I love love! And I love celebrating love. I try to do this year-round, but like having an excuse to do it each year on Valentine’s Day.
Here’s a list of date ideas I’ve put together to help you plan your Valentine’s Day in Edmonton!
It largely builds off previous lists I’ve created so if there are new events happening, please let me know and I’d be happy to add it to the list. Leave a comment, tweet me or email me!
I hope you have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Explore Edmonton: Things To Do For Valentine’s Day 2017
Last updated: February 8, 2017.
Note: many of these ideas are good to do with friends too!
- Visit the Ice Castle at Hawrelak Park for a Valentine’s photo-op! They’ve got awesome ice thrones you can sit on for a photo op, some refreshments, and maybe try to go down the ice slide (generally reserved for kids but hey, we’re all kids at heart).
- Head on down to the Silver Skate Festival for “Meet Me at Lovers’ Lane” – a romantic horse-drawn sleigh ride, then take in the rest of the festival’s activities and go skating!
- You could also take a twirl at the Valentine’s Day Disco Skate & Dance at the City Hall rink – skate/dancing to the sounds of the ’70s and ’80s, head indoors to the West Edmonton Mall Ice Palace, or just hit up any strip of ice near you!
- Go snowshoeing through the river valley at the City of Edmonton’s Sweetheart Snowshoe, then wind down with hot chocolate and bannock making!
- Try an escape game yet? How about trying one with just your significant other? Mike and I tried an escape game just the two of us once and we failed quite horribly. How well would you do? Try Escape City, Time Escape, SideQuest, X-Realm, InTRAP, or BreakOut, to name a few of my favourites but there’s a lot of options for you to choose from! Book your room early before they fill up! (I also love GTFO but they’re still closed after a fire! Hoping the open again soon.)
- Have you ever stayed at Hotel Selkirk? Maybe a visit back early 1900s at Fort Edmonton Park for their Valentine’s Weekend Getaway is the perfect way to celebrate the occasion.
- Get crafty by booking a Valentine’s Paint Nite!
- “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” The President’s Choice Cooking School has a lot of great Valentine’s classes for you and your sweetie as well as your family!
- If you want a cooking class vibe but still would rather have someone cook for you, the Valentine’s Dinner with Doreen Prei at Get Cooking might be perfect for you!
- Speaking of food, pick your favourite restaurant and have a romantic Valentine’s dinner! Here’s a list from OpenTable of some popular Edmonton restaurants taking Valentine’s Day reservations. My romantic restaurant recommendations include XIX Nineteen, Sabor, and Uccellino to name just a few!! Sometimes the Valentine’s dinner doesn’t need to be pricy – visit some hole in the wall restaurants for a fun culinary experience that’s also affordable!
- Have you checked out The Rec Room in South Edmonton Common yet? Feel like a kid again with their arcade games, bowling, axe throwing, three restaurants, donut bar and poutine bar.
- Winefest Edmonton returns Feb 17/18. Wine, wine wine~
- Give back this Valentine’s Day. Book some volunteer time with one of the numerous charitable organizations in Edmonton and see how you can help them on Valentine’s weekend. Cook a meal for families in need at the Ronald McDonald House, volunteer with an animal rescue (just google Edmonton animal rescues or ask your favourite if they need help with anything for that weekend!) Here’s even more charities in the Edmonton area you can support based on type/interests.
- Release your inner child at LEGO’s Valentine’s Adult Night on Feb. 11!
- Netflix and chill can actually just mean chilling on your couch and watching Netflix and I do it a looooot. I recommend Dirk Gently: Holistic Detective Agency, or watching a ton of their romantic comedies.
- I always try to cram in watching as many Oscar Best Picture-nominated movies around this time ahead of the big award show. It’s like Netflix binge-watchin’. You could likely watch them all if you plan your movie marathon right.
- Have you ever read the Pixar Theory? It’s AMAZING. Read it before spending Valentine’s weekend at Pixar in Concert at the Winspear Centre.
- Board game night! Some of my favourite hang outs involve board games. If you’re looking for a low-key, low-cost option, just stay at home and play some board games. Just the two of you or invite some other couples over for the fun.
- Laughter is the key to love! You can catch some stand-up comedy at The Comic Strip in West Edmonton Mall or the Feb. 14 improv show at Rapid Fire Theatre.
- There is no shortage of live music/shows happening in Edmonton for Valentine’s weekend. Check out the list on YEG Live.
- Or how about dinner and a show? Catch A Sherlock Holmes Mystery at Mayfield Dinner Theatre or Ferris Bueller’s School of Rock at Jubilations!
- Couples’ massage anyone?? Check out Alberta Momentum Massage, Bliss Yoga Spa, Spasation or maybe try taking turns giving each other massages!
- Explore Edmonton’s beautiful river valley on a segway! Book your one-hour, winter tour fast before the slots fill up.
- Is your significant other into beer? You can do a few different brew tours in Edmonton including Alley Kat’s Brewery Tour or Yellowhead Brewery’s Tour. There’s also a new distillery in Edmonton – try visiting Hansen Distillery.
- “Quote a Long” to The Princess Bride at the Metro Cinema or watch The Love Witch – a modern-day witch using spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her.
- Stay in an “igloo,” Roman or Polynesian-themed hotel room at the Fantasyland Hotel.
- Love can sometimes hurt… like when you’re shooting paintballs with your significant other. The Edmonton Paintball Centre is hosting a Valentine’s Paintball event!
- Spend a day with your dogs! Take a looong walk in the river valley, at an off-leash dog park, maybe stop at the Doggy Style Deli and give your pooches a treat.
- Edmonton staycations are nice, but if you do want to do a getaway (especially since this Valentine’s lands on a long weekend), how about dogsledding in the Canadian Rockies, a Valentine’s weekend trip to Jasper (including boarding/skiing at Marmot Basin), head down to Calgary or hop on a quick flight to Vancouver!
- Recreate your first date! Me and Mike like do this on our togetherversary every year but I think it would be pretty fun on Valentine’s too. Where did you go and what did you do for your first date? Go back there, do it again! Or pretend you’re going on a date for the first time and use different identities.
- For even more ideas, check out YEG Date Night‘s list of 10 Valentine’s Day Dates under $20!
Do you have any suggestions for date ideas in Edmonton for Valentine’s weekend?
Tweet me or leave a comment and I’ll add it!
Linda