Looking to reconnect with your loved one? Instead of booking a reservation or enjoying a night on the town, consider booking a future couples’ getaway. These four getaway destinations near Northern Virginia offer the perfect romantic vacation.
For Culture and Cuisine
Wilmington, Delaware
Travel Time from Alexandria: Approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes by train
Distance from Dulles: Approximately 130 miles
Hop in the car for a trip to the hometown of former President Joe Biden, and you’ll see why he’s always singing its praises. (It’s also easily accessible via Amtrak if that’s more your speed.) This midsize city offers plenty to do for travelers who crave culture and diverse cuisine.
Check in to the Quoin Hotel for modern boutique vibes. It’s located inside a historic bank building and offers a speakeasy-style bar, a restaurant with wood-fired eats, and the city’s only rooftop bar. Or stay at Hotel Du Pont for a more traditional experience. In either case, make sure to dine at Le Cavalier inside Hotel Du Pont for omelets at brunch or steak frites at dinner. The high ceilings, ornate décor, and overall grandeur bring to mind a French château.
Take a walk in Auburn Valley State Park followed by microbrews at Dew Point Brewing Co. inside a historic snuff mill — it’s worth the short trip from town. Also worth the drive: Longwood Gardens, a 400-acre botanical wonderland with more than 10,000 species of exotic and native flora. A 2024 expansion added a fine-dining restaurant, 1906, that overlooks the gardens.
Back downtown, feast on fresh pasta, oysters, crab tacos, and burrata pop tarts at James Beard–nominated hot spot Bardea. Check out any of the festivals or entertainment events happening on the walkable Wilmington Riverfront, where you’ll also find the Delaware Contemporary, which houses 26 artist studios and seven art galleries, and is convenient to restaurants and other attractions. For more art, head to the Delaware Art Museum and stroll the 9-acre sculpture garden.
For Wine and Pampering
Charlottesville, Virginia
Distance from Dulles: Approximately 100 miles
A trip to charming Charlottesville is a wine country getaway that feels worlds away. Connect over heart-to-heart conversations on your scenic Shenandoah drive through the growing wine region. Pull up to luxurious Keswick Hall, an expansive, five-star resort where you can indulge in shared wellness experiences with holistic, nature-inspired treatments. For example, the couples’ intuitive massage involves gentle exfoliation, hydrating body wraps, and personalized massages experienced side by side.
Dine at Marigold, a Jean-Georges restaurant that features hyper-seasonal menus prepared with organic produce and grass-fed beef from the property’s own 200-acre farm. Golfers can hit the links at the onsite 18-hole course designed by Pete Dye before heading to walkable downtown Charlottesville to take in some American history, shopping, and yes, wine.
Book a designated driver through a car service such as Albemarle Limousine Service and enjoy tastings along the Monticello Wine Trail. Places to stop include Michael Shaps Winery, Early Mountain Vineyards, and Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards. We recommend a stop at Pippin Hill for wine flights paired with seasonal food on the veranda. Remember to bring bottles home from your favorite spots to open on your next anniversary.
For a Classic City Escape
Baltimore, Maryland
Distance from Dulles: Approximately 60 miles
Perhaps you’ve been to Baltimore for a day of crab-cracking and sightseeing, but have you experienced the industrial city’s luxurious side? If not, prepare to be wowed by the quality of its high-end offerings. For example, The Ivy Hotel, a five-star, 17-room boutique property inside an 18th-century Victorian mansion, features an exclusive spa and a fine-dining restaurant, Magdalena, where even the breakfast is memorable. (You’ll be thinking about the lemon ricotta pancakes for years.) If you’re taking the train into Penn Station, The Ivy will arrange for a car to meet you there and transport you to the hotel.
If pounding the pavement is too pedestrian for your luxe getaway, level up by viewing the city and its inner harbor from the leather seats of a private Charm City Helicopter, where couples have been known to get engaged (just saying). The company even offers an engagement and anniversary package complete with a six-course meal and a dozen roses.
Options abound for dinner, and fresh seafood, including Maryland’s famous blue crab, can be found year-round. For relaxed elegance on the waterfront, head to Charleston to taste James Beard Award finalist Cindy Wolf’s South Carolina–inspired menu. Diners return for dishes like pan-seared foie gras, cornmeal-fried oysters, and white truffle fettucine — and wine pairings are a must.
Amble the quirky Hampden neighborhood (a favorite haunt of Baltimore filmmaker John Waters) to shop for midcentury-modern furnishings and other antiques. Get inspired by the collections at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which opened a new contemporary wing in 2021, and the American Visionary Art Museum, which is focused on self-taught artists. Discuss the art over quality craft drinks at The Bluebird lounge, a literary-themed cocktail bar.
For Quiet Luxury on the Eastern Shore
Chestertown & Chesapeake City, Maryland
Distance from Dulles: Approximately 115 miles
For couples busy with kids, careers, and all the demands of modern life, a relaxing weekend at Maryland’s Great Oak Manor may be just what they need. The boutique, bed-and-breakfast-style hotel on the Chesapeake Bay, reimagined and reopened in 2024 by NoVA power couple Werten Bellamy and Kellye Walker, was designed with reconnection in mind. From cellphone sleeping bags in every room to conversation-starting games in the library to a private sand beach with lounge chairs, every element encourages couples to fall in love all over again. New this year, its “Taste of Great Oak Manor” series brings James Beard Award–nominated and award-winning food and wine experts to the hotel for curated culinary weekends.
Nearby Chestertown, located in idyllic Kent County farm country, also offers excellent dining options and small-town hospitality. Go to The Kitchen at the Imperial for the friendly atmosphere and local eats, and to the chic Watershed Alley for quality cocktails and seafood before browsing the local shops. You could easily spend hours in The Bookplate bookstore.
Inspired to elope? Drive 40 minutes farther to Chesapeake City, home to The Little Wedding Chapel, which dates back to 1870 and is said to be the smallest in the world. Marriages at this tiny white chapel are recorded in a leather-bound ledger that’s donated to the Chesapeake City Museum. The vibrant town, with its brick sidewalks and colorful historic homes, offers an impressive number of independent shops, art galleries, and bustling waterfront dining options. Go to Schaefer’s Canal House in the warmer months for live music and a tiki bar.
Feature image courtesy Visit Charlottesville
This story originally ran in our February Issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
