8 Winter Date Ideas & Activities for Couples in 2025

If you grew up outside of Syracuse, New York, like I did, snow is in your blood.  I can remember it snowing on both Halloween and Mother’s Day.  We had so much winter, everyone picked up some sort of winter sport or activity.  During the Christmas season, our town even had Charles Dickens characters walking the streets, hay wagon rides, wandering carolers, hot cider on the corner and more. You had to embrace the winter spirit to get through it!

But winter can make it a bit more challenging to date.  It’s not quite as easy to take a stroll down by the river.  But there are some fun and unique things you can do to bring some heat to your cold days!

To paraphrase one of my Swedish friends, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just incorrect clothing.”  The right clothing makes all the difference and if you dress right, you can have a lot of fun outdoors.  (As a quick aside, buy yourself some good boots.  Nothing will ruin your day or winter more than a leaky, cold boot.  I actually bought calf-high, military outdoor boots and love them.) Getting out there not only gets us our fresh air, but it really is pretty at this time of year!

I love to be cold and warm at the same time, so winter bonfires are some of my favorite things to do. If you look around, there are a lot of municipal events or private events during the winter centered around fires. Sitting around together, with others, near a warm fire is always a good time to spark conversations.  I think it connects us to our old roots as humans and forms a good bond.  

If you have the ability to do this on your own land, so much the better! Make sure you prepare ahead of time.  Get a bunch of dry wood and kindling chopped and ready.  Find a couple of thermoses and fill them up with some hot drinks (with or without alcohol).  Fill a picnic basket with breads, cheeses, marshmallows, and other fun goodies.  Have fun and tell stories!

If you are in an area with snow, check out sleigh rides or dog sled rides. I have done both and I can say they are quite the experience. You really get to enjoy the outdoors without having to do too much work yourself. Most of the time, we huddle indoors waiting for the spring, so we don’t get to see a lot of the views that winter affords us.  When I went on a sleigh, it had been foggy the night before and the fog had frozen to the trees making a magical sight!

Another fun winter animal adventure that I’ve done is walking with goats. Yes, goat yoga is out and goat hiking is in! Other than the fun of watching goofy goats cavorting all over the place, it gives you something to talk about and enjoy and doesn’t force conversation.  You can simply enjoy the view and laugh at the goats. 

If you are down for a little more effort, winter provides a unique opportunity for things you can’t do any other season.  Socrates himself said, “I can learn more about a (wo)man in an hour of play, than in a lifetime of conversation.”  I’ve always been a proponent of activity dates for this reason.  Go cross country or downhill skiing, snow-shoeing, ice fishing, sledding, snow-tubing, ice skating, winter golf, snowmobiling, kicksledding, or a host of other local activities.  Building a little sweat with someone cute never hurt!

My wife is from Puerto Rico, so outdoor winter activities aren’t necessarily her favorite thing. And I know she isn’t alone! Lots of folk would just rather hibernate with a weighted, heated blanket during the cold winter months. So if you’re intent on staying warm, but still want to get out there, don’t worry, there’s still lots to do this winter indoors. Maybe get a puzzle out or have a movie marathon to enjoy a cozy weekend at home with a date.

Even for non-skiers, ski lodges can be a real fun place to find romance. Even the smallest of ski hills usually has a bar. During the weekends or big skiing days, they may have live music or other events. The crowd is usually laid back and chill, and it’s an eclectic group of folks to hang around with. Go at night and enjoy the après ski crowd, or go during the day and watch the skiers come down the mountain while you are warmly curled around each other, next to the fireplace. 

Find yourself a game place and geek out!  There are lots of options these days from retro game beer halls to state-of-the-art, next gen, VR games houses. Playing games together and against each other means you can tease each other, help each other, work as a team, and most importantly, laugh together! 

Play some old games from your childhood, try and win some crappy prizes at the skee-ball, or try out some new things you’ve never seen before. You’ll have a blast and do something different and it’ll only cost you a fistful of quarters.

Now is a perfect time to do all those indoor exhibitions and cool things. My favorite thing is still the aquarium. Every time I go to a new city and have some time to kill, I go check out their local aquarium. It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon. Every town and city has local museums, exhibits, or art installations, and they’re often either free or under $20 for admission. 

There are science museums, history museums, art museums and all sorts of cool local or niche museums.  In NYC, you can go to The Museum of Sex or the AKC Museum of the Dog, depending on your mood.  Enjoy the museum as it is, or turn it into a scavenger hunt.

When you embrace the winter and look for fun activities, there are usually a bunch of options around town. It’s great to have a cute, warm body to huddle with during the cold weather. Don’t pass up these prime dating months! Get yourself out there a bit and, who knows? You could be setting yourself up for a spring fling!