Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain

Place: If having nowhere to be is your idea of romance, the capital of Catalonia wins on two counts: it’s easy to get happily lost and no one wakes up until 8 p.m.

Like Los Angeles or Sydney, Barcelona is dense, cultured and cosmopolitan, and is also a beach town, offering fickle lovers a broad romantic spectrum. One avenue that’s no longer available to paramours? Public nudity. It was finally — in some cases, mercifully — banned in 2011.

People: Trend-centric, cocksure, proud and partying, Barcelonans will steal your heart if not your wallet.

Things: The weird feeling in one’s pants upon beholding Gaudí architecture; the corpuscle of seemingly endless branching alleyways housing the galleries, cafés, bars, restaurants and museums of the Born neighborhood. No two trips are ever alike.

More on CNN: Insider Guide: What to do in Barcelona

via World’s 8 most really, truly romantic cities | CNN Travel.