Friend date ideas: things to do on a platonic date

A friend date is two friends, one plan and time set aside just for each other. The best friend date ideas are the ones that suit the two of you. Here are ideas for getting out of the house, for a best friend and for a newer friend, and for the friend who wants something new as well as the friend who wants a long talk at the same table.

An example: Hana has wanted to try a potter's wheel for years, so Liv books two places at an evening class and tells her only the address. An hour in, Hana's first bowl begins to lean. Then it slumps sideways like a hat left out in the rain. She sits back on her stool with grey clay up to both wrists and laughs so hard the teacher looks over. Liv leans in with her own muddy hands to prop up the side, and the whole bowl folds the other way.

What is a friend date?

A friend date, also called a platonic date, is time two friends plan on purpose, just for the two of them. Like any date, it has a set day, a place and a plan. There's just nothing romantic about it. Calling it a date just means it's on the calendar and both of you showed up for each other.

Friend date ideas for two friends out of the house

Each of these gets you both out of the house and leaves you with a story for the walk home.

• Split up in a museum. Walk around alone for an hour, then meet in the middle and lead each other to the one piece you liked best.
• Watch an open rehearsal. Some orchestras and theaters let the public sit in on a final rehearsal. Take seats near the back and watch them stop, fix a part and start again.
• Sit for a caricature together. Find a street artist who draws pairs and ask for the two of you in one picture. Toss a coin to decide whose wall it goes on.
• Go to a dog show. Pick a favorite in every ring and cheer for it as if it were your own dog.
• Walk the longest street in town. Start at its first house and finish at its last, stopping wherever either of you points at something.

When the two of you would rather stay home, what to do with friends at home is full of ideas for a night on the sofa.

Best friend date ideas

A best friend already knows all your stories, so the best date with them is one that adds a new story.

• Start a photo booth tradition. Squeeze into a photo booth, take one strip together and come back every year for the next. In ten years you'll have a whole row of the two of you.
• Fall off a windsurf board together. Book a beginner lesson for two. You'll spend a lot of it in the water, and that's the fun part.
• See a roller derby bout. Neither of you needs to know the rules. By the second half you'll both be shouting along with the crowd.

If the date lands near the day you met, turn it into a friendiversary. For a long walk where the talk goes deep, take a few questions to ask your best friend. And when you want the whole group of women friends together, Galentine's Day has plans for each kind of circle.

A first friend date with a newer friend

The first plan with a newer friend is the step that turns a nice chat into a friendship, and it's the one many people never take. Keep it easy to say yes to, with one thing to do, a clear end and a place that's on the way for both of you. Any of these works better than a whole Saturday:

• a walk around a sculpture garden
• a plant swap on a Saturday morning, where you each take home one plant
• a film at a drive-in, where you sit side by side and can talk between scenes

Offer two options and a day, then let them choose. If you're still looking for people to ask, making friends as an adult covers where grown-ups meet.

Friend dates for the planner and for the talker

Many friendships have one friend who wants a new plan every time and one who'd be happy at the same table forever. Give each of them a turn.

For the friend who wants something new

This friend lights up at a plan they can't guess. Keep a note on your phone of odd things nearby, like the dog show, the open rehearsal or a beginner lesson in something neither of you would pick. When it's your turn, choose one and send only the time and the address.

For the friend who wants the corner table

This friend wants the same place, the same hour and nowhere else to be. A date on the first Tuesday of every month, at one café and one table, means more to them than any surprise. Ask one real question and hear the whole long answer.

Friend date ideas by season

• In spring, walk to the same bench once a week and watch the trees around it fill in.
• In summer, swim across a small lake together and lie in the sun on the far bank before you swim back.
• In fall, walk an empty beach after a storm and look for sea glass, keeping the best piece each.
• In winter, have a long lunch somewhere with a fire, then walk home in the early dark.

On the weeks you'd rather go out alone, solo date ideas has plans for one.

The friend who books and the friend who saves the table

Every pair of friends has its own mix of the two. Typeza sees personality type as part of that. Eight of the 16 types:

• Ideator finds the open rehearsal nobody else has heard of, then wants something even stranger next month.
• Harmonizer keeps the corner table warm and remembers how you like your lunch.
• Inspector puts the first Tuesday in the calendar for the whole year and is always there first.
• Dreamer likes a slow walk at their own pace, and the long talk comes when the moment feels right.
• Strategist would rather have one friend and one quiet table than a crowd, and comes along gladly when you book the tickets.
• Guardian never cancels a date they promised, and shows up with practical help when your plan falls apart.
• Organizer books the pottery class, sends the address and has the next date set before the first one ends.
• Encourager says yes to every new plan, and after one class can already see you selling your own bowls.

Types only describe what people tend to like, and one friend can want the new thing in March and the corner table in May. Read this for fun, never as advice about your friends.

See how you and your friend fit

Some friends agree on every plan, and some need a turn each. Type is often part of why. Typeza shows how two friends get along and where they pull in different directions. Take the friendship compatibility test, then invite your friend from your result.

Questions people ask

What do you do on a friend date?

Anything the two of you enjoy, planned on purpose. Split up in a museum and show each other your favorite piece, watch a dog show or walk the longest street in town.

Written by Virko Kask, founder of Typeza
Written with the help of AI tools.