Top 5 Most Romantic Cities

Romance isn’t about rules. In San Francisco, birthplace of the Summer of Love and same-sex commitment, lovers of all stripes and types can pursue their amorous inclinations. A city this tolerant will be what you want it to be. The peninsular enclave has many faces: the serene slopes of Pacific Heights, Nob Hill with its jangling cable cars, the expansive green of the Marina’s Crissy Field, the Mission’s bustling street markets and nightlife, the Castro’s rainbow window-dressing.

There’s no need to feel schizophrenic, either, if you fancy a bit of each. San Francisco
specializes in flights of fantasy, thanks to the varied–and equally passionate–ways it celebrates human bonding. But much about this city, not least its European sensibility and the pulse-quickening views around every corner, will inspire traditional romantics. Spend a day wandering through the cafés, bars, mom-and-pop pastry shops, and focaccerias of North Beach, the city’s longtime Italian quarter. Its quaint alleyways and stairways leading nowhere in particular will put you in the mood for amore. You’re with each other; who cares where you’re headed? Go high, go low–in culture as well as altitude. The stomping
ground of the famous Beats still has an avant-garde, isn’t-art-the-living-end air, nowhere more pronounced than at City Lights Bookstore (co-founded by Beat poet/painter Lawrence Ferlinghetti). A visit there should be followed by a latte at Caffe Trieste or, if a quick nip is more your stimulant, check out Vesuvio, the onetime watering hole of Jack Kerouac. After you’ve got your literary cred, you can explore the less intellectual side of the ‘hood by popping in to the Lusty Lady, a worker-owned cooperative of exotic dancers. In San Francisco, even the strip joints can make you feel good about yourself.

San Franciscans love their food, showcasing it with an almost French sensuality. If you start the day at the newly restored Ferry building along the Embarcadero, where the Farmers’ Market (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday) brings together fresh and organic growers from all over the Bay Area, you can fill a picnic basket with your own food orgy. (On days the market doesn’t operate, troll the stores inside, like Cowgirl Creamery, an artisan cheese shop; the Golden Gate Meat Company; and Far West Fungi.)

Do we have to mention the Golden Gate Bridge? Yes, we do, and you locals could pay a bit more attention to this icon of
romance, too. Grab a cup of Peet’s coffee and walk the span for a sensation that the iciest San Francisco fog can’t ruin. Glimpses of the Marin headlands on one side, the hilly latticework of San Francisco on the other, and the blue-gray expanse of bay and ocean in between can’t help but make you love the one you’re with. It takes only a bit more daring and athleticism to bike across, or you can save your energy for the Marin side and a hike on Mount Tamalpais, where the sounds of the city give way to the silence of the redwoods. On a hot day, on windswept Stinson Beach, float in the Pacific, gazing up at the mountains.

If natural beauty isn’t enough of an aphrodisiac–well, you’ll always have chocolate. The Joseph Schmidt Confections shop on 16th Street at Sanchez is packed with exotic treats, including egg-shaped truffles in flavors from champagne to Earl Grey tea. Whatever turns you on: that’s San Francisco’s way of love.