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I’ve always loved Friday. It’s a chance to take a breather from a hectic week after work, have some fun, and still enjoy the weekend. On your own or with family, out on the town or at home, there’s so much you can do on a Friday night! Have a look below and see if any ideas excite you.
You can also make a game of it. Get my list for free at the bottom of this article. You can download, print it off, and take a look on Thursdays or Fridays to get some ideas.
Some Unique and Cool Ideas
Ghost Tour
Many cities offer official ghost tours of local “haunted” spots. Grab some of your friends and head out for a mysterious Friday night spookfest!
Create a Photo Book Online
Upload photos online to a service like Shutterfly and let your creative streak shine. It will result in the perfect, personalized present for a loved one (or for yourself!)
Geocaching
Random strangers leave random items all over the place, and you can log into the app on your phone to go find them. Grab some friends and head out for a fun-filled night hunting for ‘treasure!’
Find Nearby Hideaways
Some of the best restaurants and bars are those known only to the locals. Try to find small, family-run bars and restaurants a little further out than your usual hot spots.
Break Out of an Escape Room
Grab a couple of your friends and head over to your nearest escape room venue. It will be a fun but unpredictable Friday night experience.
For When You Want a Night Out
Go See a Play
Head over to your local theatre to catch a play or a musical and feel the excitement of a live performance again.
Visit a Local Tourist Spot
Londoners don’t tend to visit the London Eye, and the Empire State Building is rarely full of New Yorkers. So, if you haven’t, why not head over to your number-one tourist attraction?
Go See a Movie
With streaming services now mainstream, going to movie theaters is becoming a bit of a lost art. Grab a friend and some popcorn, and enjoy an evening at the movies.
Attend a Local Comedy Club
A Friday night is a perfect excuse to relax and loosen up with some laughs after a long week. All comedy clubs will have local or traveling acts on for Friday night.
Here’s a few more things you could do:
- See the City from a Viewpoint
- Salsa Dancing
- Eat at a Night Market
- Rooftop Cocktails
- Live Music at a Bar or Venue
- Trivia Night
Want to Stay In? No Problem!
Chocolate Tasting – Local Supermarket Edition
Chocolate tasting doesn’t have to be an all-day thing! Head to your local supermarket, get some chocolately treats in, and sign up some willing participants. You can blindfold test different chocolates or lucky dip them in a big bowl of popcorn. This is easy, great fun for kids and your adult friends.
Childhood Movie Marathon
Can’t find a new movie? Take a trip down memory lane with a classic film for those nostalgia vibes!
Related: 100+ Movie Trivia Questions and Answers for a Hollywood-Themed Quiz Night
Declutter
Why not make the most of a Friday night at home and declutter a particular room? By taking on only one room or space, you won’t overwhelm yourself. Reward yourself with a drink, yummy food, and a good show. Then, I feel re-energized and motivated for the weekend.
Make Cookies
Baking cookies is a perfect Friday night activity, but we’re not talking just about any cookies! Make Instagram-able cookies loaded with your favorite sweets and chocolate and show off your skills.
Play Board Games
Enjoying a board game session with friends is the perfect way to kick off the weekend. Dust off your competitive spirit and crack out the old classics, such as Monopoly, Cluedo, Scrabble, Twister, and Risk. Add cocktails and pizza to make a night of it.
Read more: 20 Board Games for Adults for an Evening of Fun with Family and Friends
Here’s a few more for you:
- Yoga with a New Show
- Future Trip Research and Planning
- Virtual Cocktail or Mocktail Class
- YouTube Karaoke
- Long Lost Friend Zoom Catchup
Ideas if You’re Alone
Go Window-Shopping Online
Go to all your favorite shopping sites and see what takes your fancy. In the very least, put them in the cart!
Go to a Late-Night Coffee Shop or Café with a Book
Find a cozy corner in your local café or coffee shop and bring with you a book or your laptop. Spend the evening relaxing with macchiatos or hot chocolates coming by the hour. It will be the perfect Friday evening.
Visit a Museum or an Art Gallery
Take a stroll in the local museums or art galleries and get inspired. Take a break in the museum coffee shop, or buy yourself a small print of a painting in the art gallery gift shop.
Pamper Yourself
Pampering yourself isn’t limited to slathering on creams or putting on facemasks. Whatever it means for you to ‘pamper yourself,’ spend your Friday night doing that!
Order Pizza and Watch Nostalgic Movies from Your Childhood
What better excuse than a Friday night alone to watch all your favorite childhood movies? Treat yourself to a pizza while you’re at it.
With Friends
Throw a Potluck Dinner Party
Everybody can bring a dish and a drink. To make things interesting, assign everybody a different cuisine from around the world.
Go Bowling
Entertaining a little healthy competition between friends always ends well, right? Enjoying a couple of games of bowling is a fun, nostalgic way to start the weekend.
Bonfire Night
Equally perfect for hot summer days as it is for cold winter nights, a bonfire party is a great alternative. Choose a party theme, bring plenty of food, chairs, and blankets, and set up camp on the beach for the evening.
Karaoke Party
If your neighbors don’t mind, throwing a karaoke party is a fun way to spend a fun Friday night with friends. Get practicing the classics and prepare for a fun-filled evening.
Start a Book Club
Start a Friday night book club with your friends, alternating each Friday night at a different friend’s house. Catch up on all the classics you pretended to read in high school and enjoy some new bestsellers.
Go Camping
Spending a night or two under the stars with friends is a sure way to bond and make plenty of fun memories. Make sure you’re equipped with plenty of blankets to stay warm, ghost stories to share, and marshmallows for toasting.
More ideas with friends:
- Pub or Bar Golf
- Pretend You’re Celebrities and Go Out
- Gaming Tournament at a Barcade
- Late Night Shopping at Furniture or Home Store
With Your Partner
Romantic Picnic
Weather and season permitting, why not pack a picnic and head to a local lakeside, beach, or park for a romantic evening together? Watching the sunset over a glass of wine and a slice of quiche.
Read more: Best Picnic Essentials & Picnic Food Ideas List
Play a Couple-Themed Card Game
Why not spend Friday night playing a card game designed to get you both talking and connecting? Games such as Connect by The School of Life – in which each partner can choose from 100 prompts such as “The best time in our relationship was?” – can foster emotional intimacy and appreciation for one another.
Read more: 30+ Best Couple Games to Have Fun with Your Other Half
Go Dancing Together
Whether you want to head to a local nightclub or take a tango class, dancing is a fun way to get close and intimate with your partner. It’s also an opportunity to laugh your head off at each other’s bad dance moves!
Dress up and Have a Drink in the Fanciest Hotel in Town
Go to a Drive-in Movie
Drive-in movies don’t just exist in films from the 1980s – enjoy a vintage, Hollywood-style date night at a local drive-in movie theater. Don’t forget to pick up popcorn and some soft drinks on the way!
Personal Shopper Challenge
Go shopping together and pick out an outfit for the other to wear – the only rule is that there are no rules!
Take a Creative Class Together
Why not get inspired and take a pottery class, a painting class, or a cocktail-making class? Learn a new skill and bond with your significant other at the same time; you might find your new favorite weekly date night!
Read more: Date Ideas Bucket List
Have an At-Home Spa and Pizza Night
What better way to spend a night in than in plush robes with face masks and hot, cheesy pizza!
Reenact Your Meet Cute at a Hotel Bar
Pretend to be strangers for the night. Play out a scene from a RomCom at a luxury hotel or rooftop bar, and fall in love all over again.
Home Reno Window Shopping at a Store
Design your dream home by looking at the displays at a home store. Take photos, and make a vision board at home.
Cheap or Free Activities on a Budget
Trip to Coast or Beach
If you’re lucky enough to live or work near a beach, a Friday night is a perfect excuse to head over there for a relaxing walk along the promenade.
Read more: 100+ Things to Do at the Beach (Bucket List)
Go Stargazing
The beauty of the night stars is not just the sparkling constellations lighting up the sky every night. Take a blanket and some friends, and go stargazing in a local beauty spot.
Go on a Nature Walk
Read Books or Find Maps at Local Library
Libraries are a treasured commodity these days, and it costs nothing to support them. Head over to your local community library and spend a few hours reading, looking at maps of your local area, and enjoying the quiet.
Host a Zoom Party
Get your friends together virtually over Zoom. Have wine and conversation starters on hand, and enjoy good company from home.
More ideas on a budget:
- Play Question Games
- Volunteer at a Dog Pound or Shelter
- Local Town Photography Bingo
- Late Night Drive with Nostalgia Playlist or Podcast
- Join Writing or Social Meet-ups at Cafes and Bars
Fridays never have to be boring again! Feel free to get this list below.
Whatever you enjoy doing, be sure to spend your Friday night doing fun things with the people closest to you. Use these ideas to help you come up with ideas and plan an evening full of laughs, love, and moments you’ll remember for a long time.
Loved this article? Try some of these:
- Things to Do on a Saturday Night
- Things to Do on a Sunday
- Weekend on a Budget (Cheap or Free)
- Fun Girls Night Ideas
- Things to Do at a Sleepover for Adults
Is it Friday, and you don’t know what to do after work? Keep this article on hand to help inspire you by saving it to one of your Pinterest boards.
