Fifty-Two Weekends: Romance

3 Day Getaway: Paris in Your Backyard

The words "amour" and "cuisine" are about as much French as you'll need for a weekend escape to Quebec City, this continent's cradle of French civilization, where English may be a second language, but it is definitely spoken. Conveniently located on the St. Lawrence River instead of the Seine, Quebec City is less than a six-hour drive.

Stay in the Vieux-Port neighborhood, and don't bother renting a car, as the city in spring, summer, and fall is made for romantic wanderings. Start out at Place Royale, where the city was founded, and head north; the streets Rue St.-Pierre and Rue Sault-au-Matelot form a wedge-shaped district that used to be a center of the shipping and banking industries and is now a chic neighborhood of swank bars, boutique hotels, and artisans' studios.

From there, walk east atop the ramparts of fortified Old Quebec or follow the quays along the harbor. At the Marche du Vieux-Port outdoor market, farmers, cheese makers, and beekeepers sell to chefs and home cooks alike in the summer.

The narrow streets open up at Rue St. Paul farther east, where snug bistros offer steamed mussels and french fries, platters of mixed sausages, anise-scented aperitifs, and house wines by the carafe. When you're not eating, peruse the antiques shops and art galleries, looking in particular for Quebec folk carvings.

It's easier to appreciate the charms of walled Old Quebec if you're not stuck in a mob of pedestrians. Hire a horse-drawn caleche (call 418-683-9222 for information, about $60) and ride past the hulking stone buildings.

For a more distant perspective, a sunset dinner cruise aboard the Louis Jolliet (800-563-4643, croisieresaml.com, cruise is about $25 per person, and dinner is from about $22) gives you vistas of the bluff-top fortress-city.

Stay at Hotel Dominion 1912 (888-833-5253, hoteldominion.com, from about $140), where the building's classic architecture is set off by contemporary furnishings. When you book, ask about the bed of rose petals or the floating candles. Really. For a special night out, try Laurie Raphael Restaurant (418-692-4555, laurieraphael.com, from about $150 for two). One signature "trilogy" includes salmon three ways: gravlax, tartare, and tempura. - Patricia Harris and David Lyon

Camp for Two in the Adirondacks

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, New York's wealthy elite - the Morgans, the Whitneys, the Vanderbilts - bought tracts in the remote Adirondacks and built themselves so-called Great Camps, sprawling collections of handsome log buildings on prime lakefront property. Prices and services vary widely between the two best that are now resorts: The Point (800-255-3530, thepointresort.com, from $1,250in 2005, meals included, increasing to $1,350 in 2006), and The Wawbeek (800-953-2656, wawbeek.com, from $195). Only one of these will fly in caviar if you request it, but no matter where you eat and sleep, the best activity on Upper Saranac Lake is canoeing on the placid waters, looking up at the slopes of Ampersand Mountain. - Stephen Jermanok

Miami Heat

There's nothing like a weekend of white sand and palm trees in January or February to heat up a relationship, and Miami's swank hotels and sleek spas have the added attraction of built-in glamour, even if you choose just to tuck into bed early each night. For a literal taste of Miami heat, hit the city's restaurant scene. To relax, just go home to The Mandarin Oriental (866-888-6780, mandarin-oriental.com, from $219), with views of Biscayne Bay as well as Chinese, ayurvedic, Balinese, and Thai massage available in beachside cabanas. - Joe Yonan

White Mountain Majesties

On a midwinter weekend when you can't decide whether to hibernate or go out and play, visit a snowy perch in Crawford Notch, New Hampshire, that encourages a little bit of both. It can be a slippery drive getting there, but for the setting alone, the Notchland Inn (800-866-6131, notchland.com, from $195), nestled in the 800,000-acre White Mountain National Forest, is worth it. And there's little reason to leave once you're there, unless you feel like strapping on snowshoes (rentals are $5 a pair) for a walk into the whisper quiet. Back at the inn, curl up with a book in front of one of the common-room fireplaces or take a soak in the outdoor hot tub. - Joe Yonan

Holding Hands on Pink Sands

Home to miles of beaches and restored Royal Navy Dockyards, where you can swim with dolphins, Bermuda displays its British colonial history everywhere on the island, from the colorful architecture to cricket players in white uniforms. For romance, no type of lodging can compare with the uniquely Bermudan cottage colony, which combines the amenities of a resort with the down-home feel of a New England B & B. The best of these is Cambridge Beaches in Somerset (800-468-7300, www.cambridgebeaches.com, from $420, including most meals), on a peninsula and featuring the island's best spa. - Larry Olmsted

Reader's Choice: Stowe Away

"Our idea of fun is sitting in front of a fire," writes reader Joyce Andrews of Dracut, who wrote in that her favorite destination for a weekend away with her husband, Glenn, is Stowe, Vermont - in winter and summer. A stop at the Spa at Stoweflake (800-253-2232, spaatstoweflake.com, 50-minute massages from $100) is always on the itinerary, especially after a trail ride at Edson Hill Manor (802-253-7371, edsonhillmanor.com, $70 for two). Andrews likes Ten Acres Lodge (800-327-7357, tenacreslodge.com, from $99) for its wood-burning fireplaces, secret-recipe hot chocolate, and "wonderful duvets." For dinner, "we always hit the Restaurant Swisspot," (802-253-4622, from $20 for two), she says. On the drive home, they stop for cider donuts at Cold Hollow Cider Mill (800-327-7537, coldhollow.com, $2 for 6), open every day in Waterbury Center, Vermont.

Sleep with the Fishes

Acadia National Park makes up half of Isle au Haut in coastal Maine, where visitors can spend hours exploring the 18 miles of trails on the shoreline and hillsides. By day, check out the park and ponder the sea, looking for dolphins, seals, and whales as well as lobstermen hauling their pots. By night, stay in the third-floor garret of the Keeper's House Inn (207-460-0257, keepershouse.com, $385, including meals), attached to the Robinson Point Light, also on Isle au Haut. The inn is lit with lanterns and candles only.- Patricia Harris and David Lyon

Snuggle Up in Vacationland

Winter is definitely the off-season on the lower Maine coast. But on a sunny day, the drive down snowy lanes to an inn with a crackling fire can be very romantic. Once you're there, who cares if a blizzard comes along? Pack the latest Alexander McCall Smith mystery and burrow in at one of the hostelries in Kennebunkport, just two hours from Boston by car. The White Barn Inn (207-967-2321, www.whitebarninn.com, from $345) has sleigh beds and large bathtubs, and chef Jonathon Cartwright serves up New England fare (such as lobster with cognac-butter sauce) inside a historic - now heated - barn (from $180 for two). Or book a room with ocean views at the Beach House (207-967-3850, beachhseinn.com, from $155), and when the wind dies down, bundle up and go for a stroll with the dog owners across the street on Kennebunk Beach. - Wayne Curtis

Unless otherwise noted, room rates listed are for two people staying one night in a hotel's least expensive room with a private bath. Some inns require two-night stays on weekends. All prices are in US dollars.