Long-distance date ideas for Nigerian couples, Lagos to London

One of you is in Lagos. The other is in London, or Manchester, or Houston, or Toronto. You talk every day, but “talking every day” can turn into the same call on repeat: what did you eat, how was work, I’m tired, goodnight. A date is different. It has a plan, a start time and a bit of effort, and it is something to look forward to on a Wednesday.

Here are twelve long-distance date ideas for couples who are already together and living apart for now. Some need nothing but a phone. A few use apps and games, and the facts about those are checked and sourced at the bottom.

Start with the clock

Lagos is on West Africa Time, one hour ahead of GMT, and Nigeria never changes its clocks. The UK does: on British Summer Time, from late March to late October, London and Lagos are on the same time; on GMT, through the winter, Lagos is one hour ahead. In 2026 the UK clocks go back on 25 October. Across the Atlantic the gap is bigger: in winter, 9 pm in Lagos is 3 pm in New York and Toronto, and 2 pm in Houston.

So Lagos to London is the easy one: you can share a whole evening. Lagos to North America means picking your moments, usually a Lagos late evening against an American afternoon, or a weekend morning in Houston against a Lagos lunchtime.

Twelve date ideas

1. Cook the same meal

Pick one dish, buy the same ingredients, prop the phone against the kettle and cook together. Jollof is the obvious choice, and the argument about whose is better is half the date. Eat together on camera when it is done.

2. Watch a film in sync

Teleparty is a free browser extension that keeps a film playing at the same moment for both of you and adds a chat. Each of you needs access to the streaming service you are watching. Or simply count down “three, two, one, play” on a call: it works more often than it should.

3. Walk a Lagos street together

This one is ours. AJ Cities is a free open-world game set on the edge of Ajegunle, Lagos, and it runs in the browser on a phone or a computer. In party mode you each make a character and pick the same world. If you pick Lagos time, the sky follows the real Lagos sun, so the partner abroad sees the same evening the partner in Lagos is looking at out of the window. Walk June 12 Street, sit down by the beach past the bush, or stand by a radio: the estate radio plays the same song at the same moment for every player.

Two honest notes: the estate is shared with other real players, up to 60 at a time, and anything you do there is virtual, inside the game, with no real venue or ticket. Most nights the police at the gate let in about four in five guests who ask, and optional tickets from ₦250 open more of the estate for 24 hours. It is 18+.

4. Go to the same (virtual) show

Inside the game, the artist Joe-Izzy plays Prizm every night from 9 pm to 1 am Lagos time, which is 8 pm in London in winter. Dress up first at the free salon and clothes shop by the gate. It is a virtual club, not a real one, and that is the point: neither of you has to fly.

5. Make a shared playlist and listen together

Spotify Jam builds one queue you both add to, but you need Premium to host and Premium to join from a distance. A free alternative: each of you adds five songs to a shared list and you play them at the same time on a call, explaining every choice.

6. Play a game with a stake

Drawing games like skribbl.io are free and run in the browser. Make a private room, add your own words, and agree a stake: loser sends a voice note of the winner’s choice.

7. Do the daily Wordle

One free word a day from The New York Times, the same for everybody. Its creator, Josh Wardle, first made it for his partner, which makes it a fair long-distance tradition. Compare grids at bedtime, wherever bedtime is.

8. Read the same book

One chapter a week, a call on Sunday to talk about it. Nigerian fiction is an easy place to start, and a good excuse for the one abroad to ask, “is it really like that at home?”

9. Take a “tour” of each other’s day

Walk the phone round your street, your office, your local shop. It sounds small, but seeing the bus stop your partner waits at every morning makes their stories land differently.

10. Send a voice-note letter

Not a quick “hope you’re good”, but five minutes, recorded on a walk, for them to play on theirs. Good for the hours when one of you is asleep.

11. Plan the next visit, properly

Open a shared document: dates, money, what you will eat first, which aunty must not find out you are in town. Planning is a date in itself.

12. Do nothing together

Leave a video call open while you both work, study or cook. No agenda. It is the closest thing to sitting in the same room, which is often the part you miss most.

Making it feel like a date, not a call

• Book it. Same night every week, in both calendars, in both time zones.
• Dress for it. Even if only from the waist up.
• Bring snacks. Chin chin in Lagos, crisps in London, whatever is in the cupboard in Houston.
• Keep the call on. Most games and apps here have little or no voice of their own; a video call on one device and the date on another works best.

For more ideas you can play, see our picks of online games for long-distance couples and games to play over FaceTime and video calls.

What can long-distance couples do together online?

Cook the same meal on a call, watch a film in sync, play a free browser game, listen to the same music, read the same book, or walk a virtual Lagos street together in AJ Cities.

What is the time difference between Lagos and London?

In summer, when the UK is on British Summer Time, they are on the same time. In winter, when the UK is on GMT, Lagos is one hour ahead.

Is AJ Cities a real place to meet?

No. AJ Cities is a game, and everything in it is virtual. The estate is invented, set on the edge of the real Ajegunle in Lagos, and there is no real venue or ticket.