Date Night Ideas in Brighton

Setup.A dry winter evening, the warmest layers you own, a flask of something hot, and today's sunset time. Aim to arrive at least half an hour before the sun goes down.

1. Check the sunset time and get down to the seafront at least half an hour before it.
2. Find a spot on the promenade or the pebbles with a wide view of the sea and the open sky above it.
3. Watch the first small groups arrive and merge into one cloud. Save the talking for later; just point.
4. When the last birds have dropped under the pier, walk along the seafront together in the dark before heading home.

Talk about:What is something you have seen only once that you still think about?

Setup.Comfortable shoes, water, a layer for the sea wind and a dry day in the warmer months, since the railway does not usually run in winter. Check the railway's times and any Undercliff Walk closures before you set off.

1. Board Volk's Electric Railway at Aquarium station, its western end, and ride it east along the beach past Halfway to Black Rock.
2. From Black Rock, join the Undercliff Walk, the seafront path at the foot of the chalk cliffs that runs east towards Saltdean. Keep the sea on your right.
3. Come up into Rottingdean where the village valley meets the sea, and find Kipling Gardens on The Green: a walled rose garden, a herb garden and a wild garden where picnics are welcome.
4. If you still have legs, climb Beacon Hill to the black wooden windmill, then take one of the buses that serve Rottingdean back into town.

Talk about:Kipling wrote parts of Kim while living here. If we moved to a village for five years, what would you finally get round to making?

Setup.This year's festival dates, the Artists Open Houses brochure, map or website listings, comfortable shoes, and a little money in case one of you falls for a small print.

1. Pick one trail instead of trying to see everything. Houses on a trail are usually within walking distance of each other.
2. Each of you chooses one house from the listings that the other has to visit, no arguments.
3. In every house, each of you quietly picks the one piece you would take home. Compare on the doorstep.
4. Stop wherever there is tea and cake, and ask one artist how they got started.

Talk about:If we opened our home for a weekend, what would people remember about it?

Setup.A dry morning, shoes with some grip, and a flask or a picnic if you want to linger. Preston Park station serves the area, and the park is open all year round with nothing to pay to walk in.

1. Start in the Rockery and take the paths up the side of the railway embankment. Follow the water wherever it leads.
2. Cross back into Preston Park and wander the rose garden, the walled garden and the wildflower garden.
3. Find the park's great elm, counted among the largest and oldest in Europe, and take a photo of the two of you underneath it for scale.
4. Finish with a slow lap by the velodrome in the northeast corner, which opened in 1877 and is still in use.
5. During its open season, roughly spring to late autumn and only on some days of the week, add a look round Preston Manor at the edge of the park, a house museum of Edwardian life above and below stairs. It charges admission, so check days and tickets before you go.

Talk about:Which garden from your childhood can you still picture in detail?

Setup.Two tickets booked ahead, upstairs in the balcony if those seats are on sale for your showing. The cinema is on Preston Road and runs as an art house cinema, so the listings are worth a proper look.

1. Take turns choosing: one of you picks the film, the other picks the seats.
2. Arrive early enough to stand outside and look up at the legs on the roof.
3. Head up to the balcony, settle in, and put both phones away before the trailers.
4. Stay through the credits, then walk home the long way and argue about the ending.

Talk about:What film did you see in a cinema years ago that you still think about more than you should?

Setup.Walking shoes that can cope with a muddy bridleway, water, a layer for the wind and a free morning or afternoon. Start in Patcham, about three miles north of the city centre. The memorial is always open.

1. In Patcham, find the bridleway that leaves the A27 Brighton Bypass and follow the path off it to the Chattri, roughly two kilometres north of All Saints Church.
2. Take the climb steadily. The memorial sits about 500 feet above sea level, with views back over the town and out to sea, so stop and look back now and then.
3. At the Chattri, read the inscription together. It is written in English, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, and the memorial stands on the site of the funeral pyres where Hindu and Sikh soldiers were cremated.
4. Find somewhere to sit a respectful distance away with a flask, talk for a while, then walk back down.

Talk about:Whose story in your family do you wish someone had written down?

Setup.Off-peak return ticket to a coastal town. A backpack with layers, a book each.

1. Catch a train before 11am.
2. Walk the seafront. Eat fish and chips.
3. Spend an hour on the beach reading.
4. Train back before sunset.

Setup.A Christmas market in December. Mittens, hats, cash for the stalls.

1. Glühwein first, the mug is your warming tool.
2. Walk the market once before any food.
3. Pick one ornament you both like, ban impulse buys after.
4. End at a Christmas concert if there is one nearby.

Setup.A Sunday roast pub for lunch. A second pub within walking distance for after.

1. Reserve the roast, Sundays book up fast.
2. Walk slowly to the second pub.
3. A half-pint and a dessert at the second.
4. Quiz night if you happen on one, stay.

Setup.A pub with a weekly quiz night. Most pubs run them, usually free entry.

1. Order food before the quiz starts. Eating mid-quiz is hard.
2. Pick a team name. Submit it confidently.
3. Argue every contested answer.
4. Stay for the prize round even if you cannot win.

Setup.A pair of indie record shops. A budget, one record each, no more.

1. Each picks one record for the other based on cover and sleeve only.
2. Reveal at the till of the second shop.
3. Buy them. Walk home.
4. Listen to both end-to-end that evening, in order.

Setup.A restaurant doing weekend bottomless brunch. Reservations.

1. Order water alongside everything, important.
2. Eat the eggs first, the cocktails second.
3. Walk for at least 30 minutes after.

Setup.A pumpkin patch (October only). Boots, it gets muddy.

1. Walk the whole patch before picking.
2. Hayride if available.
3. Carve at home that evening.

Setup.A farm-to-table restaurant within driving range. Booking essential.

1. Drive out late morning.
2. Order whatever the chef recommends.
3. Walk the farm or grounds afterwards.

Setup.A beach within driving distance. Towels, umbrella, snacks, books, sunscreen.

1. Arrive before 11am to get a good spot.
2. Alternate swimming and reading on a 30-minute rotation.
3. Lunch on the beach, pre-packed, not bought.
4. Stay until the sun gets low.

Setup.An aquarium with at least three big tanks. Comfortable shoes. A snack for the bench break.

1. Walk through the whole place once, fast.
2. Pick the tank that pulled you in. Sit on the bench in front of it.
3. Stay there for at least 20 minutes. Phones away.
4. Coffee or ice cream on the way out.

Setup.A stack of old magazines, scissors each, a piece of cardboard each, glue, two sharpies.

1. Each makes their own board. No discussing while you make it.
2. Reveal at the same time. Each presents theirs in two minutes.
3. Make a third board together with the overlap from the two.
4. Hang the third one where you both see it daily.

Setup.A blank document or a notebook. Two pens. Two glasses of something.

1. Each writes 10 items silently. Big and small both count.
2. Reveal at the same time. Combine into one list of 20.
3. For each, write a year by which you would attempt it.
4. Save it somewhere you both check at least monthly.