53 Cosy Winter Date Ideas

Technically, December only has 31 dates.

But if there’s one thing we’ll never allow to get in the way of romance, it’s mathematics.

So we’ve come up with a collection of 53 exceptionally cosy, festive and romantic date ideas for you to squeeze into the next month, including whisking your date off for a spin on the ice overlooking the river Thames; sipping mulled wine as you wander through the city’s greatest market; dining on bottomless cheese as you snuggle up around a firepit; bopping to Christmas anthems played by a ten-piece brass band; sipping hot cocktails on a secluded Soho rooftop; and watching a festive flick against one of the most iconic backdrops in the city…

So here they are: a cluster of winter date ideas guaranteed to warm the cockles…
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Cut A Rug at The Candlelight Club’s Christmas Party

Don your finest 1920s garb, sip prohibition cocktails, and dance the night away with Champagne Charlie and his degenerate crew of musicians, DJs, burlesque dancers, caricaturists and tarot readers.

Details: 13th & 14th December | Secret location | £30
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Sit At The Magician’s Table

And prepare to literally shriek as a team of trick-turners variously read your mind, predict your every move, and make things legitimately disappear in front of your eyes… while the bar team ensure that cocktails keep mysteriously appearing.

Details: Until 16th February | Secret London Bridge location | £35pp+
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Have a Meltdown at Gelupo

Yes, the ice cream place. Because they’ve just unveiled a menu of wintry ice cream sandwiches and hot drinks, and it’s frankly going to be impossible to choose.

Details: Nudge Members get 50% off until 27th November | 7 Archer St, W1D 7AU
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Wander Round A City Made of Gingerbread

Sign up for a workshop to build your own house, and see if your relationship has solid foundations.

Details: 30th November – 29th December | The Gaumont, 196-222 King’s Road, SW3 5XP | £13
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Huddle Together at a Winter Rooftop Bar

You can get hot cocktails, and if it snows you’ll get to enjoy it seconds before anyone else in the city. SEE LONDON’S BEST WINTER ROOFTOPS
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Take Your Date Ice Skating

Then warm up with hot chocolates. Or mulled wine. Or fondue. Or all of the above. SEE THE BEST ICE RINKS IN LONDON
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Watch Festive Flicks in a Hot Tub Boat

Yes, the idea of changing into a swimsuit in December is terrifying. But you’ll soon forget those gruelling 30 seconds once you’re simmering in balmy 38ºC water with your own bar…

Details: Sundays & Mondays in December | West India Quay, Off Hertsmere Road, Canary Wharf, London E14 4AL | £39+
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Sweep Your Date Off Their Feet at Curling

Then restore all those burnt-off calories at Lina Stores. See our perfect Christmassy King’s Cross date here…

Details: Open daily | Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, N1C 4DQ | £9pp
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Book Tickets to The Devil Wears Prada Musical

It’s fun, glitzy, and everyone left the theatre singing and dancing when we went… which is generally a good sign.

Details: Dominion Theatre, 268-269 Tottenham Ct Rd, W1T 7AQ | £20+
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Stroll Around A Festive Light Trail

The perfect backdrop to some illuminating conversation. SEE THE BEST LIGHT TRAILS IN LONDON
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Get In With La Clique

This year’s performers include roller-skating acrobats; gentleman jugglers; and a trapeze artist who hangs by her hair…

Details: Until 5th January | Leicester Square Spiegeltent | £25+
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Sing Carols in a Candlelit Church

Union Chapel’s carol night is legendary – plus you can hole up at Trullo Wine Bar afterwards.

Details: 22nd December | Union Chapel, 19b Compton Terrace, N1 2UN | Free, just turn up
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…Then Go and Watch ‘A Christmas Carol’

The best versions on stage this year include Mr. Swallow’s jovial retelling; the critically acclaimed Old Vic production; and a dazzling immersive show with a three course festive feast, presented by Dickens himself…
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Dress Up Fancy and See The Ballet

Because nothing says ‘festive’ like sparkly tutus, love at first sight, and riding around in a giant pumpkin.

Details: 3rd December – 16th January | Royal Ballet & Opera, Bow St, London WC2E 9DD | £15+
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Go For A Pint at the Most Christmassy Pub in London

Andrea Vail/Flickr

Almost 100 Christmas trees decorate the outside of The Churchill Arms at this time of year, so it’s just as accurate to say you’re going to the most pub-like forest in London.

Details: 119 Kensington Church Street, London, W8 7LN
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Wander Round Merry Maltby

Join some impromptu carolling, sip mulled wine and snack on street food at Maltby Street Market after dark.

Details: 29th November, 6th, 13th & 20th December, 6-9pm | Maltby Street, London SE1 3PA | Free entry
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Watch Christmas Classics on a Cosy Rooftop

Assuming your living room isn’t filled with dozens of lanterns, Christmas trees and a dusting of snow, this is probably the most romantic spot you can watch The Holiday this year.

Details: 21st November – 22nd December | JOIA, 1 Electric Boulevard, SW11 8BJ | £80 (inc. dinner and a film) | Nudge Members get complimentary popcorn & a hot toddy
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Slip Into A Speakeasy Below An Italian Restaurant

And yes, that Italian restaurant does send down piping hot bar snacks to go with your negroni…

Details: 180-182 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6HY | Nudge Members are getting a secret happy hour until 21st December
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Stroll Through A Floral Winter Wonderland

If you’ve never brought your date flowers, bring them to the flowers instead. The Garden Museum’s historic church home is about to be decked head-to-toe in stunning floral installations…

Details: 5th-9th December (Late on 6th) | Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7LB | £15/14 late
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Act Like Melts at Yougi’s Candle Workshops

Bry Penney

Boom, that’s a Christmas gift sorted too. Go and celebrate with oysters and cocktails at Pearly Queen.

Details: Regular dates | 53 Fashion Street, Spitalfields, E1 6PX | £59
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Go For A Walk Along the River in Richmond

But fuel up with the thick Italian hot chocolates at Gelateria Danieli first. You WILL need a spoon.

Details: 16 Brewers Lane, Richmond TW9 1HH
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Play Secret Santa in A Christmas Market

Set an arbitrary theme, meet up after 15 minutes and hold a solemn present exchange ceremony… with mulled wine. SEE LONDON’S BEST CHRISTMAS MARKETS
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Be The Ghosts of Christmas Past

By stepping into the Museum of the Home’s festive Rooms Through Time exhibition, where you’ll see everything from a lavish Victorian Christmas to a modern-day celebration in a Vietnamese family home.

Details: Until 12th January | Museum of the Home, Geffrye Street, London, E2 8EA | Free
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Go To A Christmas Party at Jimi Hendrix’s

Explore Handel and Hendrix’s old gaffs with mulled cider in-hand, hang out in the room where Messiah was written and learn to go-go dance in Jimi’s bedroom.

Details: 28th November, 5th & 19th December | 25 Brook Street, London W1K 4HB | £25
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Work Up A Sweat at A Scottish Ceilidh

Then make sure you rehydrate at one of these great Camden pubs.

Details: 21st December | Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Road, NW1 7AY | £18-24
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Watch Christmas Flicks in a 1950s Ballroom

It’s such a stunning setting, The Rivoli Ballroom’s more used to being on screen than behind it. But this winter they’re putting on a series of date-worthy film nights screening some bona fide Christmas classics.

Details: 20th – 22nd December | 350 Brockley Road, Crofton Park, SE4 2BY | £10
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Dine on a Christmas Banquet with an Indian Twist

Dishoom’s take on Christmas dinner involves slow-cooked turkey raan, gunpowder potatoes and mince pie kulfi… and where better to indulge than in their stylish Battersea restaurant after a spin on the ice rink outside the Power Station.

Details: Christmas menu available until 24th December | £47pp
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Dine in an Insanely Opulent Hall

As if Greenwich’s Painted Hall wasn’t atmospheric enough, they’ve now filled it with a giant, glowing replica of Mars. That you can have dinner beneath. With live jazz.

Details: 13th December | Old Royal Naval College, Romney Road, SE10 9NN | £125
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Take A Candlelit Tour of an 18th Century House

Dennis Severs’ House is atmospheric at any time of year, but it really comes into its own for the twilight tours at Christmas, when the fires are lit, trees are put up, and the air is scented with oranges & cloves…

Details: Until 5th January | 18 Folgate Street, E1 6BX | £16-25
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Hunker Down in A Cocktail Bar Below A Church

Don’t worry – you don’t have to pay in cryptocurrency.

Details: Open Tues-Sat, 6pm-2am | Below Stone Nest, 136 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5EZ | Walk-ins only
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Curl Up by the Fireside of a Cosy Pub

Mulled wine, crosswords, first-class Sunday roasts, and slightly singed knees.
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Escape Christmas Capitalism at The Last Tuesday Society

East London’s most unusual bar is steering away from all things corporate, kitsch and twee with its line-up of yuletide events, from enchanted candle-making with absinthe to anti-Christmas storytelling and gothic gingerbread house decorating.

Details: Throughout December | The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street London E8 4RP | Individually ticketed
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Explore Sir John Soane’s Museum By Candlelight

This house hasn’t been touched in over 200 years. And this Christmas, they’ll be celebrating like it’s 1799 with mince pies, mulled wine and carolling.

Details: 20th December | Sir John Soane’s Museum, 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A | £25
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Have Yourself A Scientific Little Christmas

The Science Museum’s Christmas late will look at the chemistry of festive food, the physics of Santa travel… and the universal law that mulled wine + silent disco = fun.

Details: 18th December | The Science Museum, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD | Free
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Feast on Fondue at The Cheese Bar

On Thursday nights they roll out the fondue sets, filled with melted deliciousness from a different cheesemonger every month.

Details: Thursday nights | Unit 93 – 94, Chalk Farm Rd, Chalk Farm, London NW1 8AH
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Take A Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride Through Richmond Park

The, ahem, slightly steep fee includes mince pies and sloe gin… but this might be a good time to arrange that triple date.

Details: 30th November – 1st January | Richmond Park Stables | £450
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Bite Rudolph’s Head Off

At one of these delightfully festive afternoon teas.
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Go Curling at Big Penny Social

And join them for one of their raucous festive events, from quizzes and live music to er, Christmas wrestling.

Details: Throughout December | Big Penny Social, 1 Priestley Way, London, E17 6AL | Individually ticketed
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…Then Hop Over To Willy’s Winter Wonderland

Because over at Signature Brew, What Willy Cooks is throwing a festive knees-up with DJs and food trucks from the likes of Mangal 2, Pearly Queen and Magic Momo, all in aid of the children affected by the crisis in Gaza and Lebanon.

Details: 7th December | Signature Brew, Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, London E17 5QJ | £24
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Go Rockin’ Around The Natural History Museum

Explore the galleries with a mulled wine in hand, a live harpist plucking away in the background, and festive activities scattered around the museum. Wear a jumper to outshine this T-Rex.

Details: 20th December | Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD | £27
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Settle In For An Evening of Enlightenment

Robin Ince’s Nine Lessons For Curious People is an annual fixture mingling talks from astrophysicists, authors and psychologists with some excellent stand-up.

Details: 13th – 15th December | 90 King’s Place, York Way, N1 9AG | £28
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Dress in Tweed, Go Virtual Clay Shooting

The couple that clay together, stay together.

Details: Open daily | Clays, 55 Moorgate, EC2R 6LL | From £14pp
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Bop To Christmas Anthems with A Ten-Piece Brass Band

You must have been good this year, because Santa’s delivered an insanely fun line-up of events to Between The Bridges…

Details: 6th December | Queen’s Walk, South Bank, SE1 | £22.66
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Determine How Much Raclette It’s Humanly Possible To Consume

At Fire & Fromage you can indulge in 90 minutes of bottomless melted cheese. With vodka-spiked hot chocolate. Around fire pits overlooking the Thames.

Details: Until 31st December | Belvedere Road, Southbank, SE1 8XX | £35pp
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Try To Get 10p Tickets at the Royal Court

And spend the savings on dinner at Three Darlings.

Details: Turn up to the box office at 6pm to nab standing tickets.
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Revel in Borough Market’s Evening of Cheese

Sip mulled wine as you explore the stalls, then cosy up with a film at the Everyman in Borough Yards.

Details: 11th December | Borough Market, 8 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1TL | Free
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Make Your Own Bottle of Bordeaux

When you join the winemaking crew at London Cru.

Details: Regular dates | 21-27 Seagrave Rd, Fulham, SW6 1RP | £170
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Stroll Round The Christmas Lights in Covent Garden

Sample enthusiastically from the hot drinks stands dotted around the piazza, then slink off to the fairy-lit Neal’s Yard for dinner at The Barbary, or festive specials at KERB Seven Dials.

Details: 12th November – 1st December | Around Covent Garden Piazza
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