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Neighbourhoods and places the guides say suit couples, in the guides’ own words.
Neighbourhood · 17 places
If you only do one trip to Barcelona, sleep in Eixample. Its grid follows Ildefons Cerdà's 1859 plan, which the central government imposed on the city by decree.
Best for first-timers · couples on a city break · anyone wanting smart hotels and easy walks
Neighbourhood · 9 places
The Gothic Quarter is Barcelona's medieval core: cathedral squares, and alleys narrow enough that an outstretched hand touches both walls.
Best for returning visitors who know how to use the area · couples in love with old-stone atmosphere · people who eat dinner at 10 PM and like walking home through medieval alleys
Neighbourhood · 5 places
El Born, immediately east, was the merchant quarter, and its evenings are wine bars, slow Catalan dinners and the kind of terrace where you order one vermouth and stay two hours.
Best for returning visitors who know how to use the area · couples in love with old-stone atmosphere · people who eat dinner at 10 PM and like walking home through medieval alleys
Neighbourhood · 9 places
Gràcia was an independent town until it joined the city in 1897, and it still acts like one. Its plaças, among them Plaça del Sol, Plaça de la Virreina and Plaça de la Vila, are where the neighbourhood eats, drinks and walks the dog in the evening.
Best for returning visitors · couples who'd rather have one good Catalan dinner than three tourist menus
Neighbourhood · 11 places
Baixa is the downtown between Rossio square and the river, with Praça do Comércio, the river square, at its foot. Chiado, immediately west, is the café district: A Brasileira is on Rua Garrett.
Best for first-timers · couples on a 3–5-night trip · anyone who wants to be central
Neighbourhood · 10 places
Alfama is, in Visit Lisboa's words, "the oldest and most traditional neighbourhood in Lisbon, with cobbled lanes and alleys and steep, gruelling inclines". The Sé Cathedral sits at its western edge; Castelo de São Jorge at its top; Fado houses (the city's traditional mournful music) are scattered through it.
Best for returning visitors · couples who'd value atmosphere over convenience · photographers
Neighbourhood · 3 places
Príncipe Real is up the hill from Bairro Alto. Visit Lisboa describes it as "filled with trendy restaurants, grand mansions, tiny antique shops, Moorish kiosks, and miniature gardens".
Best for returning visitors · couples · design-conscious travellers
Neighbourhood · 3 places
Cais do Sodré sits on the river, immediately south of Bairro Alto. Once a sailors' district, it's now a nightlife district centred on Pink Street, which Visit Lisboa calls "full of bars".
Best for travellers who want nightlife on the doorstep · couples · foodies
Neighbourhood · 7 places
Avenida da Liberdade is a wide, tree-lined boulevard of cafés and boutiques.
Best for business travellers · luxe holidays · couples wanting a quieter, smarter base than the old town
Neighbourhood · 5 places
Mayfair is the postcode of the Bond Street boutiques, the Berkeley Square gardens and the private members' clubs. The streets are quiet at 10 PM, and the hotels are the ones non-Londoners imagine when they imagine London hotels.
Best for anniversary trips · luxury travel · anyone whose London is theatre + Mayfair restaurant + Hyde Park morning walks
Neighbourhood · 8 places
South Kensington has the Natural History Museum, the V&A, the Science Museum, and Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens all within ten minutes' walk. The streets are wide and white-stuccoed.
Best for families · museum-led trips · couples on a quieter, smarter London weekend
Neighbourhood · 4 places
Marylebone is immediately south of Regent's Park. It's a short Tube ride from Mayfair (Bond Street to Baker Street is three minutes on the Jubilee line), and Marylebone High Street is a 16-minute walk from Oxford Circus.
Best for returning visitors · couples · anyone who'd rather sleep in a real neighbourhood than next to a landmark
Neighbourhood · 1 place
The quiet, upscale end. Longer beach, calmer water, fewer teenagers, further from the airport by only ten minutes but noticeably further from everything else.
Best for couples · honeymoons · anyone who wants a-la-carte over buffet
Neighbourhood · 3 places
North of Cancun, past Puerto Juarez, Playa Mujeres is what the industry built when they ran out of room on Blvd Kukulcan. Newer resorts, larger plots, calmer water on the sheltered side of the peninsula, and a 25-minute drive to the airport.
Best for honeymoons · quiet all-inclusive weeks · families with older children
Neighbourhood · 6 places
Isla Mujeres is 7km of low-rise island where the main transport is a rented golf cart. Playa Norte on the north end is the calmest swimming water in the region.
Best for anyone who wants to unplug · couples on a wellness week · snorkellers and divers