice sculptures, food vendors, live music, and activities. It’s festive and fun and gives you a reason to get out of the house even when it’s cold.
10. Go on a Winter Camping Trip Okay, this one is for the adventurous. Winter camping requires preparation and the right gear, but if you’re up for it, it’s an incredible bonding experience. Nothing brings you closer than surviving the elements together.
Cozy Indoor Dates
11. Have a Soup Cook-Off Each make your own soup recipe and then taste test and judge. It’s fun, competitive in a lighthearted way, and you end up with delicious food. We did this once and still argue about who won.
12. Build a Blanket Fort Gather every pillow and blanket in your house and construct something ridiculous. Watch movies from inside, read to each other, or just hide from the world for a while. It’s silly and intimate and makes you feel like kids.
13. Have a Board Game Marathon Pick three or four games and spend the whole evening playing. We love strategy games, but whatever you’re into works. Order takeout so you don’t have to stop playing to cook.
14. Do a Puzzle Together Get a challenging puzzle, pour some wine or make hot chocolate, put on music, and spend hours working on it together. It’s meditative and gives your hands something to do while you talk.
15. Have a Movie Marathon Pick a theme like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Marvel movies and watch them all. Make it an event with themed snacks and drinks. Pause for discussions and bathroom breaks.
16. Cook an Elaborate Meal Together Pick a recipe that’s more complex than your usual weeknight dinner. Something with multiple components, fancy techniques, or cuisines you’ve never tried. Make the cooking process the date.
17. Have a Wine and Cheese Tasting Buy several wines and cheeses you’ve never tried. Taste them systematically, rate them, discuss flavors. Pretend you’re sophisticated even if you have no idea what you’re talking about.
18. Read to Each Other Pick a book, short stories, or poetry and take turns reading aloud. There’s something intimate about hearing your partner’s voice telling a story. We’ve done this with everything from Neil Gaiman to Mary Oliver.
19. Have a Spa Night at Home Face masks, foot soaks, massages, the works. Take turns pampering each other. Light candles, play relaxing music, make it an event. It’s intimate and relaxing and way cheaper than an actual spa.
20. Make Homemade Pizza Make the dough from scratch, set up a topping bar, each create your perfect pizza. It’s interactive, delicious, and you can get creative with combinations. Plus, your house will smell amazing.
Christmas and Holiday Dates
21. Drive Around Looking at Christmas Lights Make thermoses of hot chocolate, create a playlist of Christmas music, and just drive. Rate houses, get lost in neighborhoods you’ve never explored, sing along badly to the music. This is my absolute favorite winter tradition.
22. Go to a Christmas Market If you live near a city with a Christmas market, this is perfect. Browse stalls, drink mulled wine or cider, buy handmade ornaments, soak in the festive atmosphere. The crowds and lights create this magical energy.
23. Decorate Your Home Together Don’t rush through it. Put on Christmas music, make it an evening event, hang each ornament intentionally while talking about where it came from. Take breaks for hot drinks and snacks.
24. Bake Christmas Cookies Put on festive music, pour some wine, and spend the evening baking. Sugar cookies, gingerbread, whatever you love. Decorate them elaborately or terribly, doesn’t matter. The process is the point.
25. Go Ice Skating at a Holiday Rink Many cities set up special outdoor rinks during the holidays with lights and music. It’s more festive than regular ice skating and creates that Hallmark movie feeling.
26. See The Nutcracker Local ballet companies perform it every year. Get dressed up, experience live performance together, feel cultured and festive. It’s beautiful and romantic and very winter.
27. Attend a Christmas Concert Church choir, symphony orchestra, local band doing holiday covers. Live Christmas music hits different than recorded, and you’re experiencing something together that can’t be replicated.
28. Make a Gingerbread House Buy a kit or make it from scratch. Either way, it’s fun and ridiculous. Ours always looks drunk and lopsided, but we laugh the whole time we’re building it.
29. Go to a Tree Lighting Ceremony Many towns have official tree lighting events with caroling, hot chocolate, and community spirit. It’s festive and makes you feel connected to something bigger.
30. Have a Christmas Movie Marathon Build a fort, make popcorn, queue up your favorites. Alternate picking movies. Debate whether Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie. Make it a whole day event.
Romantic and Intimate Dates
31. Have a Fondue Night Cheese fondue for dinner, chocolate fondue for dessert. It’s interactive eating, which somehow feels more special than regular dinner. Light candles, take your time, feed each other.
32. Stargaze from Your Car Winter skies are incredibly clear. Drive somewhere dark, bring blankets, and look at the stars from inside your warm car. Download a stargazing app to identify constellations.
33. Have Breakfast in Bed Sleep in, then one person makes breakfast while the other stays cozy. Bring it back to bed with coffee and spend the morning just being together without rushing anywhere.
34. Take a Couples Massage Class Find a tutorial online or take an actual class and learn massage techniques together. Then practice on each other. It’s intimate, relaxing, and you’re learning something useful.
35. Write Love Letters to Each Other Set a timer for twenty minutes, write letters expressing what you love about each other, then exchange and read them. It’s vulnerable and sweet and you’ll have them forever.
36. Have a Candlelit Dinner at Home Cook something special, set the table nicely, light candles, put on soft music. Make your dining room feel like a fancy restaurant. Dress up if you want, or stay in your comfiest clothes.
37. Create a Vision Board Together Get magazines, scissors, glue, and poster board. Each create a vision board for the year ahead, or make one together for your relationship. Dream about the future while creating something visual.
38. Take a Bath Together If you have a bathtub big enough, this is wonderfully intimate. Add bath salts or bubbles, light candles, bring drinks, just soak together. It’s relaxing and romantic.
39. Dance in Your Living Room Put on slow music and just dance together in your living room. No skill required, no pressure, just holding each other and moving. It’s intimate in a way that feels both nostalgic and present.
40. Watch the Sunrise Together Set your alarm ridiculously early, make coffee, bundle up, and watch the sunrise. The early morning quiet is special, and you’re experiencing something beautiful together.
Active and Adventurous Dates
41. Go Skiing or Snowboarding If you live near slopes, a day on the mountain is incredible. You’re active, you’re in beautiful scenery, and you get to warm up together in the lodge afterward with hot chocolate.
42. Try Indoor Rock Climbing When it’s too cold for outdoor activities, indoor climbing is perfect. You’ll problem-solve together, encourage each other, and get a great workout.
43. Go to an Indoor Trampoline Park Yes, it’s full of kids during the day, but many have adult-only nights. It’s ridiculous and fun and you’ll both feel like kids again. Just stretch first.
44. Take a Dance Class Salsa, swing, ballroom. Pick something neither of you knows. You’ll laugh at yourselves, hold each other close, and maybe actually learn some moves.
45. Go Bowling Classic winter indoor activity. You can chat between frames, be mildly competitive, and those rental shoes are an equalizer for everyone.
46. Try Curling If you can find a curling club near you, this is so fun. It’s harder than it looks, requires strategy and teamwork, and it’s uniquely winter.
47. Go to a Hockey Game Live sports have an energy that TV can’t match. Bundle up if it’s outdoor, grab hot drinks and snacks, cheer loudly. Even if you don’t follow hockey, the atmosphere is fun.
48. Take a Workout Class Together Yoga, spin, kickboxing, whatever sounds interesting. You’ll get endorphins, accomplish something together, and maybe discover a new shared activity.
49. Go Ice Fishing Okay, this one requires patience and the right equipment, but if you’re into it, it’s a quintessentially winter experience. Bring thermoses of something hot and enjoy the quiet.
50. Have a Winter Scavenger Hunt Create one for each other with clues that lead to different spots around town or in your house. Make the final clue lead to a small gift or romantic spot. The effort shows you care.
Read also 60 Best Date Night Ideas That’ll Bring Back the Spark
Making the Most of Winter Together
Here’s what I’ve learned about winter dating after years of marriage: the season forces you to be intentional. You can’t just say “let’s go hang out outside” like you do in summer. You have to plan, prepare, and make an effort. And that intentionality is actually really good for relationships.
Winter dates have taught me that comfort and adventure aren’t opposites. Some of my favorite memories are from nights we stayed in, but made it special with good food, candles, and actual conversation instead of just defaulting to Netflix. And some of my favorite memories are from times we forced ourselves outside into the cold and discovered how beautiful winter can be when you embrace it instead of hiding from it.
The key is variety. If you only do cozy indoor dates, you might start feeling stagnant and cabin-fevered. If you only do outdoor adventures, you miss out on the intimate, cozy moments that winter is perfect for. Mix it up. Have one weekend where you’re out in nature, the next where you’re building blanket forts.
I also think winter is the perfect time to start new traditions. Pick a few of these ideas and commit to doing them every year. We have our light-looking drive, our Christmas cookie-baking night, and our annual ice skating disaster. These traditions give us something to look forward to and create continuity year after year.
And here’s something nobody tells you: winter dates are often cheaper than summer ones. You’re not dropping money on expensive outdoor activities or festival tickets. A winter hike is free. Building a snowman costs nothing. Even the indoor dates, like cooking together or having game nights, are relatively inexpensive compared to what people spend on summer activities.
So pick a few of these ideas that resonate with you. Some that push you outside your comfort zone, some that let you stay cozy. Try new things. Create traditions. Make winter something you look forward to instead of just surviving.
Because here’s the truth: winter can be magical when you have someone to share it with. The cold becomes an excuse to get close. The long dark evenings become opportunities for intimate conversations by candlelight. The snow becomes a playground instead of an inconvenience.
Stop fighting against winter and start embracing what makes it special. Bundle up and go outside. Or stay in and get cozy. Either way, make it intentional. Make it memorable. Make it about connection.
Winter is short. Don’t waste it wishing for spring. Use these months to create memories, strengthen your bond, and discover that the cold season might just be your favorite after all.
