Skip to content

Top Navigation

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Trip Inspiration
  • Plan Your Trip
  • Travel Guides
  • World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises
  • Travel Tips
  • News
  • Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Explore

    Explore

    • World's Best

      The greatest islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by you. Read More Next
    • The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2021

      Whether you're traveling solo or planning a family vacation, here are the 50 best places to visit in 2021. Read More Next
    • Let's Go Together Podcast

      Start listening to T+L's brand new podcast, Let's Go Together! Hosted by Kellee Edwards. Read More Next
  • Trip Inspiration

    Trip Inspiration

    • Trip Ideas
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Spring Travel
    • Summer Travel
    • Fall Travel
    • Winter Travel
    • Solo Travel
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Luxury Travel
    • Beach Vacations
    • Adventure Travel
    • Road Trips
    • Family Travel
    • National Parks
    • Holiday Travel
    • Travel Photography
    • Photo of the Day
    • Culture and Design
  • Plan Your Trip

    Plan Your Trip

    • Travel Deals
    • Attractions
    • Amusement Parks
    • Festivals and Events
    • Bus and Trains
    • Flight Deals
    • Budget Travel
    • Hotels and Resorts
    • Disney Vacations
    • Airlines and Airports
    • Ground Transportation
  • Travel Guides
  • World's Best

    World's Best

    • Top Hotels
    • Top Cities
    • Top Islands
    • Domestic Airlines
    • International Airlines
    • Tours
    • Safaris
    • All World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises

    Cruises

    • Find A Cruise
    • Caribbean Cruises
    • River Cruises
    • European Cruises
    • All-Inclusive Cruises
    • Family Cruises
    • Alaskan Cruises
    • Disney Cruises
    • See All Cruise Vacations
  • Travel Tips

    Travel Tips

    • Travel Trends
    • Packing Tips
    • Points + Miles
    • Budgeting + Currency
    • Customs + Immigration
    • Responsible Travel
    • Travel Etiquette
    • Travel Warnings
    • Weather
    • Mobile Apps
    • See All Travel Tips
  • News

    News

    • Wellness
    • Celebrity Travel
    • Animals
    • Jobs
    • Offbeat
    • See All News
  • Food + Drink

    Food + Drink

    • Restaurants
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails + Spirits
    • Bars + Clubs
    • Celebrity Chefs
    • Cooking + Entertaining
    • Food Fairs + Festivals
    • World's Best Restaurants
    • See All Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories

    Travel Accessories

    • Travel Bags
    • Shoes
    • Travel Tech
    • Shopping
    • Style
    • Gift Guides
    • See All Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Trip Ideas
  3. Romantic Getaways
  4. 10 Must-Avoid Spots for Singles on Valentine's Day

10 Must-Avoid Spots for Singles on Valentine's Day

By Bunny Wong
July 31, 2009
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: iStock
It takes a hardened solo traveler not to wince at giddy twosomes reveling in the romance of travel—lovers smooching in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, giggling on a chairlift, or holding hands across an airplane aisle—especially on Valentine’s Day. Single and not in the mood for love this February 14th? No worries—it’s entirely possible to get around on the red-letter day without tripping over adoring couples.

The key to this strategy? Planning ahead. Robert Kelley, a 30-year-old single management consultant from New York, recalled being on a business trip over Valentine’s Day and sitting down to a candlelight dinner—with coworkers. “I don’t think we realized what day it was,” he says. As he watched the couples around him, he thought, “I’m never going to meet somebody if I’m sitting here with my work colleagues.”

Restaurants aren’t the only potentially isolating spots. “I found the Bahamas to be a wedding/romance conveyor belt,” says 30-something Maryland resident Patricia Legler. “Every morning we saw flowers on the hotel gazebos—slightly recycled.” And Legler is married. So you can only imagine the irritation of singles when encountering the saccharine, the kitschy, or the overly sentimental.

“I was happy for my friend when we were in Paris together and her boyfriend decided to join her,” says 31-year-old Brooklyn resident Britt Carlson, who usually relishes her single status in the city. “But after dinner, they’d want to go back to the hotel to be alone—and I’d want to go out.”

One solution? Cut couples out of the picture altogether. “Adventure holidays for singles are big,” says Diane Redfern, founder of Connecting: Solo Travel Network, a resource for people traveling by themselves. “With something like weekend cycling or hiking, people can join in on an activity and it takes the focus off of finding a mate.” Some tour operators, like iExplore and Singles Travel International, offer no-single-supplement deals, meaning that solo guests don’t have to pay extra—as they once would have had to—for staying in a double-occupancy room.

Despite what Redfern says is the increasing popularity of traveling solo, perhaps we’re all more uncomfortable by ourselves than we thought?According to the U.S. Travel Association, although 21.8 percent of travelers are single, only 11 percent of the population travels alone (meaning one person by themselves). At the very least, most of us wish to escape the kissy-kissy hordes.

And yet sometimes, despite the best-laid plans, evasion is fruitless. “I was on a flight recently and a couple actually held hands across the aisle for at least the first hour of the trip,” says New York City resident Petra Guglielmetti. “They grudgingly unclasped their handhold to let flight attendants through.”

So, ignore the pair snogging on the train, groping in the plaza, and spoon-feeding each other over the rustic little table—and enjoy a great getaway for one!
Start Slideshow

1 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

New England B&Bs

Credit: Courtesy of Rabbit Hill Inn

Why: Because the postcard romance, wall hangings of hand-stitched lovebirds, and canoodling couples on every chintz-covered couch are all reminders you’re looking for love. Not even the chocolate-chip pancakes will help.

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Groovy southwestern spas known for their (cough, cough) group activities, like Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe, NM. After a weekend spent nude hot tubbing (clothing is optional before 8:15 p.m. in the outdoor coed whirlpool) and sleeping in an Airstream trailer (the most far-out of 13 suites), you’ll be feeling some good vibrations. For the best karma, bring single friends.

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Candlelit Restaurants

Credit: Courtesy of One if By Land, Two if By Sea

Why: It’s one thing to be out with your true love, her eyes aglow in the reflected light of a flickering flame, but quite another if you’re at a romantic restaurant with a roommate, friend, or sibling. Plus, those burning candles are a regrettable reminder that no one’s heart burns for you. Steer clear.

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Nightclubs with flattering lighting. For excellent dancing, people-watching, and appearing in your best single light, head to Miami, renowned for its nightclubs with throngs of scantily clad singles. A prime example: the 40,000-square-foot Mansion, decorated to resemble the South Beach version of its name, with Roman arches, scarlet-hued couches, shiny celebrities, and cool lights—in this case, sleek laser ones that rhythmically light up the dance floor.

2 of 10

3 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Cozy Ski Lodges

Credit: Robert Miller

Why: Two words: cuddle trap. What with their hot crackling fireplaces, fuzzy wool blankets, and steamy cups of hot chocolate, these rustic abodes practically force guests to snuggle—and woe betide the lodger with no snow bunny of his own.

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Chairlifts with cuties. Singlehood doesn’t make skiing off-limits. The trick?Hit slopes frequented by the unattached, like Jackson Hole, WY. In pursuit of the greater good, we tracked down where the hotties congregate: The Granary, a cozy Teton slope-side bar usually packed with sexy cowboys; the new, mountainside Four Seasons; and the smaller Rusty Parrot, with locally crafted furniture and a solicitous vibe. Shy and living on the East Coast?There’s Black Mountain, NH’s Chairlift Speed Dating event.

3 of 10

Advertisement

4 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Elegant Chocolate Shops

Credit: iStock

Why: Chocolate on Valentine’s Day is practically an American institution—as wily wooers know. If you’re lovelorn and somehow stuck in a chocolate store, enjoy your own box of bittersweet bites. Ha!—you won’t have to share.

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Casual coffee joints, where many singles give in to a different caffeine-induced vice and hang for entire afternoons, often immersed in books that offer a conversational opening (“How about that—I love Chuck Palahniuk, too!”). Even better are coffee shops-cum-bars; as the sun sets, you can take the relationship to the next level—from just-met to kind-of-on-a-date—since the coffee-to-beer switch provides the perfect segue. A good example: Halycon, a lounge-y hangout in Austin, TX, with an espresso machine, well-stocked bar, and cheery green couches.

4 of 10

5 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Hotels with No Televisions

Credit: Audrey Lamandé

Why: Because chances are that anyplace advertising itself as being unplugged from the grid (no television, no Internet) will be full of travelers who are freed up to concentrate on life’s, er, simpler pleasures on Feb. 14.

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Tricked-out temples of technology. In standard W hotel rooms, for instance, guests can watch movies on giant flat-screen TVs instead of staring at photos of an ex, surf the Internet rather than call an old girlfriend, and otherwise repress their heartbreak taking advantage of the hotel’s iPod docking stations, DVDs, CDs, and PCs. And what better place to geek out than Dallas, a modern city that’s warm in winter?

5 of 10

6 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Fancy Flower Shops

Credit: iStock

Why: Well, because they’ll be crammed with people buying blooms for their sweethearts, obviously. But if you find yourself there, assemble a single-person’s bouquet with Adam’s needles—white blossoms with spiky stems—which apparently signify “a friend in need.” (That’s you, in need of a partner.)

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Places where flowers grow. A vase of blooms is nothing compared to a landscape dotted with them, especially in the case of Big Sur, a breathtaking stretch of terrain running alongside the Pacific. Inject some literary sex ed into your trek and stop by the Henry Miller Library, a memorial for the eponymous 20th-century Tropic of Cancer author, or celebrate celibacy piety at the Tassajara Buddhist Retreat, the oldest Zen monastery in the U.S.

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Secluded Resorts

Credit: Courtesy of Jade Mountain

Why: “Searching for paradise?” read the ad. Why, yes, thinks the singleton. “Experience privacy and vacation bliss on our sparkling white sands,” it continues. Sounds lovely, reflects the solo traveler. “All-inclusive luxury package includes romantic champagne breakfast for two.” You get the idea.

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Crowded, diverse locales where the fun is all-inclusive, like Las Vegas. You get the appealing everything-is-taken-care-of features of a resort sans the sense of being trapped on an island of love. Crash a bachelor/ette party and whisk away the most attractive guest for lobster at David Burke Las Vegas. And, for glitz that evokes the glamour of rock-and-roll singles, book a room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino—newly chic with a change of ownership.

7 of 10

8 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Waterfalls on Tropical Islands

Credit: iStock

Why: Because a thundering waterfall is a Harlequin novel come to life. Call it His Secret Cascade: “There was something about this part of the tropics that made Jane’s pulse skip a beat...but soon she realized that she was the only person at the waterfall without a man. The other couples were eyeing her strangely, and she vowed never to book a flight to a tropical island again.”

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Chilly party towns where you must cuddle to stay warm. Take Reykjavík, Iceland, where the nearby Blue Lagoon’s geothermal waters offer a steamy way to thaw an icy heart—i.e., meet attractive Nordic singles. Talk a good game over Reyka vodka in the cozy Kaffibarinn or while listening to a live band at the ever-popular Nasa, and perhaps you won’t snooze alone at 101 Hotel—hip yet cozy, and located in the thick of the action.

8 of 10

9 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Picturesque Streets with Horse-Drawn Carriages

Credit: iStock

Why: At least in fiction and film, couples in carriages are always professing their love. That’s why ambling alone over cobblestoned streets on Valentine’s Day can only come to no good. If you hear a clip-clop, turn the corner.

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Scenic cities with bikes—and we don’t mean bicycles built for two. Rent your own two wheels and ride freely, the wind in your hair, and explore every nook and cranny of heart-poundingly beautiful towns like San Diego or Amsterdam, the most bike-friendly town on the planet. Bike rentals: Bike Tours San Diego, AmsterBike.

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 10

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Tall, Iconic Buildings

Credit: iStock

Why: The scene: a skyscraper, a woman, and a man. The plot: thwarted love. The ending: the lovers meet at the top, of course, whether it’s King Kong and Fay Wray or Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, to be swept away by dramatic sunsets, sweeping views, and the feeling of being above all those single mortals.

Where Singles Should Go Instead: Nowhere—there’s no place like home. Think of it as a chance to celebrate the fact that no one’s nagging you to clean up, redecorate, or, worst of all, change the channel. While other people are outside, perhaps forced to navigate icy sidewalks in high-heeled shoes, you’re relaxing on your couch watching your favorite movie. Even Cupid’s jealous. Too bad he has to work all day!

10 of 10

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Bunny Wong

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 10 New England B&Bs
2 of 10 Candlelit Restaurants
3 of 10 Cozy Ski Lodges
4 of 10 Elegant Chocolate Shops
5 of 10 Hotels with No Televisions
6 of 10 Fancy Flower Shops
7 of 10 Secluded Resorts
8 of 10 Waterfalls on Tropical Islands
9 of 10 Picturesque Streets with Horse-Drawn Carriages
10 of 10 Tall, Iconic Buildings

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap
  • Travel Guide Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletters
Other Travel + Leisure Sites
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
Travel + Leisure is part of the Travel + Leisure Group. Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Travel + Leisure is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation Travel + Leisure Group All Rights Reserved, registered in the United States and other countries. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com

View image

10 Must-Avoid Spots for Singles on Valentine's Day
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.