Love locks; for some they are physical representation of unbreakable love. For others, they are considered an eye sore or even vandalism.
Regardless of how you feel about them, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to avoid seeing a few no matter where you travel these days. In fact, the only European country I’ve visited where I haven’t encountered them was Spain (although I’m sure I could have found some if I’d tried). I’ve been cataloging them throughout my European travels and will continue to add the best that I find to this post.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
I found it interesting that this canal bridge had so many love locks clustered together considering how many options you have (there are 1,500 bridges in the city). This bridge was rather close to the train station, however, so maybe the tourists were quite eager to get their love locked up right away.
Krakow, Poland.
Most of the love locks in Krakow can be found on the Kładka Bernatka.
Lucerne, Switzerland.
If I was the love lock type then I probably would have left one in this city. It was so incredibly beautiful there.
Pilsen, Czech Republic.
These were on top of the church tower in the main square. This was the first time I saw love locks high above a city like this, but it wasn’t the last!
Vienna, Austria.
They always look a little bit sad when they are laying flat instead of hanging.
Zurich, Switzerland.
I especially like the Swiss love lock (top right photo).
All of the love locks that I’ve found in Germany can be seen here.
If you could put a love lock anywhere in Europe, what city would you chose?
cool! there is one love lock bridge in my hometown too:)
They are everywhere!
I'm personally not a fan and I was quite happy when they removed them from the Pont des Arts in Paris and replaced with plexiglass… now you get a beautiful view of the Seine. And it was a major hazard. They are everywhere though and I suppose a few here and there is romantic, but when they are one on top of another in a jumble of metal.. it's an eyesore 🙂
I agree! I like the more sparsely decorated bridges, and why would you want to lock yours onto someone else's lock, anyway?
I'm not the type to leave a love lock, since I don't feel the need to prove my love with a physical object, but seeing them around is pretty cool. Just wanted to mention that there were quite a few love locks in Sevilla and some other places in Spain, but like in some other cities they are removed periodically so maybe when you were there they had just done a purge.
I was in Tarragona so I think perhaps the main problem was a lack of bridges, but of course the purges make sense.
I didn't realize that there were that many love locks all over Europe! I've really only heard about the famous bridge in Paris, and I think that I'd love to do it one day!
Yeah they are everywhere! I think they have discontinued the love locks on the bridge in Paris (it was getting too heavy) but instead they’ve installed special metal trees for the locks instead – so you could still put it *on* the bridge, technically. 🙂