Here’s what to do to secure those heart eyes emojis
If you’re the type of person that likes to go totally overboard on Valentine’s Day – we’re talking roses, chocolates, love heart balloons and lavish candlelit dinners – then you carry right on and enjoy the big day. If all that commotion makes you feel a bit sick but you do still want to acknowledge the occasion, then we’ve got some date ideas that aren’t super cheesy but are still actually fun. Whether you’re doing mates dates or Hinge dates this year, here’s what to do this Valentine’s Day.

1. Join Dusty Dinners With Willy’s Pies
The Dusty Knuckle’s Dusty Dinners guest chef series is back for 2025 and it’s kicking off with a V-Day spesh courtesy of Willy’s Pies. The pastry-heavy menu features sharing pies for two, with fillings like herb-fed chicken, smoked bacon and tarragon, and celeriac, confit garlic and Devon Blue with lashings of mash, cavolo nero and gravy, plus a goat’s curd and Jerusalem artichoke salad to start and treacle tart to finish. If that’s not a way to someone’s heart, we don’t know what is.
Fri 14th February 2025
Abbot Street Car Park, Dalston, London, E8 3DP
thedustyknuckle.com

2. Enjoy V-Day Dinner Under Helios
If you’re really looking to stun this Valentine’s, a dinner underneath the spectacular Helios installation inside Greenwich’s Painted Hall should do the trick. You can dine on a three-course menu featuring the likes of cured trout with pickled cucumbers and buttermilk sauce, bavette with roast garlic mash and heritage carrots, and panna cotta with passionfruit and caramelised white chocolate, against the backdrop of Luke Jerram’s solar artwork and live music.
Fri 14th February 2025
Old Royal Naval College, King William Walk, London, SE10 9NN
ornc.org

3. Dine in Style at Smith’s Bar & Grill
PARTNER PLACEMENT
If there’s ever a time to push the boat out with an indulgent dinner, it’s V-Day, and Paddington spot Smith’s Bar & Grill is on hand to help. It’s serving up a five-course menu featuring the likes of truffle explosion, tuna tartare tart with caviar, and chargrilled fillet steak, plus a glass of bubbles, with £1 oysters also available at the bar for a pre-dinner treat. A violinist and Spanish guitarist will be there to set the mood, and you’ll even get some thoughtful keepsakes, like a polaroid picture and a rose, to take home to remember your date.
Fri 14th & Sat 15th February 2025
25 Sheldon Square, London, W2 6EY
smithsbarandgrill.co.uk

4. Soak Up a Candlelight Concert at St George’s Hanover Square
Serenade your date, or rather have someone else serenade them while you sit there, at this candlelight concert at St George’s Hanover Square. Kasparas Mikužis will be performing piano music, including Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata and Chopin’s ‘Nocturnes and Ballades’, in the church, which will be illuminated by hundreds of candles.
Fri 14th February 2025, 7.30pm
The Vestry, 2A Mill St, London W1S 1FX
londonconcertante.com

5. Cuddle the Animals at Vauxhall City Farm
One for all the animal lovers – you could spend Valentine’s with meeting and greeting the rabbits, chickens, guinea pigs, goats, sheep and alpacas at Vauxhall City Farm. You can book a private ten-minute session with the animal of your choice, followed by drinks and grazing boards in the farm bar.
Sat 15th February 2025
Vauxhall City Farm, 165 Tyers Street, London, SE11 5HS
vauxhallcityfarm.org

6. Book an Awkward Photo Shoot
If you’d love some nice photos of you and your significant other but you’re both awkward AF when it comes to getting your picture taken, why not embrace it with a deliberately awkward photo shoot? Photographer Alero Bello specialises in a range of portrait photography, including awkward photos where you can go as silly as you like.
Photo credit: @nostalgicportraitsldn

7. Ride the Helix Slide
Zip World is re-opening Helix, the world’s biggest tunnel slide, at the ArcelorMittal Orbit at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford on Valentine’s Day. Head up there to take in the views over the city from the ArcelorMittal Orbit 360 viewing deck and then hurtle back down to the ground via the 76 metre-high slide, where you can reach speeds of up to 15mph – it’s sure to get hearts racing.
From Fri 14th February 2025
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, E20 2AD
zipworld.co.uk

8. Learn How to Make Kimchi at This Fermentation Workshop
Love won’t be the only thing bubbling at this kimchi workshop ru by South London Ferments. You’ll learn everything you need to know about fermentation, prep veggies and fruits for your own ferments to take home, and pick up some recipe tips on how best to eat kimchi – maybe one to try on the second date?
Fri 14th February 2025, 7pm
Kingswood Road London SE20 7BL
eventbrite.co.uk

9. Explore Love in the Natural World at the Natural History Museum
Spend a night at the museum learning how love and relationships work in the animal kingdom. Grab your love bug and check out the Natural History Museum’s galleries after hours, head to the science stations to discover all the ways that animals find a mate, join in a dance class and soak up the sounds of a live harpist.
Fri 14th February 2025, 6.45pm – 10.30pm
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD
nhm.ac.uk

10. Catch a Film at The Prince Charles Cinema
The Prince Charles Cinema loves a good season and for Valentine’s this year, it’s screening an array of relationship-based movies. Catch David Lynch classics like Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, cult faves like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and True Romance, and Wong Kar Wei romances like In the Mood for Love and Happy Together.
Tues 18th February 2025
7 Leicester Pl, London, WC2H 7BY
princecharlescinema.com

11. Mingle With Fellow Singles at Cafe Mondo
If you’re flying solo this Valentine’s, why not try and find love at Cafe Mondo? The Camberwell sarnie shop is hosting a singles night, where you can tuck into Cafe Mondo grub, sink some spesh lovers cocktails, spin the lovers roulette wheel to win prizes, get entered into a raffle for dinner for two, and maybe, just maybe, meet the love of your life.
Fri 13th February 2025, from 6pm
42 Peckham Road, London SE5 8PX
@cafe_mondo_se5