These are the Best Active Hobbies For Retired Couples

In the past, I’ve written about unusual retirement hobbies for seniors. But not all of them can be done with your significant other. I actually wrote it because I was looking for things to do while I wait for mine to retire. But I’m definitely not sitting on the front porch waiting for him!

Today I thought I’d share what we might do when we both have spare time, keeping in mind that we want to stay fit and healthy. In my opinion, based on countless hours of research and time spent arguing with my husband about it, these are the best active hobbies for retired couples.

In this post, I’ll look at real data, like the survey from the Bureau of Labour Statistics (and other legit data) that reveals what some retirees are actually doing, the difference between hobbies and interests, and things the two of you can do together to stay active.

Retirement Gives Couples Something They Haven’t Had in Years: Time

One of the biggest surprises of retirement isn’t the extra time. It’s the realization that you and your spouse suddenly have far more time together than you’ve had in decades.

During our working years, careers, commutes, volunteer commitments, children, aging parents, and household responsibilities often pull us in different directions. Retirement changes that equation almost overnight.

For some couples, that transition is effortless. For others, it can feel a little like being assigned a new roommate.

Shared hobbies provide a wonderful solution. They create opportunities to stay active, continue learning, explore new interests, and make new memories together. More importantly, they give couples something to look forward to.

The best retirement hobbies aren’t really about the activity itself. They’re about creating experiences that keep life interesting and relationships engaged.

Interests vs Hobbies

What’s the Difference Between the Two?

Is there an actual difference between the two? Yup. Hobbies have a tendency to be things we’ve done, or can do for years. While interests tend to be a bit more fleeting. Learning a new language, for example, qualifies as an interest, not a hobby.

The differences between the words hobby and interest should not be confused with the word “interesting”. There are tons of interesting hobbies out there!

Use Interests to Determine Your Hobbies

Your interests can help determine your hobbies. I bet you read that sentence and went duh! Generally, most hobbies are interests, but not all interests are hobbies. It’s like that saying, “all thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs.”

French cuisine is interesting. Regularly taking French cooking classes might be a hobby. Wanting to understand the subtle differences between France’s varietal grapes is an interest. Collecting wine from France is a hobby.

Do you and your significant other share certain interests? What if you don’t? If you and your spouse aren’t always on the same page, finding hobbies to do together might prove difficult. But look at your different interests as a way to research potential hobbies from different angles.

Your spouse likes hunting. You hate the idea of killing Bambi. You both have an interest in nature conservation. Try following that thread of interest, and you might find that bird-watching or duck calls could be your shared hobby.

Perhaps it’s not about the animals. Perhaps it’s being a skilled outdoors person. Try an outdoor hobby like target practice with a compound bow at a range. (Take a look at hobby #11.) You get the drift.

Shared Experiences Matter More Than Shared Possessions

One of the unexpected gifts of retirement is the opportunity to create new experiences together.

Most couples can barely remember what they received for Christmas ten years ago. Yet they can often recall the hike, fishing trip, vacation, concert, camping weekend, or ridiculous adventure that they shared together.

That’s because experiences tend to become stories. Stories become memories. And memories become part of the foundation of a relationship.

The best hobbies for retired couples aren’t necessarily the most exciting or expensive. They’re the ones that give you something to talk about on the drive home.

Whether you’re walking a local trail, paddling a kayak, planting a garden, or learning how to surf, shared experiences have a way of strengthening relationships in ways that material things rarely can.

Hobbies for Retired Couples

Science has proven that our partners are often the key to personal growth in retirement. Looking for hobbies and shared interests that can help strengthen your relationship is important. The conversation you and your spouse have about the hobby is probably as important as doing the hobby.

Active Hobbies

Don’t think for a second that baby boomers and Gen X retirees are sedentary and that we’re “settin’ out on the front porch in rockin’ chairs, whittling the day away”. Our cohorts is super active. We are the generation that invented exercise videos, the Particip-ACTIOn Commercials with Hal and Joanne, and, embarrassingly, “sweating to the oldies.”

I don’t bring this up to alarm you. Just to inform you. And to reinforce that athletic hobbies make great couples’ hobbies, and that there’s no need to avoid them. We bounce back great!

4 out of 5 Older Adults Choose Active Pursuits

According to that article, based on a study from the National Health & Aging Trends Study (NHATS), older adults (over 65) listed their preferred leisure time activities as walking/jogging, outdoor maintenance, playing sports, and “other physical activity”.

Why Active Hobbies Work So Well in Retirement

One of the reasons active hobbies are so popular among retirees is that they accomplish several goals at once.

They keep us physically active, get us out of the house, and they expose us to new people and experiences.

And perhaps most importantly, they give structure to our days.

Many retirees discover that staying active isn’t really about exercise. It’s about engagement. Having something to look forward to, somewhere to go, or something to learn can have just as much value as the physical activity itself.

The hobby becomes the vehicle. The real destination is often connection, purpose, curiosity, and enjoyment.

Walking & Jogging

Let me be clear from the get-go, when I feel like jogging, I lie down until the feeling goes away! However, I’m all for a vigorous walk. And obviously, this is a great way to spend quality time with your significant other. Free fitness, what could be better?

I won’t extoll the virtues and benefits of walking and jogging to you. Instead, here are a few ways you can take your stroll up a notch. It can be in your local community or abroad.

Urban Waterfront Walks

In Canada, cities like Toronto, Vancouver, St. John’s, Barrie (a personal favourite), and Niagara Falls all have exceptional walking trails with plenty to see, stop and rest, and yes, pee!

In the USA, consider North Brooklyn in New York, Chicago, Venice Beach, and the Presidio in San Francisco, California. And another personal favourite is the Little Miami Scenic Trail in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Consider bringing your camera along, and you can add photography to your list of hobbies. Sign up for a guided tour in a new city, and add some history!

Nature Hikes

In Ontario, now is a great time for a hike in the woods, because the autumn leaves are spectacular. if you have a regular path, get going. Want to try new trails in new places? Consider downloading these apps to your phone: All Trails, Gaia GPS, Seek by iNaturalist, and Apple Fitness Tracker.

I frequently forage when I hike our property (think of it as trekking for salad). I routinely gather wild edible food mushrooms, ramps, and wild garlic.

Hike or walk in the evening, and add the element of astronomy. The night sky is fascinating!

Guided Walking Tours

One of the easiest active hobbies for retired couples is also one of the most underrated.

Guided walking tours combine exercise, travel, history, and learning into a single activity. Whether you’re exploring your hometown or wandering through a city you’ve never visited before, walking tours provide a wonderful excuse to slow down and notice things you might otherwise miss.

My husband and I have discovered that some of our favourite travel memories didn’t involve fancy hotels or expensive attractions. They involved simply walking through a community with a knowledgeable local guide and hearing stories we never would have uncovered on our own.

The bonus? Walking tours are available almost everywhere.

Want to go for extended walks or hikes? Consider adding camping. Heather Neal Kasvinsky over at This Noshtalgic Life will have you wanting to spend some quality time together with your soul mate outside. Heather can even talk me into camping with her stories of cooking great meals over an open flame, fresh air, and exquisite scenery!

Cycling, E-Biking, and Rail Trails

Cycling remains one of the most popular active hobbies for retired couples, and e-bikes have made it accessible to an even larger audience.

Modern e-bikes allow couples with different fitness levels to ride together comfortably. Hills become less intimidating, distances become more manageable, and sightseeing becomes much more enjoyable.

Across Canada and the United States, former railway corridors have been converted into scenic multi-use trails that are perfect for cycling. These rail trails often pass through small communities, parks, waterfronts, and rural landscapes, making them ideal destinations for day trips and weekend adventures.

If you’re looking for a hobby that combines exercise, exploration, and a little bit of freedom, cycling is hard to beat.

Kayaking, Canoeing, and Recreational Paddling

Few activities allow couples to experience nature quite the way paddling does.

Whether you prefer a quiet lake, a winding river, or a sheltered coastal bay, kayaking and canoeing offer a unique combination of exercise, adventure, and tranquillity.

You don’t need to become an expert paddler to enjoy the experience. Many retired couples start by renting equipment locally or joining guided excursions. As confidence grows, paddling can evolve into day trips, camping adventures, wildlife photography outings, or even travel experiences centred around exploring waterways.

And unlike some sports, the pace is entirely up to you.

Outdoor Maintenance

Gardening & Horticulture Make Great Hobbies for Retired Couples

You can take the NHATS comment on “outdoor maintenance” to mean a few things from an “active hobby” perspective. Flower gardening, vegetable gardening, and Zen gardening. Some people want their yards to look like parks and take great pride in doing so.

Still, others like to actively practice xeriscaping (it’s a real word, and you should save it for your next Scrabble match). Xeriscaping is a form of gardening that is drought-resistant and focuses on the use of native plant materials.

I love to garden, and my husband is grateful that the grass is a perennial. If you and your spouse want to know more about gardening, especially how it can impact you in retirement, then there’s no better expert in Canada than my neighbour, Frank Ferragine. Known to most as Frankie Flowers. Check out a recent conversation I had with him on the topic of gardening and retiring.

Living off the Grid

I suppose the phrase “living off the grid” doesn’t sound like either a hobby or outdoor maintenance. But to some people, it really is both. Before you picture yourself trying to live like Laura Ingalls of Little House on the Prairie fame, put that aside (unless that’s your jam).

Consider it more about living a simpler, active life in harmony with nature and the environment. My husband understands how to build his own mini hydro-generating plant and the mechanics of ground-source heating. For him, building stuff is fun. I’m cheap and like to save money, so, a win-win.

Still others, like my former colleague Chris, love to chop firewood, tend his fields, and build outdoor pizza ovens. He’s a big-time forager, too. This is definitely one of those active hobbies for retired couples that you both need to agree on!

Active Hobbies for Retired Couples? Try Playing Sports

In a 2011 article called the European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, they cite a study done in Germany called Sports Participation of the Elderly. I bring this up because they use a new word, and I swear they made it up, for us! “Sportification”. My dad would never have dreamed of taking up a sport in retirement (he was a whittle on the porch guy, literally).

Racquet Sports: More Than Just Pickleball

It’s impossible to talk about active hobbies for retired couples without mentioning pickleball. The sport has exploded in popularity across North America, and for good reason. It’s social, relatively easy to learn, and doesn’t require the level of running demanded by tennis.

That said, pickleball isn’t the only racquet sport worth considering. Many retired couples enjoy tennis, badminton, squash, and table tennis. These activities combine physical exercise, strategy, and social interaction, making them excellent hobbies for active retirees.

The real advantage of racquet sports isn’t simply fitness. It’s that they naturally create community. Join a club and you’ll likely meet new people, participate in friendly competitions, and quickly discover that retirement sports can be as much about friendships as they are about exercise.

It Doesn’t Have to Be A Contact Sport To Be a Sport!

Most of us, though, don’t even flinch at the thought of retiring and taking up any of the following sports: golf, tennis, swimming, skiing (Nordic and downhill), kayaking, and cycling. And this 2019 study by Statista of Sports Activities Most Practiced By French People Over 65 supports this.

“Other Physical Activities”

Not The Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink Kind of “Other”

The NHATS study listed “other physical activities” as the fourth most popular activity for older adults. I doubt they meant “other physical activities” in that nudge-nudge-wink-wink kind of way, although it’s possible.

I’m guessing that respondents to the NHATS survey were referring to things like yoga, fishing, or surfing.

Yoga

There are as many kinds of yoga as there are places to go and do yoga. As a couple, when it comes to yoga, the world is your oyster. And I guess, technically, oysters can be your friend from the nudge-nudge-wink-wink perspective. But I digress!

There are apps and coaches online to help you do yoga at home. Think you’re too old and too stiff to do all that bendy, pretzel, yoga stuff? Start with some therapeutic yoga at Village Yoga with Leonor Mowry up in the beautiful Town of the Blue Mountains. She specializes in teaching yoga to seniors. You can take an in-person class or join her online.

Yoga can be anything from stretching to pilates and from hot yoga to Tai Chi. My personal favourite yoga pose? Shavasana, the death pose. It’s done at the end of your session, and you lie flat on your back and just relax!

Fishing

Fishing, like all the other activities for retired couples listed here, has many variations. Ice fishing, deep sea fishing, or fly fishing. In Ontario, you can drop your line just about anywhere from a stream, pond, or lake. And in Canada, you can fish coast to coast, to coast!

Ice fishing can be as simple as you and your partner augering a hole in the ice and dropping your line. Dress warm, make sure you have your fishing license, take a couple of chairs, and a thermos of hot soup, and off you go. Check local rules for possession limits and size restrictions.

Perhaps you want something more complex (that’s wife code for a few amenities). No problem. Don Luchkiw, the owner of Bear Point Fish Hut Rentals in Innisfil, has everything a couple could need for either a day or a weekend of ice fishing.

You can rent a sleeper hut for the weekend that’s heated and has cooking facilities, or rent a smaller heated one for a day (cook stove optional). There are even bathroom facilities out there. Rental includes Shiner Bait Minnows. (Big plus, because the Shiner Minnows are from Lake Simcoe).

Don’t want to fish unless it’s hot and sunny (that’s wife code for tropical). I personally like deep-sea fishing. My last trip to Casa Vitality in Costa Rica was a blast. Why? I went deep-sea fishing over in Garza. If you can get there, try a trip out via Vibert’s Secret Spot Ocean Experiences. The bomb!

Finally, there’s fly fishing. The most zen of all the fishing. At least according to my buddy Jamie. He’s been fly fishing the Saugeen River in Ontario for 40 years. And he totally agrees with the quote by John Gierach that says:

Surfing

I bring up surfing every chance I get. Not only because it’s fun and exciting, but it makes me look more hip than I actually am! It’s right up there with deep-sea fishing on my fave things to do in Costa Rica.

It’s also easily accessible for all couples to try, not very expensive, and you’ll have memories and bruises to last you both a lifetime. And, it’s an activity that my husband and I can agree on. Halleluja!

Want to surf in Canada? Our Prime Minister surfs in Tofino, British Columbia. The best surfing in Mexico is in Tulum. Want to know The 9 Best Surf Spots In Europe for Beginners? Read this article.

And of course, if you want to surf the Pacific Ocean down in Costa Rica, get in touch with Chico at Chico Surf Nosara via Facebook.

Active Hobbies Can Help Couples Build Community

One thing that often surprises retirees is how much their social circles change after leaving work.

For many people, the workplace provided regular opportunities to meet, interact with, and develop friendships with others. Retirement can remove those opportunities almost overnight.

Active hobbies help fill that gap.

Whether you’re joining a walking club, taking yoga classes, volunteering, golfing, fishing, kayaking, or participating in a community organization, hobbies naturally place you in contact with people who share similar interests.

Many adult friendships develop through repeated casual interactions. In other words, people become friends because they keep showing up in the same places.

The hobby may be the reason you show up.

The friendships often become the reason you stay.

The Key to Active Hobbies for Retired Couples

After all the studies, statistics, expert opinions, and countless hours I’ve spent researching retirement, I’ve come to a fairly simple conclusion.

The best active hobbies for retired couples aren’t necessarily the most adventurous, athletic, or expensive.

They’re the ones that get you moving.

Keep you curious.

And give you something to talk about on the drive home.

Retirement creates something many couples haven’t had in years: time. The question becomes how you choose to spend it.

For some couples, that means hiking local trails. For others, it means gardening, fishing, yoga, kayaking, travelling, surfing, volunteering, or simply exploring their own communities in a new way.

The activity itself matters less than the experience it creates.

Shared hobbies help couples stay active, continue learning, meet new people, and create memories together. They provide opportunities for adventure, laughter, and sometimes the occasional disagreement about who forgot to pack the snacks.

Most importantly, they remind us that retirement isn’t the end of the story.

It’s the beginning of a new chapter.

So keep an open mind. Try something new. Follow your interests and see where they lead. You don’t have to find the perfect hobby right away.

After all, one of the great pleasures of retirement is discovering that you still have plenty of time to explore.

Cheers,
Cynthia
I’m Thinking of Retiring

Additional Reading

• Why Old-School Skills Matter More After Retirement
• Movement That Keeps You in the Game: The Best Low-Impact Activities for Adults Over 55
• Driving in Costa Rica: What Active Travellers Over 55 Need to Know

References

Feeney, B.C., Tomlinson, J.M., & Peters, B.J. (2020). Growing into retirement: Longitudinal evidence for the importance of partner support for self-expansion. Psychology and Aging, 35(7), 1041–1049.

National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). Research examining favorite leisure activities among older adults, including walking, outdoor maintenance, sports, and other physical activities.

Szanton, S.L., Walker, R.K., Roberts, L., Thorpe, R.J., Wolff, J., Agree, E., Roth, D.L., Gitlin, L.N., & Seplaki, C. (2015). Research on leisure activity preferences among older adults was published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.

Women’s Health Research Institute. Research discussing increased rates of knee replacement surgery among Baby Boomers and the relationship between active lifestyles, sports participation, and joint health.

European Review of Aging and Physical Activity. Research discussing sports participation among older adults and the concept of increasing sport participation later in life.

Statista (2019). Survey of sports and recreational activities most commonly practiced by adults over age 65 in France.

Additional Sources

This article also incorporates personal interviews, first-hand travel experiences, conversations with retirees, and the author’s own observations while researching active retirement lifestyles for adults 55+.

All photos are courtesy of iStock unless otherwise specified.