10 of the most romantic city breaks in Europe
What are the key ingredients for a romantic city break? Perhaps it's a profusion of cute canals and medieval architecture, or maybe the secret to a loved-up weekend is top-drawer food and wine paired with strollable quarters. Whatever your criteria, you should find some European weekender inspiration here. This list includes the classics — we couldn't leave out Paris, of course — as well as some lesser-visited options. We've limited it to one per country in the spirit of fairness, and included the southerly likes of Seville and Valletta for couples seeking early-spring or late-autumn warmth. These are the European cities you'll fall in love with.
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Who can resist the glorious, fairytale absurdity of a floating city? Relentlessly attractive, Venice is best admired from the water — but swerve a gondola. Instead of the fabricated 'culture' of a costumed man quavering out O Sole Mio for £70, board a vaporetto boat-bus early at Piazzale Roma, ensuring you're one of the first aboard in order to bag front-row seats, and relish box-office views of the Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge for about £8. Later, as lamplight dances on canals, wavelets wash against 15th-century palazzos and footsteps echo on dinky bridges, stroll hand in hand towards some top-notch tiramisu in the waterside Osteria Fanal del Codega restaurant. And don't forget to raise a glass to your beloved at the lauded Harry's Bar, home of the OG bellini.
On the Grand Canal and largely populated by couples, Hotel L'Orologio Venice has a chic bar with sink-in leather armchairs.
Fancy seeing more? Princess Cruises' ten-day Mediterranean with Greek Isles & Adriatic cruise stops at Trieste for excursions to Venice during its circuit of the eastern Mediterranean.
• More great hotels in Venice• Best affordable hotels in Venice
Sure, you could aim to ascend Montmartre's steps to the Sacré-Coeur, scale the Eiffel Tower, cruise the Seine, attend the Moulin Rouge and gaze at the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. All have their merits. But a far better tack for City of Love-bound couples involves ditching the overambitious to-do list and simply sauntering, aimlessly, around one of its more villagey districts. The artsy Latin Quarter and snug, boutique-filled Marais fit the bill. Perhaps you'll pause to peruse markets for cheese, or to share some frites at a pavement café. Dinner à deux in Paris, meanwhile, should be in a vintage bistro — the sort where garlic strings hang down above a zinc-topped bar as everyone chatters noisily.
Up in well-to-do Montmartre, the longstanding Terrass Hôtel is named after its headline attraction: a seventh-floor roof terrace offering wonderful views.
The flight-free specialist Byway can arrange trips to Paris on Eurostar, stopping in Lille on the return leg.
• More great hotels in Paris• Insider's guide to the best neighbourhoods in Paris
Two things enhance the warm limestone of Malta's compact capital: a profusion of pastel-painted gallariji (closed wooden balconies) along many narrow lanes, and the regular lashings of sunshine that this southerly part of the Mediterranean enjoys from March to November. Mostly pedestrianised, Valletta is pleasingly easy to walk around; setting off from a trendy design hotel, partners might catch a recital at the Manoel theatre, one of Europe's oldest, visit a snug wine bar or watch sunset fall over the glinting Grand Harbour from a shaded, spritz-serving kiosk in the Upper Barrakka Gardens.
An old merchant's residence turned hip, 20-room haunt, the Saint John is one of those cool boutique hotels you'll want to keep all to yourself.
On a ship designed to tickle Brits' taste buds, P&O Cruises' Mediterranean circuit starts and finishes in Valletta.
• More great hotels in Valletta• The best of MaltaThe City of a Hundred Spires seduces in all seasons: open-air beer bars line the Vltava River's banks in summer, while autumn is the ideal time to wander along the waterway as the trees of Prague turn auburn shades. Winter's crisp light and occasional white coat renders sights like the astronomical clock especially spellbinding before spring sees bursts of flowers transform the Vltava — not least on the Czech Republic's well-celebrated Love Day (May 1). There are ample parks, gardens and green spaces to roam, including Petrin Hill, whose namesake, Eiffel-imitating tower comes with fine vistas over Prague Castle, Charles Bridge — itself best experienced at dawn, if possible, ahead of the hordes — and a riot of red-roofed buildings.
Check in to BoHo Hotel, a stylish stay with a moody spa housed in an old post office a quick stroll from the old town.
Read our full review of BoHo Hotel
The upmarket Avalon Waterways has Danube River cruises with a two-night Prague extension — including special wine-themed versions.
• Best hotels in Prague• Best things to do in Prague
Should Vienna's arcade-lined courtyards, imperial palaces and gothic churches fail to spark a sense of romance (it's unlikely), then head for its Upper Belvedere museum and ogle Gustav Klimt's The Kiss, one of the most amorous paintings around. Also liable to precipitate passion are stops in opulent coffee houses such as Café Sacher for calorific slices of chocolatey sachertorte, and evening opera performances in the home of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Cooler cats may prefer Vienna's raft of rooftop bars or, when there's a full moon, to drift along the meandering Danube in a lantern-lit canoe (see secretvienna.org).
There's a rooftop bar with far-reaching views and yoga kits in every bedroom at Jaz in the City.
Budapest, Prague and, yes, Vienna, with a full day here, are the subject of Travelsphere's regular, culture-focused Imperial Capitals group tour.
• Best affordable hotels in Vienna• Europe's best cities for art lovers
Andalusia's main city is especially irresistible in spring, when fruiting orange trees produce a heady citrus scent and temperatures linger in the 20s. It's lovely in autumn too, when the summer heat starts to wane. Seville's standout sight is the jewel-lined Alcazar palace complex, including a series of glorious walled gardens; meander around those in the morning, before other tourists arrive. Afternoons might be devoted to wandering around ancient Santa Cruz, a central barrio where the whitewashed houses are festooned with flowers, ahead of atmospheric flamenco shows at the intimate Casa de la Memoria, whose dancers and singers tell passionate tales of lifelong loves. Finish with an evening tapas-bar crawl, clinking glasses of fino sherry and trying some nutty, thinly sliced jamon.
Fifteen minutes from the centre by bus, the Doña Carmela is affordable and lays on an outdoor pool with loungers.
Seville, with a guided tapas tasting, features in Riviera Travel's Classical Spain group tour, which also visits the Andalusian cities of Granada, Cordoba and Ronda.
• Best hotels in Seville• Discover our full guide to Seville
Inside the Arctic Circle, and under four hours from London or Manchester on direct flights, island-set Tromso is, admittedly, freezing in winter: January typically sees averages of minus 4C. But it's also bewitching. A permanent backdrop of snowy mountains and glassy straits helps with that, as does the chance to undertake tandem, self-drive dogsled safaris or join killer and humpback whale-watching cruises along epic fjords. Northern lights displays peak at this time in the 'Paris of the North' too; it's often possible to see the aurora borealis from the 421m (1,381ft) mountain ledge Storsteinen. The Fjellheisen cable car goes up to its café, which serves excellent cinnamon buns.
Along with funky modern design, the city-centre Moxy Tromso hotel has a buzzy rooftop bar delivering more glorious views.
The Aurora Zone can arrange private, northern lights-themed city breaks here with activities added on as you please.
• Read our full guide to Norway• Best Norwegian fjords cruises
Bruges might be the go-to Belgian city for romantic breaks, but Ghent is the savvier bet. It has an equally well-preserved historic centre, and a similar bevy of medieval waterways that enchant when illuminated at night. You'll also find the same boat tours, gables, gothic guildhalls, horse-and-cart rides and chocolate shops, plus a still-taller belfry that offers tremendous panoramas. But Ghent is additionally a little bit cooler than Bruges, possesses a stronger food scene and is far, far less crowded with tourists — enabling lovers to more easily enjoy private moments, including ones that might involve the lowering of a knee.
As central as it gets, the luxurious 1898 The Post hotel occupies a former sorting office; its cocktail den is superb.
Byway will tailor-make the rail-based trip you want, but suggests a jaunt to Ghent via Belgium's smaller, art-obsessed city of Kortrijk.
• Best underrated cities to visit in Europe
Dainty, blue-white azulejo tiles pepper Porto's hilly, small-sized centre, even decorating the fortress-like Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady's handsome cloisters. Below, a clump of colourful, 18th-century townhouses and small bars — serving classic Portuguese petiscos (small plates) such as grilled sardines or codfish cakes — announce Ribeira, a district whose narrow streets zigzag down to the Douro River. If you've got time, sail off up the river on a day cruise to idyllic terraced vineyards; if not, cross over to Cockburn's port cellars for tastings of the city's namesake fortified wine. Try also to inspect the beaux arts Sao Bento, one of Europe's saintliest train stations.
Conveniently located in Porto's Boavista district, the HF Tuela hotel includes a restaurant serving regional cuisine.
Riviera Travel has a river cruise that follows the Douro all the way to the Spanish border and back; three-day Porto extensions can also be booked.
• More great hotels in Porto• The best of Portugal
In most capitals, a statue on the main square depicts a military or political hero. Not so Ljubljana; here the love-declaring, sonnet-writing poet France Preseren is honoured. This adequately summarises the Slovenian city's soulful nature, one further seen in a series of picturesque bridges and embankments along its leafy Ljubljanica River — busy with bars and boats in summer — and via the Disneyesque castle towering grandly above. A funicular sends glass-walled carriages up to that. Adding to the mesmerism is a largely car-free centre replete with baroque façades and, if time allows, excursions to visit mountain-hugged Lake Bled and its photogenic island church.
Announced by its bold, bird's-nest style, the boutiquey Nox is one of Ljubljana's leading design hotels.
You'll be shown around Ljubljana on Titan's Stunning Slovenia group tour, as well as seeing spectacular mountain passes and gorgeous coastal towns.
• Most romantic holiday destinations around the world
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE We bought our dream three-bed home with a swimming pool in Bulgaria for £54,000 - it's insanely cheap, but this is what people DON'T realise about living in the ex-Communist state
At the turn of the 2010s, Stephen Yarrow decided he'd had enough of London. In fact, he'd had enough of Britain altogether. Growing up in Willesden, Finchley and Edgware in the 1960s, the north London the one-time Thames TV film editor called home was no longer one he recognised. As a Jewish man living in an area with one of the highest concentrations of Jews in the capital, he felt rising hatred towards his kin would only get worse. 'I was seeing more and more antisemitism, more and more Jewish schools being attacked, more and more synagogues being attacked,' he said. Despairing at the cost of his mortgage in Edgware and unhappy at the state of Britain, he began plotting his life abroad in retirement and with Barbara made a move popular with an increasing number of Brits, to the furthest reaches of Europe: Bulgaria. The pair, both 67, snapped up a three-bed, two-bathroom bungalow with air conditioning and a swimming pool for £54,000, paying £5,000 to a professional moving company to shift the furniture from each of their homes. Moving to a village near the city of Dobrich in north-east Bulgaria was 'frightening' at first, he tells MailOnline - with huge cultural differences, occasional power cuts and sweeping changes to everyday life to digest in the former Communist state. But watching crime rates spiral and antisemitism ferment in his home city from 1,400 miles away, and with the beach just a few miles away, the Jewish retiree says he couldn't be happier - and says he will never live in the UK again. 'It's so much better here', he says, speaking from his home on a video call, wearing a red t-shirt that reads 'Keep Calm and Move To Bulgaria'. 'It's quieter, there's hardly any traffic, there's no light pollution at night. I can sit by my pool in the afternoon, have a gin and tonic, and not worry about anything. 'I very rarely go to synagogue (in Bulgaria), only on the high days and holidays. 'But when we do go, outside the synagogue there's a police car with two police officers with firearms. British police don't supply that kind of service. 'It's like it was when I grew up in the 60s, when there were policemen pounding the beat morning, noon and night, and it was safe. I feel very, very safe. 'I would never come back. If I won £20million on the lottery, I would not come back to the UK.' The couple plan to spend the rest of their days enjoying everything the Black Sea has to offer, from its sprawling beaches and dirt-cheap restaurants to the comforts of their own swimming pool, complete with poolside bar. These days, if Stephen heads into the city of Varna - a seaside resort with a population equivalent to Nottingham - he isn't even afraid to walk the streets at night. Stephen and Barbara's move to Bulgaria came about following extensive research into the country's infrastructure, lifestyle and cost of living - trumping France, Germany, Italy, Spain and even neighbouring Romania. They eventually settled on their spot close to the Black Sea coast for its quiet location and convenience after driving around the region for two weeks in a hire car with an estate agent in tow. They're far enough out from the major city of Varna - where several direct flights to London are available should they ever fancy a trip home - to enjoy their enviable surroundings without feeling completely removed. A major supermarket is only a short drive away, where a 12-pack of beer is 11.99 Bulgarian lev - around £5 - and a loaf of bread is 99 stotinki, Bulgaria's answer to pennies, or about 40p. For those brave enough, chilled rabbit meat - still eaten in the country - is available for £6.50 a kilogram. 'We eat it in the winter,' he says. 'I like rabbit - we cook it in Guinness.' And even now, more than 13 years later, his bills remain almost insultingly low in comparison to typical British living costs. 'My council tax is around £30 a year, which is less than I was paying for a week when I lived in London,' he says. He's not wrong: council tax on a Band C property in Edgware is £1,809.34 a year as of April - or just under £35 a week. He runs off a list of more, barely believable prices: £13 a month for water, 98 pence a litre for petrol, £40 a year in car tax, £100 a year for car insurance, £100 a year for 90Mb internet, £45 a month for mobile phones, landlines and a 5G internet backup. Healthcare is subsidised via National Insurance contributions he paid as a working man in Britain - with appointments and blood tests costing a pound or two at a time. Stephen's tips for Brits retiring in Bulgaria Work out a budget. It is likely to be much easier to buy a house in cash than it is to get a mortgage, especially if you are just arriving Make sure you have your DWP state pension and NI contributions up to date to keep you in good stead Visit the country first to ensure you like it - do you want to be by the sea, in a city, in a village? Spend a weekend in the area you're thinking of moving to - will it be noisy on Fridays and Saturdays? Consider the risks of buying an isolated property - will you feel safe? A 20-pack of cigarettes that would cost £14 in Britain is just £2.50. Living with COPD, Stephen says smoking isn't for him. A cheeky tipple is another matter. A litre of vodka? £10. Gordon's Gin? £11. And if they run out of that, there's always rakia, the potent fruit brandy that sits at the heart of many a Bulgarian social. Home brewing of rakia is common but for those without the means, it's easy to find a still in which to make your own for, in Stephen's words, 'a couple of quid'. 'It's quite normal to walk around sometimes and see men quite drunk at 11 o'clock in the morning. As long as they don't cause any problems, don't come up and say "hey, give me some money", I'm not bothered.' The only bigger bill to worry about is electricity: £45 a month in the summer, and £130 for heating in the winter after they gave up burning wood on a stove. Life, then, is laidback, and it is cheap. But not without its pitfalls. 'The roads,' Stephen says, frankly, 'are crap.' He's even less kind about the drivers, and not without cause: the country has the second-highest road fatality rate in the EU, just behind neighbouring Romania. Many Romanians earn less than 1,000 Euros a month, and some still use donkeys and carts to get around. Road signs warning of animal-drawn carriages are common close to where he lives. As for those who drive, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office even warns Brits to beware of 'aggressive' driving, particularly on motorways - where the speed limit is 140kmh (87mph). It doesn't help that minor speeding fines incur a fine of just 20 Bulgarian lev - or about £9 - though penalties get tougher depending on how much a driver exceeds the limit. Driving is even more hazardous in winter, when the already dilapidated roads become death traps and businesses choose to close for months, deprived of the dependable trade of summer tourists. 'They (Bulgarians) drive like idiots. I've driven in the snow, driven in the fog - and they'll overtake you on blind bends. They're crazy,' he says. His preference in the winter? Stay off the roads, and shut yourself away. 'You just pull the shutters down and stick a DVD on,' he says, adding with a grin: 'A decent bottle of French rose wine is three pounds.' The water and electricity might be cheap - but that is offset by reliability issues with supplies because the infrastructure is 'crumbling', he says. There's also the matter of drainage, or rather the lack of it: a septic tank is a must. But some things have changed since he moved there. Relocating isn't easy post-Brexit. Beforehand, Brits could live, work and study there without a visa - but no longer. And property costs have spiralled: his £54,000 home is now likely worth almost four times that. Some Brits are now snapping up the most dilapidated of homes and apartments to do-up as a long-term investment, as the Mail has explored. And for those hoping to find a Spanish-style little Britain, a home from home where everyone speaks English and the comforts of Britain are at hand, think again: refusing to integrate into the community is a no-no. Stephen admits he has struggled with learning Bulgarian as he has neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic condition that affects his ability to learn the language - and means he will never be able to apply for citizenship. However, he and Barbara mix with their neighbours - among them native Bulgarians, Russians, Ukrainians, Norwegians and Swedes, so help with translation when visiting the tax office or the mechanic is never far away. 'The problems people have are with the Brits that don't integrate,' he adds. 'They all go to the same bar every week, they only drink with Brits, they only socialise with Brits, and they get nowhere pleasant.' The one thing he finds is lacking in his corner of Europe's furthest reaches is children - not that he's bothered. 'I'm not very keen on small children, to be honest. And I certainly wouldn't have them in my pool, because they tend to wee in it,' he says. Speaking from experience? 'Unfortunately.' On the subject of squabbling children, he finds himself watching helplessly as the main Bulgarian parties fail to agree how to govern after no less than three elections in the last year. Plans to abandon the lev and join the Euro - potentially without a referendum - have sparked fury among nationalist parties. Despite supporting the centre-right GERB party, one of three currently in charge of the country, he is voiceless amidst the chaos, deprived of the right to vote in Bulgaria post-Brexit following a court ruling that may yet be reversed. While unable to vote, he successfully supported his neighbours in convincing the local mayor to cancel plans to permit the construction of a German wind farm close to his home. As a whole, he still insists he'd rather be in Dobrich than London. 'I was very upset when Labour got in, because I think they're just going to tax everything to the hilt, and people will just get more and more poor,' he says. 'If I'm ever in the UK now, I tend to use Ubers. Black taxis are just ridiculously expensive and I wouldn't go on the Tube now. No, too dangerous. I do not feel safe.' Safety remains a consideration in Bulgaria, and one of Stephen's less desirable monthly outgoings is the £30 he forks out for private, armed on-call security to protect the house from what he deemed more 'jealous' locals. 'Without being rude, the cheaper villages are full of gypsies, and that can be a problem,' he says. Around 10 per cent of the country's population are Romani travellers, who largely live in poor quality housing. Local authorities have been demolishing Roma settlements, sparking international condemnation, while the EU and the Council of Europe spend millions on ROMACT, a programme meant to support their integration into Bulgarian and Romanian society. Nevertheless, Stephen claims they can be opportunistic: 'If you've got money and a nice car, and they haven't, they might turn you over if you're away for a long time. 'It's quite common for people to have that level of security. Most Brits have it, we've got shutters as well and CCTV, and an alarm.' He's also wary of stray dogs who 'get hungry, and if they get hungry they get aggressive'. He carries pepper spray - legal in Bulgaria under the country's vague weapon laws - just in case he meets a particularly peckish one, but says he has never had to use it. The issue of safety also occasionally extends to what he says remains a 'male-dominated' culture still remains from the country's Communist era. He tells of a friend who was followed home by a drunk Bulgarian man who tried to molest her, the situation ultimately defused by a neighbour. But he insists: 'It can happen absolutely anywhere. Even in Mayfair, even in Beverly Hills. It's relatively safe here.' Stephen and Barbara were among part of what might considered a second wave of Brit expats to have relocated to Bulgaria. In 2011, there were 2,605 British citizens living there while retaining their UK citizenship. That shot up to 4,484 in the space of a decade - at an average rate of four a week. Some estimates run far higher, but he reckons some left in the wake of Brexit, or when their other halves died. He, of course, has no plans to leave at all. 'It is a gamble, it is a huge gamble,' he says of moving out there. 'It was frightening because it could have not worked out. One of my friends said to me, "You'll be back in three months, you'll be bored." 'Am I? Not a chance.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Tourists issued warning over ordering ice cream in Italy
Tourists have been urged to take care when ordering ice cream in Italy this summer as they could be being duped. Italian gelato is world famous for its creamy texture with tourists often flocking to purchase iconic flavours such as pistachio and stracciatella. But they might not be getting the real thing. The Express reports that many tourists are actually buying a cheap copy of gelato with the cheeky scam particularly prevalent in Rome. Foodies at explain that classic gelato is 'churned at a much slower rate, incorporating less air and leaving the gelato denser than ice cream'. And there's also an easier way for tourists to spot inauthentic gelato. If the ice cream colours are particularly bright, it's generally a sign that you're not buying a real gelato. Classic gelato is usually pale in colour as makers don't use artificial food colouring during the process. Tourists can also check reviews on Google and Tripadvisor to find gelato cafes with particularly high ratings. One popular spot is Vivoli, a historic ice cream shop in Florence which is home to an iconic new treat. A €6 coffee dessert has become the latest Tuscan viral sensation, drawing crowds of tourists and creating hour-long lines outside the city's oldest gelateria. The creamy drink, called the Gran Crema Caffè Vivoli, is a twist on the classic Italian affogato - a shot of hot espresso served in a pre-chilled cappuccino cup with four strips of smooth vanilla gelato lining the edges.
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Devastated Big Brother star Imogen Thomas admits she's ‘traumatised' after ‘last' holiday with seriously ill mum
IMOGEN Thomas has called out easyJet for breaking her seriously ill mother's wheelchair on a flight. The 42-year-old star has flown to Italy with her mother Janet, who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in 2023. However, after suffering trouble on the flight, her mother's wheelchair is now broken, and the Big Brother star has blamed the airline for their lack of communication and called on them to help her. Sharing a photo of the broken chair, Imogen wrote on Instagram: "We've arrived in Italy but are traumatised. Easyjet have broke my mums electric wheelchair. "It will not fold and is unstable. We are beyond upset and I'm here trying to console my mum as much as possible." Explaining she went on social media as a last resort, Imogen shared her frustration with the airline's customer service system. "I've been on the chat to make a claim now it's disappeared," she said. "Called Easyjet and they told me nothing can be done on the phone only on the live chat. "Now I can't start a new chat as my old one is already open and it doesn't allow me although it's disappeared from my phone." "Please help me Easyjet this is our last holiday abroad as my mum's MSD is progressing," she added. "We are only here for a couple of days and it's ruined. "How on earth can this wheelchair break during transit in the hold? Beyond devastated. We had every reason to be nervous about this flight." When approached for comment, an easyJet representative told The Sun Online: " We are very sorry for the damage caused to Ms. Thomas' mother's wheelchair during transit and for the difficulty she experienced trying to get in touch with us. Big Brother star Imogen Thomas looks incredible as she strips off to black bikini on holiday "We have been in contact with the family to apologise and offer any assistance we can. "We understand how important it is for our customers to feel confident that essential items like this will be well cared for when travelling with us. "We are urgently looking into this with our ground handling partners." Imogen revealed her mother's motor neurone disease in January last year, six months after the initial diagnosis. Imogen went on to explain that she and Janet have decided to speak out publicly for several reasons. The star, who has two daughters of her own, said they are keen to raise awareness of MND and also hope Janet will be able to connect with others "who understand what she is going through". They added they were inspired to go public with the diagnosis after Coronation Street aired a storyline where character Paul Foreman had the disease. Motor Neurone Disease, which currently has no cure, is a rare disease that affects the brain and nerves, and causes weakness that gets worse over time. It slowly robs patients of the ability to walk, talk and eat, although every sufferer is different. 5 5 5
