Casual Dating Advice: Flirt Better, Have More Fun

Less awkward, more fun

Plenty of adults would rather have a flirt, a fling or a regular no-strings thing than plan a shared future straight away, and there's nothing to apologise for in that. Busy careers, break-ups and a healthy shrug at the old rulebook all play a part. What's still awkward is the practical bit: working out who wants what, saying it out loud, writing a profile that gets the right replies and meeting a near-stranger without it feeling risky.

That's what these guides are for. Casual.uk has been running casual dating in the UK since 2014, and over 2,000 members use the site and its sections today. Each guide answers a question people really ask, with the short answer at the top and the useful detail underneath. Read them in any order, or jump straight to the one that matches tonight's dilemma.

Know what you want and how to ask for it

• What Is Casual Dating?

  The plain meaning, and how it differs from hook-ups, situationships and relationships.

• Casual Dating Rules

  Seven unwritten rules on honesty, consent, sexual health, discretion and ending things well.

• How to Ask for Something Casual

  When to bring it up, word-for-word openers for each stage, and what to say if they want more.

Find the people near you

Weighing up sites? Our casual dating site comparisons put Casual.uk next to Tinder, Feeld, AdultFriendFinder and Pure, one by one. To see who's around you, start with casual dating across the UK, with pages for cities from London and Birmingham to Glasgow and Newcastle. And before any first meet, our safety page has tips for meeting up and explains how blocking and reporting work.

Prefer a particular scene? Casual.uk has sections with their own communities: Naughty Casual for raunchier no-strings fun, Mature Casual for the over-40s, MILF Casual for confident older women and the men who want them, and BBW Casual for curves and the admirers who love them.