Second Date Ideas in London: Longer Plans by Budget and Time, Checked

What a second date is for

A first date in a café or a bar answers one question: do we want to see each other again? The second date has a different job. You already know you can talk, so the plan can carry more of the weight. Something with a start time, a middle and a natural end gives you things to react to together and spares you two hours of interview across a small table.

Our guide to first date ideas covers short, low-commitment plans such as free galleries, park walks and Borough Market. This one deliberately steps up: things you book, that take two to five hours, and that cost a little more. They are grouped by budget and by how much of the day they take, so you can match the plan to how the first date went. If the first was easy and long, a full day may suit you. If it was good but short, an hour-long recital followed by lunch is a gentler step.

Every price and time below was read from the venue's own page on 14 October 2026. Programmes change weekly, so treat specific dates as examples and check the listing before you book.

Under £20 each: a matinee or a lunchtime recital

Shakespeare's Globe on Bankside sells £5 Rush tickets for its open-air Globe Theatre. They are released every Friday at 11am for performances from the following Monday to Sunday. You join an online queue before 11am, get a random queue number, and pick a performance and the Yard when you reach the front. Every Rush ticket is a standing Yard ticket, so you both need to be able to stand for the whole show, and the Globe asks anyone with access requirements to call the Box Office on 020 7401 9919 before the release. When we checked, eligible shows were Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It, with As You Like It running until 25 October. If the Rush sells out, the Globe says £10 standing tickets and seats from £25 to £65 may still be available.

Standing in the Yard is a shared experience in a literal sense: you are close together, reacting to the same thing, and the open-air theatre asks you to dress for the weather. From 6 November the Globe's winter production, Julius Caesar, plays in the indoor, candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse until 14 February. Its matinees are mostly at 2pm, with Sunday matinees at 1pm. Standing tickets there are £5 or £10 depending on the performance and carry no transaction fee; seated tickets run from £29 to £89. The running time was not yet confirmed when we checked.

For something shorter and seated, the Royal Opera House runs Recitals at Lunch in its Crush Room on Mondays at 1pm from 26 October 2026 to 26 April 2027. Tickets are £16 and the recital lasts about 45 to 50 minutes. The listed dates include 26 October, 2 November, 23 November, 7 December and 21 December. It suits a second date that has to fit around work, and Covent Garden gives you plenty of options for lunch afterwards. The venue says step-free access to the Crush Room is by the lifts from the Paul Hamlyn Hall.

• Shakespeare's Globetheatre

  21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, SE1

  £5 standing Rush tickets released Fridays at 11am for the next week's Globe Theatre performances; £10 standing and £25 to £65 seats otherwise.

• Sam Wanamaker Playhousetheatre

  Shakespeare's Globe, Bankside, SE1

  Julius Caesar, 6 November to 14 February; matinees mostly 2pm (Sundays 1pm); standing £5 or £10, seats £29 to £89.

• Recitals at Lunch, Royal Opera Houselunchtime recital

  Crush Room, Covent Garden, WC2

  Mondays at 1pm, 26 October 2026 to 26 April 2027; £16; about 45 to 50 minutes; up to six tickets per recital.

Around £20 each, half a day: a market and a candlelit house

Pairing a market with a small museum gives a second date two halves: an hour of wandering and eating, then something you look at together. Spitalfields Market, at 56 Brushfield Street, is open every day. The market's own hours are 10am to 6pm on weekdays and Sundays and 11am to 5pm on Saturdays for traders, with street food kiosks on Lamb Street open 10am to 3pm daily. It is a four-minute walk from Liverpool Street mainline station, five minutes from the Underground there and seven from Aldgate East.

A few minutes away is Dennis Severs' House at 18 Folgate Street. Severs, an American who moved to London, bought the run-down house in 1979 and turned its ten rooms into a time capsule for an imagined Huguenot silk-weaving family, according to Wikipedia. The house sells several kinds of visit. A Relaxed Day Visit, where quiet conversation is allowed, is £16 plus a £1.50 booking fee. A Silent Day Visit is the same price, and a candlelit Silent Night Visit is £25 plus £1.50. On a second date the relaxed version is the easier choice, since you can whisper about what you are seeing; the silent ones make a better third or fourth date when you have more to talk about afterwards.

The house asks visitors to book online and says walk-up tickets depend on availability. It does not list opening days on its home page; its booking calendar shows which dates are available. Christmas visits run from 20 November 2026 to 10 January 2027 according to the house.

If your date is on a Sunday, Columbia Road Flower Market is a short walk north and runs from about 8am to around 3pm, selling cut and dried flowers, house plants, cacti and herbs. Arrive early, buy something small for each other, then head south to Spitalfields for lunch. Our London markets guide has more detail on both.

• Old Spitalfields Marketmarket

  56 Brushfield Street, E1

  Open every day; traders 10am to 6pm weekdays and Sundays, 11am to 5pm Saturdays; Lamb Street kiosks 10am to 3pm.

• Dennis Severs' Househistoric house

  18 Folgate Street, Spitalfields, E1

  Relaxed or Silent Day Visit £16, Silent Night Visit £25, each plus £1.50 booking fee; book online, walk-ups subject to availability.

• Columbia Road Flower Marketflower market

  Columbia Road, Bethnal Green, E2

  Sundays from about 8am to around 3pm; flowers, plants and herbs that change with the seasons.

£75 to £129 each, an evening: cook something together

A cooking class gives you something to do with your hands, a reason to cooperate and a meal at the end. It also shows you a little about how someone behaves under mild pressure, which is useful information at this stage.

The shortest option is Jamie Oliver Cookery School's Pasta Master, at its Islington and Oxford Street sites. It costs £75 per person and lasts two hours, including eating. You work in pairs at a station, which suits a date, and you make three pasta shapes with three sauces and a side salad, with a welcome drink included. The school says the class is not suitable for gluten-free diets but can be adapted for vegan and vegetarian ones; it is for over-18s.

Borough Kitchen runs three-hour evening classes, 6.30pm to 9.30pm, at Battersea Power Station, Chiswick, Hampstead and Islington. Most cost £129, including Chinese dumplings and bao, fresh pasta, Korean cuisine and fresh gluten-free pasta; French patisserie and gluten-free baking are £110. Classes take ten or twelve people. Battersea and Islington have level access; Chiswick and Hampstead have steps inside. Our cookery classes guide compares more schools.

• Jamie Oliver Cookery Schoolcookery class

  Islington and Oxford Street

  Pasta Master: £75 per person, two hours including dining, cooked in pairs, welcome drink included, 18+.

• Borough Kitchen Cook Schoolcookery class

  Battersea Power Station, Chiswick, Hampstead, Islington

  Evening classes 6.30pm to 9.30pm; most £129, some £110; up to 10 or 12 people; level access at Battersea and Islington.

A full day: a masterclass or the glasshouses at Kew

If the first date ran long and neither of you wanted it to end, a full day is a reasonable next step. Leiths School of Food and Wine, at 16 to 20 Wendell Road in Shepherd's Bush, runs one-day Culinary Masterclasses. The Pasta Skills day starts at 10am (arrival from 9.30am), cooking ends around 1.45pm and you eat lunch with the other participants before finishing at 2.30pm. Refreshments, a recipe booklet, pre-weighed ingredients and lunch are included, and the washing up is done for you. The page listed £210 including VAT at the top and £175 per place on the date list, without explaining the difference, so confirm before you pay. Booking two places together on any masterclass takes 20% off. Dates listed were 30 October and 27 November 2026, then February, March and June 2027.

Kew Gardens is the classic long day out. According to Wikipedia it was founded in 1759, covers about 132 hectares and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003. Its Palm House, built between 1844 and 1848, is due to close for a five-year renovation in 2027, which makes the coming months a sensible time to see it. The Temperate House reopened in 2018 after restoration, and the Treetop Walkway, opened in 2008, runs 200 metres at about 18 metres above the ground. Kew Gardens station is on the Underground and Overground.

Kew's own website blocked our requests, so we could not confirm its current ticket prices, opening hours or booking rules, and we have not included any. Check kew.org before you go. Our botanic gardens guide covers Kew alongside the smaller Chelsea Physic Garden and the free Barbican Conservatory.

• Leiths School of Food and Winecookery school

  16-20 Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, W12

  Pasta Skills masterclass, 9.30am to 2.30pm; lunch included; 20% off two places booked together; confirm price before booking.

• Kew Gardensbotanic garden

  Kew, Richmond, TW9

  UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003 according to Wikipedia; Palm House due to close for renovation in 2027; prices and hours not confirmed here.

A gig with a fixed end time

Live music on a second date works best when you can sit, hear each other in the interval and know when it finishes. The London Symphony Orchestra's Half Six Fix series at the Barbican does this neatly: one piece, starting at 6.30pm. The Bruckner concert on Wednesday 21 October 2026 finishes at about 7.45pm and costs from £19, which is £15 plus a £4 transaction fee. Under-18s pay £10, and Young Barbican members aged 16 to 25 pay £12 with no fee; joining is free. You are out in time for dinner nearby.

Union Chapel at 19b Compton Terrace in Islington is a working church and music venue with a fully seated auditorium on wooden pews. Most events have unreserved seating, so arriving at the doors time gets you a better choice of seats; the venue suggests bringing a small cushion. The bar often stays open after shows until an 11pm curfew, and the stage curfew for live events is 10.30pm. Doors times and prices vary by event, so check the listing. Our live music guide sorts more London venues by room size.

• LSO Half Six Fix, Barbican Hallconcert

  Silk Street, City of London, EC2

  Wednesday 21 October 2026, 6.30pm to about 7.45pm; from £19 including fee; Young Barbican £12.

• Union Chapelmusic venue

  19b Compton Terrace, Islington, N1

  Fully seated on wooden pews, mostly unreserved; bar often open after shows until 11pm; doors vary by event.

Choosing between them, and paying

If money is tight for either of you, the Globe Rush ticket or the lunchtime recital keeps the date under £20 each, and a market lunch keeps the total low. If you want to talk a lot, the cooking class and the Relaxed Day Visit at Dennis Severs' House give you something to talk about without a stage asking for silence. If you want a guaranteed ending, the Half Six Fix and the recital both state when they finish.

Booking ahead means one of you pays first. Agree beforehand how you will split it, or take turns: one books the tickets, the other buys lunch. Leiths' two-place discount and the free Young Barbican membership are worth checking before you book.

Think about the journey too. Kew and Shepherd's Bush are in west London, Spitalfields and the Barbican in the east of the centre, and Bankside sits between them. If you live far apart, a central plan is fairer, and our guide to dating across the Tube network covers that in more detail.

Before you go

• Prices and dates were read from each venue's own page on 14 October 2026; check the listing again before you book.
• Globe Rush tickets are standing only; if either of you cannot stand for a full show, call the Box Office before the Friday release.
• Tell a cookery school about allergies and dietary needs when booking; Jamie Oliver's Pasta Master is not suitable for gluten-free diets.
• Dennis Severs' House asks visitors to book online; pick the Relaxed visit if you want to talk inside.
• Kew's prices and hours were not confirmed here; check kew.org directly.
• Plan how you get home, especially after an evening class that ends at 9.30pm.

Questions people ask

What is a good cheap second date in London?

A £5 Rush standing ticket at Shakespeare's Globe, released every Friday at 11am for the following week, or a £16 Recital at Lunch at the Royal Opera House on Mondays at 1pm. Both are under £20 each and leave time for food afterwards. Spitalfields Market plus a £16 Relaxed Day Visit at Dennis Severs' House is another option at around £20 each.

Is a cooking class a good second date?

It can be, because you cooperate on something and eat together at the end. Jamie Oliver Cookery School's Pasta Master costs £75 per person for two hours with guests working in pairs. Borough Kitchen's evening classes run 6.30pm to 9.30pm and mostly cost £129. Leiths offers 20% off when two places are booked together on its one-day masterclasses.

Can you talk inside Dennis Severs' House?

On the Relaxed Day Visit, quiet conversation is allowed. The Silent Day Visit and the candlelit Silent Night Visit are without speaking. The day visits are £16 and the night visit £25, each plus a £1.50 booking fee, according to the house's own site.

How much is Kew Gardens?

We could not confirm current prices: Kew's website blocked our requests when we checked on 14 October 2026. Check kew.org for tickets and opening hours. According to Wikipedia, the Palm House is due to close for a five-year renovation in 2027.