50 Long Distance Date Ideas You'll Actually Look Forward To

Let's be honest: after a few months of distance, "want to FaceTime tonight?" can start to feel less like a date and more like a standing meeting. You love each other — you just need better material.

We've been there (we wrote a whole book because of it). Here are 50 long distance date ideas, organized by how much energy you have. Steal freely.

Low effort, high connection (10–30 minutes)

1. Walk-and-talk date — both of you leave the house, phone in pocket, and narrate your walk.
2. Coffee date — same drink, same time, cameras on. That's it. That's the date.
3. Sunset sync — figure out when the sun sets for each of you and call during the overlap (or take turns).
4. Read to each other — one chapter of any book, out loud. Weirdly intimate.
5. Two-song exchange — each of you plays one song the other has never heard and explains why it matters.
6. Rate my fridge — camera tour of your fridge, judge each other lovingly.
7. One photo story — each person shares one photo from their week the other hasn't seen and tells the full story behind it.
8. Speed questions — set a 15-minute timer and take turns with questions you've never asked each other.
9. Draw each other — 5-minute portrait, cameras on, reveal at the end. Prepare to laugh.
10. Goodnight ritual — 10 minutes, no screens except the call: recap the day's high, low, and one thing you're grateful for.

Classic video dates (an hour-ish)

11. Cook the same recipe — pick it together earlier in the week, shop separately, cook simultaneously.
12. Wine or coffee tasting — two or three bottles/beans each, tasting notes mandatory, pinkies out optional.
13. Watch party — stream the same movie or show together (Teleparty and most streaming apps make syncing easy now).
14. Order each other's dinner — you pick what gets delivered to them, they pick yours. Trust exercise.
15. Virtual museum tour — many of the world's big museums have free online tours. Wander together.
16. Game night — online chess, Scrabble apps, co-op video games, or trivia head-to-head.
17. Cocktail invention night — build a drink from what you have, name it after an inside joke.
18. Bake-off — same recipe, judged on looks over video. Loser writes the winner a love letter.
19. Living room concert — share headphones… metaphorically. Listen to a full album together, no skipping.
20. Workout date — same YouTube workout, cameras propped up, mutual suffering.

Dates with a little planning

21. Run a Date Night Connection Ritual — we made a whole digital pack of these (US$9.99): ready-to-run date nights designed specifically for couples who can't be in the same room. Zero planning required on the night.
22. Bucket-list building session — plan the trips, meals, and tiny errands you'll do when you close the distance.
23. Virtual double date — rope in another couple (LDR or not) for game night.
24. Take a class together — cooking, drawing, a language. Same class, two screens.
25. Book club of two — same book, set a chapter deadline, discuss over dinner.
26. Puzzle race — same 500-piece puzzle ordered to both addresses. First to finish picks the next date.
27. Photo scavenger hunt — write each other a list of 10 photos to capture during the week; reveal on the call.
28. Plan your next visit down to the day — flights, meals, the first hug logistics. Anticipation is half the fun.
29. Do an activity from your book — if you have The #LDR Activity Book, pick a page at random and do it tonight. Personality tests, crosswords, drawing challenges — that's literally what it's for.
30. Mystery date — take turns planning the entire evening; the other person finds out as it happens.

Snail mail + surprise dates

31. Open-when letters — write a batch for each other's hard days. (Full guide with 50 prompts here.)
32. Simultaneous unboxing — mail each other a small package, open together on camera.
33. Postcard race — send one the same day; see whose arrives first. Loser owes a favour, winner picks it.
34. Send your handwriting — a real letter, in an envelope, with a stamp. In 2026 this hits harder than ever.
35. Local snack exchange — box of things you can only get where you live.
36. Hide-a-note — on your next visit, hide notes around their place for them to find for weeks after you leave.

Spicy dates 🔥

37. Candlelit dinner, dressed up — full date-night outfits for a video call. No sweatpants allowed.
38. Sexy Q&A — take turns asking questions you're usually too shy to ask.
39. Bath date — candles, drinks, one phone each, propped safely out of splash range.
40. Strip trivia — get a question about your partner wrong, lose a layer.
41. Read something steamy together — alternate paragraphs.
42. Learn together — our bonus chapter Sex From A Distance was written with our in-house sexologist exactly for this. US$3.99, instantly delivered, endlessly useful.

Big-swing dates (for anniversaries and rough weeks)

43. Recreate your first date — same food, same music, retell the story like the other wasn't there.
44. Timezone tour — cook a meal from a country between your two cities.
45. Future-house date — Zillow/Rightmove browsing for the home you'll share one day. Dream irresponsibly.
46. Interview each other — full podcast style, record it. You'll treasure the audio later.
47. Watch your own footage — screen-share old photos and videos of the two of you.
48. Write your "how we met" story — separately, then read both versions aloud. The discrepancies are the best part.
49. Countdown celebration — mark hitting single digits before your next visit with a proper toast.
50. Plan the reunion date — plan your first in-person date of the next visit together, in absurd detail, so the countdown has a finish line.

The real secret

It's not the specific idea — it's that someone planned something. A planned date says "you're worth effort," and in a long distance relationship that message is the whole game.

If you'd rather never start from a blank page again: The #LDR Activity Book is 8 chapters of ready-made activities to do together from anywhere, and Date Night Connection Rituals gives you complete date nights for less than the price of one fancy coffee each.

♥️ Sam and Jared

Co Authors, The #LDR Activity Book