Height, age, and date spots: London's biggest dating trends revealed
Dating is a breeze without the ease
There are many things that feel difficult to conquer in the big city – the tube (particularly the Circle & District), the exits at Bank, and most of all, the dating scene. As we said in an interview with Domhnall Gleeson, some people get mis-sold PPI, we feel like we’ve been mis-sold the London dating scene by Richard Curtis.
As it turns out there isn’t a bespectacled, bumbling gent loitering charmingly on picturesque London streets, no blonde haired LA movie maker in our local country pub, and barely any decent likes on our dating apps. But thanks to dating app Breeze’s 2025 Dating Report we have some brand new data which explains some of Londoner’s bizarre dating habits. From height, to age, to London pubs, this is where and what Londoners are up to.
Height doesn't matter, but age does
In a more shocking twist than the whole secret traitor debacle, it turns out that single Brits are refreshingly open-minded when it comes to dating – more so than Europeans and Americans.
When it comes to height, only 32% of Brits use a height filter, versus nearly 39% of Dutch daters. Plus, users also have the biggest range when using height preferences, with 50% of daters allowing more than a 40cm range.
Age on the other hand is a stricter affair, with the average singleton opting for six years younger to eight years older.
Londoners are willing to go the distance
If you’ve ever felt like you’ve schlepped for a date – venturing out of the cosy (and probably mouldy) confines of your zone 5 bedsit into the hectic and trendy bright lines of central London – then you’re probably not wrong.
It turns out that UK singles will travel further than anyone else for a first date, with the longest recorded journey clocking up a staggering 424km from Carlisle to London. In the capital, the average travel distance for dates was just 10.76km.
It's firmly a drinks-on-a-first-date kind of city
London is also overwhelmingly the number one destination for first date drinks, hosting 90% of all UK drinks at Bar dates – but which spots came out on top.
Popular spots included Oblix in London Bridge – a statement of an option, perched in The Shard at level 32, meaning you’ll get some pretty stunning views over a night-lit London, meaning that at least any silences will be picturesque as well as awkward.
Also popular were The Boat House in Canary Wharf and The Half Moon in Herne Hill, proving that Londoners really are all about the aesthetics. Canary Wharf’s Boat House is - as it sounds - a bar in a barge, offering up cocktails on the river, and even live music evenings, it’s definitely somewhere interesting enough to spark a conversation, in case the prompts you half remember from their profile just aren’t doing the trick. Herne Hill’s chilled Half Moon pub tucked behind the station is a winner for summer with its sprawling beer garden and wooden pergolas that are perfectly tucked away so you can avoid your friends / housemates / previous first-date that you forgot to text back.
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