A table for two and a long evening

Just the two of you

Chosen by our editors for a trip with one other person: somewhere to eat well without booking a table for eight, a view worth staying up for, and short enough distances that nobody spends the holiday in transit.

20 destinations

The Eiffel Tower above the Seine at violet dusk, with river boats moored along the bank

FranceThe oldest cliché in travel, and still right

A gondolier steering a gondola on the Grand Canal in front of the white arches of the Rialto Bridge in Venice

ItalyA city with no cars and no straight lines

A traditional street in Kyoto's Higashiyama district at dusk, wooden houses leading to the Yasaka Pagoda

JapanLantern light on the Pontocho lanes

The iconic blue domes of Oia in Santorini overlooking the caldera and the Aegean Sea

GreeceThe caldera, from a terrace, at sunset

Florence Cathedral: Brunelleschi's red-tiled dome and Giotto's bell tower rising above the rooftops of the city

ItalyRenaissance rooms and an early evening walk

The Colosseum in Rome at dusk, its arches glowing with warm light under a deep blue evening sky

ItalyDinner in a piazza that has been one for centuries

Aerial view of Barcelona with the Sagrada Família rising from the octagonal blocks of the Eixample grid

SpainLate dinners and a beach you can walk to

Rows of freshly baked pasteis de nata with flaky golden pastry shells and caramelised, blistered custard tops

PortugalMiradouros, and a bottle at the top of one

Aerial view along Charles Bridge crowded with pedestrians, looking across the Vltava towards Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral at golden hour

Czech RepublicThe old town after the day trippers leave

A Spanish tapas spread on a dark wooden bar table: a paella pan, a board of jamon and cheeses, plates of pintxos and montaditos, skewers, and glasses of vermouth and gin tonic

SpainOrange trees, tiled courtyards and a slow April

The red-brick turreted castle on the edge of the Minnewater in Bruges, its lakeside terrace set with white parasols and diners beneath bare spring trees and a wide, cloud-streaked sky.

BelgiumSmall enough to have entirely to yourselves

The row of Kato Mili windmills above the whitewashed waterfront houses of Little Venice in Mykonos Town, with waves breaking against the terraces, Greece

GreeceWhite lanes by day, the port by night

The white balustrade of La Concha promenade overlooking the bay and Santa Clara Island in San Sebastián

SpainPintxos, bar to bar, until you stop counting

The village of Vernazza in the Cinque Terre glowing at dusk, its lights spilling down the cliff toward the Ligurian Sea

ItalyFive villages, one coastal path

The village of Varenna clustered on its promontory over Lake Como

ItalyA ferry between villages, and nothing to do

Aerial view of Dubrovnik's walled Old Town on the Adriatic, with terracotta rooftops, the Old Port full of moored boats and sea fortifications

CroatiaThe walls at dusk, once the ships have gone

The minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech with the snow-capped High Atlas mountains behind it

MoroccoA riad courtyard behind a plain door

Udaipur's City Palace rising above Lake Pichola in golden evening light, with a red tour boat crossing the water in front

IndiaA palace on a lake, lit from the water

Strings of glowing red lanterns hung above a crowded night market street lined with food stalls

VietnamLanterns on the river, tailors by day

Hohensalzburg Fortress above Salzburg's old town at sunset, with the Alps on the horizon

AustriaA small baroque city under a fortress

Every destination here qualifies on the basis stated above, and each one is somewhere we have published guides for. Back to the full atlas.