6 Unusual Places to Celebrate Valentine's Day

Amy Bertrand, St. Lousi Post-Dispatch, February 7, 2012

We know you probably already have your Valentine's Day planned, especially if it involves travel. And we know you are probably not going to fly to Iceland next week. But we just couldn't resist this list of Valentine's Day secret surprises from Lonely Planet.

They came up with six romantic spots you may never have heard of.

The unexpected spots include:

--A visit to Canterbury, England, the setting for Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Chaucer changed February 14th forever in his "Parlement of Foules," a dreamy 700-line poem with its narrator visiting Venus' temple and a 'parliament' where birds choose their mates, on Valentine's Day.

--A drive through one of the California's great secrets--a coastal ride north of San Francisco from Sonoma County to Mendocino's rugged peninsula. It's almost completely undeveloped with no stoplights to break up the bliss.

--Cartagena, Colombia, where Gabriel Garcia Marquez supposedly based "Love in the Time of Cholera" (the town is never explicitly named in the book) -- is one of the most romantic cities in the Americas.

--Catch the Love Train to Churchill, Manitoba. The two-day trip up from Winnipeg is nicknamed the 'love train' by some, as it's particularly popular with Japanese couples who believe the Northern Lights help with fertility.

--Take a soak in one of Iceland's many geothermal pools--less cliched than a heart-shaped tubs.

--Head to Valentine's Day capitol of the US--Valentine, Nebraska--and partake in the February 14 coronation of the King and Queen of Hearts.