EUROPE FOR THE ROMANTICS
Finding places to celebrate love
I love it when I convince people to engage with the Europe I show them. But when they become engaged with each other in Europe? I like that even more.
Love is in bloom all over Europe. Couples embrace while walking the banks of the Seine River in Paris or meet along the Via dell’Amore (“Pathway of Love”) in Italy’s Cinque Terre.
At romantic spots in St. Petersburg, you’ll see newlyweds with their photographers. After the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom are practically obligated to drop by a dozen or so picturesque locations for wedding pictures.
When people ask me for romantic destinations in Europe, I steer them away from traditional spots like Venice, Paris or the Greek Islands.
For true romance, I like to suggest stay-a-while getaways that are slightly off the radar, such as Hallstatt, Varenna, Gimmelwald, Aero and Beilstein.
For a cosy hideaway, look for the offbeat areas, where creaky locals walk gingerly on creaky floorboards, and where each balcony sports a flower box.
The tiny town of Hallstatt, positioned picture-perfectly on the shore of Lake Hallstatt in Austria, is just such a place. Idyllic and majestic, with scenic lakes and mountains, it’s the perfect place to commune with nature — and one another — Austrian-style.
On Italy’s Lake Como, Varenna whispers luna di miele ( honeymoon). This village oozes romance.
Easily accessible by train, on the less-visited side of the lake, Varenna has a romantic promenade, a tiny harbour and narrow lanes. You’ll pass wisteria-drenched villas, evocative vistas and lakeside lovers embracing the moment. It’s just the right place to savour a cappuccino or aperitivo.
There’s wonderfully little to do here, and it’s very quiet at night.
It’s places like this where I really feel the romance of Europe.
Or take Switzerland’s tiny mountain hamlet of Gimmelwald. This traffic-free village hangs nonchalantly on the edge of a cliff high above the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Swiss Alps.
While other cliff-hanging villages became soulless resorts, Gimmelwald survives as a traditional Swiss mountain community. Its two 700-year-old streets are decorated by drying laundry, hand-me-down tricycles and hollowed stumps bursting proudly with geraniums.
Denmark’s sleepy isle of Aero is the perfect time-passed world in which to wind down, enjoy the seagulls, and cherish the one you’re with. It’s a place where sailors — out of work after the rise of steam-driven boats — decided that building ships in bottles was more their style.
Aeroskobing is the island’s village in a bottle. It’s small enough to be cute, but just big enough to feel real. The government, recognizing the value of this amazingly preserved little 18th-century town, prohibits modern building anywhere in the centre. It’s the only town in Denmark protected in this way.
In Germany, cosy Beilstein is touristy but tranquil, except for its territorial swans swimming on the Mosel River. This “Sleeping Beauty of the Mosel” was only accessible by boat until about 1900, and still seems lost in time.
It’s what some visitors hope a Rhine River hamlet might be — a peaceful, romantic village slipped between impossibly steep vineyards and the river. Above the town are castle ruins with a postcard panorama — there’s even better views at the top of the lone surviving tower.
Wherever couples go, they usually fall under romantic Europe’s magic spell. And for singles, there’s no denying the romance of travel can sometimes spark a travel romance.