The best Valentine’s Day ideas for couples in L.A.

The Huntington Library’s rose garden (and its romantic tea room) is a picture-perfect Valentine’s locale, with rows and rows of vibrant petals to stop and sniff. You probably won’t be the only person there with that idea, but luckily there’s tons of space elsewhere on the idyllic grounds—and other beautiful gardens around the region, too, like Descanso Garden, South Coast Botanic Garden and the Arboretum, any of which would make a lovely daytime date setting.

Personally, we think cooking a meal in together can be a dreamy team-building activity for a couple. But if you’re the kind of couple that would just make a burnt mess, forget about all of the fuss and treat yourself instead: Some of our favorite twinkly patios and dimly lit dining rooms are prepping prix-fixe menus for the holiday.

What could be more pleasant than a meal in the park? (Aside from off-leash pups attempting to pilfer your food and screaming children in bouncy castles.) But seriously, taking your Valentine’s meal alfresco—weather permitting—is the perfect way to mix up your dining plans. If you’re picking up the goods from a restaurant, consider making it a lunchtime affair to avoid the dinner rush.

It’s famous for that spaghetti kiss—a legendary scene that Walt Disney almost cut out. But Lady and the Tramp has many other charming moments; the script evolved out of years of personal pet stories shared by the studio’s animal-loving writers and executives. It’s a true labor of love. See it at the El Capitan Theatre around Valentine’s Day, and if you opt for the Sweethearts Dinner and a Movie package ($70), you can dine at Miceli’s down the street before or after a 7pm screening and re-create that spaghetti kiss yourself.

This adults-only, nudity-driven scavenger hunt at the Getty (held the weekend of V-Day) is a comical two-hour quest that has guests searching for answers to riddle-like questions in the museum’s bare-it-all paintings and sculptures. Whoever answers the most questions correctly will pick up some sweet swag (gift cards, backpacks, street cred). No previous art knowledge is required.

A holdover from the light displays that blanketed botanical gardens at the end of last year, Astra Lumina’s nine stellar installations would be cosmically mesmerizing any time of year. The hour-long Palos Verdes trail’s star-inspired installations feel truly experiential and make for a romantic after-dark destination in the outdoors. (It’s also worth mentioning how lovely it is to experience a celebration of the night sky from one of the few locations in L.A. where it’s actually dark enough to see plenty of stars.)

Rooftop Cinema Club is decking out its DTLA venue with love seats, personal wood-burning patio heaters and blankets this month. Cozy up to your date while watching screenings of romantic favorites. Some of the most in-demand picks are already sold out, but you can still choose from flicks including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Poetic Justice, Love & Basketball, Dirty Dancing and About Time throughout Valentine’s week and beyond.

Drive-ins popped back into fashion again in 2020, but in L.A. they’d never really left. And five years later, several old-school spots in the region still offer nightly drive-in screenings of films, including the newest box-office hits. If you’re up for a drive, head to Paramount Drive-In or Van Buren Drive-In Theatre for Valentine’s Day-appropriate scary flicks Companion, Heart Eyes and Love Hurts.

The storied Clifton’s Republic is the perfect place to evoke the romance of old Hollywood—since it witnessed it firsthand in the 1930s. The Downtown den’s Valentine’s Day soiree is billed as “a love letter for the City of Angels” and the people who built it—and will rebuild it. The star of the show will be Shadowbox, Clifton’s never-before-open-to-the-public underground speakasy, which channels the classic cabaret of Weimar Berlin. You can preview the space on V-Day for $82.

Valentine’s Day and sweets are a perfect pairing. This year, up your game—instead of buying a box of chocolates, build a chocolate showpiece with your sweetheart at the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles. Award-winning pastry chef and master chocolatier Francois Behuet will lead the class February 16 at the hotel‘s 24th-floor restaurant, Sendero. Or head to the Westside on February 12 to decorate your own heart-shaped cake at the Peninsula Beverly Hills in a class led by the hotel’s pastry chef, James Rosselle (as seen on Food Network Challenge).

Sure, it may seem a little cheesy, but there’s no way booking a dinner cruise—on a yacht, with a coastline view—won’t win you points with your date. Get dolled up and take to the water for a romantic meal and cocktails, then dance under the stars to tunes spun by a DJ. If you really want to impress—and have the funds—upgrading to the “Romance Package” will get you champagne with flutes, plus a half-dozen roses. You can set sail from either Marina del Rey (13757 Fiji Way) or Long Beach (Rainbow Harbor, Dock 6A). Daytime brunch cruises are also available.

For a more macabre way to celebrate this mushy holiday, the Queen Mary has you covered with a paranormal tour—a chilling VIP experience limited to only 20 guests. Officer Paul Jacek will lead you through the storied ocean liner’s most haunted locations, including restricted areas of the ship, where you’ll hear about ghostly encounters and unexplained phenomena. If you still have an appetite afterward, enjoy a prix-fixe dinner with your fellow ghost hunters. Looking for a more traditional celebration? Check out “Love Is in the Air,” a four-course dinner with dancing, on February 14 ($265 per couple, tickets here).

Couples who hike together stay together—or something like that. With Valentine’s falling on a Friday this year, you may want to opt for a Saturday or Sunday trek depending on your schedules, but that gives you a whole weekend’s worth of opportunities to get your hearts pumping—for real.

Forget everything we just said. Getting all sweaty and letting your date see you at your worst as you huff and puff your way up Griffith? Yuck. Keep things real laidback instead with a cruise along the beach (though keep in mind that part of PCH is still closed from the fires), into the mountains or through a canyon. Put on some good tunes, bring along some snacks and spend the afternoon admiring the view—and we don’t just mean the person in the passenger seat. After the recent rain, you might consider a longer trek into the San Gabriel Mountains to see some snow (be sure to check road conditions first), but if spending hours together in a cramped aluminum cabin seems like it’ll be a one-way road to passive-aggressive conflict, maybe stick to a safer bet like Palos Verdes.