20 out-of-the-ordinary fall activities you should add to your bucket list

Honey tasting is a great late-summer activity to carry into the fall. Find a local place that offers a flight of different honey to try and loads of foods to try the honey with. It’s a tasty way to spend an afternoon. 

Cabin hunting is a great way to see all the fall colors around you. Get out into the countryside and go looking for cabins. Along the way, you’ll see some beautiful fall foliage. 

Grape stomping is somewhat of a classic activity, but how many people do you know who’ve actually done it? This fall, make yourself one such person. Just make sure you wear something you don’t mind getting stained. 

Nothing curates a fall vibe like a scented candle. This year, try your hand at making your own scented candle. You can customize the scent to meet your specific fall preferences. It’s also a good way to get lost in an activity for a couple of hours. 

If you have the ability, host an outdoor movie night. You’ll want to do this before it gets too cold, but there’s nothing cozier than snuggling up in a blanket in crisp autumnal air and watching your favorite fall film. 

Once upon a time, farmers had to make their own scarecrows to put among their crops. It’s not as common of an activity today, but it’s still fun. 

Invite all your friends over and offer them a variety of ingredients that they can use to make a custom s’more. Let everyone submit a contestant and vote for a winner. It’s a fun and tasty way to spend the day. 

If you can’t get enough soup, have your friends over for a soup swap. It’s basically a soup potluck. Every guest brings a pot of soup with the recipe printed on cards. Everyone gets to sample the soups, and if they like it, they can take a recipe card. 

Get some exercise and see the best Halloween decorations your neighborhood has to offer all at once. Map out the best Halloween decorations around town and invite some friends to go on a walking tour to see the houses. 

Gather some friends for a progressive fall dinner. Each person takes a turn hosting a portion of the dinner — one house has appetizers, another has entrees, and so on — and all the guests move from house to house. To make this season’s progressive dinner special, have each portion of the dinner be fall-themed. 

Love tailgating before a football game, but don’t live anywhere near your favorite team’s stadium? Host a tailgate at home. Have your guests bring and wear what they normally would to a tailgate and watch the big game together. 

A wine and cheese night isn’t unique, but you can make it so with some fun twists. For example, have all your guests bring a wine and cheese pairing for everyone to taste, but assign each person a unique country from which their wine and cheese must originate.  

If you love costume parties but hate Halloween, have a fall character costume party. Tell your guests to pick a character from their favorite non-scary fall movie, TV show, or book and dress up as that character for your party. 

If you do like the spookiness of fall, go cemetery hopping. Cemeteries are at their most beautiful in the fall. It’s a serene way to spend some time outside and reflect on your own life and the lives of those who’ve passed. 

If you love a good themed cocktail, host a party where everyone tries their hand at making a fall cocktail. The cocktails can be classic with a twist, or they can be completely made up. Mocktails will work, too. 

There are all sorts of historic trains across the United States that still run, and they’re especially fun to take in the fall. Find your most local train, or travel to one you’ve always wanted to ride, and see the fall foliage in an efficient yet fun way. 

Leaf hunting is another great way to really get into nature. Decide ahead of time what leaves you’re after — perhaps ones in your favorite fall color or from a specific type of tree — and don’t stop until you find them. 

If you love to decorate your home for fall, get crafty this year by making some of your own. It’s a fun way to use your hands, and you get a direct benefit at the end of it. 

Fall is a great time to reflect on what you’re grateful for. This year, document it in a scrapbook. Glue pictures of your favorite memories from the past year. Note some of your hardships and what they taught you. It’s a great way to physically show what you’re grateful for while internalizing your gratitude, too. 

If you’ve got access to a cornfield and want to get lost in it, make a maze with your family. It's a fun way to be creative, and you can get all your friends and family to join you.