The best dating events in London that are not speed dating, ranked

Speed dating belongs in a 2009 RomCom and yet it is somehow still the default suggestion when anyone asks about dating events. There is a much better category — events where you do something together, the doing is the point, and meeting someone is a happy side effect.

This is the working list of London events that fit that bill in 2026. I have done several of them, I have heard about the rest from people I trust, and I have left out the ones that are just speed dating dressed up with a theme.

For the actual schedule of singles events this month, the London nightlife and singles feed on Rifio is the place.

1. Thursday Singles Run Club

Run clubs have eaten the Tuesday-evening dating scene whole and the singles-specific ones are properly the best. Five kilometres at a conversational pace, then the pub for a drink. The run gives you something to do and the pub gives you the chance to actually talk.

Multiple of these now exist in different parks. The Hyde Park one is the most established and is consistently 30-40 people. Skews 25-35.

2. The Drawing Night

Life drawing for singles. You sit at an easel, you draw a professional model, you chat to the strangers either side of you about technique and chairs and pencils. The structured-but-creative format takes the pressure off completely.

The wine helps. The fact that nobody can see your drawings unless you show them helps more.

3. Pancakes & Booze (Singles edition)

Singles edition of the long-running Pancakes and Booze art night. Live art, free pancakes, properly cheap drinks, and a structured mingle component. Mixed crowd, low pressure, the art gives you something to talk about that is not "what do you do".

4. Board Games for Singles

Cooperative board games at a pub, structured mixing every twenty minutes so you change tables. Genuinely the best option if you are a slightly anxious person — the games carry the conversation and the rotation means you cannot get stuck.

Skews 25-40. Pancras Square pub branch is the most consistent.

5. Pottery for Singles

Throwing pots together is unironically a great way to meet people because you have your hands full and there is nothing to do but talk. The Hackney and Peckham pottery studios both run monthly singles nights and they sell out.

Skews 28-38, slightly more women than men but the ratio is the most balanced of any event on this list.

6. Hike for Singles

Day-long countryside walks with a pub at the end. Five hours is the right length — long enough to actually have proper conversations, short enough to not be a death march. Surrey and Kent routes mostly. Skews 30-45 and the people are consistently lovely.

7. Comedy Night for Singles

Stand-up gig followed by a structured mingle in the bar. The shared laughing-at-the-same-thing does half of the icebreaker work for you. Soho Theatre runs the best version monthly, Top Secret Comedy Club does a weekly version that skews younger.

8. Cooking Class for Singles

You get paired up randomly with someone to cook a three course meal, then you sit and eat it together. The pairing is the trick — the cooking gives you a shared task, the eating gives you the chance to actually find out about each other. Borough Kitchen runs the best version.

9. Queer Run Club Mixers

Queer-only version of the run club concept. Same structure, same post-run pub, properly inclusive vibe. The Hackney one is the largest and the most established.

10. Wine Tasting for Singles

Six wines, structured tasting with rotation, proper sommelier guidance. The wine gives you something to actually have an opinion about and the rotation means you talk to four different groups of strangers. Bermondsey arches venues run the best ones monthly.

What did not make the list

I have left off everything called "speed dating with a twist" because they are still speed dating. I have left off dating apps holding events because the events are usually thinly disguised lead generation. I have left off the tantra-leaning workshops because that is its own scene and not what most people are looking for.

I have also left off the paid matchmaking events for the same reason — they are a different category.

How I use the list

If you are running-shy: Pottery for Singles or Cooking Class. If you are creative-shy: Run Club or Hike. If you are LGBTQ+: Queer Run Club Mixers. If you are over 30: Hike for Singles. If you are properly nervous: Board Games for Singles, the rotation does the work.

For the actual upcoming dates, save singles events on Rifio and they will surface in your feed weekly.