Is your friend group bored of hitting the same old dive bars and bland restaurants? Inject new life into your friendships to keep things stimulating!
Discover new destinations, embark on thrilling adventures, and learn new things, all while bonding with those closest to you.
Explore 101 fun and creative things to do with friends.
Table of Contents
101 Fantastic Things to Do With Friends
Here’s a massive list of over 100 fun activities to enjoy with your friends, ranging from daytime activities to weekend fun, bucket list ideas to weekend getaways.
We’ve included free activities for frugal fun and pricier adventures when money is not an issue.
Regardless of your budget or what types of activities you enjoy, you will find something that sparks your interest here.
So dive in and have a fantastic time doing fun things with your friends!
Hike
Hiking is an ideal thing to do with friends during the spring and summer months. An outdoor adventure allows you to do something physically rewarding together while enjoying scenic views and lush landscapes.
There are hiking trails near almost every city (and some even in cities!) with varying degrees of difficulty. Check out alltrails.com to find the best trails near you.
Potlucks
Delight in your friend group’s culinary expertise by hosting a potluck. A fantastic bonus of potlucks is that no one has to do all the cooking, and everyone can enjoy a delicious meal with friends.
Picnic
Picnics aren’t just for romance. Invite your friends to a picnic day in the park. Everyone can bring a dish, share great food, catch up, and enjoy the fresh air.
Dinners Out
Breaking bread with your best friends is a time-honored bonding experience. Enjoying a meal at a scrumptious new restaurant allows everyone to enjoy a laid-back dining experience without worrying about cooking and cleaning.
My friends and I used to have a monthly dinner outing with a twist. Each month, someone new chose a restaurant and made reservations. The system allowed us to get together each month without putting the planning and organizing all on one person. It also allowed us to sample restaurants we may have yet to consider.
Video Game Night
It’s just as easy to have fun with friends while staying inside as it is to go out – and cheaper, too! Hosting a game night is one of my favorite things to do with friends. I love video games, so my game nights often involve rotating the controller in search of Bowser. Another great thing about hosting a video game night is that it can be virtual if some folks can’t make it.
Gaming Outside
You can also take your game night outside with some Pokemon Go! Grab your friends and your smartphones and compete to catch the best Pokemon and train them together. It’s like a scavenger hunt inside a video game!
Play Board Games
Game nights go way beyond video games. You can play board games, card games, and even random party games (Pictionary was always my favorite party game – using a giant whiteboard so everyone can see what you draw makes it even better!).
Sight Seeing
A weird thing about growing up near a particular place is that you don’t generally do any things tourists do. I grew up in Chicago and lived there for twenty years before I ever went up to the top of the Sears Tower (It will always be the Sears Tower to me!), and I only did it because a friend was visiting from out of town.
You don’t need to wait until you have an out-of-town visitor to explore the sites near your city. Grab your best friends and pretend that you’re tourists for the day. See all the fun things your town has to offer!
Ghost Tours
My favorite thing to do in any city I visit is a ghost tour. Most cities have a paranormal walking tour, which is always a good time. Learn the sordid history of your town, and have fun with friends trying to spook each other.
Even if your town doesn’t have a specific ghost tour, there is probably some record of spooky happenings someplace in the city. You and your friends can make up your own! Research the history of your town, visit a local graveyard, pay respects to all the past residents, and see any haunted locales. Not only will you learn about your city, but you’ll have fun doing it!
Visit a Museum
Speaking of learning, visiting a museum is a great way to spend a day with your friends learning something new. Although I love traditional museums that highlight history and art, there are so many different types of museums that there is sure to be one that your group of friends will enjoy.
I’ve visited car museums, flight museums, torture museums, sex museums, and various other quirky museums worldwide. Explore these bizarre museums with your friends; it’s a guaranteed good time!
Host a BBQ
There is nothing like firing up a grill and cooking out for all of your favorite people. A BBQ is a perfect way to get together with friends on a warm spring or summer day.
Grab your hot dogs, hamburgers, and beer cooler, and make a day of it! Ask your friends to bring some side dishes so you don’t have to do all the prep work, and enjoy some time cooking out in the nice weather.
Movie Night
Grab your favorite films and some buttery popcorn for a night in with your best pals. Movie nights are one of the best things to do with friends because they’re cozy, relaxing, and allow you to bond over the feelings the movie elicited.
If your friends feel sad, a drama cryfest is a great way to help get it all out. A scary movie can help you feel closer to the people you’re watching it with, and funny movies can give you all a good relaxing time. Pick a few different genres for a well-rounded evening of fun.
Book Club
A book club is a quintessential thing to do with friends, especially for women. It’s often made fun of as an excuse to gossip and drink wine, but I’ve never been a member of a book club that wasn’t actually about the book.
Reading is fun, and it’s also fun to share your thoughts and feelings about the book you are reading. A book club is a great excuse to get together and allows you to read books you wouldn’t have considered and learn about your friends’ more profound opinions.
Shopping
If you need to go to the store for new clothes or home décor, why not bring your friends along? It’s always good to have a second or third opinion on how something looks or whether that adorable little vase you randomly found is worth the twenty bucks.
Shopping is a fun, relaxing activity that often gets a bad rap, especially in the personal finance world. Spending money on things that make you happy is not wrong, and enjoying the experience with friends makes it even better.
Play Dress Up
Sometimes, you don’t need to buy things to get the thrill of trying stuff on and getting your friends’ opinions. Often, we have a ton of fancy clothes right in our own closets!
Invite your friends over to try some of your old stuff on. See if the formal dresses and dated Halloween costumes still fit. Find matching jewelry and pretend you’re getting ready for a night of glamour!
A bonus to doing this is that you might find it’s time to downsize. After trying on old stuff, you can decide what you want to keep and what you’d rather donate. Enjoy a silly evening with your friends while decluttering!
Paint and Sip
Paint and sips have been popping up nationwide lately, and it’s easy to see why. What other activity allows you to indulge in tasty drinks and explore your creativity without worrying about buying all the materials or cleaning everything up?
Paint and sip nights are great ways to explore painting as a hobby if you’re unsure what to buy or how to start. The coordinator provides all the materials and instructions. Bring yourself and a willingness to create, and let the magic unfold!
Amusement Park
The Six Flags, Universals, and Disney’s all over the country are the top places for thrilling adventures. What better way to spend a day with your friends than waiting in outrageously long lines for twenty seconds of fun?
I kid. I love rides and roller coasters and don’t mind the wait. Long lines provide ample opportunity to engage with your friends verbally. The thrill at the end is sometimes just a bonus.
If the wait is unbearable, grab a front-of-the-line pass to skip the lines and go straight to the ride.
Spa Day
Relax with your friends by enjoying a day of pampering at the spa.
The great thing about a spa day is that each person can pick their preferred services. Some may enjoy a relaxing massage, while others may be more interested in a scrub.
Take notes and compare the services while enjoying a luxurious day together.
Fruit Picking
Have you ever hand-picked your fruit? Orchards and fruit farms all over the country allow you to wander around and pick produce straight from the source.
Head to an apple orchard in the fall for farm-fresh apples or a strawberry patch in late for the juicy off-the-vine strawberries. Farms abound with opportunities to pick blueberries, pumpkins, grapes, and various fruits throughout the seasons.
Make a day of getting the freshest produce, supporting local farms, and having fun with your friends.
Paintball
Try paintballing if you’re looking for fun and adventurous things to do with friends. Running through the woods playing hide-and-seek with a tactical perspective is an exhilarating way to enjoy the outdoors with your best friends.
Paintballing is great because you get to be outside, be active, and do stuff you usually wouldn’t do (like climbing trees, trying out some military maneuvers, and getting shot with paint). It’s an epic way to spend a free Saturday with your best friends.
Laser Tag
Laser tag is a cross between paintballing and hide & seek. Get the blood flowing while staying indoors with a wild game of laser tag! As a bonus, lasers leave fewer bruises than paintballs do!
Another advantage to laser tag is that it’s much cleaner. Lasers don’t leave giant paint stains on anything, and since it’s indoors, you are less likely to get muddy. It’s also an ideal option in the winter when it’s too cold to play paintball outside.
Tarot Readings
Want to know your future? Well, that’s not what card readings do, but they are still a lot of fun! You can find a card reader at a local psychic, fairs, and festivals. Although they don’t read your future, they can give you insights into a problem you’re facing.
If you don’t want to go to someone to get your cards read, you and your friends can take turns reading each other’s cards. All you need is a tarot deck and a how-to book, and you can spend hours pretending to read each other’s fortunes.
Remember – even though it’s all in good fun, you might learn something interesting about yourself.
Camping
Smores, hot dogs, bonfires, and scary stories! Doesn’t that sound like a great time?
Relaxing around a fire with friends is so iconic that it’s a scene in almost every movie about growing up. But it’s fun for adults, too.
There are options for local camping in every state. Find a park near you and get your friends together for a weekend of hiking, fishing, campfires, and fun.
Volunteer
Helping others is immensely satisfying. If you and your friends are looking for something fun and rewarding, why not try volunteering?
There are thousands of charities in every state that need help. You could join a Habitat for Humanity crew to help build homes or volunteer at the local animal shelter to walk dogs and socialize cats.
There are tons of options for giving back. Sharing the experience with those closest to you is a fantastic and rewarding way to bond.
Take a Class
It’s also rewarding to learn something new. Grab your crew and sign up for a random class near you. You can find a course in any niche, from fitness to cooking, drawing, and learning a new language. You can even take a class together online!
I took a sushi-making class with my gals when I lived in Long Beach, and not only was it fun, but it was also delicious!
We got a little messy with the rice, but we all had a blast learning how to roll sushi.
Wine Tasting or Brewery Hopping
Let’s face it. We often end up at the bar when we get together with friends. So, let’s embrace that and plan an adventurous day of drinking!
Instead of defaulting to the regular place, find some new local breweries or wineries in your area. Check out their brewing styles and sample their wares. You may even find a hidden gem of a pub that you never knew existed!
Please be safe about it, though. Before you plan a fun drinking outing, designate a driver or have an alternate plan (like Uber) for getting home. Be sure to eat throughout the day and pace yourself so you don’t get sick.
Mini Golf
Want to have a friendly competition with friends? Head to the local family fun center and hit the greens!
Put-put is a silly little outdoor game, but it’s always enjoyable. Try to get below par on all the courses, and see who has the best skills!
Disc Golf
For a different type of mini-golf experience, try disc golf. It’s the same as mini-golf, but instead of getting a ball in a hole, you must get a frisbee in a basket. The only limitation is you have to bring your own discs.
Arcade Day
Travel back to your teenage years to play your favorite retros games or try the new pinball machines and first-person shooters. Challenge your friends to an air hockey tournament.
If you want a more adult arcade experience, head to Dave and Busters. They are overpriced, but you can grab a drink and play your favorite game in one place.
Bowling
Do you remember bowling alleys? The smokey air, the harsh clanging bangs as the ball hits the pin, and the disgusting old shoes sprayed with questionable disinfectant. Don’t sell me on a good time!
Seriously though, bowling may have hit peak popularity in the 1980s, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun anymore. It’s an excellent way for a group of friends to get together and play a fun game, eat some horrible bar food, and have an overall fantastic time.
Roller Rink
The roller rink is a blast from an even more distant past – the 70s. But even though they’ve been around for fifty years, they are still a lot of fun.
I’ll bet that most of you haven’t been to a roller rink since a fifth-grade field trip, so add to the amusement and reminisce about favorite childhood activities. Roller skating is also a great leg workout, making it a wonderful opportunity to get fit while hanging out with friends.
Scrapbook
What better way to make new memories with friends than by looking through old memories? Scrapbooking is an excellent way to reflect on all the fun adventures you’ve had, and doing it with a friend makes it much better.
You could create BFF friendship books. You can each include photos and mementos of the favorite times you shared and decide together how to design the books.
Alternatively, you can make each other’s book, adding in-jokes and mementos that your friend will cherish for the rest of their lives. Scrapbooking is a sentimental way to bond with your friends.
Create Cocktails
Have you ever tried inventing a signature cocktail? Think about the ingredients that best describe you, and try putting them together in a tasty adult drink!
For even more fun, make it a competition. See who can create the tastiest cocktail, and vote on who created the drink that best represents themselves. To ensure everyone’s safety, make it a sleepover and host a movie night with your tasty new beverages!
Fishing
Fishing is a pleasurable bonding activity, and although it’s generally considered a men’s hobby, it’s fun for all genders.
Nothing beats relaxing in a boat with a few beers and some great friends while trying to catch your own food. The truly adventurous should try deep-sea fishing, a full-day excursion at sea to battle the monsters of the deep. It’s a guaranteed good time regardless of whether you catch any fish.
Karaoke Night
Karaoke is one of my favorite things to do with friends. With a cozy bar, tasty drinks, and terrible singing, how can you not love it?
If you’re afraid of your singing skills (Don’t be! No one is good at karaoke; that’s half the fun!), choose a song everyone knows. My go-to is Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” because everyone in the bar will know it and start singing along. An iconic song masks my horrible singing voice and transforms me into a karaoke goddess!
Make a Vision Board
If you have a goal for which you are creating a vision board, why not ask a friend to help you out? Our best friends know us best and can help us determine the key things we might miss when mapping out our goals.
Grab your closest friends for a vision board brainstorming session. Help each other create life goals and dreams, and motivate each other to follow through on the things you discussed. The best friendships are those that help each other accomplish their goals.
Take a Day Trip
Think about where you live, and then think about everything within a 2-3 hour car ride from home. More than likely, there’s a ton of stuff to do within that radius. Pick something that you’ve always wanted to do, and make a trip out of it!
Grab your best pals and plan a day trip somewhere you wouldn’t usually go. Stop at a random small town for lunch. Explore the world a little bit beyond your hometown.
Weekend Get-Away
If you have even more time, plan a weekend getaway. My best memories of living in California include the delightful weekend trips I took with my best friends. During my ten years in the state, I hit all the best places in California by taking random weekend trips with my best friends.
Wherever you live, fabulous destinations are bound to be close enough for a weekend trip. Arranging one or two trips per year will keep your friendships blooming and allow you to visit enthralling places you wouldn’t have gone to alone.
Open Mic Night
Whether you take the stage or not, open mic nights are always a good time. If you want to perform, it’s even better knowing that your friends are there cheering you on. If not, it’s just fun to watch folks develop their crafts.
I love the variety of performers you see at an open mic night. You may see poets, comedians, songwriters, and other amateur artists work up the courage to perform for an audience. Their bravery is inspiring. Watching them is a great way to get your creative juices flowing.
Hit the Festivals
Fairs and festivals are the best parts of summer. There is a fair for everyone – from Renaissance fairs for those who love history to craft beer festivals for those who enjoy brewing. Most small towns even have their own little carnival with small rides and great fair food for the locals.
Head to a fair with your friends to get the most out of the experience. Challenge each other to an epic ring toss battle, or ride the tilt-a-whirl together and try not to vomit.
Eat fried everything and enjoy a freshly squeezed lemonade. Watch a local band perform at the fairgrounds for a free concert. Fairs and festivals embody the best of summer and are fantastic things to do with friends.
Try to Escape a Room
Want your friendship to grow through problem-solving and teamwork? Try an escape room. Work together to solve puzzles and clues to beat the timer and emerge victorious!
Don’t let the simplicity of the idea fool you. Escape rooms aren’t easy. I’ve attempted many escape rooms and only beat it once (though my team was only 30 seconds late a different time – I’m glad they let us finish!).
But it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose. The fun part is working together and solving the clues. It’s a great time and a fabulous way to spend a day with friends.
Geocache
Geocaching is a giant treasure hunt that millions of people participate in. Someone hides the cache or treasure somewhere in public and adds clues to the location on the geocache app. When someone finds it, they get to take the prize (usually a small toy or a dollar) and replace it with something different. There’s also usually a tiny scroll that lists all the people who have found it.
Take your friends on a treasure hunt through your local area and dig up some old caches! Be sure to also bring some fun little items to leave for others.
Scavenger Hunt
If you want to be even more adventurous, arrange a scavenger hunt for your friends. Hard-core people can make their own using an app like Goose Chase, but you can also find ready-made scavenger hunts online.
Some cities have pre-built scavenger hunts that you can purchase online. I did one of these when I lived in LA. It took me through the town from landmark to landmark, and I had to answer questions about the place I found to move on. It was a great way to explore my adopted home in a new way. I saw neighborhoods and landmarks I would never have considered visiting through a silly scavenger hunt.
Sporting Events
Cheering for a team gets the blood flowing. Catching your favorite team live is a great way to bond with your friends. It’s even more fun when you like opposite teams; there’s nothing like a friendly rivalry to keep the crowd engaged!
Unfortunately, professional sporting events can get pricey. However, minor league games are just as fun! If your budget is tight, support your local minor league team. They will appreciate it far more than the professionals.
Girls (or Boys!) Trip
We’ve talked about weekend and day trips, but sometimes, a full-fledged vacation with your best friends is just the ticket for extraordinary fun and lasting memories. I’ve taken several European trips with my girls, and it’s always been a great time.
One advantage of traveling with a group like this is that you can see and do things you would never have thought to do. Trier would never have been on my list of cities to visit, and guess what? The best restaurant I’ve ever eaten at in my life is there.
I also would never have thought to visit Laufen Castle or take a random detour through the Black Forest if I wasn’t traveling with friends. These are moments I will remember for the rest of my life.
Check out a Comedy Club
Laughter is the best medicine. Instead of going to the same old stale dive bar, why not mix things up and go to a comedy club?
I prefer going to the smaller clubs with amateur comedians. These entertainers are beginning their careers and trying incredibly hard to make a name for themselves. Who knows, that performer you saw at amateur night may be the next Chris Rock!
Hit the Beach
If you live near the coast, you should plan a beach day with your best buds. Laying out in the sun, watching the waves crash to shore, and relaxing in serenity is a perfect way to spend the day. If you get bored of that, you can always dip in for a swim or take a walk along the coast looking for fun seashells.
If you aren’t near a coast, you can still enjoy most of the fun that a beach offers. Many lakes have beaches that are just as enjoyable as the ocean ones. Find a lake near your area and see if they have any sandy beaches. You probably won’t be able to surf, but you will be able to enjoy everything else about beach life.
Go Thrifting
Thrift shops, flea markets, and garage sales are great places to shop for amazing deals. You never know what treasures you will find lurking in someone’s garage!
And who better to hunt treasures with than your best friends? You can even make a game out of it. See who can find the best item for under five dollars, or create a competition to find the quirkiest object. You never know; you might need that wooden statue of a dog holding a teapot someday.
Check Out Old Bookstores
If you and your friends are voracious readers, plan a day around visiting local bookshops. Old, used bookstores often have incredible selections of books that you’d never find at a Barnes & Noble. You don’t know what you miss when you only shop at new bookstores.
There are used bookstores in nearly every city. Map out the ones you want to visit and spend a day bookshop-hopping with your crew. Find inspiring books to read and learn more about your friends’ literary tastes in one fantastic day!
Visit Historical Sites
Did you know that the first casualty of the Civil War was from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania? Or that there are hundreds of ancient Native American pueblos in Southwestern Utah and Southeastern Colorado?
My point is that history has happened everywhere. A fascinating historical tidbit is somewhere near you, no matter where you live.
Take your friends to check it out. Learn about the history of your town and the surrounding areas. Take turns picking which sites to visit, and explore your area not just through distance but also through time.
Prepare a Meal Together
Among the many things to do with friends, preparing a meal together is one of the most wholesome. Cooking together is an intimate experience that helps build bonds and solidify friendships in a way that other things don’t.
Cooking together is about working together to complete a goal and sharing in the bounties of that accomplishment. It’s a fun, low-cost activity that any friend group can organize. We all have to eat, right?
Be a Kid Again
Remember the thrill of seeing how high you could swing or checking out the giant new slide? That thrill doesn’t have to be gone just because you’re an adult.
Take a walk to the local playground and monkey around on the equipment (Obviously, let children play in peace first!), organize a game of tag or hide and seek, and embrace your inner child. The fun doesn’t have to end when you grow up.
Find Out What is in Walking Distance
Whether you live in a small town or bustling city, there has to be something interesting within walking distance of your home. So grab your friends and head out for a walk. See what there is to see in your neighborhood.
You may be surprised to find a quaint little creek with a walking trail beside it or a local bakery tucked in with homes down the street.
You may find that there’s not much worthwhile within walking distance, but you still got to do some physical activity with good company, and that’s worthwhile, isn’t it?
Create Something Together
Whether painting, woodworking, knitting, or anything else, getting together with your friends to make something unique is always a good time.
When I lived in Georgia, I regularly got together with a group of friends for a “craft night.” Usually, we’d just make jewelry with beads, but sometimes, the girls would want to work on other things, like needlepoint or cross-stitching.
We even made a day of it by shopping for supplies together beforehand.
Visit a Zoo or Aquarium
People watching is great, but have you tried animal watching? Your local zoo or aquarium will have many animals to watch in their natural environments. My favorites are the sea otters and polar bears because they always seem to have a good time, but it’s fun to check out all the different animals.
Some folks don’t like zoos because animals shouldn’t be in captivity. I believe zoos do fantastic work with conservation and education and are greatly needed to showcase why caring for our planet is critical.
Botanical Gardens
I didn’t think I’d enjoy botanical gardens. Who wants to walk around looking at a bunch of plants? My friends convinced me to go to one, and I was hooked.
There are so many gorgeous plant species with various colorful and aromatic flowers. Learn a little about the native species that populate our environment and how they work symbiotically with local pollinators.
Take time to smell the flowers – it’s worth it.
Walking Tour
If you don’t want to figure out what to do on your own, why not book a walking tour through your city? I’ve gone on walking tours in numerous cities that I visited, but you can get just as much fun out of one in your own backyard.
Perhaps the tour guide knows hidden gems about your city that you and your friends didn’t. Or they might have a unique story about a local hotspot that isn’t widely known. Either way, taking a walking tour of your city is a fun way to spend the day with your best friends.
Food Tour
If you loved the walking tour idea, you should take it a step further and book a food tour. You will get to walk around your city and check out some small, local restaurants that you probably didn’t even know existed.
Who knows, maybe you and your friends will find a brand-new go-to brunch spot, or perhaps you’ll remember why your favorite was your favorite all along. Either way, the path to discovery is part of the fun.
More Ideas of Epic Adventures to Have with Your Friends
If that list of epic things to do with your friends wasn’t enough, consider any of these fun-filled activities:
- Rollerskate
- Horseback riding
- Rock Climbing
- Indoor-activity center
- Bike ride
- Play a sport
- Enjoy live music
- Kayak
- Paddleboard
- Learn to surf
- Dance Club
- Science experiments
- Talk Philosophy
- Play Truth or Dare
- Rockhounding
- Work Out
- Visit Seasonal Markets
- Play a lawn game
- Make a movie
- Co-write a book
- Have a brunch date
- Sunday Funday
- Shoot pool
- Cuddle kittens at a cat cafe
- Ice skate
- Sample a local candy shop
- Have an epic game of Hide & Go Seek
- Look through old photos
- Crash a college lecture
- Sample a coffee flight
- Visit a wax museum
- Go through a fun house
- Enjoy a hay ride
- Have a pumpkin carving contest
- Get silly at a mystery spot
- Binge-watch your favorite shows
- Walk the dogs
- Hunt for ghosts
- Have a nerf fight
- Play hacky sack
- Have an epic water gun battle
- Build a snow fort
- Play Jackbox party pack games
- Host a Dungeons & Dragons quest
- Live action role-playing
- Hang out at the pool
- Star gaze
- Give each other makeovers
- Check out the local Ripley’s Believe it or Not/dime store museum
- Have a seance
- Visit a haunted house
- Sidewalk chalk
Have a Great Time with your Friends!
This epic list of things to do with friends is only the beginning. Hopefully, you will find some inspiration for thrilling experiences and use it as a starting point to find even more ideas.
And if you have an activity you do regularly with your friends that didn’t make the list, share it with us! We’re always looking for more fun things to try with our friends!