This list contains National Trust properties that are full of romance, with stunning landscapes, gardens and buildings to wander around. Immerse yourself in beautiful surroundings with the stories of love in ages past. Pick your idyllic setting to spend with your loved one.
#1 Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire
A moat, bridge and gatehouse make for a memorable approach to Baddesley Clinton National Trust Images / John Millar
A moat, bridge and gatehouse make for a memorable approach to Baddesley Clinton. The lake, woodland and walled garden – full of daffodils in spring – offer peaceful spots for a relaxing stroll with someone special. The house is full of history, including priest holes, once used to conceal Jesuit priests during times of Catholic persecution.
#2 Carrick-a-Rede, County Antrim
Take the rope bridge challenge National Trust Images / Rod Edwards
Suspended almost 100ft (30m) above sea level, crossing the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge is ideal for the more adventurous romantics. Why not take the exhilarating rope bridge challenge with your loved one and enjoy a truly unique clifftop experience? The bridge connects the mainland to a rocky island, from which you can enjoy views of Rathlin Island, Scotland and the Causeway Coast.
#3 Claremont Landscape Garden, Surrey
See for miles in every direction from the top of the Belvedere Tower National Trust Images / Andrew Butler
Given as a wedding present to Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of George IV, in 1816, Claremont is steeped in royal romance. The landscape garden features a serpentine lake, Camellia Terrace and grand Belvedere Tower. Share a romantic moment on one of the white wooden benches dotted around the garden or sitting in the grass amphitheatre.
Happy Wedding day at Dinefwr National Trust
Dinefwr is the ideal place for outdoor enthusiasts looking for a special day out. Wander among the walls of the 12th-century castle and take in the view from the top or explore the extensive park with its water meadows and oak woodland. Home to a herd of fallow deer, Dinefwr Park is the only designated parkland National Nature Reserve in Wales.
#5 Downhill Demesne and Hezlett House, County Londonderry
Weddings at Downhill Demesne This Modern Love
Explore this 18th-century landscape, complete with a pretty Gothic gate lodge, a small arboretum and lots of statues and temples. Perched right on the cliff edge, the iconic Mussenden Temple is a lovely spot for a romantic moment with your loved one, and even hosts weddings if that’s on the cards.
Visitors sat outside the cafe National Trust Images/Trevor Ray Hart
Thought to be one of Britain’s finest houses, this 18th-century country house is set in a romantic landscape park. The tale of ‘life below stairs’ is captured beautifully at Erddig, with the story of Lucy Hitchman and Ernest Jones, who worked there just before the First World War. They fell in love and took strolls around the park on their afternoons off. Today you can retrace their footsteps on the ‘romantic walk’; an easy, one-mile walk with plenty of kissing gates for that extra sprinkle of romance.
#7 Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden
Explore the magnificent Fountains Hall Chris Lacey
A memorable day out needs a memorable setting. The atmospheric ruins of the once magnificent Fountains Abbey and landscaped elegance of the Georgian water garden make a visual spectacle that’s bound to impress. Combined with the 800 acre deer park you’ll find there are endless peaceful and romantic spots to explore in this stunning corner of the North Yorkshire countryside.
Discover pretty flowers and a magnificent Manor house at Hughenden Hugh Mothersole
This property was once home to the Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and his wife Mary Anne. Once, while accompanying Disraeli to an important speech, Mary Anne trapped her finger in the carriage door. So as not to distract him from his speech, she kept quiet. Later, when Disraeli learned what she’d done, he had the carriage door removed and displayed on the wall as a sign of the strength of their love. Take a walk around this beautiful stately home with your loved one and see the carriage door still on display in the ground floor corridor.
The Palladian Bridge is a romantic spot Anna Barclay
For the ultimate romantic day out you can’t beat a trip to Prior Park in Bath. Admire the views over the city from the top of the hill then stroll down to see the famous 18th-century Palladian Bridge. This elegant piece of architecture is the perfect spot for a romantic moment with your loved one, or maybe even a proposal.
A sighting of the deer at Lyme really puts the icing on the cake of any visit National Trust Images / Arnhel de Serra
Nestled on the edge of the Peak District and surrounded by expanses of moorland, Lyme Park combines architectural grandeur with wild beauty. It’s a setting that oozes romance – it was even used as a backdrop for the famous scene in which Elizabeth Bennet meets a drenched Mr Darcy in the 1995 BBC adaptation of ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
Enjoy Oxburgh’s colourful Paterre garden. National Trust / June Moy
No one forgets their first sight of Oxburgh – with its moat and grand Tudor gatehouse, offering panoramic views over the attractive gardens and surrounding countryside. Building during the Wars of the Roses, the King and Queen’s Rooms in Oxburgh’s gatehouse were named to commemorate a visit by Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York.
#12 Rufford Old Hall, Lancashire
Rufford Old Hall looks picture-perfect surrounded by trees and flowers National Trust Images / Paul Harris
The Lovers Walk in the garden beyond this beautiful black and white Tudor hall is a popular place to steal a kiss. Take a stroll along the Lovers Walks, then treat your loved one to tea in the Victorian tea-room. Rufford has lots of picture-perfect spots for proposals, so why not come here to pop the question?
Stourhead, Wiltshire, is one of England’s greatest landscape gardens National Trust
With temples, follies and grottos set around the lake against a backdrop of beautiful natural scenery, Stourhead makes for a special day out at any time of year. Pack a hamper and enjoy a romantic picnic by the lake.
Take a stroll through the gardens at Stowe National Trust Images / John Millar
The scale, grandeur and beauty of Stowe have inspired visitors (and proposals) for centuries, and with temples, pavilions, monuments and sweeping vistas at every turn, it’s impossible not to be caught up in the romance of the 18th-century garden. Stroll along the winding paths, admire the lake from the Palladian Bridge or take a turn around the Temple of Venus – given that Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty, what could be more romantic?
