The real cost of dating

Dating is expensive, but just how expensive depends on where you live, and the research you put in.

In 2026, we found that 36% of people felt pressure to spend money on Valentine's Day, and 41% were caught out by how much it cost.^[1]

Spurred on to help you make smart money moves and find love, team Loqbox investigated real cinema ticket prices and highly rated ‘romantic’ restaurants on TripAdvisor, to tot up how much a classic dinner-and-a-movie date could cost in cities across the UK.

The results of our investigation reveal a postcode lottery, where your date night might cost £85 or an eye-watering £200. 

If you’re shocked, we’re not surprised! According to our research, it’s too much to spend even for generous daters. Just over half (51%)  will spend between £5 and £50 on Valentine’s Day, and only 29% will spend more than that. 

Our take is expensive dates are NOT all that and a bag of chips! And, you don’t need to move cities to find love. With our tips, you can have a whirlwind romantic night out, prove what an interesting partner you would be, all without breaking the bank.

The cost of a classic dinner-and-a-movie date night near you^[2]

• Birmingham £120.32
• Glasgow £137.49
• Manchester £209.32
• Leeds £116.39
• Sheffield £112.65
• Edinburgh £128.82
• Bristol £151.29
• Liverpool £114.35
• Leicester £105.61
• Cardiff £130.20
• Croydon £128.53
• Barnet £111.73

Our research focuses on a realistic ‘trying to impress’ scenario. It looks at what a date could cost if you chose a highly rated romantic restaurant in your city, ordered a full meal with wine,^[2] and paired it with a cinema trip afterwards.^[3]

This research is illustrative rather than representative of average spend, and is designed to reflect the kind of choices people often make when they’re trying to impress and want to say ‘yes’, even if it’s expensive.

Dating costs vary by around £100 depending on your city

Across the cities analysed, the price of a romantic dinner for two ranged from £85 to £190. 

When adding on the cost of two cinema tickets, the gap widened, with the lower end entering triple digits at £105, and the most expensive reaching £209.

It means that a classic date could cost more than twice as much in one city compared to another. And when money comes into the equation, it might change how open you are to find love.

Two couples who make similar choices to make a great first impression are also making a big financial choice. They’re evaluating the person sitting opposite them, wondering whether this date was perfect enough to justify the cost. 

Looking for love in Manchester? You might pay more for a classic dinner-and-a-movie date

When we shopped around, Manchester topped the ‘expensive date chart’. For two cinema tickets and a romantic dinner, it cost £209.32.

The cinemas were not unusually expensive, with reasonably priced ticket options. You could choose to go all out and impress with recliner seats in a premium theatre for £20.98, or opt for normal seats in an everyday cinema for £13.

In Manchester, it was the menu, not the movie, that placed unnecessary pressure on a ‘looking for love’ budget.

Picture this: affordable tickets

If you decided dinner was too steep, and plumped for only Oscar-winning performances, where you live still dictates what you’ll pay.^[3]

We compared tickets at three cinema chains in the same city, at about 7pm on a Friday evening.^[3]

We found the cheapest place on average to see a movie together was in Birmingham, with two tickets costing £16.32. 

(But, one cinema in Cardiff offered the most affordable price, where two tickets cost less than a monthly streaming package, at £9.98. What a bargain!)

The most expensive place on average to see a movie is Leeds, with two tickets costing £21.99. 

The most expensive tickets were in Liverpool, where at one cinema you’d pay £30.50.

London isn’t a single dating economy

London. You just assume it’s going to be the most expensive place to date, but when we shopped around, that wasn’t the case. And we found that dating costs changed between the boroughs:

• In Croydon, a romantic dinner costs just over £114
• In Barnet, the price was closer to £98
• In Ealing, the price shot up again to £153

That’s a £55 swing in the same city, so shopping around for your classic date night might pay off!

It’s the cost of love, actually

Valentine's Day is a moment when spending can quickly add up. If a date night spirals beyond £100, you might be weighing up how to pay for it: should you use savings, or credit?

According to our research, 11% have used credit or buy-now-pay-later to cover the cost of Valentine’s Day. But it is a cost that becomes less important as you settle down.

Our survey revealed that long-term couples and married couples often feel Valentine's Day is unnecessary after many years together, viewing it as more appropriate for people who are single.

What does it mean for modern dating?

It means a couple of things.

1. With even the cheapest classic date night still costing £60 each if you split the bill, there’s nothing affordable about an ‘impressive-on-paper’ date. The pressure to plan a proper date night is real. It collides with rising living costs, and regional pricing, not to mention the taboos about what you ‘should’ spend. 

2. If you’re unfamiliar with the area, a quick online search might leave you out of pocket. If you place your trust in review sites to take you to the most romantic restaurants, and your search engine’s cinema preference, you might end up paying over the odds for a classic date night in your city. 

Enjoying a date shouldn’t mean going into debt,  so how can we put the power back in your hands?

It’s time to break the shape of a dinner-and-a-movie date, and try something new. 

A small gesture can be big and meaningful. Share a hobby, or the little cafe down the road you love. It says more about you than a splashy, expensive cookie-cutter date.

We asked some of our lucky-in-love colleagues for their tips about their favourite dates, and guess what? They were inexpensive, thoughtful and caring.

Hannah from our Risk team said: “We went for a walk around a local big park, went and got a McFlurry (as you do) and sat listening to my iPod (as I'm old school). We compared things like our taste in music and just chatted. It helped that it was April and not tipping it down with rain! I had a bunch of songs that he didn't have, and he hadn't even heard of. Five years later, it's still happening!”

Lucy from accounts said: “Many moons ago, when we first started dating, I mentioned how much I loved going to Bristol Zoo and how many wonderful childhood memories I had there. My (now) husband surprised me with a homemade picnic and a date at the Zoo. We walked and talked for hours, and enjoyed some bubbles and lovely food on the picnic green. 

“It meant so much more to me than any fancy restaurant ever could. A few years later, we returned to recreate the date, but this time with our very own mini us along for the ride. Still romantic and nostalgic...just a lot louder!”

Does money make you more attractive?

In December 2025, we asked love-seekers at a hotly tipped dating event whether money makes you more attractive. The resounding response? ‘No’!

Geneve said: “A good character makes someone more attractive; they could be a multimillionaire and still be a douche! It doesn’t matter if they’ve got a Ferrari.”

“I think stability [does make you attractive], yes.” A balanced perspective from Chloe: “You don’t need to have loads of money,” she continued.

Thoughtful romantic Raghav told us: “How they handle it, rather than what they have [makes them attractive]. Sometimes they’re rich, but they’re not good with money, and that’s more unattractive to me.”

And finally, Phoebe hit the nail on the head: “Money is important, but not at the expense of someone’s character and good nature.” We couldn’t agree more. 

If you want the classics to stay, do your research first

If you’re counting every penny and making smart money moves, planning ahead for dinner-and-a-movie is the only way.

Get your research hat on, and fall in love with the details:

1. Explore beyond the top three most highly ranked romantic restaurants on TripAdvisor: Look for an itemised menu, including the cost of drinks and service charge, and figure out if it’s worth it. Your cosy local cafe with a book swap, or pub you love, or even a walk, will do just nicely
2. When two (orders) become one: If you’re set on dinner, look and see if the set or tasting menu, or sharing platters are better value than six starters, mains and puddings. And, that’s a pretty impressive/generous offer, don’t you think? 
3. Not-so-secret saver and super saver tickets: If there are only luxury or premium cinemas in your area, it quietly resets the cost of a cinema ticket and how much your classic date night will cost. Keep your eyes peeled for ‘saver’, or ‘super saver’ tickets to get more for your money. Your date will never know!
4. Follow your instincts to ditch tradition: Small and meaningful gestures are comfortable and cool. What an attractive vibe you’ll give off with a unique and thoughtful dating agenda

A winning couple, you and Loqbox

We’re here to support you on your money journey, whether romance is on the cards, or you’re practising self-love by building your credit score. Become a Loqbox member, and we’ll help you meet your goals.

Improvements to your credit score are not guaranteed. Missing payments to Loqbox or other credit accounts may harm your score.

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^{[1] A sample of 400 UK adults dating or in a relationship, January 2026, Loqbox via Attest}

^{[2] To calculate the cost of a romantic dinner, we:}

^{Searched each city on TripAdvisor}

^{Selected “Restaurants” and applied the “Romantic” filter under “Great for…”}

^{Ordered results by highest rated}

^{Worked down the list until we found a restaurant with a clearly priced menu}

^{The total dinner cost reflects an almost worst-case romantic scenario:}

^{The most expensive starter, main course, and dessert}

^{A bottle of wine (typically the second-cheapest where available)}

^{Or a set tasting/sharing menu, where this was the restaurant’s offering}

^{The cinema prices were taken from major UK cinema chains, using similar films, screening times and ticket types where possible. In London boroughs, there were fewer cinema chains in one area, so the comparison is restricted to one consistent chain present in each location. Cinema prices were taken from major UK cinema chains, using comparable screenings and ticket types. We went through the motions to buy x2 tickets for Wicked: For Good on a Friday evening, in three cinema chains in the same city.}