56 Autumn Date Ideas

Chestnuts patiently awaiting a roasting on an open fire.

Jack Frost still maintaining a respectful distance from your toes.

Yes, it’s not quite that time of year yet, but it is this time of year; when the leaves turn brown, and everyone suddenly sees the benefit of sharing bodily warmth.

What we’re trying to say is: autumn is romantic.

And here you’ll find more than 50 autumn date ideas to help you seize the season in London, from live soul in an underground crypt to pubs with roaring fires; pop-up cinemas with hot toddies; pumpkin picking; fondue nights; and the occasional rutting stag…
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Watch Adventure Films with Hot Toddies in a Church

Then toast marshmallows outside in the breaks.

Details: 12th November | St Anne’s Church, St Anne’s Passage, London, E14 7HP | £20 (25% off for Nudge Members)
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Test Your Weekend Compatibility At Sunday Papers Live

Comfy sofas, roasts, Bloody Maries and fascinating talks. It’s not the worst place to start a tradition… 

Details: 27th November | Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Rd, London NW1 7AY | £20-39.50
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Share Half a Kilo of Baked Cheese Aboard The Cheese Barge

THIS is what floats your boat (and if it’s not, fondue is on the menu every Thursday from November – March).

Details: Open Tuesday – Sunday (lunch only on Sun) | Sheldon Square, Paddington Central, London, W2 6HY
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Spend an Evening in Conversation with Graham Norton

Of course, you won’t be having the conversation, and he won’t be able to see you over there in the audience… but he’s just one of the many great speakers taking to the stage for this year’s London Literature Festival.

Details: 21st – 31st October | Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX
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Plug Into The New Cocktail Bar In Battersea Power Station

Sparks are guaranteed to fly…

Details: Open daily | Control Room B, Battersea Power Station Circus Road E, Nine Elms, London SW8 5BN
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Book Tickets to Moulin Rouge!

Just don’t mention the set. It’s kind of the elephant in the room.

Details: Piccadilly Theatre, 16 Denman Street, London W1D 7DY | From £25
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Admire Japan’s Famous Autumnal Foliage… in Kew Gardens

Then escape the chill in their Victorian hot houses.

Details: Open daily | Kew Gardens, TW9 3AE | £12+
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Pick Out A Book For Each Other At Daunt Books

Then read the first chapters to each other over strudel at Fischer’s.
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Go Pumpkin Picking

It’s worth carving out time for. See the best pick-your-own farms near London
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Or Tuck Into Pumpkin Buns at Bun House

Because they’re pretty gourd too.

Details: Available 28th-30th October | Bun House Chinatown, 26 – 27 Lisle Street, London, WC2H 7BA | £6
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Do The Crossword In A Pub With An Open Fire

These are our favourites.
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Listen To Live Jazz in A Candlelit Cathedral

Oh, while taking in a 7m-wide illuminated replica of the Earth.

Details: Until 30th October | Southwark Cathedral, London SE1 9DA | Free entry, some events ticketed
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Drink Cider in the Dalston Curve Garden After Dark

In a ‘cosy, festoon-lit café’ kind of way, not the ‘tinnies in the park’ kind of way.

Details: Open until 10pm Wed-Sat | Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, 13 Dalston Lane, London, E8 3DF | Free entry
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Go Deer-Spotting in Richmond Park

Sophie Keen

Or go one better, and enjoy a blanketed horse carriage ride with sloe gin.

Details: Richmond Park, TW10 5HS | Free Entry | Carriage rides 26th November – 1st January, £450 per carriage
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Take The Craig David Approach To London Cocktail Week

Take your date for a drink on Tuesday… and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday…

Details: 13th – 23rd October | Across London | Wristbands £15
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Go to A Museum Late

Learn about dinosaurs with cocktails instead of coach tour groups.
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Play Pétanque, Drink Pastis at Baranis

After all, the French do it best.

Details: Open Tuesday-Saturday evenings | 115 Chancery Lane, London, WC2A 1PP
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Toast Marshmallows at the Midnight Apothecary

It’s a rooftop cocktail bar in a garden. With hot rum toddies and s’more kits. What’s not to love?

Details: Fridays and Saturdays until 22nd October | Brunel Museum, Railway Avenue, SE16 4LF | Entry from £8
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Embrace The Chill on a Crisp Walk Through London

iStock/SHansche

Take in some of these scenic lakes or London’s best parks en route.
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Then Warm Up Over A Steaming Bowl of Ramen

Here’s our pick of the best ramen spots in London.
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Go Browsing in a Second-Hand Bookshop

Then read the first chapters to each other at one of London’s best cafés.
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Go for the Perfect Sunday Roast

Maybe try all of them, just to be sure.
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Watch Shakespeare in a Candlelit Theatre

It’s the Globe’s closed-roof – and sliightly more autumn-friendly – cousin.

Details: Henry V opens 10th November, Hakawatis opens 1st December | 21 New Globe Walk, SE1 9DT | From £5
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Wander Round An Eccentric Townhouse Stuck in Time

Candlelight, wine, and an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus. 

Details: Open Wed-Sun; lates on 28th October & 25th November | 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2A 3BP | Free entry, lates £25
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Go On A Day Trip

Incredibly, this doesn’t require a plane ticket. See 20 excellent day trips from London
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Get Steamy in a Sauna

Or enjoy the unusual experience of ‘parenie’ at Banya No. 1.

Details: Open daily | 17 Micawber Street, Hoxton, N1 7TB | From £30
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Go For Sri Lankan Breakfast at Pavilion

Alena Stepanova/Unsplash

Then hit the lake on a rowing boat.

Details: Open daily | Victoria Park, E9 7DE
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Build Your Ideal Hot Chocolate at Knoops

Then take it round the corner to John Sandoe Books.

Details: Open daily | 10 Blacklands Terrace, London SW3 2SR
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Perfect Your Hot Toddy at a Cocktail Masterclass

Then drink your homework.
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Go For Dinner at London’s Most Intimate Restaurants

And have a nightcap at one of these equally cosy cocktail bars.
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Step Into The Kit Kat Club

Rebecca Frecknall’s gloriously stylish production of Cabaret has won rave reviews.

Details: Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5DE | From £25
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Take A Vintage Steam Train Into A Cinema…

It might not move you, but the films definitely will…

Details: Until 3rd January | Backyard Cinema, 2-4 Armoury Way, Wandsworth Town, SW18 1SH | From £10
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Wander Through Leadenhall Market

Nicolas Lysandrou/Unsplash

Before sitting down to chops & Autumn Negronis at Blacklock City.

Details: Open daily | Gracechurch St, London EC3V 1LT
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Indulge In Omakase at The Aubrey Bar

It’s basically a theatre, where cocktails are the stars.

Details: Wed-Fri | The Aubrey, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA | £198
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Spend A Rainy Day Exploring Bloomsbury

Featuring Victorian artists’ shops, hearty stews, and a very unusual museum…
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Hold A Board Game Tournament At Draughts

Loser gets the drinks in.

Details: Open daily | 41 Kingsland High Street, Dalston, E8 2JS | Arch 16 Leake St, London SE1 7NN | £6-7pp cover charge
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Listen To Musicals by Candlelight

Resist the urge to stand up and serenade your date.

Details: Until 23rd December | The Actor’s Church, Bedford Street, WC2E 9ED | £15+
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Go Star-Gazing

Not the Leicester Square kind, the Greenwich Observatory kind… 

Details: Daily, 10am-5pm | Royal Observatory, Blackheath Avenue, Greenwich SE10 8XJ | £10
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Go Watch The Fireworks At Alexandra Palace

Because if your date doesn’t like the sound of a laser show; a German bier festival; a massive bonfire; a fire show; a ton of street food; a cinema; a funfair; an ice rink; and an Elvis impersonator… there’s going to be fireworks.

Details: 5th November | Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, N22 7AY | £12.50-15.50
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Go To A Chef’s Table In A Railway Arch

If you love seafood but hate decisions, this is for you.

Details: Wednesday to Saturday | The Sea, The Sea, Hackney, 337 Acton Mews, E8 4EA | £150pp
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Go For A Crisp Sunday Stroll On Hampstead Heath

Julian Simpson

We’ve prepared the perfect day out for you, featuring hot chocolates, yakitori and live jazz… See our Hampstead Heath itinerary
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…Then Listen To Live Music and Sip Cider at The Southampton Arms

When the weather turns really cold, they serve it mulled. 

Details: Open daily | 139 Highgate Road, London NW5 1LE
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Don’t Go Hunting

And instead practise a little humane virtual clay pigeon shooting at Clays. With humane cocktails and snacks.

Details: Open daily | 55 Moorgate, EC2R 6LL | £10+
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Go Vintage Shopping Down Camden Passage

Ungry Young Man

Buy each other antique spoons and vintage prints, before settling in for a Viennese pastry… See your chilled Islington Sunday itinerary

Details: Camden Passage, Angel Islington, N1 8EA
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Show You Don’t Have A One Track Mind…

…by getting tickets to One Track Minds.

Details: 16th November | Wilton’s Music Hall, Graces Alley, London E1 8JB | £9-17
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Have Your Own Ghost Moment In A Pottery Class

Then sip smugly from your slightly off-centre mugs by the fireside (four to six weeks) later. 
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Listen to Jazz In A 300 Year-Old Crypt

And find out if you’re soul mates.

Details: Various dates | St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ | £8-25
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Take A Leisurely Dinner Cruise Along London’s Canals

Candlelight, oysters and wine. You literally cannot go wrong. 

Details: Cruises Wednesday-Saturday | London Shell Co, The Prince Regent, Sheldon Square, W2 6DS | £65
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Go For A Dip In A Heated Lido

Then refuel over Michelin star level fare at Brat x Climpson’s Arch.

Details: Open daily | London Fields Lido, Hackney E8 3EU | £5.40
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Listen To Celebrities Read Incredible Letters

And get inspired to write love letters of your own.

Details: 27th October | Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, SW7 2AP | £20+
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Hibernate In One Of London’s Hidden Bars

Any of these should do quite nicely.
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Bathe In Red Wine

We are NOT speaking figuratively. 

Details: Open daily | AIRE Ancient Baths, 2-3 Robert Street, WC2N 6RL | From £150
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Go To A Listening Party In The Dark

A spine-tinglingly atmospheric way to listen to music. 

Details: 25th & 26th October | Across London | From £11
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Run Around London On A Cryptic Treasure Hunt

Solve clues sent to your phone (with pub stops built in)…

Details: Run daily | Across London | £25pp
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Watch Some Comedy Together

Even if the acts are terrible, at least you’ll seem hilarious by comparison.
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Hole Up In A Wine Bar For The Night

Leave with a bottle to take with you on your next date, at Hawksmoor on BYOB Mondays.
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Go For Dinner With A View

One of these ought to fit the bill.

Want more inspiration? Check out our bumper, year-round line-up of 101 London Date Ideas