Fun date ideas in NYC

Live out your James Bond dreams at SPYSCAPE—part museum, part spy training ground, that offers aspiring intelligence agents the opportunity to test their mettle.

You'll first read up on real-life spies like Alan Turing, the mathematician who cracked the Enigma code, and Virginia Hall, the one-legged operative who helped escaped POWs travel to safety during World War II.

But then you two will be put to the test: After you sneak through a hallway peppered with laser beams, submit to a lie detector test and test all kinds of other Bond-style skills, the museum uses a profiling system developed by a former British Intelligence officer to grade your performance. 

Bar date? Overdone. Literary bar crawl? A must-do. 

Though the Literary Pub Crawl has a long history in New York City—25 years, 200 authors and 2,000 beers—it remains one of the more under-the-radar walking tours around town. On the tour, guides will lead you to four bars throughout the Village. Authors like Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger, Edith Wharton, Louisa May Alcott, Jack Kerouac, Frank McCourt, Langford Wilson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Baldwin, and Edgar Allan Poe all have connections to the neighborhood. 

The tour runs about three hours, totaling a mile of walking. Tickets cost $49/person.

Together, use all your senses except one—sight—to sculpt your own bust out of clay at Unarthodox. You'll be blindfolded at the start of this out-of-the-box sculpt and sip class (yes, there's wine) and asked to sculpt that way. Staff use swelling music, scents and other senses to inspire you while you create.

Unarthodox offers other experiences, too, including one where groups create their own VR short using props, paint and cardboard. “Picture This” is a word guessing game show that combines elements of Pictionary, Charades, Clue and Wheel of Fortune. “IntuitiveArt” immerses guests in a 270-degree projection of two different films and asks that they paint according to the moods and emotions they evoke.

Challenge each other to a rousing game of bowling at this bowling alley and live-music venue that sells beer by local spots including Sixpoint, Rockaway Brewing Co. and the Brooklyn Brewery. Tackle a pitcher and the indulgent menu from the Blue Ribbon team (delicious fatty brisket, Old Bay–fried chicken) between frames and then catch a live show right behind the lanes.

It's said that fear bonds us, so lean into that emotion and take your boo on a ghost tour. 

These NYC ghost tours will take you through all the nooks and crannies where real-life horrors and paranormal sightings happened right in our own backyard. Be warned, however: you may never look the same way at certain neighborhoods ever again. No matter the season, these tours will make your +1 swoon.

Lace up some skates and take to the rink to skate hand-in-hand, show off your backward moves and groove with the music for one of the most fun dates you'll ever have. Let the nostalgia wash over you and become childlike again together. There are many rinks to head to across the five boroughs.

More often than not, date night involves food. With so many amazing restaurants in NYC (not to mention romantic restaurants), it’s not hard to find a new spot to take your main squeeze for a meal. But maybe you want to do something more interactive and challenging together!

From basic culinary skills to cooking with wine to rolling sushi, these couples cooking classes aim to entertain and educate. You’re sure to grow closer as you mix ingredients with your special someone. Whatever the focus of the class, you’ll learn something new and taste something delicious. Plus, you’ll have the skills you need to cook a fabulous meal for a stay-at-home date night.

If you're thrillseekers, Edge has a fun experience that lets you scale the side of its Hudson Yards' building and lean over the edge.

City Climb is the highest external building climb in the world tethers you to a secure trolly along the outside of the building and open, edged platforms and stairways. Two cables will keep you on a path that leads up 32 steps to "The Cliff," an outlook 1,190 feet in the sky and to "The Stair," which consists of 151 steps on a 45-degree incline. Finally, climbers will reach "The Apex," where they can lean out and hang over the platform at 1,271 feet.

It's not for everyone, but for those who like to get their heart beating, it's fun!

Why not take dinner on the go if there are beautiful views to take in? Even the best restaurants in NYC can’t compare to the experience of eating out on the water, and most of these dinner cruises offer prix-fixe menus or buffet meals on enormous three-level ships, sailing taverns and ritzy yachts. Whichever you choose, the ambiance just can’t be beaten. Bon voyage – and bon appetit, too!

Carreau Club, the nation’s first pétanque bar, offers indoor and outdoor pétanque (pronounced puh-TONK), a bocce-ball style French boules sport gaining popularity in the U.S. For those new to the sport, don't worry: Each court reservation comes with a lesson from a pétanque guide, plus equipment and a seating area.

It wouldn't be a French-inspired boulebar without a great menu, and Carreau Club delivers with a full bar, craft beer, wine and cocktails. Plus, a small deli counter serves French-inspired salads, crispy socca waffles, pissaladière (flatbreads), and sandwiches.

Whether you're there for the game or mostly for the food and drinks, you'll have a ball with your +1. 

Swingers NoMad, a "crazy mini-golf course" and entertainment complex, always makes a fun date night. 

At Swingers, there are three nine-hole golf courses across 23,000 square feet under 20-foot-high ceilings. "Crazy golf" is a British spin on mini-golf, but it's for a 21-and-over audience since craft cocktails are served by caddies on the course.

You and your date might need to overcome some barriers that developed since you started dating, so now’s your chance to face those walls, head-on, and make the climb with bae. Head to one of the best places to go rock climbing in NYC and watch your relationship reach new heights. Trust us, you’ll be laughing, smiling and (most likely) sweating on the way up.

When you’re searching for a date-night bar that offers more than, well, booze, hunker down underground and bring your sweetie to Cellar Dog. You can kill many an hour at this cheap, scruffy and jovial spot playing pool, Ping-Pong and shuffleboard ($8-9 per person, per hour), and board games ($2 for unlimited play).

Once you've exhausted those options—and yourself—snuggle your sweetie on one of the comfy worn couches and nod along to that night's jazz band. If you’re feeling particularly daring, ask the lad or lady to dance!

Pull a Marvin Gaye and prepare to get it on (or, at least, think about it) at the MoSex, which showcases tastefully erotic and downright outlandish work in a jaw-dropping (but totally cultural) context.

"Jump for Joy" and get giddy inside a tantalizing and enjoyable bounce house and enter an immersive wonderland of vivid sights, sounds and sensations inside the “Super Funland” to shake (or bounce off) those date-night jitters. Before you go, make a pit stop at the spacious gift shop that’s stocked with books, sex toys and aphrodisiac elixirs to keep the fun (wink, wink) going at home.

Go ahead and make a racket because ping pod pods—appropriately called PingPod—are now open across NYC. They're open 24/7, so whether you're looking for a daytime date or a late-night option, you can head to a PingPod location of your choice for some good old-fashioned fun. 

If your date can't volley some jokes while gently hitting a plastic ball across the table, well, maybe that's a foul.

Want to try something new and exciting with your lovah? Fly, you fools! That’s right, you can go skydiving without risking your lives at iFly—an awesome indoor skydiving activity zone. This activity will cost you ($105 for two flights per person), but it’s certainly a unique way to spend date-night!

Disclaimer: iFly is located in Westchester, but since it’s only 20 miles away from Manhattan and really, really awesome, it’s totally worth a trek.

You and your date can take a trip to Florida without leaving New York thanks to Royal Palms—a pastel-streaked, palm-covered Floridian playground located in Gowanus. The name of the game at this bar is Shuffleboard, but if even if you and bae are court virgins, the waitstaff is quick to offer tips and demonstrations.

Searching for a good way to break the ice during a first date? Hit the slick stuff for a cozy date! NYC is chock-full of outdoor rinks where you can strap on the blades and glide on frozen H2O. During winter, outdoor options abound, obviously, but there are some indoor rinks where you can skate no matter the temperature.

We’ve ranked the top places to go, so whether you want to skate at Rockefeller Center or NYC parks like Central Park, you certainly have a multitude of options. Get ready for some major hand-holding (y’know, if your date is a first-time skater and refuses to let go).

Sure, it’s not a romantic gondola ride in Venice, but kayaking the waterways around NYC on a summer day still sounds romantic to us. (We swoon over those skyline views!)

There are plenty of boathouses and spots that offer free kayaking in NYC—Manhattan Community Boathouse, North Brooklyn Boat Club, Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse, to name a few. So grab your water shoes and get ready for some fun in and sun with your S.O.!

Carnival games, rollercoasters, cotton candy and a chance to strip down to your skivvies and sunbathe on the beach? You and your sweetheart are signing up for a full-day of summer fun when you trek to Coney Island.

Word of advice: You and your date should go to Luna Park and ride the cyclone before stuffing your faces with some Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs (y’know, just in case).