The locations where love is in the air

Katie Fforde is beguiled by the beautiful British Isles, while our experts pick their top 20 UK hotspots for romance

Mankind needs beauty in the same way it needs romantic love. It can function perfectly well without it, and millions have to, but without these things our lives are poorer. There will always be a yearning for that special place or that special someone.

In Britain, as a small island nation, no one is ever too far from a beautiful place. Even if you can’t get to a recognised beauty spot to deliver a message for Valentine’s Day, there will be somewhere you can go. This is why I have set so many of my books here. I want to write books that are lovely to look at somehow, and Britain makes this easy.

Personally, I’ve always been uplifted by nature. I love wildness, landscapes formed by thousands of years of wind and rain, snow and ice, formed, imperceptibly, season by season. I love seeing the stunted trees showing the direction of the prevailing wind, fighting against the odds to fulfil their function. And if there are dips or lumps in the ground revealing signs of human habitation I wonder what it was like then. Was it different? Or very much the same?

The sea, pounding endlessly, forming rocks into strange shapes also inspires. When standing on a beach, it’s the awareness that for millennia it was the sea that brought people together, in tiny, handmade craft.

I also like to see the hand of man in my romantic places. Were they aware of the beauty they were creating as they hand-forged ironwork to make a lock gate for a canal, or made a block and tackle to help build a cathedral? I like to think so. A love of beauty is innate and humankind appears to have always been uplifted by their surroundings.

Even if I’m wrong about our prehistoric ancestors, modern humans are definitely drawn to beautiful locations, be they man-made or entirely natural. Taking your girl to see Durdle Door in your ancient car that breaks down is a rite of passage. As is taking your boy to your favourite local beauty spot and hoping he likes it too. Holding hands while you both stand in silence looking at somewhere special is one of the joys of life that’s within reach of most of us.

I’d be hard put to pick a favourite place in Britain. Like favourite colours, food or anything else, I don’t like to be pinned down. Currently, the view from my study, hills covered with frostedged trees with the low sun turning it all pink, will do. If, like me, you find it hard to choose, Telegraph Travel’s experts are on hand in the coming pages to provide inspiration with 20 of Britain’s most romantic destinations.

by Katie Fforde will be in bookstores on Feb 21