WHEN it comes to Valentine’s Day, there is often a lot of pressure to do something worthwhile, but you don’t have to splash out on a fancy meal to have a special day.
Skip the five-star restaurant meal and head to something more memorable for a fraction of the price.
Under £50
Scavenger Hunt
Couples who love to explore together should head off on a scavenger hunt.
Available in various cities across the UK, Will Breaker offers a number of themed scavenger hunts from just £16.50 per person.
Each lasts around one-and-a-half hours and you get a photo memento at the end.
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See the new Wuthering Heights in the cinema
Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights finally hits our screens on February 13 – just in time for Valentine’s Day.
The steamy film, starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, will be shown at most major UK cinemas.
Tickets to see the new movie cost around £12.99 per adult, making it an affordable Valentine’s date.
Bouldering
For those who prefer a bit more of an active date, head bouldering.
The sport allows for lots of time chatting, but then also moments helping each other to reach the top of a climbing wall.
There are bouldering centres across the UK, so just search for the one neatest to you.
You can expect to pay around £10 for a pass, and if you need shoes and chalk a few more quid on top of that, per person.
Pottery Cafes
Pottery is booming at the moment and with The Great Pottery Throw Down currently on Channel 4, what could be a better excuse than to head on a pottery-themed date?
Across the country there are lots of pottery cafes where you can select an item to paint.
Each item usually has a price, with many starting from around £10-£15 per item.
You then get to paint before your item is fired, usually for a small additional fee.
It is the perfect activity for the creative, but also for chilling and chatting.
Some cafes will even let you bring your own booze…
Boom Battle Bar
Boom Battle Bar has venues across the country, and what is great about this attraction is that you can spend as little or as much as you want to.
Each bar has a range of activities including crazy golf, axe throwing, karaoke pods and shuffleboard.
You can either purchase a bundle to play multiple games and activities or pay as you go, with prices starting from £6 per person.
A trip to the seaside
Who doesn’t like to be beside the seaside?
Wherever you are in the UK, you are never more than two to three hours by car from the sea.
And Valentine’s Day makes the ideal excuse to jump in the car for a mini road trip to the beach.
Top spots include Brighton, where you will find a long pier full of fun activities, pebble beach and narrow alleys full of independent shops.
Alternatively, if in Cornwall or Somerset, why not explore the part of the South West Coast Path that runs through Devon.
National Parks
There are many things you can do across the UK for free as well, and one of those things is visiting one of our many National Parks.
For example, you could head to Dartmoor in Devon to discover disused quarries, explore tors and see wild ponies.
Some spots in National Parks even have free parking.
Or you could head to Kielder Forest, which is has a public observatory and organises over 700 events a year.
The Kielder Observatory is one of the best places to see the night sky as it sits in Europe’s largest Gold-Tier International Dark Sky Park.
There are also lots of forests across the UK with biking trails too, such as Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire.
The forest spans across 27,000 acres of woodland and sits between the Severn and Wye Rivers.
It was also England’s first National Forest Park and today is enjoyed for its hiking and cycling trails as well as attractions such as Puzzlewood.
Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be expensive…
Under £100
Murder mystery train experience
For something truly unique, head off on a murder mystery dining experience on the Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway Steam Train.
Costing £100 for two people, you will solve crime while enjoying a meal.
The three-course meal is prepared onboard the train and over the duration of the journey you will see the Yorkshire countryside as you solve missions.
Fancy something more stationary? Then why not head to the stationary Victorian Train Carriage at Mr Fogg’s Society of Exploration in London for a ‘journey’ on the Orient Express.
Over the course of 90 minutes, you will solve puzzles and enjoy cocktails and nibbles to unravel the truth behind a murder committed onboard.
The experience costs £80 for two people.
Valentine’s Silent Disco, Natural History Museum
On February 13, you can head to the Natural History Museum for a Silent Disco.
Dancing under Hope the Whale, you can listen to music via headphones and dance with your partner in crime.
The disco starts at 9pm and finishes at midnight.
Tickets cost £36 per person for members or £40 per person for non-members.
If a silent disco isn’t your thing, on actual Valentine’s Day you can head to a museum late event where you can sip on cocktails and learn from the museum’s scientists.
There are even dance classes hosted by Pineapple Dance Studios,
The event starts at 6:45pm and ends at 10:30pm, with tickets costing £36 for members or £40 for non-members.
The Big Bakes
Fan of Bake Off? Well, The Big Bakes might be the date spot for you.
The outdoor immersive 90-minute baking competition allows you to experience the thrill of a marquee just like the one from the TV show.
The Big Bakes has venues across London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool with only a few spots left for Valentine’s Day.
In teams of two, you will create a cake using the tools and ingredients supplied.
The experience costs from £47.99 per person.
ABBA Voyage
Unlike your usual concert, ABBA Voyage features digital ‘ABBAtar’ versions of the band as they looked when they performed in 1979.
The 100-minute show features the four members carrying out a concert as if they are actually on stage, with some of their biggest hits.
It truly is a mind-blowing experience, because you can’t believe the stars in front of you aren’t the real deal.
Seated tickets cost from £38.50 per person, but prices are higher on Valentine’s Day itself.
If you want to splash out extra, access to the Oceanbird Lounge costs £99 before the show and gets you unlimited food and drink.
One-night hotel stay
Why not check-in for the night at a special hotel?
Many hotels across the UK still have availability for Valentine’s Day with prices under £100 total.
For example, you could head to Furzen Farmhouse in Cirencester for £86.
Set in historic stone building surrounded by countryside, the farmhouse has a kitchenette, lounge and picnic area.
Or you could head to The Belfry at Yarcombe for £87 including breakfast.
The four-star B&B is in an old school building and sits in the Blackdown Hills area, making it a great countryside retreat with picturesque walks.
Each bedroom is unique with original features including stained glass windows.
Under £200
Murder Mystery break for two
Across the UK several venues host murder mystery breaks for couples wanting to tackle a challenge together.
For example, via WOWcher, you could book a murder mystery break for two people, with hotel, a three-course meal and breakfast includes at 100 hotels across the country.
Ran by Murder 57, guests can choose where they want to stay – with destinations including Cardiff, Nottingham and Manchester – with 60 different plot lines also to choose from.
For example, you could enter the world of Agatha Christie with A Midsummer Murder.
It costs from £92.99 per person.
Luxury break at The Belfry Hotel and Resort
A romantic getaway is a classic Valentine’s gift and for less than £200 you could head to the Midlands for a break at the Belfry Hotel and Resort.
The hotels’s Love & Luxury Break includes an overnight stay with a three-course meal in the evening including a glass of prosecco each and then a a full English breakfast in the morning.
There is live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights too and guests get full access to The Club for fitness and wellness.
It costs from £169 per room.
Amsterdam mini cruise
Fancy heading out of the country but don’t want to fly?
Well, if you happen to live near Newcastle you can head off on a two-night mini cruise to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands.
Currently being offered on WOWcher for £92.99 per person, you could stay in a private two-berth cabin, get a glass of fizz each, have unlimited luggage allowance and get transfers to and from Amsterdam city centre.
The offer can be redeemed anytime until June 2026.
See a concert
While concert tickets do tend to sell out far in advance, sometimes people’s plans change and then tickets go on resale.
This is the case for some concerts on Valentine’s Day.
For example, you could see James Arthur at M&S Bank Arene Liverpool for £62.75 per person.
Or at the O2 Victoria Warehouse in Manchester you could see the Kaiser Chiefs for £51.75 per person.
Spa day
There are lots of different places in the UK where you can head off to for a spa day.
For example, you could head to Riverhills Spa in Ipswich, Suffolk, to experience refurbished facilities.
You can even grab the ‘Sweet Valentine Package’, which includes a 30-minute treatment of your choice, four hours in the spa, hot chocolate and homemade chocolates and a robe, towel and slippers for £85 per person during the week or £95 per person at the weekend.
Alternatively, you could head to Rena Spa at The Midland in Manchester for a spa day for two.
Costing £91 per person, you will receive a meal, spa access and a 50-minute Mud Rasul treatment.
You will also get a complimentary glass of prosecco.
For more ideas on days out, here are 15 attractions in the UK that have £1 per person tickets from huge castles to kid-friendly museums.
Plus, 10 days out in the UK that cost less than a pint from free-to-visit lidos to cheap cinema mornings.
