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? While there is absolutely nothing wrong with wining and dining, personally I prefer to come up with something a little more unique to surprise my partner.
Enjoying a new activity together is a great relationship boost, so today I share my brainstormed list of fun things we have enjoyed doing and asked our Facebook Group to share their tips too.
Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday in 2025 so start planning early for the best options
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.
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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.
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.
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
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.”
This Valentine’s weekend they will operate a range of lunch and dinner cruises.
- Gold Dinner – 6-course degustation with matching wine
- Brilliant Dinner – 4-course à la carte with a glass of champagne
- Sunset Dinner – 3 course with a glass of champagne
- Top Deck Lunch – 3-course à la carte Valentines menu and a glass of premium champagne on arriva
See more Valentine’s Day dining options
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.
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 from 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 that helps you discover new foodie hotspots? Perhaps a little different 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.
Spend 3.5 hours exploring a different part of Sydney with visits to cafes, restaurants, pubs and patisseries. Your guide will show you some of Sydneys’s best food and share stories of the people who create it.
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!
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.
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 this 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 Glenworth Valley is one close to Sydney we really like.
We are not regular campers, but when your tent is furnished with queen size bed we are on board.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Have questions about things to see and do in Sydney?
Head over and join our Facebook Group and we will be happy to help.
