50 Long Distance Date Ideas That'll Make the Miles Disappear

Use Netflix Party (Teleparty) so you're watching the same frame at the same time. Order the same snacks, react together, argue about the ending.

Pick one recipe, shop independently, and cook side-by-side on video call. Plate it at the same time and compare your results — the differences are always funny.

Many escape rooms have fully remote 2-player versions. You're solving puzzles together in real time with the clock running — it gets surprisingly intense.

Google Arts & Culture lets you walk through world-class museums together. Pick one, take a virtual stroll, and stop whenever something catches your eye.

Both buy the same face masks, pick a shared playlist, pour matching drinks, and do the whole routine together on video. It's delightfully silly and genuinely relaxing.

Dress up, light candles, cook something special, and eat together as if you're across the table. The extra effort transforms a regular call into something memorable.

Use Kahoot, Jackbox, or a pub quiz app and compete together. Or team up against a shared leaderboard. The trash talk is real.

Time zones may work in your favour here. Position your phone facing the sky, keep the call running, and watch the light change in each other's worlds simultaneously.

Chess.com, Catan Universe, Words With Friends — all playable together in real time. Start a game, keep the video call running, and be properly competitive.

Open the same sky map app at the same time and share your views. Find the same constellations from different cities and narrate what you see to each other.

Pack it with things you know they love, things from your area, small surprises. Then video call the moment they open it — the reaction is worth every bit of effort.

Both write a proper letter on the same day and mail simultaneously. When both arrive, schedule a call, sit down together, and open them at the same time.

While you're on a video call, secretly order their favourite food to their door. Watch their face when the doorbell rings. Maximum impact, minimum effort.

Make them a playlist — a real one, with intention behind every song — then listen to it together on call and react track by track. Explain every choice.

Write a set of sealed letters for different moods — open when you miss me, open when you're proud of yourself, open when we haven't talked in a while. Mail them all at once.

Pick a colour palette or specific item to both wear on your next video call. It's a small thing that makes the distance feel shorter — and the screenshots are always worth keeping.

Buy two copies of the same journal. Write entries, then mail it and wait for a response. The back-and-forth rhythm becomes its own kind of ritual.

Find the same candle in two separate orders. Agree on a night, light them at the same time, and keep them burning through a long call. The same scent, two different rooms.

A pressed flower, a postcard from a spot you love, a small local snack they can't get where they are. It's a piece of your world sent directly to theirs.

Build or order a complete date night kit — snacks, activities, a note — and have it arrive without warning. Video call when it shows up and do it all together.

Among Us, Stardew Valley multiplayer, Mario Kart Tour — games that are more fun with someone you actually like. Keep voice chat on the whole time.

Find a live-hosted online pub quiz — many run weekly via Zoom or Twitch. Enter as a team, take it seriously, and accept no help from Google.

Find a match you're both interested in, start a voice call, and watch it simultaneously. Live sports are always better with someone to react to the goals with.

Pick the same book, set a schedule — a chapter or two per week — and discuss each section on your next call. Slow reading, deep conversation.

Start a collaborative playlist and each add one song per day. No skipping. Review what the other added on your weekly call and explain every choice.

Many platforms — Sur La Table, MasterClass, Airbnb Experiences — offer live couples cooking classes you can attend from separate kitchens. Shop the ingredients beforehand.

Order the same bottles or spirits in advance, look up tasting notes together, and work through them side-by-side on video. You'll develop opinions quickly.

Photography, astrology, pottery — pick something neither of you knows, find a course on Skillshare or Coursera, and work through it at the same pace. Shared homework included.

Find a list of deep couple's journaling prompts, set a timer, write independently for ten minutes, and then share your answers. The differences are always revealing.

Build a playlist that tells your relationship chronologically — the first song you danced to, the one from a specific trip, the one that reminds you of them. Listen through it together.

Pick a destination you both want to visit. Open Google Maps and YouTube side by side. Go deep — neighbourhoods, restaurants, itinerary, budget. Make it feel real.

Create a shared board and spend an evening dropping in everything you love. Kitchens, living rooms, gardens. The overlapping saves reveal exactly how your tastes align.

Each write a letter addressed to the version of you that's finally in the same city. Seal them and agree not to open until that day actually arrives.

Make a list of everything you want to do in the first month, first year, first five years. Include the small stuff. This is the list you'll actually come back to.

Where. When. What you'll wear. What you'll eat. Work through every detail together, out loud, until you've planned something real. Making it concrete makes the wait feel different.

Get a shared world map (a Google My Maps works perfectly) and each drop pins on everywhere you've been and everywhere you want to go. Find the overlaps.

Pick a destination and build the full itinerary together — morning, afternoon, evening, each day. Research it properly. Make it something you'll actually book.

Find a documentary about the place you most want to visit together. Watch it simultaneously on separate screens, keep the call running, and pause whenever either of you has something to say.

Design the exact meal you'll cook on the first night you're in the same place. Starter, main, dessert, wine. Save the recipe list somewhere you'll both find it again.

Not necessarily wedding vows — just an honest list of what you're committing to: I'll call when I say I will. I'll tell you when something's wrong. I'll be there for the hard stuff. Write them, read them aloud.

Each set the other a secret challenge at the start of the week — something to complete or learn or make. Reveal and compare on the Friday call. Keep them appropriately difficult.

Both assemble a mystery box where every item costs under $5 — but they all have to follow a hidden theme. Mail them simultaneously and guess the theme when you open it on call.

No occasion, no warning, just call at an unexpected time to say you were thinking about them. The spontaneity is the whole point. You'll both remember it.

Each write a list of five date options — movie night, trivia, cooking, games, spa — and let the other choose blindly without knowing what they're picking. Then do it.

Each day for seven days, share one childhood photo and the story behind it. No picking easy ones. By the end of the week you'll know each other in a completely different way.

Whatever your first date was — same time of day, same setup, same vibe — replicate it over video call. The details you each remember differently become the conversation.

Both close your eyes and point at a map. Research that city together — food, culture, must-see spots, local music. Plan a virtual "visit" over the next two hours.

Each secretly pick two films. You don't tell the other your choices — they get revealed one by one as the night goes on. No complaints about the picks allowed.

Each research a restaurant in the other's city and secretly order delivery to them during your call. They don't know what's arriving until it shows up at the door.