Unique Ideas for Things to do on Valentine’s Day in Sydney

If you are looking for things to do on Valentine’s Day in Sydney that are a little more unique than a romantic meal with a view, then you have come to the right place. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with wining and dining, sometimes you want to surprise your partner.

Enjoying a new activity together is a great relationship boost, so we have brainstormed some things we have enjoyed and asked our Facebook Group to share their tips too.

If you have left it a bit late to organise for the day itself, there is nothing wrong with cooking a lovely dinner at home and presenting one of these ideas to be done in the future.

Spend a night on a luxury yacht

For a very indulgent Valentine’s Day treat, Sydney By Sail offers a Romantic B&B experience on one of their 36ft luxury yachts that is pretty hard to beat.

Sydney By Sail Valentine's Day in Sydney — *See Sydney with your own Skipper with Sydney By Sail, then spend the night on the yacht*

Spend three hours cruising the harbour with your skipper and then, as sunset hits, you will anchor in one of the harbour’s sheltered bays for your overnight stay. Come daylight; the skipper will come and pick you up to bring you back to reality.

Choose BYO or request gourmet catering, the choice is yours. If you plan to propose, I am not sure you could find a better place to do it!

Check out our review when we enjoyed the platinum package on our wedding anniversary.

Get up close and personal with a panda or a meerkat

If your partner is an animal lover, then one of the behind-the-scenes experiences at Symbio Wildlife Park. We were pretty thrilled to see they have both a red panda and a meerkat offering.

Symbio Wildlife Park Panda — *Get up close to a beautiful*

Your encounter includes a chance to hand-feed and interact with one of the world’s most endangered wildlife species – the Nepalese Red Panda or experience a family of Meerkats climb all over you while you feed them by hand!

Head to Symbio’s website for details.

Dine on Sydney Harbour with the city’s best cruise operator

Captain Cook is renowned for the quality of their great harbour dining, and this Valentine’s Day they want to help all Sydneysiders “celebrate love, not just romance.”

Captain Cook Valentines cruise — *Celebrate Valentine’s Day in Sydney on a dinner cruise*

This Valentine’s weekend they will operate a range of lunch and dinner cruises and their new Mumm Harbour Bar.

Gold Dinner – 6-course degustation with matching wine from $159
Brilliant Dinner – 4-course à la carte with a glass of champagne from $109
Sunset Dinner – 3 course with a glass of champagne for $79
Mumm Harbour Bar – 1½ hours free-flowing Mumm Grand Cordon Champagne and a shared seafood platter, including prawns, oysters, smoked salmon blinis and calamari, served to your table $89 per person.
Top Deck Lunch – 3-course à la carte Valentines menu and a glass of premium champagne on arrival $79

See stars with your lover

Make your way to Centennial Park for a sunset picnic and watch the skies as the resident bats leave the park for the night.

After dark, join Sydney City Skywatchers and, using their telescopes take a close-up look at the stars and the planets up close.

Starry sky date night — *Is there anything more romantic than dinner under the stars?*

Then listen to Drew Roberts from Shared Knowledge sharing Aboriginal knowledge of the night sky. This is a pretty romantic way to spend your Valentine’s Day in Sydney.

BYO picnic for a budget night out with tickets only $15 per person.

Related: Get more romantic ideas on things to do in Sydney here

Taste Food Tours

First up, how about a walking tour of Barangaroo that helps you discover new foodie hotspots? Not too far from the traditional Valentine’s Day meal, but a chance to learn about lots of new places in one afternoon, so you are armed with plenty of spots to come back to.

people of a food tour in Sydney — *Barangaroo Food Tour with Taste Tours and guide Kunal*

Spend 3.5 hours exploring Barangaroo and the Rocks with visits to cafes, restaurants, pubs and patisseries. Your guide will show you some of Australia’s best food and share stories of Australia’s first contact with the local Eora nation.

Find out more here

Plan a surprise picnic

We think a romantic picnic is hard to beat. You can either hit the shops and put together your own picnic basket or treat yourselves with a pop-up picnic where someone does all the work for you!

Quiet picnic spots in Sydney Wendys secret garden — *Wendy’s Secret Garden is the perfect romantic picnic spot*

Take a walk by the water

There is no need to drop a bucket of money on Valentine’s Day. If you are watching your budget hitting a pretty waterfront walking track and taking in the sunset with drinks at the end is a lovely way to spend time together.

Little Sirrus Cove Mosman — *Little Sirius Cove Mosman*

If your plan for Valentine’s Day in Sydney includes some quality conversation, this is a great walk and talk choice.

Plan a Glamping Getaway

Is 2021 the year you want to get in touch with nature? Well, a glamping trip is a good way to ease back into sleeping in the great outdoors. It’s the only way you will get some of us to agree to sleep in a tent!

There are plenty of bush and beach glamping options near Sydney, but here is one close to Sydney we really like.

Glamping “Luna Belle Camp” on the South Coast

We are not regular campers, but when your tent is furnished with high-quality foam mattresses and 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton linen, we are on board.

Glamping tent — *Glamping “Luna Belle Camp” at Scarbrough on the South Coast*

Just 2 minutes walk from Scarborough beach and hotel you can see the water from your bed! Find out prices and availability here

Seafood School Cooking Class

Last year we did a fantastic class at the Sydney Seafood School and learnt how to prepare several recipes that have hit regular rotation in our kitchen. While classes have moved online via SSS@Home, they are still a fabulous experience.

Lobster Salad from the Sydney Seafood School — *Lobster Salad Credit: Anson Smart*

This Valentine’s Day, you can learn how to make a delicious Lobster salad while following Chef Giovanni Pilu of restaurant Pilu’s, Sardinian rock lobster salad recipe.

The ingredients can be delivered to your door, or you can collect them from selected Harris Farm outlets. You will be working with a cooked rock lobster, making this one of the simplest dishes yet one of the tastiest, perfect for a special dinner for two! No need to even turn the stove on!

Check out the SSS@home’s YouTube channel for how it all works or visit the website to find out more.

Book a cute or romantic campervan

Enjoy a weekend in one of Camplify’s boutique campervans like Rosie The Vintage Viscount or One Lazy Sunday. The vans come fully equipped with everything you need for a romantic getaway.

Silver caravan called One Lazy Sunday — *A perfect getaway with all the creature comforts*

Camplify has a variety of vans on offer, many pet-friendly, so you can take any fur babies with you!

Book that hotel room with a Harbour view

With international travel on hold, there is no better time to grab a bargain on a room with a view of Sydney Harbour.

Hotel room with view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge — *The view from the Shangri La hotel is pretty memorable!*

If you like shiny new things, check out Porter House Hotel, Sydney’s newest luxury digs.

Hit up one of the outdoor cinemas

There is an outdoor cinema in Sydney to suit every taste from a boat in Darling Harbour to a seated viewing in the Botanic Gardens or beanbag seating in Centennial Park.

Moonlight Cinema Sydney — *Outdoor cinemas usually screen a romance for Valentine’s day*

More experiences to consider

Need more ideas? Join our Sydney Expert Facebook Group where you can ask questions, stay updated with what’s happening and meet a bunch of friendly locals just waiting to share their advice!