Long-distance date ideas: 20 ways to have a real date apart
Twenty plans for two people in two places: ten for a video call, four out in your own cities, and six that work across time zones with no call at all.
- Ideas: 20 plans, 10 minutes to 2 hours
- Calls: Any video app you already use
- Account: No account needed
Virtual date ideas for a video call
What separates a date from a regular call is a start time and a plan. Put it on both calendars.
The dressed-up dinner (1 hour)
Same time, real plates, a candle if you have one. Prop the phone at eye level across the table, where a person would sit. You don’t need to eat the same food, only at the same pace.
A watch party (2 hours)
Pick the movie in advance so the call isn’t spent scrolling. Count down and press play together, or use a free watch-party extension that keeps you in sync. Keep the chat open for commentary.
A museum on screen (30 minutes)
Many large museums put their collections online in high resolution. One of you shares a screen, and each picks three works to show the other. Zoom in further than a guard would let you.
A hometown tour on Street View (30 minutes)
Share your screen, drop the pin on the street where you grew up, and walk it: the school, the shortcut, the corner store. Then trade places.
Planning the next visit (30 minutes)
Open a shared document. Each of you lists three things you want to do when you’re in the same place, then put them on real dates. Book one thing before you hang up.
A game on two screens (20 minutes)
Online chess, a daily word puzzle raced side by side, or a co-op puzzle game. Pick one with short rounds so a bad connection doesn’t ruin it.
The parallel evening (1 hour)
Stay on the call and each do your own thing: laundry, reading, cooking. Nobody has to keep a conversation going. It’s the closest a call gets to being in the same room.
Slideshow night (45 minutes)
Each of you makes five slides about something ridiculous: a ranking of sandwiches, a defense of a bad movie. Present over screen share, with questions at the end.
Your breakfast, my dinner (30 minutes)
If you’re many time zones apart, find the hour when one of you is having coffee and the other is finishing the day. Eat together anyway.
The ten-minute goodnight (10 minutes)
A short call at the same time every night: one thing from today, one thing you’re looking forward to tomorrow. Ten minutes, even on busy days.
Dates out in your own cities
Leave the house, both of you, at the same time. Headphones help.
Two cafés, one table (40 minutes, the price of a coffee)
Each of you goes to a café nearby, orders, and video calls from the table. Describe the room, the cup, and the best overheard sentence.
The grocery run (30 minutes)
Call while you both shop for the week. Hold things up and ask for a vote. Choose one item for each other’s cart that isn’t on the list.
The same moon (15 minutes)
Agree on a minute, go outside, and find the moon from where you each are. Stay on the phone. It works across most time zones, as long as it’s dark for both of you.
One cuisine, two cities (1 hour, about $15 each)
Decide on a cuisine, say Thai or tacos, and each get it from a place near you. Eat on a call and review like food critics, with scores out of ten.
Long-distance dates that don’t need a call
For opposite schedules and bad connections. These run on the mail, voice notes, and a shared document.
“Open when” letters (1 hour, stamps)
Write five short letters and label the envelopes: open when you can’t sleep, open when you’ve had a good day, open when you miss me. Mail them in one package.
A care package under $20 (1 hour)
A small box with five things: a snack from your town, one printed photo, a tea bag, something that smells like your place, a note. Send it without a warning.
A week of voice notes (2 minutes a day)
One voice memo a day for seven days, each about one specific moment from that day. They can be played on the way to work and replayed later.
Same show, separate couches (a week)
Agree on two episodes or three chapters by Friday. Watch or read on your own schedule, text reactions without spoilers, and save the full debrief for the weekend.
A paper-chain countdown (20 minutes to make)
Each of you makes a chain with one link for every day until the next visit. Tear one off each night and send a photo of what’s left.
The two-person journal (10 minutes a week)
A shared document and one question a week, such as “What did you change your mind about lately?” Both of you answer in writing, whenever you have a quiet ten minutes.
Long-distance date ideas: common questions
- What are good virtual date ideas for a first video date?
- Keep it short and give it a shape: a game on two screens for twenty minutes, or a museum on screen for thirty. Both give you something to look at besides each other’s faces.
- How do we have a date across time zones?
- Look for the overlap, not the same hour. “Your breakfast, my dinner” uses it directly. When there’s no overlap that week, pick from the last group: letters, voice notes, and the shared journal don’t need you online together.
- How often should long-distance couples have a date?
- There’s no right number. One planned date a week plus a short daily check-in, like the ten-minute goodnight, is a simple place to start. Adjust from there, and keep it on the calendar.
- Does the site have video calls?
- No. Use any call app you already have. The game for choosing a plan runs in the browser on two phones and doesn’t need a call at all.
Where to next
- Long-distance games and things to do togetherGames you can play hours apart, and how to set up an evening over a call.
- Texting games you can play hours apartFor days when all you have is a few minutes and a chat window.
- Couples bucket list: 50 things to do togetherFifty things to save for when you’re in the same place.
- Cheap date ideas: 30 plans under $20 (and many free)Thirty plans under $20 for the next visit.
- Indoor date ideas for rainy days and lazy weekendsIndoor plans for the days you’re in the same place and it’s raining.
- Winter date ideas: 25 cozy plans for cold eveningsTwenty-five plans for a winter visit.