Where to go on a date in London: Autumn 2017 edition
"You can hold my hand if you want," soppy movies, autumn strolls and London date ideas for the next season
Where to go on a date in London: The reflection room at the V&A glows with promise
Dining out dates
Best for sharing plates: Magpie
Why not take in a screening at the BFI London film festival? There are scores of films fresh from the film festival circuit, so you know what's good already from what went down well at Cannes, Venice, and Toronto. Tickets are selling out fast for the big shows but there's plenty of other little gems to find together. Catch the European premiere of Breathe, starring Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield, which will open the festival. Plus, the BFI bar is a great low-key spot, being utterly unpretentious and loud with happy film buffs.
It's a date: 4 - 15 October
Meet me at: Southbank Centre and various cinemas around London
Best for E.M. Forster fans: Call my by your name
'Call me by your name and I'll call you by mine.' Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet star in the evocative Call Me By Your Name, set in 1980s rural Italy. The film, released in late October, is adapted from André Aciman’s book by scriptwriter James Ivory. Ivory famously directed E.M. Forster's Howard's End and Room with a View, to great acclaim. A visiting American scholar disrupts 17-year-old Elio's precocious existence – and a love affair ensues. Watch the trailer and be transported to the bumpy roads of Italy, with just a bicycle and a book for company.
It's a date: Released 27 October
Meet me at: The cinema, and I'll bring the posh popcorn
Autumn strolls
Best for getting lost in time together: Sonic Trail
You and your date love bonding over Brutalist architecture – that's why you're visiting the Barbican in the first place. But if you go on a Sunday, you can visit London's second largest conservatory, too, hidden in the heart of the concrete jungle. Forget Kew, way out in the west and with that ticket price, too! Here you can get a gardener's tour, an afternoon tea, or just go creeping among the creepers together. If you go on the last Sunday in September, you can also see the much-anticipated Basquiat exhibition together – it opens on the 21 September.
It's a date: Open 3, 17 and 24 September from 12pm to 5pm
Meet me at: Silk Street
Best for skating daters: Natural History Museum Ice Rink
Get ready for it: ice rinks are prime date territory. Here's why: physical, gloved contact. Scarves. The vulnerability of your date's feet stripped down to their socks. The rink at the Natural History Museum opens on the 27 October and it's one of the prettiest.
Before you go, visit the Wildlife Photographer of the Year inside the museum. The photographs are hung so they shine out of the darkness – and there are plenty of cosy, unlit spaces between them. Booking advised for both.
It's a date: The rink opens 26 October, the wildlife photography 2016-17 closes on 10 September and reopens with the new exhibit in late October.
Meet me at: Natural History Museum, South Kensington
Shows and exhibitions
Best for hopeless romantics: La Bohème
Image (c) Sim Canetty-Clarke
Take your date to see a brand new (but no less tragic) interpretation of Puccini's La Bohème at the Royal Opera House. John Copley's production closed in 2015, and this new version is directed by Richard Jones, conducted by Antonio Pappano, and features a lovely, if young, cast. One of the most popular and frequently-performed operas, fall in love with this timeless tale. Impoverished bohemians, Rodolfo the poet-in-a-garret and Mimi the seamstress, fall in love on a cold, moonlit night in Paris. You can feel the chills from here.
It's a date: 10 September - 11 October
Meet me at: The bar of the Royal Opera House, for champagne first
Best for star-crossed lovers: The Astronomy Photographer of the Year
Binary Haze (C) Ainsley Bennett photography
I love you to the moon and back... your eyes are like stars... I can see Uranus... the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year award is ripe for romance. Last year's winner (pictured above) sets the tone for a stellar adventure with your date around some of the most beautiful photographs of the worlds beyond our earth.
It's a date: Opens on 16 September 2017
Meet me at: Royal Museums Greenwich
Best for french kissing: The Impressionists in London
Kew Green, Pissaro, image courtesy Tate Galleries
The romance of the Impressionists, compounded with the agony of exile – get all the feels at the latest Tate Britain exhibition, The EY Exhibition: Impressionists in London, French Artists in Exile (1870-1904). Suddenly, our grey streets come alive with motes of colour as the canvases tell the stories of French Impressionists forced to leave their country. Over 100 canvases will be displayed, including Pissarro's Kew Green, Monet's Houses of Parliament and Sisley's Thames-side scenes. See your city in a different light.
It's a date: From 2 November
Meet me at: Tate Britain
Best for risque business: Venus in Fur
Take your date to see this sexy comedy. Venus in Furs is a two-hander that's come from Broadway, via a film adaptation by Roman Polanski. It's got a witty premise, with a fair bit of sadism and power play thrown in. With its risque sadomasochistic scenes – acted out between the characters in a play within the play – it's suitable for ages 18+ only. That's Natalie Dormer, playing actress Vanda, who arrives late to an audition that she's uncannily over-prepared for. In fact – the part seems made for her. David Oakes stars opposite her. Is it getting hot in here?
It's a date: 6 October to 10 December
Meet me at: Theatre Royal Haymarket, 18 Suffolk Street
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