So, you’ve met on a dating app, WhatsApped, FaceTimed and Googled each other - now it’s time to meet in the flesh, but where to go and what to do? There are so many options, so many locations, so many possibilities for awkwardness.

Do not fear, the London Living team is here to calm your nerves with some great first date ideas. Whether it’s campfires on a rooftop, a romantic picnic or a film screening on a beach, we’ve found it for you.

Read on to discover our Top 10 London date ideas.

Plan A Picnic In Primrose Hill

Share the striking London skyline together with a luxurious picnic for 2 in a prime spot on the peak of Primrose Hill. A picnic in a pretty park is the antithesis of an over-the-top expensive meal at a flashy restaurant. Picnics are low-pressure – you don’t even need to pack a hamper, just grab some snacks from the local shops and settle in.

Go To Swingers

To clarify, Swingers is a crazy golf club located at the foot of The Gherkin. It takes inspiration from the quintessential English country golf clubs of the 1920s, with an industrial vibe, coupled with lush golfing lawns; trellises covered with climbing plants and low brick walls winding round the courses. Each course is scientifically calculated to be both challenging and lenient to people who are playing golf with cocktails, and include holes that involve balancing the ball along rails, jumping it over obstacles, shooting it through loop-de-loops, and sneaking it past sand traps.

We think Swingers London provides everything you could possibly need for a first date – crazy cocktails, mouth-watering street food and wacky miniature golf courses. It’s a great icebreaker and provides ample opportunity for fliration, while minimising the chance of awkward silences.

Explore A Tropical Forest

Take your dating game to the next level on a tropical forest rooftop. The Conservatory at the Barbican is one of the most unusual, unique, and memorable venues in London for romance. Imagine stealing a kiss under a beautiful glass roof, as you wander around 2000 species of tropical plants and 100's of species of tropical fish. This urban oasis is hidden away inside the city of London and (full disclosure) also a popular location for weddings, so you never know…

As an added bonus, the Barbican Center is also full of other exciting, cultural activities, so after you’ve impressed your date with your knowledge of flora and fauna you can move on to a drink at the classy Margarita bar or even wow him/her with tickets to a concert. The Barbican has art exhibitions, restaurants, cinemas and an incredible outdoor area overlooking the river.

Make Magic Together

The Cauldron in Dalston is a magical world furnished with floating candles, gargoyles and dusty wizardy furnishings. You’ll get robed up, kitted out with a wand, and led to your personal potions bench cocktail workstation.

You can pick any two concoctions from their extensive menu, depending on what sort of effects you’d like them to have, and then, armed with the appropriate tinctures, extracts, and eyes of newt, you’ll go on to create your otherworldly creations which may variously smoke, change colour, or be dramatically set on fire by a passing druid. It’s a recipe for love - just don’t go too heavy on the booze measures!

Campfire Cocktails in the City

Midnight Apothecary has been voted one of the best pop-up cocktail bars since 2012 and has also been featured in Vogue’s ‘World Best Bar’.

Located above Brunel’s Thames Tunnel, you and your date can relax around a firepit, delve into exquisite ‘alcoholic prescriptions’ infused with ingredients grown in their own back garden or plucked from nearby gardens. They also offer an exceptional menu with locally sourced street food from Farm Street Kitchen. To keep you cosy when the sun sets, there are individual firepits for hire, with s'mores toasting kits containing chocolate biscuits and marshmallows on sticks- perfect for making your date night even sweeter.

We think Campfire cocktails in the city couldn't be a more romantic idea for a date.

Take a Ride On A Thames Rib

If you’re looking for a thrill ride, hopping onto London’s Thames Rib Experience (TRE) should be at the top of your list. Offering some of the fastest speedboat trips across the River Thames, TRE operates from several docking points across the Thames and each trip includes a tour of the most famous and historic London sites. You will have your own tour guide who will give an in-depth background on each of the sites. Assuming your date isn’t scared of water, it doesn’t get more exhilarating than this!

Visit A Light House

Impress your date with your London knowledge by taking her to a little known lighthouse in East London which is home to a piece of music that has been playing for 1,000 years! A short DLR ride will take you to arts hub Trinity Buoy Wharf where you’ll find Longplayer – an artwork made of singing bowls by musician Jem Finer. For a date with a difference, you can walk up to the atmospheric bell tower to look out over the Thames and listen to the meditative echoing sounds. Once you’ve had your fill, head to the incongruously placed Fatboy’s American diner next door for fries and a shake.

Dine in the Dark

Regularly ranked among the 10 most original restaurants in the world, we think that Dans le Noir is a great (and unique) choice for a romantic dinner wi to a twist! Plus it’s the same restaurant that's used in the 2013 rom-com ‘About Time’! You can book in for a unique dining experience year-round, and although we can’t guarantee the same chemistry that sparks between the film’s characters Tim and Mary, we can promise a culinary adventure enhanced by the fact that you really can’t see a thing – including each other.

Go To The Beach

So it’s probably a bit too soon to take your date on an actual holiday, but why not get a feel for what it might be like, with a trip to Backyard Cinema in Wandsworth. They specialise in transporting guests to the sun-soaked shores of not one, but two cities: LA Nights and Miami Beach.

After a year of travel restrictions and being stuck in the UK, we think this immersive experience absolutely captures the mood for a beach break! Just kick off your shoes, feel the sand between your toes and sip on a cocktail while you watch a suitably romantic movie.

Explore The Lights At God’s Own Junkyard

God’s Own Junkyard is a psychedelic paradise of neon lights and vintage signs, all hidden inside an unassuming warehouse in Walthamstow. Entry is free and you can spend hours perusing the range of eclectic and electric neon signs on offer, before heading to the on-site café, called The Rolling Scones. Alternatively, Wild Card Brewery’s on-site bar is just across the yard, and brilliant gin bar Mother’s Ruin is found next door.

Check Out A Cocktail Bar

There are so many cocktail bars in the capital, so why not show off your local London knowledge by introducing your date to a brand new one. The just opened Cherry Tiger in Elephant and Castle, offers a relaxed space with comfortable chairs to cosy up in - plus there’s a roof terrace. Their list of cocktails include the Grapefruit Daiquiri, Clover Club, The New York Sour, Old Fashioned and Raspberry Collins. It’s a top London find for first date fun.

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Top 10 London Date Ideas