Escapes · Italy
Venice in winter, when the city belongs to lovers
Fog on the lagoon, empty campi, hot chocolate thick enough to stand a spoon in. The most romantic city on Earth is at its best when everyone else has gone home.
We are Claire and Ben — married, argumentative about maps, and permanently curious. Romantic Holidays is our journal of slow escapes and quiet hideaways: the places, seasons and small rituals that make traveling together the best thing two people can do.
Long, honest reads — planned by two, walked by two, argued over by two, and written down once we agreed.
Fog on the lagoon, empty campi, hot chocolate thick enough to stand a spoon in. The most romantic city on Earth is at its best when everyone else has gone home.
A city that rewards quiet couples: private baths under red maples, kaiseki dinners served in your room, and temple gardens before the tour buses wake.
Three days in the South's most graceful city — an anniversary classic that is closer, kinder to the budget, and more romantic than it has any right to be.
Yes, it's the most photographed island in Greece. And yes — walked at the right hour, slept in the right village and eaten in the right taverna — it is still one of the most romantic places we have ever stood. Here is how two people can have the caldera nearly to themselves.
Read the guideFarmhouses, lochside cottages and small historic towns — for the weeks when the itinerary is the two of you and nothing else.
The honest essays — on planning a honeymoon without losing your mind, and on why the couple that travels together, quarrels together, and stays together.
Not the most expensive trip of your life — the most deliberate one. A calm, complete guide from two people who planned theirs badly and learned everything from it.
Ten years, thirty countries, one marriage still intact. What we've learned about maps, moods, money and the sacred right to one solo morning per trip.
“We have forgotten most of the hotels. We remember every single breakfast where we sat on the same side of the table.”— from our journal, year three
Every place in this journal was visited by us, together, on our own money. No press trips, no comped suites, no tourism-board itineraries. If we recommend a room, we slept in it and paid the bill at checkout.
Budgets appear in real numbers. Crowds, rain and overrated sunsets get reported honestly. The goal is a trip the two of you will still be talking about in ten years — not a picture that performs well for strangers.
No affiliate links, no booking commissions, no sponsored posts. The journal is supported by readers and clearly-labeled display ads — so the only interest behind every recommendation is that it worked for us.
A short monthly letter: one place we'd take each other back to, one season worth planning around, and one small ritual that makes any trip feel like an occasion. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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