18 Fall Date Ideas That Aren’t Just Carving Pumpkins

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Fall date ideas always seem to come back to the same few things: carve pumpkins, visit a pumpkin patch, drink a pumpkin spice latte and repeat. And while I actually love a good pumpkin patch date, there are only so many pumpkins one couple needs in their life.

Fall is one of the best seasons for dates because you can do a bit of everything. There are still plenty of nice days to spend outside, cooler evenings are perfect for cozy dates at home, and all the seasonal events give you an excuse to try something you probably wouldn’t do during the rest of the year.

You also don’t need to spend a fortune. Some of the best fall dates are as simple as picking a random small town to visit, making dinner together or heading outside with a thermos and no real plan.

So if you’re looking for cute fall date ideas that go beyond carving yet another pumpkin, here are 18 to add to your fall couple bucket list.

1. Go on a Fall Color Road Trip

Pick a route known for beautiful fall colors and make an afternoon of it.

The road trip itself is part of the date, so make a fall playlist, grab some snacks and stop whenever you see somewhere interesting. You could look for viewpoints, small towns, lakes or trails along the way.

You don’t need a huge itinerary either. Sometimes picking a direction and seeing where you end up makes for a much better date.

2. Have a Fall Farmers Market Challenge

Head to your local farmers market together, but turn your regular visit into a little date challenge.

Set yourselves a budget and pick a few seasonal ingredients without deciding what you’re making beforehand. Once you get home, figure out a dinner you can make with everything you bought.

You could each choose one surprise ingredient that the other person has to somehow work into the meal too.

3. Take a Thermos on a Sunset Walk

This is such an easy fall date when you want to do something after work without making a whole evening of it.

Make hot chocolate, coffee or tea, pour it into a thermos and find somewhere pretty to walk around sunset. Bring a couple of reusable cups and stop somewhere with a nice view.

It’s simple, cheap and honestly sometimes exactly what you need after a long week.

4. Pick Apples and Turn Them Into Dessert

Apple picking gives you the activity, but what you do afterward can turn it into an entire date.

Once you’re home, choose something to make with the apples you picked. Try apple crumble, apple pie, baked apples or even homemade apple cider.

Put some music on, make dessert together and eat it while it’s still warm. That’s basically three fall dates rolled into one.

5. Have a Fall Thrift Store Challenge

Give each other a small budget and head to a thrift store.

Your challenge could be to find the funniest fall mug, choose an outfit for each other or find something for your home. You could also each have £10 or $10 to find everything you need for a cozy night at home.

The worse your choices are, the more entertaining this date usually becomes.

6. Go to a Small Town You’ve Never Visited

You don’t need to book a weekend away to feel like you’ve gone somewhere new.

Look at the map around where you live and choose a small town you’ve never properly visited. Walk around, find a local café, browse little shops and see what you come across.

Fall makes this especially cute when the streets are covered in leaves and all the cafés have their seasonal menus out.

7. Make Your Own Fall Pizza

Forget ordering your usual pizza and make one from scratch together.

Buy pizza dough or make your own, then experiment with fall-inspired toppings. You could each make a different pizza and split them so you get to try both.

You can also turn it into a competition and rate each other’s pizzas, although I’d probably avoid taking the judging too seriously if you want a second date, ahah.

8. Go Stargazing on a Crisp Fall Night

Grab blankets, make something warm to drink and drive somewhere away from city lights.

Fall nights can be great for stargazing because you get darkness earlier without necessarily dealing with freezing winter temperatures yet.

Use a stargazing app to figure out what you’re looking at or just lie there and make completely uneducated guesses. Both work.

9. Have a Bookstore Date

Go to a bookstore together and give yourselves a few little challenges.

Find a book you think your partner would love, choose a cookbook with a recipe you’d make together or pick the worst romance novel cover you can find.

You could each buy one book and finish the date at a coffee shop where you can start reading them.

10. Go on a Fall Photo Walk

Choose a neighborhood, park or nature trail and go for a walk with the goal of taking photos.

You can use your phones, so you definitely don’t need fancy cameras for this. Take pictures of the fall colors, each other and random little things you notice along the way.

At the end, choose your favorite photo from the date. You might actually end up with some cute couple photos that aren’t selfies for once.

11. Make a Fall Dinner From a Different Country

Pick a country you’d both like to visit and cook a comforting meal from there.

You could make French onion soup, Italian risotto, Hungarian goulash, Japanese curry or another warm dish that sounds good on a cool evening.

Find a playlist from that country, get a bottle of something you both like and turn your regular dinner at home into an actual date.

12. Visit a Historic House or Castle

Fall is such a good time to explore old houses, castles and historic estates.

The grounds usually look gorgeous once the leaves start changing, and you can spend part of the date outside before heading inside when it gets colder.

Bonus points if the place has some sort of ghost story attached to it because, well, it is fall.

13. Have a No-Phones Evening

Pick one evening where both of you put your phones away for a few hours.

Cook dinner, open a bottle of wine, play cards, put music on or just sit and talk without checking notifications every five minutes.

You could even each write down five random questions beforehand and take turns answering them over dinner. It sounds ridiculously simple, but that’s kind of the point.

14. Go to an Outdoor Movie

Look for outdoor cinemas, drive-in movies or seasonal screenings near you.

Fall is perfect for this because you can bring blankets, wear your comfiest sweater and cuddle up once it gets cold. Pick a classic movie you’ve both seen before or find a Halloween screening if you want something more seasonal.

Bring your own snacks if the venue allows it and make a proper evening out of it.

15. Create a Fall Taste Test

Go to the grocery store and each pick a few fall foods or drinks the other person hasn’t tried.

You could choose seasonal cookies, unusual apple cider flavors, chocolates, cheeses, fall snacks or limited-edition products.

Set everything out at home and rate each one out of 10. You can even try to guess which products your partner picked.

16. Take a Train Somewhere for the Day

Pick a destination about an hour or two away and take the train instead of driving.

You can both relax, watch the fall scenery outside and have a drink without worrying about who needs to drive home. Spend a few hours exploring your destination, have lunch somewhere local and catch an evening train back.

It feels like a mini getaway without paying for a hotel.

17. Make a Fall Time Capsule Together

Grab a small box and fill it with little things that represent your life together right now.

Add photos, handwritten notes, receipts from recent dates, your current favorite snacks or a list of things you’re obsessed with at the moment. You could also write letters to each other that you’re not allowed to read yet.

Choose a date one, three or five years from now when you’ll open it together.

18. Plan a Fall Mystery Date for Each Other

This one can give you two dates instead of one.

Each person plans a fall date without telling the other what they’re doing. Set the same budget and a few basic rules beforehand, then choose different weekends for your surprise dates.

The date doesn’t need to be elaborate. One person might plan a hike and picnic while the other organizes a cooking class or surprise day trip. Half the fun is trying to guess what your partner has planned before you get there.