The Most Romantic Road Trips in the US

26.02.2024 - 20:03 / matadornetwork.com

There are two ways to view road trips. Planning and packing for a car trip can feel like a chore or an adventure. Spending hours, even days, sequestered in a vehicle stuffed with road-trip essentials can feel claustrophobic, or it can create a private space where you have the rare opportunity to share dedicated quality time and mood-boosting playlists with a travel companion. Even the occasional hiccup can be viewed as an exercise in problem-solving rather than a logistical nightmare when you’re road-tripping with a loved one.

If nothing stokes intimacy like one-on-one time, then few modes of travel have as much romantic potential as road trips. Sure, anyone can admire a beautiful vista, but who better to appreciate a scenic byway pullout than a couple armed with a picnic basket. That’s doubly true if you and your partner stop at a rideside farm stand to fill your basket with fresh berries, dark chocolate, and other aphrodisiacs. The same thinking applies to overnights: Road-tripping alone might mean finding the cheapest motels along your route, but with a significant other, it’s an excuse to share campsites, glampsites, cabins, inns, and intimate Airbnbs.

Romantic road trips can last a day, a weekend, a week, or longer. It can start and end at home or be an excuse to visit new states. That’s the beauty of a car trip — you and your partner are quite literally in the driver’s seat, and for most of the trip, you’re there alone, together. Make your next date a whole vacation on these romantic road trips across the US.

We hope you love the accommodations we recommend on these romantic road trips! Just so you know, Matador may collect a small commission from the links on this page if you decide to book a stay.

Notable stops:

Fall foliage drives in Vermont have long been upheld as a romantic ideal, but Vermont’s bucolic beauty exists year-round. What’s more intimate, for example, than a winter road trip through snow-flanked roads, stopping at local breweries for a cozy pint? Luckily, you don’t have to go hunting for hidden roads — just stick to Vermont’s Route 100 Byway, a north-south highway that cuts through some of the state’s most stunning scenery and iconic landmarks.

Traveling the entire length of the state from Stamford on the Massachusetts line to Newport on the Canadian border, Route 100 has plenty of classical Vermont small towns to get your New England cultural and historical fix. Wilmington, in the south, is the perfect place to start. Check out the 18th- and 19th-century buildings, walk across Reardon’s Crossing bridge for peaceful river views, and check out the boutique cafes and book shops downtown. For a bite to eat, don’t miss out on Dot’s, an old-school diner that’s become a local staple.

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