Ready to set aside that bottle of champagne and pop the question instead? We’ll tell you where to get down on one knee. And for those in need of “space,” we’ve picked the best spots to declare your independence. It’s really not you; it’s us.
Best Places to Pop the Question
10. Eiffel Tower
If it’s good enough for TomKat, it’s good enough for you.
9. Great Barrier Reef
Cavorting with deadly jellyfish: the perfect marriage training.
8. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Create some heat of your own to rival the kind brewing beneath you.
7. Fontana di Trevi
Toss a coin into the fountain to ensure a second trip to the world’s most beautiful city (or so the story goes). For the sake of “happily ever after,” throw it in together.
6. Anywhere in Bhutan
Scoring visas to this tiny, almost forgotten Asian country will bring you enough kudos to (almost) forgo the big, white wedding.
5. On Safari
Nothing says romance like witnessing an “interrupted impala courtship.”
4. Brooklyn Bridge
Glittering Manhattan as your backdrop, the stretch of river underneath you, Brooklyn’s subdued lights across the way…
3. Machu Picchu
On top of these ancient, jungle-shrouded ruins, you’ll need to enlist a local as your witness.
2. Taj Mahal
“To gaze in wonder at that magnificent dome and elegant gardens will be a moment that you remember for the rest of your life”— and your lucky companion will too.
1. Underneath the Northern Lights
Imagine the possibilities: those colored lights will reflect off that rock, and your one carat could suddenly expand into three (it is dark).
Best Places to Break the Bad News
10. Yellowstone National Park
Expound upon your dreams of living simply off the land, and you won’t have to say another word.
9. New York’s Chinatown
Bombarded with street pitches for “bag, purse, Coach,” he (or she) will be too busy avoiding the hawkers to notice your nonchalant turn uptown.
8. Red Square
Wax poetic about how love really can’t conquer all—not even communism.
7. Mount Fuji
The altitude sickness will take care of any violent outbursts: it’s difficult to throw a fit when you can’t even stand up.
6. Streets of Ho Chi Minh City
Offer to attempt a street-crossing first—and just keep on walking.
5. Carnival
Don a mask to play a little game of switch-a-roo.
4. Amsterdam’s Centraal Station
A quick escape is only a train ride away.
3. Marrakech Souk
The odds are against anyone trying to follow your escape trail in “the labyrinth of eerie alleyways.”
2. Cruise Ship
It couldn’t be easier than waving goodbye as the ship pulls away from port with them on land and you safely onboard.
1. Antarctic Terrain
No one could fathom a heart colder than the surrounding Arctic landscape.