The gondolas that ply Venice's waterways are now mostly a means to fleece honeymooners. Instead, find romance on the neighboring island of Giudecca.

You finally made it: you’re canoodling on a Venetian gondola, while a musician croons a melody that seems composed just for you two. It’d be the most romantic moment of your life — if not for that stench from the canal and the bottleneck of gondolas up ahead.

Slideshow: See where the least romantic places are

Romantic destinations require three key ingredients: beauty, mystery and a sense of exclusivity. But a foul smell can turn beauty into ugliness in a second, just as being one of thousands lining up to gaze upon a supposedly romantic sight can quickly rob it of its allure.

No one expects towns in the American Rust Belt or the cluttered backstreets of Mumbai to tug at the heartstrings in the same way as, say, Venice. Yet in some respects they have it easier. Destinations that lay a claim to romance are immediately held to a far more stringent standard. If those iconic hot spots don’t deliver a swoon-worthy stay, the disappointment can be akin to being jilted at the altar.

Paris, for example, may well have written the book on romance, but it sometimes feels like the clichéd Harlequin variety, especially during summertime around the city’s most famous sights, which lure every lovebird within 10,000 miles. The dispiriting result is hordes of camera-toting couples, jostling as they attempt to re-create scenes from "Midnight in Paris" or "Amélie."

Similarly, trekking with your loved one to reach the ruins of Machu Picchu at sunrise seems like romantic nirvana — until you find your physical (and relationship) limits tested by being stuck for days in a 12-person group with a case of altitude sickness or vertigo.

After all, you can’t assume other travelers will be on board with your romantic plans. That’s a lesson Philadelphia-based Travel + Leisure reader Nanette learned the hard way on a recent cruise: “I expected 'The Love Boat,' but it just ended up being a crazy booze cruise,” she posted to Facebook.com/TravelandLeisure.

Anyone who’s tried to arrange a memorable moment for a paramour knows that romance is tricky to orchestrate. Some of the destinations on our list can live up to their reputations as dreamy getaways — it’s just a matter of navigating their hidden hazards. Others face greater obstacles. But the bottom line: with the right partner and a spirit for adventure, almost anywhere can be romantic.

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On the Disney Dream cruise ship, take a break from the kids in the Meridian, an adult-only lounge that offers inside seating and an outdoor teak deck.

No one deserves a romantic getaway more than moms and dads. If you can’t find a sitter or don’t want to leave the kids at home, check out these options for having your travel version of a heart-shaped box of chocolates, and eating it too!

Jack Affleck

Keystone Resort in Colorado offers plenty for children and adults, including horse-drawn sleigh rides.

Warm up in a winter wonderland
A ski vacation provides just the right mix of family-time and couple-time. Keystone Resort in Colorado is known for its kid-friendly ski school (ages 3-plus), horse-drawn sleigh-ride dinners, and a snow fort complete with maze slide, and lookout tower. For a special date night hire an in-room babysitter so you can board a gondola to snuggle up under a blanket while you soar to 12,000 feet to dine on contemporary cuisine with a Bavarian accent at the AAA four-star Alpenglowe Stube.  

Canada’s Whistler Blackcomb also offers ski school for the kids (ages 3-plus) as well as romantic touches for parents. Take a dogsled adventure for two to a breathtaking waterfall dripping with icicles, or bring the kids along for a jaunt through the Canadian wilderness. Book a rental condo with room for the whole brood and cozy up by the fire after the kids are asleep.

Be mine at the beach
On a beach vacation, the whole family can play together in the water and on the sandy shore. Just when the kids tire of too much time with mom and dad, sneak away for a bit of romance.

All guests at Franklin D. Resort & Spa in Jamaica are assigned a vacation nanny as a full-time babysitter or to act as that extra pair of hands you always wish you had. At first Corinne McDermott, founder of HaveBabyWillTravel.com, was uncomfortable with the idea of a nanny, however, she says, “We had been in our room for no more than 10 minutes when both kids were swimsuited, sun screened, a dirty diaper dealt with, and out on the beach just outside our door -- leaving me to unpack in peace with a cold Red Stripe in my hand. I was sold!”

There are plenty of fabulous beach hotel options in Hawaii, but if traveling with young children, only one offers a kids’ club for children as young as 3, Disney’s Aulani Resort on Oahu. With Hawaiian crafts (like paper lei making), interactive electronic game tables and visits from Disney characters -- it may be difficult to get the kids to leave.

Sail into romance
Cruises offer fun for all ages, both at sea and in port. Plus, parents can indulge in side-by-side massages in the ship’s spa or sip cocktails in a floating nightclub while children are busy with kids’ club activities such as games, arts and crafts, and face-painting. Tweens and teens have clubs of their own with video games and dance parties. Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of Cruisecritic.com, says, “Certain cruise lines are better for kids with different ages.” She recommends Cunard (babies and toddlers), Disney (children under 10), Carnival (tweens), and Royal Caribbean (teens).

For a customized, private sailing experience, you can charter your own yacht. You don’t need to be a rock star to sail like one; prices start at $300 per person per day all-inclusive through AmazingCharters.com. Tuck the kids into bed and then enjoy a romantic dinner for two under the stars, prepared by your own private chef. Your crew can even create a treasure hunt for the children on shore while you and your honey soak up some rays.

No matter the destination, be sure to make time for a little romance during your next family vacation!

Colleen Lanin is the founder/editor of TravelMamas.com, a site for anyone who wants to travel with children … and stay sane!

While the Eiffel Tower shouts romance, much of the city's appeal lies in everyday attractions, from patisseries and chocolate shops to the Art Nouveau metro entrances.

From the Victorian inns of San Francisco to the teahouses of Kyoto, the world is full of romantic destinations. Although Paris is the obvious choice, there are many other cities (domestic and exotic) where the vistas, architecture and food can inspire passion and even marriage proposals.

Slideshow: See which cities are the most romantic cities

The qualities that make a city romantic are subjective. For some people, nothing surpasses Buenos Aires’s tango clubs and cutting-edge restaurants. Visitors can stay in the Palermo Soho neighborhood at 1555 Malabia House, which was originally built as a 19^th-century convent and is now considered Argentina’s first designer B&B.

For dinner, the unmarked entrance to Tegui is hidden by graffiti, but once inside, you’ll find ambitious, locally sourced cuisine from hotshot chef German Martitegui.

Other travelers may be seduced by Fez. Morocco’s ancient fortress city has maze-like alleyways lined with mysterious windowless shops, tiled mosques, tea gardens and souks overflowing with fruits, spices and nuts.

Once the summer palace of a Moroccan pasha, the carefully restored Le Jardin des Biehn now welcomes hotel guests with a hammam, gallery space and large Andalusian-style garden.

Cecile Houizot-Nanot’s Fes et Gestes is another find in Fez. Housed in an old French colonial building with a high-walled garden, the restaurant is known for its traditional Moroccan tea service and tagines.

In Europe, Budapest offers architectural beauty and thermal baths; Paris, chocolatiers’ windows and the Seine at night. 

From great food to magnificent ruins, fabulous nightclubs to medieval streets, the most romantic cities have one thing in common: They’ll keep you in the mood for love. 

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Will Scully-Power started WeMetOnAPlane.com with his girlfriend, Maia, whom he met a flight from Thailand to Malaysia.

While websites such as Flights from Hell are filled with stories of devilish and disgusting seatmates, there are plenty of people who have dated and gone on to marry someone they met on a plane.

But what if you’ve spent a cross-country flight successfully flirting with a seatmate whose contact information you neglect to secure as you exit the plane?

A new website hopes to give shy and forgetful fliers another chance. 

WeMetOnAPlane.com was created by Will Scully-Power, the co-founder of a marketing analytics company in Sydney, Australia, who met his current girlfriend while flying from Thailand to Malaysia. The lovebirds exchanged email addresses before leaving the airport, but Scully-Power suspected many other travelers skip that step and go home with a “what if?” feeling.

He was right.

“After analyzing Google's search data, we found over 4,000 people were searching daily for someone they’d met on a plane. Yet there was no website or service availability to help facilitate a reconnection,” said Scully-Power.

In the name of love, Scully-Power launched his website in early January and began gathering stories.

Travelers seeking to reconnect with a seatmate can either post their story and hope that the cute seatmate spots it, or search the site for a seatmate’s story using a flight number, year, month, date, origin or destination. If a reply is posted, the site sends out an alert. There’s also an option to spread the word using Facebook and Twitter.

So far, only about a dozen stories have been posted and no romantic reconnects have been made. But Scully-Power notes that the site is young and still in the beginning phase.

He said the next iteration will have more social media features and ways for people to connect with one another, as well as iPhone, iPad and Android apps.

And, while love is grand, Scully-Power is also eying ways to marry the pleasure of his site with business.

In addition to mining his database for information that can be used for targeted and behavioral-based marketing, Scully-Power said he’s also seeking an exclusive global airline partner for his site. “Think mystery flights. And flights designed specifically for meeting new people.”

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Find more by Harriet Baskas on Stuck at The Airport.com and follow her on Twitter.

The 650-square-foot VIP Spa Suite at Mandarin Oriental in New York City serves up views, a fireplace, deep soaking tub and dual massage beds.

A visit to a lavish spa suite can be an ideal gift for a holiday that celebrates love — especially if you bring along your significant other.

“Spa services are a very intimate and private experience,” says Lori Shubert, spa director at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pa. “When a couple comes in and shares these intimate moments together in a treatment, it brings them closer together and allows them to share a unique experience with each other that they cannot find elsewhere.  Afterwards, they have a fun and romantic memory to cherish.”

A trio of Nemacolin couples spa rooms feature an elegant waiting area with a copper-topped fireplace. Basic spa day packages start at $320 and go up to $540 for specialized services.

Today, high-end spas like Nemacolin consider it a must to offer a couple’s suite to accommodate lovers who enjoy an atmosphere that’s conducive to romance.

As high-end spas go, few are higher than the 35th floor of the Mandarin-Oriental in Manhattan. The VIP Spa Suite includes a private steam room, hot tub, fireplace and side-by-side massage beds. From  Feb. 11-14, the hotel is offering a $1,750 “Valentine’s Day Midnight Magic Over Manhattan” package from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Packages include lobster, champagne and caviar.

Spa director Heather Hannig says the elements combine to make the luxurious spa the place of frequent proposals.

“It’s very sweet,” she said. “We’re all in on it and do everything we can from sprinkling rose petals to preparing special dishes and surprises to make sure everything goes perfectly.”

A typical three-hour booking of the 650-square-foot VIP Spa Suite -- without the dining extras -- costs $1,500; a four-hour stay, $2,000.

“Some couples will book it for up to eight hours,” Hannig says. “We have lots of anniversaries with guest couples who just want to spend the whole time luxuriating in the romantic privacy.”

In Kohler, Wis., a luxurious couples spa at The American Club Resort is sure to make a splash. The spa features the Riverbath treatment followed by its signature 80-minute massage for two; $225 per person.

The Venetian’s Canyon Ranch Spa in Las Vegas gives guests more than romance. In a town famous for quickie weddings, the spa lets couples get hitched, Rasul-style. Rasul refers to an ancient Oriental pre-wedding night cleansing/purification ceremony complete with candles and rose-petal spreads.

Couples fingerpaint each another with purifying mud before ascending heated spa thrones to bask in the mud’s therapeutic effervescence. The Rasul treatment is $200 per couple.

Oh, and don't forget the chocolates.

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