Five Romantic Places You Shouldn’t Visit When You’re Single (And Bitter About It)

Let’s face it—sometimes being single can be a totally awesome thing. Like those times when you don’t feel like showering for two days or leaving your couch because you’re glued to a crappy crime show marathon on TV. Or, you know, like when you decide you want to quit your job, put everything you own in storage, and leave your “real” life behind for a while.

But then, after a few weeks of being totally alone, you realize that sometimes being single sucks a little bit. Especially when you’re in those horribly romantic places where everyone around you seems to be in those first few weeks of puppy love and they’re sucking face and you’re thinking, “Jesus, now I just want to go home and listen to James Blunt” (who my local radio DJs dubbed, “the music you want to slit your wrists to”).

slutty crisp

So, if you’re single and don’t want to be constantly barraged by those gross couples who are madly in love and want to show it to the world, don’t visit any of the following places. And, on the other hand, if you are one-half of those gross couples who are madly in love, maybe you should go to all these places.

cinque terre italy

I naively thought Cinque Terre was a place for people who were into outdoorsy things, like hiking 9km a day, fishing, and camping. But, I was so horribly, horribly wrong. The first tip-off should’ve been the walk between Riomaggiore and Manorola, known as Via dell’Amore, or Lovers’ Lane. As if that wasn’t enough to make me want to run away from these picturesque villages, then began the never-ending sea of couples making out in every public space ever.

paris france eiffel tower from montmartre
Paris is probably the first place that pops into people’s minds when you mention “romantic destination”. And with good reason: Paris is one of those places where lovers go to be in love. It’s constantly in your face: they share baguettes and wine in front of the Eiffel Tower, stroll along the Seine hand-in-hand, and pose for adorable kissy-face photos in front of every. possible. monument.

prague charles bridge night

Prague is a city that, especially in the winter, forces its visitors to cuddle up to one another to maintain some degree of warmth. The fact that it looks like it is straight out of a fairytale doesn’t hurt its romance appeal either—the castle on the hill, the winding cobblestone streets, and the Charles Bridge. It’s hard to walk even five minutes without seeing some sort of PDA in this Eastern European city.

montreal fireworks fire on ice

I’ve only been to Montreal in the winter. And in fact, it was just a week and a half before Christmas. It’s probably watching a lot of dramedies like Love Actually that give me this false sense of romanticism with regards to Christmastime, but seriously, it’s soooo romantic and I hate it. Montreal was dressed to the nines with its stupid Christmas lights and stupid fireworks displays and stupid cold weather making me wish I had someone stupid to hold hands with and take stupid romantic strolls with.

dubrovnik croatia stradun

Ugh. Dubrovnik, the Pearl of the Adriatic, is like Italy on crack in the romance department. It’s one of those places that is so beautiful and charming it makes you want to gag a little bit. And it’s so full of honeymooners and people who are high on the fumes of love that you just go running for the pasta and gelato, because sometimes a girl just needs to eat her feelings (of inadequacy and unrequited love).

So, if you’re single and bitter about it, do yourself a favor and avoid these romantic destinations and spare yourself a whole lot of sadness, eye rolling, and cynicism.

 

Author: Megan

Megan is an ordinary girl who outgrew her small town and decided to try the world on for size. She's on a mission to travel, photograph, and write about the world.

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  • Thanks for writing this post. While it does suck big time to be the lone traveller in the midst of lovey-dovey couples, I grew to realise that branding a town ‘romantic’ sometimes strips it of its unique characteristics. Eg Venice. Went there alone, braced myself for heartache. Instead, I met amazing people, went to random places like the market and found that there was more to it than the romance on the gondolas. Same for Paris. Walk along the Canal St Martin and embrace the bohemian youthful life, and one can find a whole new character to Paris. Also, travelling helps you grow in such a way that after a while, you become not only whole, but so fiercely and uniquely YOU that you do not NEED anyone else to complete you, but instead have a plethora of love, wisdom, happiness and magic to share and make a relationship work :) Keep travelling xx

    • I think honestly you can make any destination romantic if you’re with the right person, it just seems that some places are more romantic than others–they sort of bring out the romance between people. But you’re right in that you can easily find non-romantic areas.

      I agree with you though–traveling does make you very independent and makes you realize that you don’t NEED anyone, but that doesn’t mean that sometimes you don’t just WANT someone. ;)

      • That’s true. Sometimes one does wish for a kindred spirit to share one’s amazement at the wonders of the world with. :) But until that spirit comes along, pass on the macarons, please! :)

  • I wouldn’t have thought of Montreal for a romantic place, but I was there in the summer and it didn’t seem super romantic to me. I’ve also been to Paris and it didn’t bother me at all. I’m a bit oblivious to romance though, so that helps.

  • As someone who has lived in Montreal for five years, let me tell you that having no hands to hold in the winter is a blessing in disguise. You either end up freezing for fingertips off, or romantically holding a handful of mitten fabric. And single summers in Montreal are AWESOME. So many things to do, people to meet, and no one to consult with if you randomly decide to go on an all-night adventure with people you just met on Mount Royal. :)
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  • I’m now married and still spend a lot of time travelling with my husband, but I spent all of my twenties travelling as single. What I can say is that you can see different elements to a city based on your relationship status. Going to Paris alone, I practiced my French a lot more, people watched a TON, an found some fabulous French books to read while sipping wine. Going back with my husband, I see the city differently, but it’s been great to recognize how whether you’re with someone or not can give you an amazing albeit different experiences. I hope you keep having amazing travels. Also thanks for calling Montreal romantic. Canada, my country, has lots of gems that travel books sometimes overlook :-)