Dr Mobeus
Date Night Doesn’t Have to Cost £100+
Let’s be honest — going out in the UK isn’t cheap these days. A meal for two with drinks can easily hit £80-100 before you’ve even thought about getting home. Cinema tickets? £30 plus overpriced popcorn. It adds up, especially if you’re dating regularly or just trying to keep the spark alive with your partner without demolishing your budget.
But here’s the thing: the best dates aren’t the most expensive ones. They’re the ones where you actually connect, laugh, and do something a bit different. With a bit of creativity, you can have a brilliant night out for under £20 — and it won’t feel cheap at all.
Here are 20 ideas that prove the point.
Food & Drink Dates (Under £20)
1. Street Food Markets
London’s Borough Market, Manchester’s Altrincham Market, Bristol’s Wapping Wharf — most cities now have brilliant street food scenes. You can graze 3-4 small dishes for £15-20 between two of you, and the atmosphere is way more fun than sitting in a quiet restaurant. Plus you get to try things you’d never order in a normal restaurant.
2. Happy Hour Tapas
Many Spanish and Italian restaurants do early evening deals — £5-7 cocktails and half-price tapas plates before 7pm. Two people can eat well for £20 if you time it right. Check apps like OpenTable or just Google “happy hour [your city]” for local deals.
3. The Fancy Picnic
Not a sad sandwich picnic. We’re talking: a nice baguette from the bakery (£2), good cheese from the deli counter (£4), a pack of fancy crackers (£2), olives (£2), a punnet of strawberries (£2), and a bottle of something from Aldi’s award-winning range (£5). Total: about £17. Spread it on a blanket in a park with a view, and it feels considerably more romantic than sitting in a Pizza Express.
4. Cook Together
Pick a recipe you’ve never tried — something a bit adventurous like homemade pizza from scratch, or a Thai curry. Get the ingredients from a budget supermarket (£8-10), put on a playlist, pour a drink, and cook together. It’s genuinely fun, costs next to nothing, and you get to eat the results.
5. The £10 Challenge
Give each other £5 each and raid a charity shop for the most ridiculous outfit you can find. Then go to the pub in what you’ve bought. It’s silly, cheap, and you’ll be laughing about it all night. Bonus points if you can find something the other person actually has to wear home.
Activity Dates (Under £20)
6. Board Game Cafés
Board game cafés charge about £5 per person for unlimited games, and many have cheap food and drinks. Draughts in London, Just Got Played in Manchester, Chance & Counters in Bristol — there are brilliant ones all over the UK. You can spend 3-4 hours there for under £20 total, and it’s way more interactive than sitting in a cinema.
7. Free Museum Late Openings
Many UK museums do free evening events with bars, music and special exhibitions. The National Gallery, V&A, Tate Modern and Science Museum all run regular lates. They’re free to enter, the atmosphere is great, and the bar prices are surprisingly reasonable. Check your local museum’s website for dates.
8. Outdoor Swimming or Wild Swimming
If it’s warm enough, find a local lido or wild swimming spot. Most council lidos charge £4-7 per person. Pack towels, snacks, and go for a swim followed by a walk. It’s refreshing, it’s fun, and it’s a proper experience rather than just “going for a drink.”
9. Charity Shop Scavenger Hunt
Give each other a £5 budget and 30 minutes to find the best item in a charity shop row. Best find wins. Then go for a coffee and show off your treasures. It’s surprisingly competitive and you’ll discover interesting shops you’d normally walk past.
10. Sunset Walk with Hot Drinks
Pick a scenic route — canal path, coastal walk, hill with a view — grab a flask of hot chocolate or coffees from a café (£4-6 total), and walk it at golden hour. Cost: under £10 if you bring your own drinks. The photos alone are worth it.
Creative Dates (Under £20)
11. Life Drawing Class
Many pubs and cafés run £10-15 life drawing evenings with materials included. No skill required — it’s meant to be fun, not serious. And it’s a proper conversation starter.
12. Pottery Painting
Cafés like The Potty Painters Place and similar studios charge around £12-15 per person including a piece to paint and all materials. You get something to keep at the end, and it’s genuinely relaxing.
13. Free Outdoor Cinema Screenings
In summer, many cities run free outdoor cinema nights in parks and public spaces. Bring a blanket and your own snacks. Check Eventbrite or your local council website for what’s on near you.
14. Bookshop Date
Go to a big bookshop, give each other £5 and 15 minutes to pick a book for the other person. Then find a café and explain why you chose it. Total cost: about £15 including coffee. It’s thoughtful and you learn a lot about each other’s tastes.
15. Geocaching
Download the free geocaching app and go treasure hunting around your local area. It’s entirely free, gets you walking to places you’ve never been, and there’s a proper sense of achievement when you find one. Pack snacks and make an afternoon of it.
Night In Dates (Under £20)
16. Film Festival at Home
Pick a theme — worst horror films on Netflix, 90s classics, films set in your city — and binge 2-3 in a row with themed snacks. A bag of popcorn, some chocolate and drinks from the supermarket: £8-10. Way better than £30 at the cinema.
17. Wine Tasting (Blind)
Buy 3 bottles of wine from different price points — a £4 Aldi special, a £7 mid-range, and a £12 “good” one. Pour them blind and rate them. You’ll be surprised how often the cheap one wins. Total cost: £23, but you’re drinking 3 bottles between you over the whole evening. Prosecco works too.
18. Build a Blanket Fort
Yes, really. Grab every blanket and cushion in the house, string up some fairy lights if you have them, and build a fort. Watch a film inside it. It’s daft, it’s comfortable, and it costs absolutely nothing. Sometimes the most memorable dates are the silly ones.
19. At-Home Spa Night
Face masks from Superdrug (£2 each), cheap candles (£3), a bubble bath, and a playlist of relaxing music. Total: under £10 for two people. It’s genuinely lovely and a fraction of what an actual spa costs.
20. The Memory Walk
Walk to places that mean something to you both — where you first met, your first date spot, where you had a memorable moment. It’s free, it’s personal, and it’s more romantic than any restaurant could be. Stop for a coffee or an ice cream on the way: £5-8 well spent.
The Real Secret to Cheap Dates
Here’s what nobody tells you about expensive dates: the cost has almost nothing to do with whether it’s a good time. The best dates are the ones where you’re both engaged and enjoying yourselves — not the ones where you’re sitting across a table in an overpriced restaurant trying to think of conversation.
Activity dates, creative dates, silly dates — these are the ones you remember. The £100 dinner? You’ll forget what you ate within a week.
Want more money-saving ideas? Check out our free activities guide, browse the latest deals, or read our UK discount codes page for restaurant and activity vouchers.
Got a cheap date idea we’ve missed? We’d love to hear it — the more creative, the better.
