10 unforgettable, romantic places for a kiss

In the 1942 film Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart swoon to the film’s iconic song that declares “a kiss is just a kiss.” But as lovers will attest, when you have the right setting, it can be so much more than just a smooch.

Location, location, location can turn “just a kiss” into an earth-moving, shamelessly enjoyable, memory-making, utterly romantic experience. From floating gondolas and a field of diamonds to a dark cave and a beach at sunset, here are a few suggestions for where to get the best bang for your buss.

Take your kisses to new heights as you twirl in a capsule rising 200 feet above the city on the St. Louis Wheel at St. Louis Union Station. Each of 41 wheelchair-accessible gondolas are fully enclosed, climate-controlled, and accommodate up to 8 riders ($15 for adults). One VIP gondola features a glass floor and leather bucket seats, and while it seats 4, you can reserve it for just you and your sweetie ($50 per seat).

Night or day, neon-lit or in sunshine sparkle, the spin not only offers scenic city views but also an opportunity to get high on kissing. Afterward, visit the St. Louis Aquarium and choose from several options for lunch or dinner.

The backstory of Bridal Cave teems with stories of lust and love. According to local folklore, an early 1800s Native American wedding took place in a stalactite-adorned room now known as the Bridal Chapel. The softly lit cavern today welcomes guests on tours that showcase its history and incredible mineral deposits, including giant columns.

At a cool 60 degrees, you might have to pull your significant other closer for a snuggle. If you’re not married yet, you can join a list of more than 3,000 couples who have tied the knot in the Bridal Chapel or in the site’s outdoor pavilion that overlooks the Lake of the Ozarks. Package options include flowers, recorded pipe organ music, a sparkling cider toast, a minister to perform the nuptials, and more. Entrance to the cave is $22 for adults.

Once upon a time, courting couples would stop on covered bridges to steal a kiss shielded from prying eyes by the bridge walls. While most of these wooden bridges have been torn down to make way for steel and concrete structures that do not lend themselves to privacy or leisurely jaunts, Indiana boasts an impressive array of these so-called kissing bridges.

Today you can find two such covered bridges in Gibson County that connect roadways as well as lovers. Erected in the 1870s and today open only to pedestrian traffic, the Red Bridge over Big Bayou Creek and Wheeling Bridge crossing the Patoka River near Princeton provide privacy as well as old-fashioned romantic charm to modern sweethearts.

The Lewis & Clark Confluence Tower celebrates two potent pairings—the joining of two daring men, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, who started their legendary 1804 westward expedition nearby, as well as the merger of two mighty bodies of water, the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

The tower’s 50-, 100-, and 150-foot observation decks, accessible by stairs and/or elevator, offer top spots to lock lips and pay tribute to super-successful unions remembered happily ever after. Adults, $6.

Add some sweetness to your romance—and kisses—with a visit to the award-winning Hazel Hill Chocolate. The family-run shop sells small-batch, seductive treats and even has viewing stations that showcase how some of the items are handcrafted using fresh ingredients.

A range of delights include chocolate-dipped strawberries, truffles, and toffee. But if you desire an Adam and Eve experience without the repercussions, bite into the shop’s luscious apples covered in such toppings as chocolate, caramel, or cheesecake crust. Give into your sweet tooth with your sweetie.

Imagine you and yours sharing kisses that are both moving and uplifting while floating in a sunrise sky—gentle as a butterfly and easy as a sweet dream. Turn imagination into reality in the basket of a hot air balloon arranged by Champagne Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Adventures.

Silently soaring over the countryside with your paramour will provide memories to last a lifetime. Although based in Meridian, the company will arrange balloon rides all over the South and, upon returning to earth, will pop champagne so that you and your heart’s desire can toast a fabulous flight of fancy. Two-person morning flight, $500.

Couples can get into hot water in the most marvelous manner at the Quapaw Baths & Spa. Established 100 years ago and located on the historic Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park, the facility offers a range of spa treatments and baths, including a mineral bath for couples in a private bathing area or the opportunity to bathe in one of the thermal pools.

Soaking in a hot spring is a surefire and steamy way to heat up romance. Aromatherapy and hydrotherapy options also are available. Prices start at $45 for couples.

Miles and miles of sand, surf, and secluded shoreline engulf lovebirds in natural beauty during hand-in-hand sunset strolls on Holly Beach. Located about 10 miles west of Cameron on the western edge of what locals call the “Cajun Riviera,” this sandy stop along the southern portion of the Creole Nature Trail will delight in many ways.

Portions of the beach even allow cars to drive directly on the sand. You can view the setting sun from a parked car, kissing as if you are in Mother Nature’s own drive-in movie theater.

Legend has it that the tradition of giving a diamond ring to your betrothed began in 1477 when Archduke Maximilian of Austria proposed to Mary of Burgundy with just such a bauble. Yet you can create a new tradition by digging for your own gems at Crater of Diamonds State Park in southwest Arkansas.

Scan the plowed 37.5-acre field, which is the eroded surface of an ancient volcanic crater, for diamonds or dig down using your own tools or those rented from the park. And you can keep what you find. The prospect of finding a multi-carat treasure can enhance every facet of a courtship and add bling to your romance. A kiss upon finding a diamond seems wholly appropriate. Adults, $10.

Navigate your way to shipshape kisses as you and yours lounge in the curved arms of a gondola gently gliding through the waterways of City Park in New Orleans. This intimate cruise by Nola Gondola positively drips with romance by embracing couples in tranquility as lovely scenery flows by and enchanting Italian music fills the air.

The 50-minute tours are $100. Whether you are just launching a liaison or cruising toward forever and always, a gondola will steer you to a romantic experience. Indeed, hundreds of proposals—and ensuing kisses—have taken place on these enchanting voyages.

Susan Manlin Katzman is a contributor from St. Louis, Missouri.