Good news #1: there will soon be a direct and super-fast train connection between Amsterdam and London. And since yours truly loves trains, that is, as mentioned, good news. Good news #2: as long as that specific train isn't running yet, you can just go anyway. So. With the same Eurostar. For all tips in London, see this link: BartsBoekje/London.

Good news number #3: staying in Amsterdam is also a (great) option. Eurostar asked bloggers, including myself, from Eurostar destinations (Amsterdam, Paris). Lost in Cheesland, one of my French favorites, Bruges, Brussels and Lyon) to the romantic tip in your own city. Easy: Lighthouse Island. In the summer, but especially now that Vuurtoreneiland Amsterdam has made a winter catacomb restaurant-proof. It doesn't get any better, if you ask me (and so they did, that's why). This is what I have to say about that:

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 to go out of the city center. 'Lighthouse Island' – aka 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 / Learn more: Eurostar

And Lost in Cheesland says this:

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 idealized and romanticized. It's a place meant to inspire passion, amorous tries and emotional awakening, or at least there is the belief that these things are possible if one's 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

Top image via @estervanvreedevoguenl