Cheap Date Ideas in Dallas

Wander the rotating exhibits at Dallas Contemporary, a modern and contemporary art museum in the Design District showing work by emerging and internationally known artists. The museum is open Thursday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm, with free parking beside the building.

Take your time moving through the Dallas Museum of Art in the Arts District, where works by Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe and Monet give you plenty to look at together. The museum's Late Nights program is aimed at adults and includes cocktail parties and guided tours. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm and closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Spend the date moving through the Crow Museum of Asian Art in the Arts District, where indoor galleries span Chinese, Korean, Indian, Japanese and Southeast Asian art from over a millennium. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm and closed Mondays and major holidays.

Pack a picnic for Klyde Warren Park, an urban park in downtown Dallas with picnic spots, live events and a Butterfly Garden. Because the park is among the Arts District museums, you can easily pair the picnic with a gallery stop before or after.

See samurai helmets, swords and armor together at The Samurai Collection, a museum above Saint Ann Restaurant in the Harwood District whose oldest pieces date to the seventh century. Entry comes in 15-minute windows and most visits last about 45 minutes. The museum is open Thursday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm and closed Mondays through Wednesdays.

Wander the galleries at the Bath House Cultural Center, a city-run arts space on the eastern shore of White Rock Lake with a lake-level stage and a black box theater. The 40th annual Dia de Muertos exhibition, in which artists imagine departed loved ones celebrating, is free and on view from October 10 through November 7. Galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 6pm.

For a slower downtown date, sit among the greenery at Thanks-Giving Square, a tranquil urban park with a fountain and a chapel with a stained glass window. The garden is open daily from 8am to 8pm, while the chapel is open daily from 9am to 4pm.

Get outside together at Cedar Ridge Preserve, a nature preserve about 20 minutes from downtown with roughly nine miles of trails, wildflowers and wildlife. The preserve is open Tuesday through Sunday from 6:30am to dusk and closed Mondays. Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged.

Build a coffee date around the Saturday open mic at Opening Bell Coffee in The Cedars. Local artists take the stage from 4pm to 6pm, with vinyl records and guitars decorating the room behind them, and the show is open to all ages. Parking in the retail lot is free.

Walk nearly five miles of nature trail through the 120-acre prairie habitat at the Trinity River Audubon Center, about ten miles south of downtown. On the second Saturday of every month, you can also join a guided hike in the Great Trinity Forest; reservations are encouraged.