Life

Top 10 Romantic Destinations

Chris’ Picks

“Chris’ Top Ten Favourite Places” is a regular feature of top travel destinations selected from Chris Robinson’s personal experience. This week he picks his favourite “Romantic Places”.

Ah, the romance of travel… Here are ten places where I have become starry-eyed, beguiled and bewitched by the moment, the place and the person with me. I dare you to visit and not fall in love!

  1. St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    Undeveloped, unspoiled and cloaked in emerald green rain forest, the mother island of St. Vincent also boasts an archipelago necklace of pristine tropical islands for the most perfect get-away-from-it-all experience. This is the spot we have chosen to renew our wedding vows after 30 years of marriage.
  2. Treetops Lodge, Kenya
    There is something wonderfully powerful, primeval and romantic about staying up all night together in this atmospheric old wooden lodge built on stilts among the trees overlooking a waterhole and watching the nocturnal activities of the animals of the African plains. This is where Elizabeth arrived as a princess and departed as Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.
  3. Heidelburg, Germany
    Imagine an ancient castle ruin standing atop a wooded hill overlooking a medieval university town, with the Neckar River meandering through the town, old cobbled streets, quaint taverns, marketplaces and coaching inns dating back centuries…We wandered the streets just soaking up the atmosphere.

  4. Kashmir, India
    Once upon a peaceful time in this Shangri-La land, I stayed in blissful peace on a Victorian houseboat on Lake Dal beside a medieval town, with the Himalaya perfectly mirrored in dazzling waters…and I was lost to the magic of Kashmir. One day it will be possible to visit again and I will return with the love of my life.
  5. Taj-Mahal, India
    I was so prepared to be disappointed with the Taj…and yet was blown softly away on the river breeze when I first saw it, by moonlight, from a distance. Close up, the love affair deepened. It is, quite simply, the perfect architectural embodiment of love and everyone should write it down now on their Bucket List if it isn’t there already.
  6. Moorea, French Polynesia
    A thatched hut built on stilts over the warm waters of a turquoise lagoon, a tiny verandah over the natural aquarium around us, and steps that led us gently into the clear warm waters…heaven on earth…well, heaven on water really I guess – but heaven nonetheless!

  7. Cambridge, UK
    OK, so this is a very personal choice…it’s where my romantic fate was sealed, arm-in-arm together on the medieval Magdalene Bridge as the moon’s reflection rippled across the River Cam and the spires of King’s College Chapel were silhouetted in the distance…I placed a ring on the finger of my girlfriend that is still there over thirty years later.

  8. Le Château Frontenac
    Our very own romantic hot spot: winter or summer, this castle-like hotel occupies an eminence in between The Citadel and Old Quebec in Quebec City and epitomizes the chic grandeur of our most beautiful Canadian city. This was where I took my wife for our first romantic weekend getaway when we arrived in Canada.

  9. Tuscany, Italy
    Romance spices the Tuscan air, infuses the Tuscan wines and hangs miasma-like in the early morning mists that often surround the hill-top villages; stay in a castle, a villa or a farmhouse and let the essence of Tuscany seep into your soul! We stayed in the Villa Pitiana, a converted Benedictine Monastery on a hilltop outside Florence with views that went on forever.
  10. Frégate Island, Seychelles
    A 20 minute flight from the main island of Mahé, itself an island speck in the Indian Ocean, this tiny island boasts a single luxury lodge, unique flora and fauna and perfect granite coves all to yourself. If you are looking for the perfect tropical island romantic paradise, this is it – and we would return in a heartbeat.

By Chris Robinson
Chris hosts Canada’s top rated radio travel show – the Chris Robinson Travel Shows on Newstalk 1010 CFRB in Ontario and CJAD 8000 Montreal in Quebec. www.chrisrobinsontravelshow.ca

Photo Credits: iscoversvg.com, naturephotographer.net, Chris Robinson

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