Whether you prefer an active night out or an artsy and laid-back evening, we’ve got you covered with these Dallas date night ideas.

Planning a date night should be a fun adventure. It’s a magical feeling to bond and spend time with a romantic partner.

However, panic may set in. Are you a long-time couple looking to try something new? Is this a first date and you’re still feeling each other out? What the heck should you wear?

While we can’t advise on the fashion decisions, embracing shared interests will steer your Dallas date night. In case you need some help brainstorming, here are 12 ideas for each style of couple. 

The perfect date night for active adventurers

Sometimes, you have to listen to your heart. If it’s telling you it needs to start pumping, these activities can help.

Scale the treetops

Have you ever watched a squirrel leap from one tree to another and thought that looks so fun? Experience that thrill for yourself with the Trinity Treetops Adventure Park. The park offers over 30 zip lines and 100 interactive elements, plus four auto-belay jumps and nine courses for jumping to your heart’s content. You’ll reach heights of up to 50 feet and zip line distances of 100 feet. Sneaking a kiss after you’ve both zoomed at top speeds is a special kind of love.

Drive go-karts

Speeding around curves with reckless abandon is a terrible idea on a busy road. But drop your ride into a go-kart track; suddenly, it’s one of the most exciting things you can do behind the wheel. Grab your beau and drive over to Adventure Landing. It’s a family-friendly place, so you might need to make a few kids eat your dust as you zoom past them. Hey, them’s the breaks on the go-kart course.

Go skeet shooting in the dark

Skeet shooting always gets extra attention during the Olympics, but those competitors were downright tame compared to what you can find at The Porch. Cosmic skeet shooting gives you a chance to knock out clay pigeons in impressive glow-in-the-dark settings. If shooting isn’t your thing, hit a few bullseyes at axe throwing.

The perfect date night for art and culture lovers

Dallas is a hotspot for art and culture, and you can style your date night in all kinds of fun ways. 

Photo courtesy of Joey Held.

Host an artwork scavenger hunt

Do a scavenger hunt to find the most unique sculptures around the town, like The Eye or Traveling Man. Or, pick a particular “style” of mural and artwork, such as works that feature animals, and count how many pieces you come across. 

Solve a murder over dinner

For dinner, pull out your magnifying glass and corn cob pipe and settle in for The Dinner Detective, the country’s largest interactive comedy murder mystery dinner theater show. The actors hide among the audience, so you might be sitting next to a prime suspect without knowing it! Although murder is in the air, food theft is not, so you can still indulge in a full-plated dinner.

Watch a drive-in movie

You’ll need to head to Fort Worth for the best drive-in movie experience, but you’re already in the car, so it’s okay! Coyote Drive-In is a charming way to catch a film while enjoying classic movie snacks (and a few bonuses). When you need a break from the car, grab a controller and play a host of free retro arcade games. Coyote also hosts live music on the weekend while serving up dishes from local food trucks.     

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The perfect date night for foodies

Sure, trying a new restaurant is a lovely date night. When you need to spice it up, give these lovely options a go instead.

Take a cooking class

Many would argue that the best part of cooking is eating, though learning to make something new can be just as rewarding. Luckily, Dallas has a variety of cooking classes that feature just about every cuisine imaginable. Take a crash course in crudo, craft your favorite Italian and Mexican dishes, or even take a course inspired by “The Bear” (which somehow keeps winning awards for being a comedy, rather than a drama). Some cooking instructors welcome you to a kitchen classroom, while others will travel directly to you.  

Have a mystery picnic

Food tastes even better after you’ve worked up an appetite, and a mystery picnic makes your meal extra satisfying. You and your partner solve riddles and clues to get to different locations and collect items for your picnic from local businesses. Once you’ve figured them all out, the mystery picnic steers you to a secret location to enjoy your bounty. It’s a charmingly romantic activity that keeps the right hemisphere of your brain sharp!

The perfect date night for outdoorsy types

Does the idea of sitting inside sound boring? Get a taste of nature as you explore the bounty of Dallas’s outdoors.

Soar across the skies

You don’t need your pilot’s license to take to the evening sky. Simply grab a seat on Delta Charlie’s Dinner Flights. The restaurant’s fly and dine package combines a tasty meal with a 30-minute ride across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. You’ve likely admired the city skyline before, but you’ve never seen it quite like this.

Cruise canals on a private gondola

Head over to Irving and board your own private cruise with Gondola Adventures. The rides last between one to two hours and sail around Mandalay Canal and Lake Carolyn. You can simply enjoy the sights and sounds or incorporate a theme, such as delectable desserts and casual pizza. Nothing is more romantic than the moon hitting your eye while enjoying a big pizza pie. 

The perfect date night for indecisive couples

Finally, we’ve come to the partners who have decision paralysis. Ordering dinner is a stress-inducing activity, mapping out a route finds you shaking uncontrollably, and “you decide” is the rudest thing a person could say to you. If that’s the case, let someone else take the reins.

Have a board game night

There are a ton of board and card games out there. Just look at Dallas Games Marathon, which is home to more than 1,600 such games. The shop hosts regular game nights, picking the entertainment for you to try something new or revisit a classic. If you’d rather not leave the house, invite a few couples over to play a board game. The only rule: They have to choose the game.

Take a food tour

Get a tour of the city through Secret Food Tours. You’ll get to sample plenty of tasty items across the Deep Ellum neighborhood, stopping at five different locations—and you don’t have to plan a single one. That’s truly the dream.

Photo courtesy of Joey Held.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.