For some, romance and adventure go hand in hand – after all, there’s nothing that bonds two people together faster than the thrill of a new and exciting shared experience.
Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Confused.com's latest research uncovered the most romantic road trips for couples to explore for those wishing to incorporate a spirit of adventure into their plans.
The car insurance company analysed hundreds of thousands of reviews from popular venues that one might encounter along each of the routes. This was then used to calculate an overall “romance score”. The main component to gauge romance was “Count of Reviews Containing Romantic Terms”.
Therefore the routes that included the most lovey-dovey terminology in their reviews scored higher.
Additionally, the company shared that keywords were translated for venues where the reviews were written in another language. To achieve the final score, the reviews that included any romantic keywords were counted alongside the total reviews in all languages.
Both figures were used to find the percentage of reviews that used romantic keywords for each venue. This percentage became the “romance percentage”.
The German Alpine Road, according to Confused.com, is the most romantic driving route. The historically rich path is accompanied by gorgeous heaven-kissing vistas, earning it a romance score of 9.56/10. Drivers can stop at the Linderhof Palace or Neuschwanstein Castle for a real-life fairy-tale experience, as the route is 525km long and a nine-hour drive. 42.77% of the hotel and restaurant evaluations were romantic, which is 3.54% higher than Puglia, which came in second.
Interestingly, three of the top 10 locations are in Italy. Second and third place, respectively, go to routes in Puglia (9.13/10) and the Amalfi Coast (8.69/10), displaying the splendour of Italy's seaside. Puglia has 180km of untouched coastline set against a backdrop of caves and cliffs. Visitors to Puglia's attractions classified them as romantic 39.23% of the time, only 1.36% higher than the Amalfi Coast. These include Masseria Cervarolo, which received the highest rating of all the hotels and restaurants studied in the survey, with 64.3% of reviewers praising its romanticism.
The extensive list goes on to evaluate more than 20 other stunning locations, including South Africa’s very own Garden Route. The 300km stretch of coastal road winds along South Africa's southern coast, beginning in Storms River in the Eastern Cape and ending in Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. The route gets its name from the Garden Route National Park it runs through, which is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, as well as a plethora of wetlands, lakes, peaks, forests and cliff-side beaches. Notable attractions along the way include Wilderness Beach, Natures Valley Beach and Tsitsikamma National Park. For all its natural beauty and romantic offerings in the form of idyllic picnicking sites, awe-inspiring views and natural beauty, the Garden Route received an overall score of 39.10%.
So, put on your oversized sunnies, wrap a headscarf around your hair, pack a picnic (and perhaps even a suitcase) and find someone with a convertible so you two can set off on a romantic drive along the coast.
www.confused.com/car-insurance