6 Romantic Date Ideas in Scottsdale

A date in Scottsdale can revolve around a work of art, a hat you design together or a game with a little friendly competition. Choose one shared experience rather than trying to fit all six into a day. Old Town’s Main Street galleries suit an evening of looking and talking, while Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort offers a separate daytime pool escape.

Choose your date

Date	Listed activity price per person	From Scottsdale Civic Center
Old Town galleries	ArtWalk: Free	about 0.6 miles, walking
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art	$16, standard non-member admission	about 0.2 miles, walking
Mavericks hat customisation	—	about 0.2 miles, walking
LDV wine tasting	Four-wine tastings: $20; flights: $30 plus tax and gratuity	about 0.8 miles, walking
Lucky Strike Old Town bowling	—	about 1 mile, walking
Grand Hyatt pool day	—	about 5.8 miles, driving

Pick galleries or the museum for conversation, Mavericks for creativity, Lucky Strike for friendly competition and Grand Hyatt for relaxation. LDV gives wine lovers something specific to compare. The pool is a daytime choice, while ArtWalk, wine tasting and bowling lend themselves to an evening.

Scottsdale Civic Center, the public space beside the museum in Old Town, is the common starting point for the distances above. These are approaches to separate dates, not distances between entries or time spent enjoying them.

1. Old Town galleries

Main Street and Marshall Way are Scottsdale’s gallery-browsing streets. You can look at art together without turning the date into a shopping trip: choose a favourite work in each gallery and explain what caught your attention. This is the self-paced choice for couples who want conversation to lead the outing.

Scottsdale ArtWalk brings an organised evening to this arts district every Thursday, 7pm–9pm. Special Gold Palette ArtWalks run 6:30pm–9pm. Choose the event for an evening centred on galleries, or browse during the day if you would rather set your own pace. The event window is not the opening schedule of every individual gallery.

The stretches between galleries are outdoors, so hot weather makes lingering in the streets less appealing. For rain or peak heat, the indoor Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art is a stronger choice. You could also pair browsing with hat customisation at Mavericks on Main Street, but there is no need to turn the evening into a sequence of stops.

2. Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) gives you rotating contemporary-art, architecture and design exhibitions to discuss. Choose a work each, look at it before reading its interpretation, then compare your responses. You do not need to agree about the art for this to be a rewarding date.

The principal exhibition galleries are indoors, making SMoCA a central alternative when rain or peak heat would interrupt gallery browsing. A daytime visit leaves room to linger over the exhibitions, while Thursday’s longer opening suits an earlier evening date.

Wednesday, Friday–Sunday

11am–5pm

Thursday

11am–7pm

Pay what you wish

Thursdays and every second Saturday

The pay-what-you-wish days let you choose your contribution rather than ordinary admission. Advance booking is optional, so you can keep a museum visit flexible. Booking online can speed up admission if you have already settled on the museum.

3. Hat customisation at Mavericks

Mavericks of Scottsdale turns choosing a hat into a shared design activity. At its Hat Bar inside the Main Street boutique, you choose a hat and personalise it with details such as trim, ribbon and embellishments. Staff help with fitting and shaping, and can add a brand, a decorative mark on the hat. The options vary with the hat type.

Invite your partner into the design decisions rather than simply asking which hat to buy. Compare shapes, try the hat on and adjust the shape until it suits you. Choosing between a restrained finish and more decorative details gives you something to work on together, with a keepsake at the end.

Because the Hat Bar is indoors, it also offers a creative alternative to browsing outside in hot or wet weather. Choose it when you want to participate in making something, rather than spend the whole date looking at finished works.

4. Arizona-wine tasting at LDV

LDV Winery’s Scottsdale tasting room on Stetson Drive serves wines made from Arizona-grown grapes. This is a date for comparing what is in the glass: discuss which wine you prefer, what distinguishes it from the previous one and whether your partner notices the same differences. Let the tasting be the shared activity, rather than making bottle shopping the goal.

Late afternoon works well for a tasting-led date, and early evening is another option within the day’s service window. Sunday finishes earlier than the other days, so choose it for an afternoon rather than a late date.

Monday–Thursday

Noon–8pm

Friday–Saturday

Noon–9pm

Sunday

Noon–6pm

An ordinary tasting for two does not require advance booking, which suits a flexible afternoon in Old Town. Specialty tastings require advance reservation and payment, so distinguish those from dropping in for a regular tasting. The listed tasting options in the comparison let you choose the experience before deciding whether to buy wine.

After drinking, continue on foot or take a taxi rather than driving. If you are staying beyond walking distance, make the ride home part of your evening plans.

5. Bowling at Lucky Strike Old Town

Lucky Strike Old Town offers public indoor bowling on Thomas Road, south of Scottsdale Civic Center and the central gallery area. Despite the Old Town name, it is not among the Main Street galleries. Its 24 lanes make this a game-led date, with turns to take and scores to compare rather than art to discuss.

Choose bowling when friendly competition appeals more than a conversation-led evening. You can keep the stakes playful by agreeing that the winner chooses your next date activity. Arcade games are an optional extra if you want a different challenge after bowling, and food and drinks need not be the focus.

Sunday–Thursday

11am–11pm

Friday–Saturday

11am–midnight

The public hours leave room for an evening visit. A lane reservation is not required for two people, but it is recommended for evenings and weekends. Reserve a lane if bowling is the evening’s main plan, because a walk-in depends on lane availability. The indoor setting also makes this an active alternative when rain or heat makes an outdoor date less comfortable.

6. A pool day at Grand Hyatt

Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort’s standard Day Pass suits couples who would rather spend the day relaxing together than move between activities. It includes the resort’s 10 pools, sandy beach area and three-storey waterslide, so you can mix lounging with time in the water.

Pool towels are provided at the Towel Bar, open 9am–5pm. Bring swimwear, sun protection and water. Prefer milder weather and avoid prolonged midday sun, especially if you plan to spend much of the day outside.

The resort is on Doubletree Ranch Road, a separate drive from the central choices. Treat it as your daytime date in its own right, rather than a quick pool stop between Old Town activities.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, services, and opening hours.

• Mavericks of Scottsdale — service
• Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort — service
• LDV Winery — fares and charges
• LDV Winery — opening hours
• LDV Winery — service
• Scottsdale Arts — fares and charges
• Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art — opening hours
• Scottsdale Arts — service
• Bowling & Sports Bar in Old Town Scottsdale | Lucky Strike
• Is making a lane reservation required? – Lucky Strike Entertainment
• Scottsdale Gallery Association — service
• Scottsdale Gallery Association — opening hours