If you’ve been dreaming of proposing in Europe this summer, you’re not alone. New research from global car hire brand Avis found that one in two Britons who get engaged actually do so in another country, and with the warmer months approaching, flights and hotels are already filling fast.

The problem? The spots that show up first on every engagement inspiration board, the Eiffel Tower, the canals of Venice, and Edinburgh Castle, are also magnets for selfie sticks, tour groups, and five-figure “luxury proposal packages.” That whispered “Will you marry me?” is a little harder to land when 500 strangers are jostling for the same photo.

The good news: most of Europe’s famous proposal destinations have a quieter, cheaper, and frankly more unique alternatives sitting just a short drive away. Avis crunched Google search and TikTok data to map out exactly where the crowds flock, and where they don’t. Here are eight of the best swaps they found:

Swap the Eiffel Tower for the Temple of Love

The Eiffel Tower is Europe’s most-searched proposal spot, pulling over 650,000 monthly Google searches worldwide, and the price reflects it. A general ticket runs €28, but a premium proposal experience easily climbs past €10,000.

Photo by Mkonikkara, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link 

A 45-minute drive or an hour train ride southwest takes you to Chateau de Versailles, where the Temple of Love, an 18th-century marble pavilion in the palace gardens, offers something Paris can’t: quiet. With fewer than 700 monthly searches, you may well have the place to yourselves, all for a €12 garden entry fee.

Photo by Always Us Photography

The best part? You can enjoy Versailles all day and still pop back into the city to snap your “just engaged” photos in front of the Eiffel Tower, shimmering in the night sky!

Swap the Amalfi Coast for the Cilento Coast

The Amalfi Coast’s dramatic clifftop views are technically free, which also means they are often completely crowded. With over 466,000 monthly searches and 37,000 TikTok hashtags, those viewpoints are rarely anything close to intimate, especially in peak travel months.

Photo by Gim42 from Getty Images Signature

A three-hour drive south leads to the Cilento Coast, an area of the Campania region, featuring rolling hills and ancient architecture by the Tyrrhenian Sea. It offers similarly dazzling Italian scenery, without the tour buses and busy roads.

Swap the London Eye for Jubilee Gardens

The London Eye draws 347,000 searches a month, and its proposal pods start at a cool £1,390 on top of the £29 general entry.

Photo by Dawid Tkocz from Pexels

Jubilee Gardens sits directly adjacent, a quiet green space along the Thames that looks straight back at the Eye itself, with no queuing, no time pressure, and no bill at the end. This swap is literally a one-minute stroll, plus you and your new fiancé can take a romantic ride right after you pop the question!

Swap Edinburgh Castle for Craigmillar Castle

Scotland’s most-searched proposal location draws 238,000 monthly searches, and the crowds to match, at £24 a head. Three miles away, Craigmillar Castle offers the same atmospheric, ruined-fortress romance with a fraction of the footfall.

Photo by David Boutin Photography from Getty Images

Known locally as “Edinburgh’s hidden castle,” it has just 5,800 monthly searches and costs £7.50 to enter. If you’re going for windswept medieval romance, Craigmillar actually has the edge.

Swap Park Güell for Parc del Laberint d’Horta

Park Güell is one of Barcelona’s most visited UNESCO sites, pulling 179,000 searches monthly and costing €18 to enter. Fourteen minutes north, Parc del Laberint d’Horta (the city’s oldest park) has just 2,600 searches and a mere 67 TikTok hashtags.

Photo by nevskyphoto from Getty Images

For €2.23, you get 18th-century formal gardens, a neoclassical hedge maze, and fountains that feel a world away from the tourist trail. If you’ve been imagining a proposal that feels like a secret, this is your spot.

Swap the Venice Gondola for Giardino Giusti

Venice is Europe’s second-most searched engagement destination, and gondola pricing makes it one of the priciest. A romantic private experience can run well over €700 on top of the standard €90 starting fare.

Photo by imagoDens from Getty Images

One hour down the road is Verona, the city of Shakespeare’s most famous lovers, where Giardino Giusti offers Renaissance-era cypress gardens and a skyline made for a big moment. Entry is €14, searches number just 1,600 a month, and the crowds are a fraction of those clogging Venice’s waterways.

Swap Villa del Balbianello for Villa Monastero

Villa del Balbianello is the postcard version of Lake Como, with all terraced gardens and cinematic water views, and a well-earned reputation as one of Italy’s most romantic settings. At €15 to enter, it’s accessible enough, but its fame means you’ll be sharing the moment with plenty of fellow admirers. Villa Monastero, a former convent turned botanical garden stretching along the quieter eastern shore of the lake, offers a different kind of beauty, more meditative, less performative.

Photo by Monocromo Studio // Planning by Elizabeth Elkins Events

At €27 it’s the rare case where the hidden gem costs a little more, but what you’re paying for is space, serenity, and a shoreline that doesn’t feel like it’s being photographed from every angle. For a proposal that prioritizes atmosphere over aesthetics, it’s worth every additional cent.

Swap Oia Village for Pyrgos Village

Oia is Santorini’s most famous village, and its blue-domed sunset views are genuinely as beautiful as advertised, which is exactly why hundreds of people gather there every evening to watch them. Both Oia and the alternative, Pyrgos, are free to visit.

Photo by turtix from Getty Images

Perched at the island’s highest point, Pyrgos is a medieval hilltop village of whitewashed alleyways, crumbling Venetian castle walls, and panoramic views that stretch across the entire caldera. The sunsets are just as breathtaking. The difference is you might actually be able to hear each other when you ask the question.

A few practical notes before you go

Hiring a car gives you the flexibility to reach spots that aren’t on direct transit routes, and to leave on your own schedule.

Even quieter destinations can get busy on summer weekends, so a weekday morning visit gives you the best chance of genuine solitude.

The crowds, the cost, the carefully curated backdrop… none of it is what your partner will primarily remember. They’ll remember your face. So find the quiet corner, take a breath, and pop the question. After all, you can rest assured that you and your partner can snap photos at those famous locations after the big moment!