Great Activities to Enjoy with a New Friend

Planning a friend-date but you’re out of ideas? We’ll give you tips on great activities for your next meetup with a new friend. Have you been chatting with someone for a while and have now decided to take the next step and meet up in real life for the first time? We’ll help you plan your next meetup!

Plan based on your common passion points

Combine new friendship with a bit of indulgence around an interest you share e.g. if you are both food lovers plan to eat together or if books is great part of your lifestyle make the meetup that revolves around that.

To eat out at a restaurant is always a great experience and makes the first friend-date something special! As a bonus, you’ll create natural conversation starters by talking about the menu, interior of the restaurant, and discussing what to order. It’s a great opportunity to explore a new place on your bucket list you haven’t been to yet.

Who doesn’t like going to the cinema? Pick out a movie you both have wanted to watch and get a glimpse of each-others personality by the snack choice. Just kidding, one is not to be judged on the choice between wasabi nuts or buttery popcorn, however, it might be a fun ice-breaker. Cinema can always be combined with another activity, preferably afterwards where you can review the movie you’ve just seen.

You can always meet up at a bar and enjoy some yummy cocktails. This is also a perfect after-work activity if you want to meet on a weekday! It does not require too much planning ahead and if you feel that you’re just not connecting, it’s not a big deal to say goodbye after one drink.

Another great activity is just to meet at your local coffee shop and make room for a long talk. Cake and coffee make for a great atmosphere where your conversation is sure to be personal with room to engage in a deeper dialogue.

Have a picnic in the park with hand-picked favourites. Many convenience stores sell great packaged meals for take-away that can be quite delicious. And don’t forget dessert!

If you two are feeling really adventurous, you can try climbing, squash, or even go skydiving! That’s sure to break the ice at any friend-date.

Ideas for “budget-friendly” friend-dates

It’s totally fine if you’re not up for spending a fortune on a three-course dinner with a stranger right now. So here are some suggestions that are both great ways to get to know a new person and that are also nice to your wallet.

Long walks are a wonderful way to get to know the other person better. Furthermore, conversations usually flow much more freely when you’re out and moving! There is no coincidence that walk-n-talk is becoming a more popular way of hanging out with both potential and exiting friends. To spice it up, you can always grab a take-away coffee or a small lunch to enjoy on a bench or a nice park.

Go for a run together! Why not get your weekly dose of exercise whilst getting to know your new friend? Try a new class together och challenge yourself by signing up for bouldering at an open house event.

Discover art and history together! Visit a museum or go to an art exhibition, those are often free of charge or have discounts on certain days. This way you’ll learn something new whilst getting to know your new friend better, without spending a small fortune. Additionally, the exhibition will probably give you plenty of subjects to talk about and fall back to if the conversation is dying.

Cooking dinner together is also super cosy and much cheaper than eating out. If you’re both foodies to the bone, this activity is a perfect way to break the ice and share a common interest together. To engage in an activity like cooking also helps to prevent awkward moments where the conversation may come to a halt.

Whatever you end up doing, the most important thing is that you dare to take the first step and meet in real life for an activity you both enjoy. We hope that our suggestions helped to inspire you and that you’ve now got some idea of what to do! Good luck with your friend-date and don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone, it’s where the magic happens.

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