Paris might be the City of Love but Dubai knows how to woo and sweep people off its feet. It is the world’s top travel destination and one of the most popular places to propose for a reason. Whatever your reason, our dazzling city is full activties for a perfect romantic day or night out. If you’re still searching for your partner in crime or you’ve already found your better half, this list of date ideas in Dubai will help get those sparks flying.
1. Go putt-putting at 3D Black Light Mini Golf
A laidback date activity that lets you walk, talk and break into laughter at clumsy attempts to strike golfballs through windmills, castles and absurd-themed obstacles? That’s what makes mini golf a failproof date ideas. Now throw in glow-in-the-dark to that and you’ve got yourself a vibrant experience. The 3D Black Light Mini Golf in JBR will see you both journey through outer space, an underwater realm and an Arabian desert on your mission to finish an 18-hole putt-putt course and just maybe find the person who turns you into putty.
From AED 110 per person; details here.
2. Blow off some steam at The Smash Room
Why break up when you can break things? Together. Puns apart, rage rooms are perfect for a romantic evening out even if you’re madly in love with each other and don’t have underlying issues to work through. Why, you ask? Because it’s whacky childlike fun that offers the same wild adrenalin rush adventure sports do, and it’s a therapeutic stress-buster. Luckily for Dubai’s lovebirds, The Smash Room in Al Quoz offers a grungy, safe space to wreck everything from TV sets to desktop computers, glassware, dishes and more.
From AED 199 per 30-minute session. Book here.
3. Paint outside the lines at a splatter room
Love is messy but it’s also creative and colourful when you take your significant other to an art jamming studio like Wild Paint House. Get boisterous and throw colours on canvases, walls and each other, dabble in (legal) graffiti sessions, spin art machines to decorate clothing, or try acrylic pouring on ceramic figurines. They’ve got neon paint options too if you want to add some glow to the person who brightens up your life. Find details here.
4. Ditch candlelight dinners for a Candlelight concert
You can do only so many candlelit dinner dates before the concept starts losing its lustre. Candlelight concerts retain the glow but switch up meals for music – you know, if music be the food of love and all that. These concerts treat you and your sweetheart to instrumental renditions of varied genres by live pianists, string quartets and bands amidst a sea of LED candles.
Right from rock and pop – think Queen, Prince, Coldplay and Taylor Swift – to Bollywood hits, Arabic melodies and classical compositions of Beethoven and Chopin. They take place year-round at various magical Dubai venues from Zabeel Theatre to the iconic Burj Al Arab. Get tickets here.
5. Go to an axe-throwing bar for games and drinks
Okay, so Cupid’s arrows have struck you, but how good’s your aim? Test it out at Boom Battle Bar, a cool axe-throwing bar in JBR that’s a London export. It’s a great chance to weed out potential ‘so I married an axe murderer’ scenarios (kidding) or discover you’re date is a firefighter. Or a lumberjack (kidding again, this is Dubai).
We’re very aware of how gender-skewed this sport is sounding now, so ladies suggest this date idea simply to hit the bullseye and show your man how it’s done. The place also has augmented reality crazy darts, mini golf, beer pong, drinks and food and a DJ playing thumping good music. On Tuesdays, they have a date night offer that gets you 3 games for 30 minutes each.
From AED 125 person, book here.
6. Walk through this dreamy digital park
Take the person you think is out-of-this-world fantastic to a place that’s a lot like them – AYA Universe, Wafi Mall. This magical indoor digital park has 12 zones of surreal, trippy landscapes based on an imaginary galaxy. You can easily spend hours strolling here staring at the incredible visuals, making conversation and taking some spectacular couple selfies. Room after room features immersive illusions and sceneries, from bio-luminous gardens similar to the movie Avatar to upside-down waterfalls and mirror-filled rooms with robotic light shows.
AED 99 per person, more info here.
7. Let the good times roll at this roller skating rink
For some old-school lovin’, skate over to Roll DXB, Dubai’s first and only roller skating rink. It’s the perfect excuse to hold hands – for balance, of course, and fall head over heels. Maybe in love, maybe on the cold, hard ground. Either way, mix many disco balls, neon lights and the vibrant retro 80s-themed decor and you could easily be in a John Hughes rom-com a la 16 candles. More info here
8. Make your own music video at this digital park
Be the main character of your love story with a trip to House of Hype, a wacky new digital park with over 100 different experiences. In between taking stunning selfies with your beloved in magical mirror rooms with a chandelier and trippy backgrounds inside a laundromat, the two of you can dance and record a music video in an augmented reality green screen room. There are plenty of weird and wonderful things, such as a fake chicken stand, here to tease out the silliness in each other and be playful.
9. Bowl your date over with AR cricket at this games bar
Stumped for new ideas for a unique first date or your weekly date night? WIKIT, caged cricket pitches powered by augmented reality at Tiger Strikes won’t let you down. You and your plus one can test your batting skills and good-naturedly rib each other about LBWs. Not the biggest fan of cricket? This spot also has cool digital darts, neon bowling lanes and a cocktail and bar bites menu to sort you out. More info here
10. Roll the dice on love at this boardgames bar
The Hungry Monkey is a tiny little bar inside Barsha’s Donatello Hotel that’s thumping with ampiano and afrobeats tunes most days. But tucked away at the far corner of this joint are stacks of card games and board games; ideal icebreakers for two people who want to get to know each other better without it sounding like a job interview. Fueled by a reasonably priced cocktail menu, this is one of those date ideas where the fun and games quickly ratchet up.