When most of us think of romantic getaways our go-to response is most likely the ‘City of Love’ that is Paris, but according to a recent study, Blackpool has been named the best place in the UK for a romantic getaway. Well, if we can’t get to the Eiffel Tower, Blackpool Tower is the next best place to go, right?
Travel deals site Tripplo researched which UK cities offer the most romantic getaways. They examined several factors, including the number of romantic hotels in each city, the total number of reviews for romantic hotels in each town, the average number of reviews, the average Booking.com rating, the average price, and the average star rating. Hotels were filtered using Booking.com’s ‘romantic hotels’ filter.
An overall ‘romance score’ was then indexed by equally taking the number of romantic hotels per 100,000 people, average Booking.com rating, average price per night, and average star rating. And low and behold, the North West seaside town of Blackpool came out on top with a romance score of 73.34 out of 100.
Blackpool has 60 romantic hotels per 100,000 people, making it the sixth highest amount in the UK. The average Booking.com rating for romantic hotels in Blackpool is 8.81, the third highest rating in the UK. And it’s just over an hour by car or train from Manchester!
However, the average star rating for the romantic hotels in Blackpool is 3.55, the third lowest in the country. For lovers looking for a romantic getaway on a budget, Blackpool also ranked as the cheapest for cost per night, with the average price being £103.95 per night.
The North West as a whole ranked particularly well in the study, with four more destinations in the region featuring in the top ten most romantic getaways in the UK alongside Blackpool. Preston came in second place with a romance score of 71.2 out of 100 and having one of the highest average Booking.com rating for the romantic hotels in the list at 8.71.
Chester came if fifth place with an overall romance score of 61.87 out of 100, closely followed by Burnley (61.81) in sixth place and Lancaster (59.33) in eighth place. The study found the average star rating for the romantic hotels in Burnley is 3.83, the tenth highest in the UK.
And where does Manchester sit in the rankings. you ask? Manchester received an overall romance score of 51.85 with only 12 romantic hotels per 100,000 people, coming in at 23rd place after Reading. Swansea was ranked as the least romantic getaway in the UK with a romance score of 20.88.
The most romantic getaways in the UK according to Tripplo study
1. Blackpool (73.34)
2. Preston (71.20)
3. Bath (64.95)
4. Wrexham (63.19)
5. Chester (61.87)
6. Burnley (61.81)
7. Inverness (60.82)
8. Lancaster (59.33)
9. York (58.54)
10. Aberdeen (57.19)
Axel Hernborg, founder of Tripplo, commented: “The outcome has shown that Blackpool offers the cheapest Valentine’s getaway in the UK and has one of the highest average ratings on Booking.com. Not surprisingly, London offers the most expensive hotel options, with the average cost of one night being £325.42, with seven nights totalling a staggering £2,277.96.”
With a ballroom, beach, promenade and rollercoasters, you’ll be hard pressed to find any other place close to home to woo your partner that has all those offerings.