‘We’re going to drink wine on a gondola’: Readers’ favourite romantic trips

From Rhodes to Rutland, our tipsters have felt the love in roof terrace bars, a mimosa forest, on a tandem and over a cream tea

I told my fiancée we were going somewhere where we would drink wine on a gondola so she was a bit surprised when we got on a plane to Portugal and not Italy. I had to explain that I meant the Venice south of Porto – the pretty canal town of Aveiro. The stay there, I informed her, would be half the cost of the real Venice and just as nice – both of which turned out to be true. Aveiro also has pretty, colourful waterfront houses and loads of cafes and seafood restaurants hugging its extensive network of calm, peaceful canals. I risked being dubbed a cheapskate but we both loved it – a great romantic choice for a Valentine break on a budget.
Nigel