How to Plan a Romantic Getaway

There are three main types of romantic getaways. International romantic getaways involve traveling abroad with a romantic partner. Extended romantic getaways could take you away for a few days or a few weeks. And overnight romantic getaways will give you and your partner 24 to 48 hours together. Talk to your partner about how much you two want to spend, what your travel priorities are, and how long you can afford to be away when planning your romantic getaway.

EditSteps

EditPlanning an International Getaway

Set your budget. It can be hard to know exactly how much money you’ll need for a given trip, especially if you’re traveling outside your home country, but you should be able to arrive at a rough estimate. Make a list of all the major expenses you know you’ll have – plane, train, ship, or bus tickets; tours; entertainment; meals – and total them. Factor in a reasonable amount of money for additional expenses that you might want to splurge on using knowledge of your spending habits.^[1]
- The cost of travel, meals, and other expenses vary greatly from country to country. If you’re headed abroad, consult a recent guidebook for information about basic in-country costs.
- Balance expensive activities with inexpensive activities to save money. For instance, if you schedule an all-day tour of a given city one day, plan on relaxing at the hotel or at the beach during the next day.
- Once you arrive at your romantic destination, however, leave all discussion about money and finances behind (unless absolutely necessary).^[2]
Plan the trip together. Both you and your partner should conduct some independent research about whatever destination you’re planning on visiting.^[3] Rent or buy a travel guidebook for the area you’ll be spending your romantic getaway, and/or investigate the area online. Draft a list of sights you want to see or experiences you want to have, and instruct your partner to do likewise. Discuss your lists with one another and identify areas of common ground to develop an itinerary.^[4]
- Provide options for your partner. For instance, you might ask your partner if they’d prefer to visit a museum or visit a park, or whether they’d prefer to go swimming or mountain climbing on a particular day.
- Be open to alternative suggestions from your partner. Remember, the trip should be romantic and special for both of you.^[5]
- Of course, you don’t need to do anything in particular during your romantic getaway. If you and your partner would be just as happy relaxing in bed all day during your romantic getaway, don’t feel obligated to do anything else.
Book your plane. Airfare will probably be the most expensive part of the trip, so you should book plane tickets before you do anything else. If you want to make a bonus stop on your romantic getaway, you could book a flight with a layover in a country midway between your final destination and your home country.^[6]
Book your accommodations. Once you’ve booked your plane, choose where you’ll be staying. Book a room somewhere with a good reputation that is within a reasonable distance of the places you and your partner wish to explore during your romantic getaway.^[7]
- If you don’t want to stay in a chain hotel, try a bed-and-breakfast (B&B). Chain hotels and motels are affordable, but their walls are often paper-thin and offer little privacy. A B&B offers greater privacy and tends to attract others seeking the same level of privacy.^[8]
- If you cannot stay at a B&B, stay in a small hotel. Small hotels will have a charming style that makes them unique and memorable.^[9]
Bring cash. Using credit cards overseas might sound convenient, but you will probably be racking up a lot of overseas usage fees. The best way to fund your overseas international getaway is to use cash while in the foreign country you’re traveling to.^[10]
- Check the exchange rates in your country against the exchanges rates in the country you’ll be traveling to for your international getaway, and choose to swap your cash in the nation with the more favorable rate.
- Alternately, pay with a credit card that doesn’t charge a foreign transaction fee.
Think about getting travel insurance. Travel insurance refers to a range of insurance policies that cover things like trip cancellations, flight cancellations, or medical insurance abroad. Once you’ve invested a significant amount of money into your international getaway plans, you might want to ensure that you won’t lose all that money if you or your partner suddenly fall ill, for instance.^[11]
- Contact your insurance company if you wish to obtain travel insurance. Ask about the different travel insurance plans they offer and choose one that fits with your income level.
Use local transportation. To save money, use the local trams or subways as much as possible. If you bring your domestically-provided driver’s license along with an international driver’s permit along to a country that honors it, you could rent a car. This will cost more than using local transportation systems, but could provide more privacy and opportunity for romance.^[12]
- Local transportation systems vary from place to place. In India, you might use a tuk-tuk. In Amsterdam, you might ride a bike. In New York City, you might use a subway.
Take care of the details. Once your romantic international getaway is all planned out, hire babysitters or pet sitters (if necessary). Set up international service with your phone company, if possible. And if you plan on using your credit card overseas, call your credit card company before leaving your home country so you they will know you’ll be charging it from abroad. ^[13]
Learn the local language. If you and your partner are headed out for an international getaway to a nation that doesn’t speak your language, you should learn at least a few key phrases of the local language. The longer your romantic international getaway lasts, the more of the language you should learn.^[14]
- Phrases focused on practical matters like directions and payment should be high on your language-learning priority list, followed closely by medical terminology so you can get to doctors and hospitals if needed.

EditPlanning an Extended Getaway

Decide what you want to do. To plan an extended romantic getaway, talk to your partner. Both of you should be on the same page regarding what you want out of the getaway. Make a list containing the experiences you want to have or goals you wish to meet during your extended romantic getaway.^[15]
- To kick off the conversation, ask your partner, “What should we do during our romantic getaway?”
Decide how long you want to travel. An extended romantic getaway could last a week or a month. Discuss with your partner how long you can both afford to be away.^[16]
- If you have a week or so to be away, you could plan on having a getaway in a single city or cluster of nearby cities.
- If you have several weeks to spend on your romantic getaway, you could plan on traveling across a country, visiting a variety of cities and romantic destinations.
Hire a travel agent. Travel agents will be a bit more expensive than planning the extended getaway yourself. But travel agents have connections with hotels and tour guides that can help you get the most out of your extended getaway. Share your getaway priorities, your budget, and the amount of time you and your partner want to commit to your romantic getaway with your travel agent so they can help you get the most out of your extended romantic getaway.^[17]
- Book in advance. As soon as you and your partner know that you want to head off for an extended romantic getaway, make plans with your travel agent to secure lodging and transportation. This ensure that rooms won’t fill up and you’ll get a seat on the plane, boat, or bus.
- Ask your travel agent about packages that bundle guided tours, lodging, and transport. Packages could save you money.
Find ways to save. Check online event calendars for free or inexpensive events going on in the destination you and your partner will be staying. If you and your partner wish to spend your getaway traveling, consider getting an air pass – a type of ticket that allows you to hop on and off flights for less than the usual rate. And compare prices for hotels and transportation before booking.^[18]
- If your agent proposes lodging or transportation that you find too expensive, let them know so they can find something else, or just let them know you’ll take care of that aspect of the trip yourself.
- If you book a condo or villa, you’ll be able to save on food costs by cooking for you and your sweetie. This could increase the feelings of romance between you.
Travel during the off-season. Don’t plan your romantic getaway for areas that are crammed during high-traffic periods. For instance, avoid a getaway to the ski lodge during Christmas or New Year’s, when they are at their most popular. Likewise, try to avoid going to seaside resorts unless school is still in session. Otherwise, you’ll face overcrowded beaches and steeper hotel rates.^[19]
Go on a group tour. Your romantic getaway doesn’t require you and your partner to spend the entire getaway with just each other. A group tour is a great way to break up the monotony of seeing only each other for days on end. Plus, it provides the opportunity to have new experiences and make new friends.^[20]
- You could book group tours to sites of cultural or historic significance once you’ve arrived at your location, or before you get there by checking online for tour group information.
Find a place to enjoy local fare. With an extended romantic getaway, you and your partner have time to explore and enjoy local food. For instance, perhaps you two could branch out and try a popular local dish.^[21]
- In South Korea, for instance, a popular local dish is live octopus. Consuming such a dish might be part of a romantic adventure for you and your partner.
- Even if you and your partner are not going abroad, you and your partner could find a way to enjoy a local or regional specialty within your country. For instance, if you are from the U.S., you might try a Chicago-style pizza during your romantic getaway to Chicago.

EditPlanning an Overnight Getaway

Travel somewhere close by. Since you have limited time on your romantic overnight getaway, you and your partner should spend more time on your getaway, not head toward your getaway destination. Talk to your partner about how much time you want to actually spend on the road (or on the sea, or in the sky, as the case may be) during your romantic overnight getaway.^[22]
- When traveling, schedule enough time to travel to and from places of interest. If you leave too narrow a window for arrivals and departures, you might be late, miss a flight or train, and experience general stress.
Don’t travel anywhere at all. If you live in a big city, you could easily have a romantic getaway by taking your romantic partner away from your usual patterns of behavior and trying something new. For instance, if you live in New York City and have never visited the Statue of Liberty, book a hotel for you and your partner and schedule a spot on a State of Liberty tour. Visit a new restaurant where you and your partner have never eaten and try it out.^[23]
- Having a more local romantic overnight getaway is a good idea because it helps you make the most of your limited time.
Finalize your plans. While an overnight romantic getaway requires relatively little preparation, it still requires some degree of planning. The more you and your partner want to do, the more planning you’ll need to engage in. For instance, you’ll need to book lodging, arrange transport, make dinner reservations, and get tickets to any events you plan on attending.^[24]
Surprise your partner. With an extended or international getaway, you will probably have to coordinate carefully with your romantic partner before making plans. But an overnight getaway could be made even more romantic by surprising your partner with a packed bag when they come home from work. Explain to your partner that you – for instance – have tickets to the opera, a dinner reservation, and a hotel booked for the two of you.^[25]
- Of course, you’ll have to check that your partner is not busy on the night you intend to take them on an overnight romantic getaway. Just ask casually, “So, what are you doing tonight?” before making your plans.
Choose an occasion. Overnight romantic getaways are best for significant holidays like anniversaries or Valentine’s Day. A short overnight getaway, especially when scheduled properly, can help you and your partner remember why you love each other so much and give you an opportunity to grow even closer.^[26]
Do something special for each other. There are many things you can do for your partner that will surprise and please them during your overnight romantic getaway. For instance, you might bring your partner a bouquet of flowers or a bottle of wine you two can enjoy. Sing a song that is special for you and your partner during karaoke at the bar. Give your partner a sensual massage in bed, or order room service for the two of you.^[27]
- If you want to give a nice massage, pack some massage oil.
- If you and your partner have been together for a while, do something that the two of you used to always do together. For instance, if, early in your relationship, you and your partner often played checkers, pack the checkerboard and bust it out when your partner doesn’t expect it.
- Light some candles in the room or on the patio for a more romantic atmosphere.
Stay away from technology. Since you and your partner have limited time to spend together during your romantic overnight getaway, you should take steps to ensure you spend each and every moment attentive to one another. Therefore, avoid using your phones, tablets, or laptops.^[28]
- Turn your phone off unless you want to take a picture or make a call.
- If you really want to stay off your phone, bring an actual camera to avoid the temptation of spending time on your phone.
- Take a break from social media accounts by turning off notifications or deleting the icon.
- Set up an autoreply from your email accounts to the effect that you are out of the office and will reply when you return.
Don’t overextend yourselves. Since you’ll only be on a romantic getaway for one night, don’t plan on anything extravagant. While on your overnight romantic getaway, limit yourselves to only as many activities as you feel comfortable doing. Relax in your hotel room after a single concert or a museum visit if you wish.^[29]