10 Over-the-Top Valentine's Day Getaways

Valentine's Day falls in mid-February -- which means it coincides with carnival season in Venice, northern-lights season in Iceland, and the most pleasant weather of the year in Rajasthan. If you're going to go over the top, at least let the calendar help. Ten ideas, roughly ordered by extravagance:

1. Paris, the undefeated champion

Cliché because it works. February Paris is cold, uncrowded, and moody in the best way -- museum mornings, long lunches, the Eiffel Tower sparkling on the hour after dark.

2. Venice during Carnevale

Mid-February is carnival season: masked balls, costumes in St. Mark's Square, mist on the canals. It is the most theatrical city in Europe at its most theatrical moment.

3. Udaipur, the Venice of the East

For the India-based romantic, nothing tops it: Lake Pichola at sunset, dinner in a centuries-old palace, the Aravallis turning gold behind you. February weather is near-perfect.

4. Santorini in the quiet season

Summer crowds are gone; the caldera sunsets remain. Whitewashed villages, volcanic beaches, and long dinners overlooking the Aegean -- at a fraction of peak-season chaos.

5. Kyoto in winter light

Temple gardens dusted with frost, kaiseki dinners in machiya townhouses, the Philosopher's Path nearly empty. Understated romance for people who find Paris too obvious.

6. New York City, the Valentine's metropolis

Skating at Rockefeller Center, a Broadway show, dinner somewhere with a view of the skyline. The city that does grand gestures better than anywhere.

7. Tuscany, off-season

A stone villa, a fireplace, Brunello, and truffle season still running. The countryside without the tour buses -- just the two of you and the fog over the Val d'Orcia.

8. The Maldives, the classic splurge

Overwater bungalow, ladder straight into the lagoon, dinner on a private sandbank. It is exactly as extravagant as it sounds, and that is the point.

9. Bora Bora, the final boss of honeymoons

Mount Otemanu rising over the lagoon, the most photographed water on earth. If the Maldives is over the top, Bora Bora is over the top of the top.

10. Iceland under the northern lights

February is prime aurora season. Chase the lights by super-Jeep, thaw out in geothermal lagoons, sleep in a hotel with a wake-up call when the sky ignites. Romance with a sense of adventure.

A note in the spirit of honesty: these are ideas, not itineraries -- check current conditions, seasons, and your own budget before booking anything. The most over-the-top thing of all is showing up fully present, wherever you go.