The Best Date Ideas in Atlanta

Play a round at Puttshack in West Midtown, where tech-infused mini golf uses automated scoring and interactive challenges. A full restaurant and cocktail menu make it easy to stay after the game.

Book a game online. The 9 after 9pm deal brings mixed drinks, shareables and 9 holes of mini golf, with the code 9AFTER9 (not valid on events).

Go bowling at The Painted Pin in Buckhead, set inside an industrial warehouse with Chesterfield couches, indoor bocce, table shuffleboard and ping pong. A game courtyard adds more to do outside.

The bar opens Monday through Thursday from 5pm to midnight, Friday from 5pm to 2am, and Saturday from noon to 2am. Guests must be 21 or older, except on Saturdays and Sundays before 7pm. The lanes have a limit of 2 lanes and 2 hours.

Head to Skyline Park on the roof of Ponce City Market for a Coney Island-style boardwalk with skee-ball, mini golf, basketball, goblet toss and a horse derby race. The Heege Tower and craft drinks round out the rooftop.

The views take in Buckhead, Midtown and Downtown. The park is reached by a historic freight elevator in the courtyard by Market East and Minero, with staff on hand for questions.

Climb the two-mile trail at Stone Mountain Park for skyline and lake views from the top, with sunset as the payoff if you time the hike right. Prefer to save your legs? You can ride a cable car up to the summit.

The trail itself is free once you are inside.

Wander the Rose, Japanese and Woodland gardens across 30 acres at Atlanta Botanical Garden in Midtown. From May through September, Cocktails in the Garden adds evening drinks among the plants.

The garden is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9am to 7pm. Tickets are sold online.

Rise more than 200 feet above Centennial Olympic Park on the SkyView Atlanta observation wheel in Downtown. A VIP glass-floor gondola is also available.

Buy tickets online. The wheel is open daily, running to 10pm on Mondays and to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Settle in for a double feature at Starlight Drive-In, where one ticket covers both movies on one screen.

Watch from the car or set up lawn chairs, and bring snacks or buy them on site. Buy tickets at the gate, where they are sold first come, first served and nowhere else. Showtimes go up each Wednesday for a week of screenings, seven nights running.

Pack a picnic and settle in for a low-key date at Piedmont Park in Midtown, where Lake Clara Meer, shady trees and skyline views set the scene.

Admission is free, though parking may cost money. Coffee or dessert nearby makes a simple way to extend the date.

Walk or bike the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail, which starts near Piedmont Park in Midtown and runs through Inman Park and Old Fourth Ward to Reynoldstown. The paths link restaurants, shopping and events, and you can rent bikes for a self-guided tour or join a bike pub crawl.

The trail is free, and you pay only for food, shopping or bike rental along the way. Ladybird sits off the BeltLine at mile marker 9.25 if you want a patio stop.

Grab a seat on the backyard patio at Ladybird in Old Fourth Ward, where grilled and smoked American dishes bring a campfire feel to the menu. Local beer and cocktails are available at the bar. Weekend brunch runs Friday through Sunday from 11am to 4pm.

Start with the Nashville hot chicken or the burger. Ladybird is open Sunday through Thursday from 11am to midnight and Friday and Saturday from 11am to 2am.