Where to for the honeymoon?

Hey,

Heading on Honeymoon next August for approx 2 weeks.

If you could do any trip, what would it be?

I am just starting researching this now, so I have not visited any Travel Agents yet. Himself isn't really into the sun, but could probably cope with a week. So I was thinking of 1 week sun and 1 more active week. Maybe safari in South Africa/Kenya and then on to Maldives/Mauritius. Or maybe a few days in Vegus, a week in Mexico/Hawaii and then a few days in another US city..

I suppose a cruise is another option..but I just have this image of a load of honeymooners sitting around a table blowing about our weddings...I'm all weddinged out as it is..

Any advice greatly appreciated.

What's your budget? Hawaii, Maldives and Mauritius are all very expensive to get to. Safaris aren't cheap either.

If he's not into Sun then Hawaii, Vegas, Mexico will all be tough as they won't just be warm, they'll be very, very hot.

I take it you want to go further afield than Europe? Have you considered Asia?

Thanks for your reply.

Budget would probably be flexible enough..anything around €6000-8000.

Its more that he finds the whole lying around in the sun boring as opposed to the heat. Also he is petrified of water..so water sport activities etc are not an option.

What is the best time of year to go on a Safari? I presume it would be winter in South Africa?

I was hoping to go beyond Europe as I suppose I have done a reasonable amount of travel in Europe and want to go somewhere that I may not have the opportunity to go to again.

I have just been reading an old thread on a cruise to Alaska and it sounds great. Maybe I will look into a week cruise around Alaska and a week in a hot spot on the west coast of US?

Haven't thought of Asia...would love to visit Japan and Hong Kong..

Hi Elaine. I would recommend going to orlando for the active part of your honeymoon, the theme parks over there are class and you can do a bit of shopping while your there also.My brother in law is doing a cruise for a week around the carribean and then a week in orlando.

Call into Trailfinders they are very useful for this type of thing. 6-8k will not go very far as a total budget (food, drinks etc) if you are considering safari in South Africa/Kenya and then on to Maldives/Mauritius, however it would in Asia or the Carribean.

Orlando in August would not very romantic. Not an ideal time to visit the Caribbean either as it's hurricane season.

It's rainy season for a lot of Asia but don't let that put you off, think ten min heavy showers then ten mins later it's like it never rained. Vietnam is my favourite Asian destination. Hong Kong is nice but a week is a bit long I think.

Alaska is beautiful, maybe team with somewhere in California, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Newport Beach...

I second the Trailfinders recommendation, while we normally book independently we did our honeymoon and several other long haul holidays with them and they are brilliant at putting stuff together.

Maybe I'm getting old but €6k-€8k seems a huge amount for any holiday - honeymoon or otherwise. Hope it's not borrowed money!

Are you sure you really want to go long haul, after all the stress and effort after the wedding. Why not somewhere interesting and close, maybe Tuscany in Italy. You could have some relaxing chill-out days to recover and then start exploring Florence & Pisa. Wait for the following year for long haul trip.

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

No its not borrowed money, there will be no borrowing for this wedding! We are actually getting married in the south of Spain in July, so we will probably take 2 weeks off work then and hoped to go on a proper honeymoon in August/Sept.

I would like to go somewhere that we will not get the opportunity to go to again for a long time. Also, himself has done very little travelling so its a good excuse to go somewhere amazing before settling down..

I am going to visit Trailfinders on Monday and a few other Travel Agents. I am researching the Alaska option at the moment and the Rockies Train -

Thanks.

Have you considered italy? Loads of places to see & things to do and you can have active and relaxing parts to your honeymoon. The best of both worlds.

Lake Garda in Italy.....A little piece of heaven......No "weddingers", no drunks, no annoying people trying to pawn goods on you, no gangs, no poor food, no hurry and no problems getting there.

Always worth a look........Bardolino, Lake Garda

Italy is fab. Any part. All worth a visit.

starman60 said:

Lake Garda in Italy.....A little piece of heaven......No "weddingers", no drunks, no annoying people trying to pawn goods on you, no gangs, no poor food, no hurry and no problems getting there.

Always worth a look........Bardolino, Lake Garda

Click to expand...

Any recommendations for hotels in Bardolina suitable for a honeymoon? Also is this area convenient for public transport? I hear some areas on the lake are not served well and freuent by public transport.

ElaineBenes said:

Hey,

I suppose a cruise is another option..but I just have this image of a load of honeymooners sitting around a table blowing about our weddings...I'm all weddinged out as it is..

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Just returned from a honeymoon cruise, and it entirely depends on yourself, we spoke to no other couple, had table for 2 each night, that is how we like it, but sure there was a gathering for honeymooners if you like to meet other couples.
Cruising is sooo relaxing...

Alaskan cruise is supposed to beautiful , definitely on my Todo list.
Also, August is still winter in South Africa so if you could delay till the end or till start of September you will find reasonable temperatures ( not too hot, but a lot better than here) and it is low season so you should get better prices for safaris - I would recommend Shamwari (Be aware you might get the odd shower though that time of year)

Have you though about Canada ?

ElaineBenes said:

Maybe safari in South Africa and then on to Mauritius.

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We did exactly this for both wedding/honeymoon last August.
Very expensive. As it was an elopement we had no other wedding expenses so it suited us. South Africa part was absolutely amazing - a week can be long on safari though, but as our wedding was in the middle of it it was ok for us.
Mauritius was a huge disappointment, nothing to do except stay in the resort, outside of it was dingy, poor, squalid. The resort was beautiful but all activities centred around water so not really suitable for your hubby to be.

Weatherwise, the first 3 days in SA were super hot, then freezing, we hat to buy hatss, scarves, gloves and coats in the game park - gets cold on an open top jeep, wind chill factor!! But it didnt matter in the slightest tbh.

Mauritius was very grey, warm but only 2 days with any sun at all. Quite boring but I like to read my book and swim so I didnt mind.

Food in both places was amazing. Long hours travelling with the flights though which was very tiring coming home (almost 24 hours travel to get home).

Trailfinders UK organised the whole thing for us - only because of the wedding bit, the Irish office doesnt handle weddings.

We climbed Kilimanjaro and then went to Mauritius for a week, have to say I thought Mauritius was fab. Sun split the stones every day we were there and the resort we were in had lots of activities, water sports etc plus a spa treatment each day. We didn't leave the resort as we were pretty wrecked after the wedding and the mountain climbing!

I would have found 2 weeks lying on a beach pretty boring but a week of activity and a week relaxing is a prefect mix. Safari is a good choice too, I did that in Kenya on another trip and loved it.

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

Only getting back to this now, as only managed to visit Trailfinders last weekend.

We have more or less decided on the California & Alaska Cruise option. Itinerary as follows:

• Fly to San Fran (via Heathrow)
• 3 nights in the Ritz in SFran
• Hire Car for 5 days
• Drive to Monterey, 1 night stay at Monterey Plaza
• Drive to Yosemite National Park, 1 night stay at Tenaya Lodge in the park
• Drive to Napa, 2 night stay at Solage Calistoga
• Fly San Fran to Seattle
• 1 night stay at The Edgewater in Seattle
• 1 week cruise through Alaska - mini suite with Balcony
• Flight to Cork (via Heathrow)

The quote I received was €8243 which I think is reasonable. The cruise includes all meals, but not drinks.
We were advised that Royal Caribbean & NCL were the best cruise options for our age-group - the former offering better on-board options, but the latter being able to navigate by more glaciers (as smaller ship) etc.

Any thoughts?

Sounds fab! if you change your mind I would highly recommend Kenya. We were there in August - got to see the crossing in the Masi Mara - absolutely amazing. Then went to an island - Kipungani. Beach hut by the Indian Ocean - very few people on the Island. It was wonderful. Booked all through a company called Responsilble Travel - they were very helpful. They may be able to give you a quote on the california/alaska trip.

ElaineBenes did you decide to go with the above option in the end? Thinking about doing Canada & then cruise in Alaska for our HM in late August next year. Would be interested to hear how ye got on if ye went?