5 winter date ideas to warm your heart

When the chills of winter are busy numbing our fingers and toes, and ruining our plans for picnics and parties, it can be tempting to put romance on freeze till the warmer months.

Here are our 5 winter date ideas to keep the romance alight even if your heart’s focus is on your comfy pants and hot water bottle!

Winter can be a tough time of year to keep your eye on the romance prize. There’s nothing wrong with a warm night in with a rug for two and a warm drink, but it’s a bit… predictable.

Especially when there are so many ways to spend special time together and stay warm at the same time.

Here are our 5 winter date night ideas.

1. Try a new cocktail bar

The best thing about small bars is they’re small so they warm up quickly. Pull up a bar stool each or even better get a booth and order something warming.

A couple of cocktails later and you’ll feel very cosy – or at least you won’t feel the cold so much! Order some nibbles and get to know each other that bit better.

This is the Limes Hotel’s rooftop bar in Brisbane, Qld we visited. It’s in a great little area with a collection of great little bars.

2. Couples day spa

Most spas will offer couples packages, where you have the treatments in the same room together. It’s a lot of fun getting a massage together at the same time – plus I always find myself much warmer after an hour’s tenderising!

Ask your local spa what other treatments they do for couples. Ever since my first time in a spa I’ve become totally hooked… I think I might even like them more than Mrs Romance does!

This is the couples treatment room in the Ikatan Balinese Day Spa near Noosa, Qld. Very nice too!

3. Art galleries and museums

A stroll round your local museum or art gallery is a great way to chat about what’s on the walls. We always find something interesting when we go… and often something funny too.

The most important thing to remember when you go to an art gallery is to not take it all too seriously. There’s often something weird to make fun of in a gallery!

And if you choose your venue carefully, there’ll be a bar somewhere in the building!

4. Get active

A romantic date doesn’t have to and in fact shouldn’t be too grown up. Yes, a beautiful meal or a top class rooftop bar with spectacular views will warm the heart, but don’t forget romance is about fun too.

Why not do something like trampolining or rock climbing? Go to a roller-skating rink (or ice skating if you’re not too cold already!) or hire an indoor badminton court.

Mrs Romance and I often hire a badminton court for an hour. We end up laughing so much we don’t play much badminton (we’re not very good) but that’s the whole point.

Rock climbing didn’t work out to be quite so much fun.

5. The movies

Image credit

It’s an oldie but a goodie. Go to the movies together. Try not to choose a film that’s too blood-and-guts action – unless you’re both into that genre of course! And don’t go to a movie that’s too soppy either. You want the romance to be with you not the onscreen characters.

Go one step further and go Gold Class or equivalent. Many cinemas have the option of those big recliner seats, drinks and food brought to your table and fewer people in the room. It’s a bit more expensive but so worth it.

Go even further and make it a movie themed date. We did one recently for The Longest Ride, which was so much fun and really extended the value of the movie.

There are so many ways to make romance in winter a thing. It doesn’t have to be the cliché of a glass of red, a deep pile rug and an open fire – though that doesn’t sound so bad either, does it?

What do you do for a winter romance? Tell us in the comments!