12 Ways to Spend Valentine’s Day in Europe Without Leaving the U.S.

In the heart of California wine country, this “Castle of Love” is styled like a 13th-century Tuscan castle, right down to the hand-chiseled stones and imported old materials and furnishings. After 15 years of construction, this medieval replica has over 107 unique rooms surrounded by an award-winning winery. Walk the drawbridge over the moat and marvel at the ornate details of the Great Hall, armory, towers, and the somewhat bawdy vision of hell in the chapel’s painting. After Castello di Amorosa, head to nearby Healdsburg for a trendy and inviting dining, shopping, and art scene.

Completed in 1919, Oheka Castle was one of the premier residences of the country in the Roaring Twenties, hosting celebrities, visiting dignitaries, and royalty with all the excess of the age. This French-styled chateau, painstakingly restored, still hosts the rich and famous and has been featured in everything from Citizen Kane to Gossip Girl. Whether you stay at this elegant hotel or simply take in a tour, you’ll be walking in the footsteps of the Gilded Age.

This Colorado town was designed specifically with a ski resort in mind. Without remnants of a Western mining town, its planners got to run with their love of the Bavarian and Tyrolean regions of the Alps. Low-angled timber roofs with fanciful architectural details dominate several of the base’s villages. You’ll be hard-pressed to find too many places that don’t offer schnitzel, pretzels, wursts, or fondue. The area’s genuine love of Pepi Gramshammer, the world-class Austrian alpine skier and supporter of Vail in the 1960s, keeps this connection from turning gimmicky.

As “the house that love built,” this private residence with overnight rooms is a perfect romantic getaway. Thornewood Castle is a 400-year-old Elizabethan manor that was dismantled and brought, piece-by-piece, from England in 1907. The staircase and sitting rooms will give you some Downton Abbey vibes, while the red-Welsh brick and twelve-chimneys demonstrate its Tudor roots.

St. Augustine is the oldest continuously settled city of European origin in the United States, established by the Spanish in 1565. And while the city’s history has changed occupational hands many times, it retains Spanish design, architecture, and cultural celebrations. Stroll narrow Aviles Street, the oldest in the country, and treat yourself to a carriage ride past the historic lovers’ balconies before a sunset sail.

Based on the royal residences of the French Renaissance, the largest home in the United States drips opulence. The Biltmore House, home of the wealthy Vanderbilt family, includes soaring turrets, sculptures, gardens, intricate woodwork, and the Vanderbilt’s extensive art collection. The house is available for tour, but guests have to stay at the nearby village (yes, it has its own village) if you want to make this iconic stop at the Biltmore an overnight. Hiking, fine dining, a winery, and a spa make it easy to fill a weekend. 

Beautiful beaches, Spanish art and architecture, and a party atmosphere are much closer than Spain’s famous Canary Islands. Puerto Rico checks all the boxes with a reasonably short flight and minimal time zone changes. Often overlooked as a part of the United States, this culturally rich destination offers the perks of an island getaway with the romantic, cobblestoned feel of a world apart in San Juan’s Historic District.

Spanish architecture highlights San Diego’s history in this corner of the massive city park. Enter the park on the scenic Cabrillo Bridge and you won’t be far from the California Tower and below it, the Alcazar Gardens. Designed after its namesake in Seville, Spain, these gardens’ fountains display intricate Moorish-styled tilework. The El Cid statue nearby completes the Seville connection.

An hour north of Tampa, Florida, this city still resonates with its Greek immigrant community. Greek sponge divers and fishers came to this city in the early 1900s, ultimately giving this city the highest percentage of Greek-Americans in the country today. Check out the whitewashed buildings and lanes leading down to the Sponge Docks on Dodecanese Boulevard. The shops and restaurants in the area are still owned and run by Greek immigrants and offer some of the country’s most fresh, authentic Greek seafood.

A list of American cities with European style wouldn’t be complete without New Orleans. What makes this city special is its ability to retain cultures, from Spanish and French occupation to the West African and Indigenous influences in Creole culture, and make them into something new. In New Orleans, you can eat French beignets, take in the Spanish architecture of the French Quarter, see a risque show worthy of Moulin Rouge, and sit down to a bowl of Creole gumbo. One thing is certain—New Orleans doesn’t feel anything like the rest of the United States.