Late-night hangs have their hang-ups… Is it possible to have a late-night date — like a date date — with your partner?
Whether you and your partner work different schedules and have a hard time finding time together, or you’re just a couple of night owls who like to hang when most others are asleep, I promise there’s more to do than just Netflix and chill.
First of all, cheers to you for prioritizing time with your partner. It’s important for keeping a happy and healthy relationship with your significant other!
But if you’re scrambling to figure out what to do, you’re not alone. Finding interesting and romantic things to do during the midnight hours isn’t exactly easy. Most people are winding down (or are already asleep!). Regular business hours are over. Restaurants and theaters are closing up for the night.
Fortunately, there’s a lot more to do than binging the latest streaming show and accidentally falling asleep on the couch. In fact, I have a whole slew of suggestions!
If you’re hoping to squeeze in a little romantic couple’s time, I’ve got plenty of late-night date suggestions that will change things up a bit. These are all fun and interesting ideas that will work whether you’re married, in a serious relationship, or just getting started on dating.
So, without further ado: here are some seriously fun, warmly romantic, and thoughtfully sweet ways to spend time together for a late-night date.
Late-Night Picnic Under the Stars
For an extra special dinner date, take the food outside under the stars. Set up is kind of like for a regular picnic: all the tasty treats you can fit in a basket, a blanket to relax on top of, and a cooler to keep things chill.
However, this time you’ll have the stars to gaze up at! After you finish snacking, lay side by side on the blanket and check out the sky. See how many constellations you can spot. If you need a little help, they even make smartphone apps that you can point at the sky, and it will outline all kinds of neat things to look at.
Backyard Camping Trip
Extend your picnic under the stars into a full night of fresh air by turning your date into a backyard camping trip. Set up a tent and sleeping bags, and you can camp without having to pack or actually travel anywhere. Convenient and fun.
If you’re a fan of roasting dinner over a fire but don’t have a fire pit, just throw things on the grill. I won’t tell anyone you cheated a little!
The best thing about backyard camping? Real bathrooms and running water! Plus, you have access to a full fridge and freezer. It’s camping without the “roughing it.”
Find a 24-Hour Diner
There’s something about greasy diner food during the wee hours of the morning. Whether you’re just getting off of work, or leaving a late night at the bar, diner food always hits the spot. Plus, breakfast foods are usually offered around the clock at diners, which is something other restaurants can’t boast about.
If you’re lucky enough to live near a 24-hour diner, take advantage of it! Load up on junk food and enjoy each other’s company.
Make Breakfast for Dinner at Home
Of course, not all of us are lucky enough to have 24-hour diners near us, but don’t let that stop you. Instead, spend some time in the kitchen together, whipping up some diner-worthy eggs, grits, waffles, and hashbrowns.
While your honey is heating up the pan, ask for your hashbrowns scattered, smothered, covered, and chunked. Thank me later. (Clearly, I live near a Waffle House…)
At-Home Movie Night
I’ve actually done this with my partner before, and it was so much fun that it may be one of our most favorite dates. In fact, it’s fun at any time of day or night, so this one even works for a random weekend when you just want to stay in.
To really make it special, we moved furniture out of the way and spread tons of comfy blankets and pillows all over the living room floor. We bought candy in theater boxes and popped lots of extra-buttery popcorn. And if you really want to make it special, hang up some string lights for a romantic vibe.
The best part? You can watch literally any movie you want. Streaming services and digital rentals have put nearly any movie at the tip of your fingers – something you can’t get in a regular movie theater.
Build the World’s Biggest Blanket Fort Together
You can do this as a separate activity, but it’s a good one to combine with your at-home movie night, too.
Remember when building forts was one of the coolest things you could do? It’s still fun as an adult. And now you have a partner to help make it the biggest and coolest fort ever. If your plush palace is large enough, you can climb inside to binge-watch Netflix or battle it out with a video game.
Break Out the Board Games
Board game date nights are a lot of fun, and it’s definitely something you can do late at night. I know that board games can sometimes feel a little old school, but it’s the perfect way to unwind and disconnect for a while together.
Old classics, like Monopoly and Scrabble, are always a fun way to spend time together… and maybe get a little competitive. Catan is another great game that requires critical thinking and will provide tons of entertainment. Or, if you’d rather play something that’s fun, but requires a little less involvement, Uno and Connect 4 are always great standbys.
If you’d rather not bother with physical game pieces, some board games have been “modernized” – and by that, I mean that you can play them on consoles. Monopoly, Battleship, Scrabble, Risk, and other board games can be played on Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Learn to Cook a Dish Together
When it is super late at night, most restaurants are already closed. That means you can’t get your favorite dishes for a special date night dinner, right?
Wrong! That is, if you take the time to learn how to cook it!
If the internet has given us anything, it is access to an infinite number of recipes. You should have no trouble at all finding instructions on how to cook your favorite dinner. You can even find copycat recipes to duplicate special sauces that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to get. Sometimes, it’s the sauce that really makes the dish!
Cozy up in the kitchen together as you recreate your restaurant favorites. And if it doesn’t turn out exactly right, that’s okay! What’s most important is that you spent time together learning something new.
Catch the Sunrise Together
Most of us don’t catch the sunrise very often – or at all, if I’m being honest. It’s beautiful and all, but sleep ranks pretty high in terms of importance. I’m sleeping straight through that sunrise if I need to be functional at work.
If you and your partner are having a special late-night date together, though, it’s worth it. Sunrise is one of the most magnificent times of day, when everything awakens at once. It feels magical. Not only is it a beautiful spectacle that you can enjoy together, but it will be a particularly special time together since you rarely get to see it.
Take this time to express your hopes and dreams to each other, infuse your day with happiness and positivity, or just say how grateful you are for the moment.
Treat Each Other to an At-Home Spa Night
Everyone likes a little extra relaxation. Spas certainly aren’t open late, so bring the spa experience home.
You and your partner can take turns giving each other different luxurious treatments, like hot stone massage, dry brushing, or even mani/pedis. Relax together in sheet masks, or test out herbal body wraps. Hey, you can even run an extra hot shower and hang out in the bathroom like a makeshift sauna.
Have a Late Night Painting Session
If you’re feeling creative, I have a great idea. Why not do a couples’ paint and sip date night together? Of course, any local businesses that host painting parties will be long-since closed, but you can bring the experience home!
Some businesses offer take-home kits that contain everything you’ll need to paint a masterpiece, or you can find paint-by-number kits for adults on Amazon. You and your partner can paint until the wee hours of the morning together.
If you and your partner happen to be the extra creative types, you can even bust out a blank canvas to create your very own masterpiece together.
Or, if you don’t mind getting messy, you can skip the average, run-of-the-mill painting with a paintbrush. Instead, you can attempt the viral TikTok booty paintings! Just don’t forget to protect your floor with paper or a plastic sheet before you get started… and don’t forget that you’ll have to hop in the shower afterward! Hey, that’s part of the date, too, right?
