Goed nieuws #1: binnenkort rijdt er een directe en supersnelle treinverbinding tussen Amsterdam en Londen. En aangezien yours truly meer dan dol is op treinen, is dat dus, zoals gezegd, goed nieuws. Goed nieuws #2: zolang die specifieke trein nog niet rijdt, kun je gewoon toch gaan. Dus. Met diezelfde Eurostar. Voor alle tips in Londen, zie deze link: BartsBoekje/Londen.

Goed nieuws nummer #3: in Amsterdam blijven is ook een (puike) optie. Eurostar vroeg bloggers, inclusief mijzelf, uit de Eurostar-bestemmingen (Amsterdam, Parijs door Lost in Cheesland, één van mijn Franse favorieten, Brugge, Brussel en Lyon) naar dé romantische tip in eigen stad. Easy: Vuurtoreneiland. In de zomer, maar zeker ook nu Vuurtoreneiland Amsterdam een wintercatacombe restaurant-proof heeft gemaakt. It doesn't get any better, als je het mij vraagt (en dat deden ze dus, vandaar). Dit heb ik daar over te zeggen:

Amsterdam for two

A little while ago someone reminded me that people traveling to Amsterdam are always on the look-out for 24/7 fun, but people that actually live in Amsterdam, are always searching for the hidden, quiet places. And yes, that’s a fact. Particularly for a romantic day in Amsterdam, you need go out of the city centre. ‘Vuurtoreneiland’ – a.k.a. the lighthouse island – is my favorite romantic place to go. You can reach the island with a small, old fashioned boat that takes you from the Lloyd Hotel (which is quite a sight in itself) in twenty minutes to a small island where there is nothing but a lighthouse and a greenhouse. A restaurant is situated in the greenhouse. Here you can eat the finest food (a big part of the menu is plant based), drink the best wines and you are treated as if you are the most important person on the planet (which you are, of course!). It’s a little holiday ‘in’ town on its own. Vuurtoreneiland used to be only open during the summer season but recently the restaurant team built a gorgeous fort, meaning that in the winter of 2016 for the first time people can enjoy the island on a chilly evening too – it won’t get more romantic than that and that’s a promise! facebook.com/vuurtoreneiland / Meer weten: Eurostar

En Lost in Cheesland zegt dit:

Paris, the Palais Royal Gardens

There is little more subjective than what constitutes a romantic experience, particularly in a city like Paris whose very image is idealised and romanticised. It’s a place meant to inspire passion, amorous trysts and emotional awakening, or at least there is the belief that these things are possible if ones heart is open to it.

For me, it isn’t the glistening river Seine at sunset or an embrace as the Eiffel Tower sparkles in the background that feels profoundly romantic. It’s rather an everyday place that brings me great joy and even greater joy to share with someone else – the Palais Royal Gardens. It’s the consistent slap of the water hitting the pool of the fountain, the expansive arcades that feel downright palatial and make my husband and I feel like royalty when there are few passersby, the long aisles of manicured lime and chestnut trees that lord over us as we stroll hand- in-hand, and all of this at just the right distance from the urban sounds swirling around us. Eurostar Romantic Breaks Paris

Bovenste beeld via @estervanvreedevoguenl