Mid-budget romantic date nights indoors

Tablecloth, two real glasses, candles, the good plates. Music: jazz, Bossa nova, or your "elegant evening" playlist.

1. Decide who cooks and who hosts, only one role each.
2. Get dressed up an hour before food is ready. Yes, even shoes.
3. Phones in a drawer. Sit at the table for the whole meal.
4. Dessert in the living room. Do not check the kitchen.

Conversation starter: If we never had to cook again, what is the meal we would lose that we would actually miss?

Three small wines (or teas if sober), three different dark chocolates (60–80%). A scoring sheet.

1. Pour blind, one of you covers labels with foil.
2. Smell, sip, score on three axes (one of which you invent).
3. Pair each chocolate with each drink. Find the best pairing.
4. Reveal the labels at the end.

A museum neither of you visits often. Comfortable shoes. A small notebook.

1. Pick one floor. Phones away.
2. Each picks three pieces silently, note the gallery numbers.
3. Reveal at the end. Walk back to each, listen as the other explains why.
4. Café visit on the way out. Compare lists.

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.

The location of your first date, same time, same day of the week if possible. Notes app for memory comparison.

1. Order what you ordered the first time, even if you cannot remember exactly.
2. At one point each tells one thing they noticed back then but never said.
3. Ask each other the same first question one of you asked that day.
4. Walk the same route home, even if it is out of the way.

Conversation starter: What is one thing you thought about me on day one that turned out to be wrong?

A favourite album with 8–12 tracks. A 3-course meal that matches the album's length.

1. Press play before chopping starts.
2. Side dish during the first three songs.
3. Main during the middle.
4. Dessert during the last two. Eat at the table when the album ends.

A folded card with one question. Dinner, anywhere, even a casual place.

1. Place the card on the table when you sit down. Do not unfold it yet.
2. Order. Open the card after the first sip.
3. Both answer. Each gets at least 10 minutes.
4. No moving on to other topics until the answers feel finished.

Conversation starter: What is something you used to want that you do not want anymore?

A country neither of you has been to. Music from there, food from there, a film from there.

1. Dress in something that fits the place, vague, fun, not a costume.
2. Cook (or order) one classic dish from the country.
3. Watch a travel show or short film set there.
4. Make a one-page "itinerary" you would do if you went next year.

An indie bookstore with a lot of fiction. A budget, one book each, no more.

1. Split up for 20 minutes. Each picks one book for the other.
2. Reveal at the till. No swapping.
3. Buy them. Read for an hour together at a café next door.
4. Send the other one a paragraph that hit you, every two days, until you finish.

A small or repertory cinema with a double feature, or two films in a row.

1. Eat dinner before, not during. Save dessert for between films.
2. Sit in the back row.
3. Stay through the credits, at least one of you reads them.
4. Walk somewhere after, talk about both films.

A small jazz club. Reservations for the early set are easier to get.

1. Arrive 15 minutes early. Bar seats often have the best view.
2. Order one drink slowly, they will keep refilling water.
3. Phones away the entire set.
4. Stay for the full second set if you can.

A restaurant within 30 minutes' walk that you have never been to.

1. Walk there with no detours.
2. Order one thing each that you would not normally order.
3. No phones at the table.
4. Walk home a different route.

Three places within walking distance, a starter spot, a main place, a dessert café.

1. Starter: 30 minutes max. Order light.
2. Walk 10 minutes. Talk about the starter.
3. Main: take your time, the bulk of the meal.
4. Dessert at a third place. Walk home together.

A list of three highly-rated cafés within a 30-minute walk of each other.

1. Order something different at each, drip, espresso, single-origin.
2. Walk between, no taxis.
3. Each rates the cafés on three axes invented at the first stop.
4. The winner gets a "we will come back" promise.

A chef-led cooking class, most cities have at least one.

1. Eat lightly before, you will eat the result.
2. Bring a notebook for the recipe. Phones for photos only.
3. Cook every step, not just the photogenic ones.
4. Try to recreate the dish at home that week.

Three different cheeses, three different chocolates, crackers, fruit. A wooden board.

1. Lay everything on the board. Each picks the order.
2. Try every cheese with every chocolate, 9 combinations.
3. Score on a scale of 1 to 5 each.
4. Best pairing gets a "we will eat this on our anniversary" status.

A proper tea house, Chinese gongfu, Japanese, Moroccan, English-style. Often listed under "specialty tea".

1. Ask the staff to recommend one tea each.
2. Order it slowly, many tea houses serve in steeps.
3. Read for 30 minutes between conversations.
4. Buy a small pack of the favourite to take home.

A mocktail or juice bar, most cities have at least one serious one. Sit at the bar.

1. Each orders one. Watch the bartender make it.
2. Swap halfway. Try the other one.
3. Order one more, let the bartender pick.
4. Tip well. Mocktail bartenders work harder for less.

12 prints, two pieces of A4, glue, scissors. Or a photo-book service if you want it bound.

1. Each picks 6 photos, one per month for half the year.
2. Sequence them together, chronological or thematic.
3. Print and bind, or order online.
4. Make two copies. Keep one each.

A train ticket to a town 60–90 minutes away. A return ticket for after dinner.

1. Take the early train. Coffee on board.
2. Walk one full loop of the town in the morning.
3. Long lunch in a place tourists do not go to.
4. Bench in the afternoon, then home on the slow train.

A community-run lunch place, Parsi (Britannia, RTI), Tam-Bram (MTR, Krishna Café), Kerala Christian, etc.

1. Reserve if you can. Many do not take walk-ins.
2. Order from the regulars' menu, not the tourist one.
3. Eat in courses with breaks.
4. Have payesh / kheer / phirni even if you are full.

A neighbourhood with tapas bars within walking distance. Cash for small bills.

1. Bar 1: order what the locals are eating.
2. Bar 2: ask the staff to recommend.
3. Bar 3: try the speciality, even if odd.
4. End with a coffee at a fourth place.

A public sauna with mixed sessions and changing rooms. Towels usually provided.

1. Read the etiquette before going in.
2. Three rounds: 8 min hot, 1 min cold, 5 min rest.
3. Drink water between rounds. Be careful with alcohol.
4. Quiet dinner afterwards, soups and bread are perfect.

An antiquarian or used bookshop in a literary city. Cash for small purchases. A budget.

1. Each picks the section they would never otherwise visit.
2. Spend 30 minutes there. Pick one book.
3. Reveal at the till.
4. Read at a café for 30 minutes before walking on.

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.

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.

A public onsen or sento. Towel can be rented; most bathhouses provide soap.

1. Read the etiquette before going in.
2. Wash thoroughly before entering the bath.
3. Three rounds: hot, cold, rest.
4. Light meal, soba, ramen, or mandoo, afterwards.

• Tattoos are still restricted in some places, check ahead.

A traditional souk or covered market. Cash for small purchases. Sunscreen.

1. Walk the perimeter once.
2. Drink a strong tea or coffee mid-way.
3. Pick one small thing each, a spice, a tea, a small ceramic.
4. Bargain politely. End at a quiet café.

A salsa, bachata, or kizomba social. Dress for dancing, shoes that pivot, layers for sweat.

1. Arrive after the lesson but before the social peaks.
2. Dance every other song. Rest between.
3. Drink water, most clubs sell it.
4. Walk for 20 minutes home before transport.

A decade. A dish from it. A playlist from it. One outfit per person that fits.

1. Cook the dish together with the decade's music on.
2. Dress for it before sitting down.
3. Eat slowly. Tell each other what you would have been doing then.

A recipe each from your childhoods. Calls to your respective parents allowed.

1. Trade recipes the day before.
2. Each cooks the other's in parallel.
3. Eat both at the table. Rate authenticity gently.

A destination only one of you knows. A 30–90 minute drive.

1. The passenger does not look at the map.
2. Music chosen by the driver.
3. Reveal on arrival. Stay at least 90 minutes.

An ice rink. Gloves, layers, thick socks.

1. Two laps holding the wall, two laps holding hands.
2. Sit down between sessions to warm up.
3. Hot chocolate at the rink café.

A symphony or chamber concert. Cheap seats.

1. Read the programme on the way in.
2. No phones during.
3. Walk for 20 minutes after, do not rush to public transit.

A ballet performance. Upper-tier seats are usually under $40.

1. Eat lightly before.
2. Read the programme during the overture.
3. Stay for the curtain calls.

An independent cheese shop with a counter. Cash for tips.

1. Tell the cheesemonger your style, soft, hard, blue, weird.
2. Six tastes between you. Buy three to take home.
3. Pair with bread and fruit at home.

A pottery studio with beginner wheel classes. Old clothes, clay stains.

1. Listen to the throw demo twice.
2. Centre the clay before doing anything.
3. Make a mug. The teacher will rescue it.

A studio doing sound baths, usually 45–75 minutes, often under $30 per person.

1. Arrive 15 minutes early to settle.
2. Lie on your back under a blanket.
3. No talking until you both sit up and look at each other.

Tickets for a heritage train (book early). A small backpack with snacks.

1. Board early to claim window seats facing the right side.
2. Phones for one photo per stretch.
3. Lunch at a station food stall mid-route.

A Viennese coffee house, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Trieste, even Lisbon and Buenos Aires.

1. Order a melange and a sachertorte.
2. Read a paper from the dowels.
3. Stay until you are politely watched.

A traditional hammam. Booking required.

1. Read the etiquette before going in.
2. Heat-scrub-rinse-rest, in that order.
3. Mint tea afterwards in the relaxation room.

• Most hammams have separate male and female sessions. Check before booking.

A small, family-run fado house. Booking essential.

1. Eat lightly before, the dinner is mostly a setting.
2. Phones away during the music.
3. Walk Alfama afterwards, slowly.

An old-school coffee house, kissaten in Japan, dabang in Korea, similar elsewhere.

1. Order coffee siphoned or hand-dripped.
2. A slice of cake to share.
3. Stay for two records on the player.

A small live-music venue with bossa or MPB. Booking helps.

1. Eat lightly before, focus is on the music.
2. Caipirinha or fresh juice.
3. Walk after, even briefly.

A medina with a riad rooftop café. Comfortable shoes, sunscreen.

1. Walk slowly, getting lost is the point.
2. Stop at a small workshop and watch.
3. End on a riad rooftop at sunset with mint tea.