Your Kind Of Romance: Date Ideas Every Couple Will Love

There’s no better way to romance your valentine other than mid-air. If thrill is what makes your love stronger, head to Kamshet. Paraglide away for fun with help from professionals at Indus Paragliding. For INR 2500 on weekdays and INR 3000 on weekends, you can take a day-trip to Kamshet and glide. For an additional INR 500, you’ll get a video of you two gliding too. And, you could also take your love for an adventure and sign up for paragliding lessons. Go on now, be a fake bird. 

There are other activities you could try to. In Pune, you can play rugby underwater, ride ATVs, and do a whole bunch of other cool stuff.

Binge-watched Sherlock and read through several mystery novels? It’s time you put all your thinking and wondering to good use. Solve a mystery at ResQ Room, which has branches in Camp and Baner. You can choose from one of the three mysteries to solve. You’ll be locked in a room where you have to follow clues and work towards getting out of the room in under 60 minutes. INR 1500 admits two per game, but if you’ll are on a group date, that’s even better no?

There are other mystery rooms you can check out in Pune too. 

They say a couple that eats together, stays together. Follow your nose and be drawn by the aromas of food with your bae. Sign up for a food walk of the old city or the cantonment area with The Western Routes, which organises the Pune Food Trails. They usually have a schedule, but you can call in to book a private walk for you and your boo. But if you want some privacy and would like to take a food walk of your own, we chalked out a Sindhi food walk in Pimpri. And, Pune’s khau gallis are also a good idea to hit up for a day of trying different eats across the city. You can try the one in Narayan Peth, Model Colony or Bund Garden Road.

Go bird-watching or hope you see a blackbuck leap. Head to Bhigwan Bird Sanctuary, a mere two-hour drive from Pune on the Pune-Solapur highway. It’s set on the backwaters of the Ujani dam and is a winter home for several migratory birds. You can spot the Greater Flamingo, Eurasian Spoonbill, Bar Headed Goose, Collared Pratincole and the Osprey. The sanctuary is also home to the fastest bird of the animal kingdom, the Peregrine falcon. There are hostels and hotels around to spend the night at too. If not Bhigwan, there are other spots you could go bird-watching at in and near Pune.

To see blackbucks leap, head to Rehekuri Blackbuck Sanctuary, one of the four blackbuck sanctuaries in India and the only one in Maharashtra. It’s a four-hour drive from Pune and has about 400 blackbucks swarming around. So, you’ll definitely spot several but you’ve got to be quiet and hope to watch their unique jump. There are accommodations within the sanctuary, or you can book a homestay or hotel in Karjat. 

If you love to show off your love and usually go big, we know you already might have several plans. While you could go to a restaurant that already has a romantic mood or take your date out for a candle-lit dinner, there are still other ways to go big. Smoke on Water is located by Manas lake and knows how to give couples the privacy they need. The restaurant has a lakefront, and if that’s not enough they have a jetty in the lake that they decorate with lights, red carpet and lots of big hearts. You can have a private dinner for two with a butler available at your beck and call. Pop some champagne (also the question, because this is really an ideal spot for it) and fall more in love.

Old, decaying buildings, stories of an era gone by - are these things you’ll bond over? Have an exciting day museum hopping around the city. You can try a different museum every hour. Spot miniature trains, cycles, old artefacts and more. The Deccan Archeology Museum will give you a tour of what’s been dug up in and around Maharashtra. Perhaps, pay a visit to Mastani bai’s dismantled mahal and soak in an alleged love story.

You can also go on a heritage walk and gawk at Pune’s monuments on your own. Or explore the city with one of the many walking tour experts that you’ll find in the city.

If you’re looking for a place to kick back and relax with bae, Pawna Lake may be the place for you. With its pleasant temperatures, the place is a favourite amongst those who want to escape the city without travelling too far (a little over two hours away from Pune).

You can book via Pawna Camp's website. If you want to camp right by the lake, check out camp D which costs INR 1,699 per person and includes transport from Pune. It also includes snacks, barbeque dinner and breakfast and free activities like volleyball, soft archery, dart cage, carrom, football and cricket.

You can also simply choose to relax with your partner, spend the night around a bonfire, and even opt for a trek the next morning; or may be even enjoy each other's company in silence, by the lake.