Popular Honeymoon destinations

dunna

Just wondered where are all you brides to be going on honeymoon??
We are getting married in July and wondered where would be good to go (weather/season wise?)
We had thought about Cancaun in Mexico but not sure anyone else been there?

clint_silver

dunna wrote: »

Just wondered where are all you brides to be going on honeymoon??
We are getting married in July and wondered where would be good to go (weather/season wise?)
We had thought about Cancaun in Mexico but not sure anyone else been there?

Thailand, do bangkok and head down to the islands, koh samui or koh phi phi. tropical island stuff.

Ive been to cancun and thought it was like a nice spanish holiday. nothing wrong with it, just didnt have the special element to it.

Gatica

that's what we're doing! Thailand, Bangkok, some other nearby countries probably and then Phi Phi or Koh Samui for last few days before coming back.

Friends of mine went to South America and loved it. They did do a lot of trekking and hiking though, so it's not for everyone. They did Peru, Bolivia and Argentina first and then Mexico on another occasion. I've seen the photos and it looked amazing. There is such a diverse culture over there and different tribes that live in the mountains with their colourful clothing... gorgeous.

Rew

Were looking at Thailand as well, Bangkok then up north to Chang Mai and then down to to Ko Samui etc.

Chrizfitz

Rew wrote: »

Were looking at Thailand as well, Bangkok then up north to Chang Mai and then down to to Ko Samui etc.

Jesus this is a carbon copy of mine. I'm going in late sept. Hope the weather is going to be good.

cynder

WE booked Barbados for 2 adults and 2 children and a baby, however 1 hour after booking the hotel canceled on us because we were bringing a baby, for us to bring the baby we had to upgrade our room costing another 2k (the free baby was 2k, 1k dearer than it was for an adult) so we booked disneyworld florida, had a great time but i still wish we had of gone for Barbados.

Disneyword is quite popular for honeymoons, (yep we took our kids on honeymoon with us).

If we were going as just a couple i would have gone for Maldives or seychelles.

Mexico did appeal to us but too many people were telling my other half that it wasnt a safe place for kids .... I still wanted to go but he wouldn't consider it.

Rew

Chrizfitz wrote: »

Jesus this is a carbon copy of mine. I'm going in late sept. Hope the weather is going to be good.

TBH its the standard Thailand honeymoon from what i can gather. We went to a number of travel agents and thats what they were all selling. Friends of ours are on honeymoon for 3 weeks over there now and basically doing that route as well.

My sister in law has done alot of traveling in Thailand and she is acting as our travel agent and looks like we can get much better accommodation standards by doing it that way. Were thinking of going next month but the ethiad flight is going up by the day.

beltzar

We're going to India, Nepal and finish in The Maldives.
Hoping to be out of the country 5 weeks in total. Woo HOO - Cant wait!:D

Gatica

our friends went to the Maldives and loved it... Make sure you pick an island that tries to sustain a reef-friendly lifestyle though. I believe it's a big thing, especially for divers.

Zulu

We went to Kuramathi in the Maldives January last year.

We wanted heaven; paradise; once in a lifetime stuff. It delivered. We will go back, someday.

endabob1

Thailand in July or September will be wet & Humid, you might be ok but it certainly won't be beach weather. I hate to sound negative, but the travel agents are pushing it because it's the cheap season there so they can get good deals with accommodation.

Hurricane Season in the Gulf of Mexico normally runs from July through to November, so I would avoid that too.
To be honest if I was getting married in July (or any time in the European Summer) I would look at southern Europe, somewhere like Sardinia or even the French Riviera.
The only other real alternatives for me would be somewhere that's pretty steady all year, like Mauritius or Seychelles or maybe the Maldives

sin0city

Just be aware that it's the rainy season in the Maldives from the middle of June to September so you can expect about 20% rainy days. You could be lucky and have less or unlucky and have more.

paulbok

We're also doing Bangkok, Cambodia and Koh Samui, and have been told by friends who were in that region during July - Sept, that the rains are not as bad on the east islands (Samui etc) as Phuket on the west side. They are reasonably predictable so we can work around them.

I am pie

We finally went for Bali in Sept. Staying a week in Bali (well away from the madness of Kuta) , a week in Lombok, a 4 nights on differen Gili isles and then back for a few nights in Ubud.

Weather looks like it should be decent.

Borderfox

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Thailand/Warnings_or_Dangers-Thailand-TG-C-1.html

Rew

Booked flights to Bangkok with KLM for end of next month €600 return each. We have to book some hotels and internal flights now!!

matrim

I am pie wrote: »

We finally went for Bali in Sept. Staying a week in Bali (well away from the madness of Kuta) , a week in Lombok, a 4 nights on differen Gili isles and then back for a few nights in Ubud.

Weather looks like it should be decent.

Kuta is a hole so avoid it at all costs. Gili Air is nice, you can both relax and also meet people for a drink. I didn't go myself but from what other people said when I was around the islands, Gili Trawangan is turning into an island version of Kuta and is loosing it's charm.

To the OP, don't think about where other people are going on their honeymoon. Think what you and your future husband will enjoy. There's no point trying for the perfect honeymoon destination if it's not what you or your OH would like to do.

Work out what you want from your honeymoon then try and find a place that fits that rather than trying to fit yourself into the "perfect" honeymoon destination.

LovelyLaura

Hi, we are looking for our honeymoon destination now, but with the wedding costing so much, theres not much left for a honeymoon like the ones people are going on in this thread. Could anyone recommend somewhere exotic but on a budget?!
Thanks

cruais

LovelyLaura wrote: »

Hi, we are looking for our honeymoon destination now, but with the wedding costing so much, theres not much left for a honeymoon like the ones people are going on in this thread. Could anyone recommend somewhere exotic but on a budget?!
Thanks

We are going to sorrento for two weeks. Haven't booked a hotel yet but I have one in mind. It's a 4* working out at €1400 for the 2 of us and got our flights for €200...

Shop around, try avoid travel agencies and do everything separate. Try alpharooms.ie

cynder

LovelyLaura wrote: »

Hi, we are looking for our honeymoon destination now, but with the wedding costing so much, theres not much left for a honeymoon like the ones people are going on in this thread. Could anyone recommend somewhere exotic but on a budget?!
Thanks

What sort of budget under 2k under 1500 under 1k or under 500

Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, other than that a european country. May be try Bulgaria or Croatia even Greece. Would you go to the canary islands? All inclusive holidays would cost in the region of 1500 to 2K + All inclusive would be food, drink, flights and accommodation. Would you want to hire a car?





*Been looking at Bora Bora, be thinking i will be going on a second honeymoon when the kids are grown up and Bora Bora has my name on it

Zulu

I'd avoid Egypt, what with what's currently going on over there.

(Great spot though, I loved it. Great diving, nice people. AVOID salad & ice. Seriously.)

Fozzie Bear

We are getting married in Rome in a few weeks time. Having a week off afterwards and heading to Positano on the Amalfi coast to relax. Its been fairly hectic lately leading up to the big day. Will need the break!

Then in July we are heading for two weeks to South Africa. Cape Town for a few days, then driving the garden route over to Port Elizabeth, Safari, diving etc along the way. Flying to Mauritius for the third week on the beach and cocktails by the bucket!

Its expensive. We have not got a penny to spare at the moment but its something we will only do once and we decided to make it memorable. Its also easier to pay for by doing it in July. Instead of having a wedding and Honeymoon to pay for together we broke it up to spread the payments out. Really looking forward to it. It will be worth the hassle, no social life and expense right now.

patsyrockem

I am pie wrote: »

We finally went for Bali in Sept. Staying a week in Bali (well away from the madness of Kuta) , a week in Lombok, a 4 nights on differen Gili isles and then back for a few nights in Ubud.

Weather looks like it should be decent.

We are also heading to Bali in sept. 4 nights in Kuala Lumpur and then on to Nusa Dua for 10 nights. Can't wait. A difficult time of year weatherwise in a lot of honeymoon destinations but Bali seemed to tick a lot of boxes. Glad to hear we're not the only irish people heading there, distinct lack of irish people on forums etc. Anyone with tips for Bali would be much appreciated. Roll on September:D

endabob1

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Then in July we are heading for two weeks to South Africa. Cape Town for a few days, then driving the garden route over to Port Elizabeth, Safari, diving etc along the way. Flying to Mauritius for the third week on the beach and cocktails by the bucket!

Where do you plan to Safari/Dive? Are you planning on doing the great white cage dive at Gaansbai?

JB81

Anyone have any comments on Malta. Early November. Any experiences?

Thanks
JB

I am pie

patsyrockem wrote: »

We are also heading to Bali in sept. 4 nights in Kuala Lumpur and then on to Nusa Dua for 10 nights. Can't wait. A difficult time of year weatherwise in a lot of honeymoon destinations but Bali seemed to tick a lot of boxes. Glad to hear we're not the only irish people heading there, distinct lack of irish people on forums etc. Anyone with tips for Bali would be much appreciated. Roll on September:D

Yeah, I've certainly heard that Kuta is overcrowded and full of tourists on the beer....but I don't think it's a reason to right off the Bali & Lombok. Plenty of nice places away from that crowd. I think you'll be well looked after in Nusa Dua if a top end resort experience is what you're after. Can't offer any more tips, we bought a few books and trawled the usual internet forums.

Trailfinders were pushing it as a September location when we spoke to them, in the end we booked with someone else as they were able to cater to our unusual flight requirements. I think local travel agents are pushing it as a Sept long haul location.

LeeHoffmann

We´re thinking of going to Malayisa for 2 weeks in July - an island not too far from Kula Lumpur and a resort on the Borneo part of Malaysia near Kota Kinabalu

Gatica

Rew wrote: »

Booked flights to Bangkok with KLM for end of next month €600 return each. We have to book some hotels and internal flights now!!

We booked with Emirate to Bangkok for September at 660 each. Sounds like KLM did a better deal! We booked awhile ago though and it was cheaper than KLM at the time...

Rew

Gatica wrote: »

We booked with Emirate to Bangkok for September at 660 each. Sounds like KLM did a better deal! We booked awhile ago though and it was cheaper than KLM at the time...

We were originally going with Ethiad and it was less then that again but we missed it.

We did all out hotels over the weekend with hotels.com and I used fatcheese.ie to get 10% back on the hotel prices which was a nice bit of cash, plus we get a free night from Hotels.com rewards scheme.

All the internal flights booked, just have to book ferries between koh samui, koh pangan and koh tao.

Fair idea what were doing in each place as well, packing a lot into Chang Mai.

Only snag is not getting vaccinated sooner.... ooops

Gatica

Vaccinations is on my to-do list. I have many already from previous travel, but need to update a few.
Never heard of fatcheese.ie, will definitely check it out. Thanks for the suggestion!
Chiang Mai is on our list of possible destinations. Still not finalised though.

Rew

Gatica wrote: »

Vaccinations is on my to-do list. I have many already from previous travel, but need to update a few.
Never heard of fatcheese.ie, will definitely check it out. Thanks for the suggestion!
Chiang Mai is on our list of possible destinations. Still not finalised though.

I'd never heard of them either TBH friend f mine suggested I look at them. You sign up then clcik a button that brings you to hotels.com, make you booking and after your stay you get 10% back simple as!!!

That 10% plus .5% I get back from using my CC plus the free night we built up from hotels.com we did pretty well on the whole thing!!

Hotels.com were the same or a lot better then booking.com for everything. We booked all internal flights with Bangkok Airways. There was a Ryanair type airline that looked cheaper till we saw the baggage charge!!

We booked nice rooms the whole way along but we plan on looking for upgrades in some places when we get there. Friends of ours are just back from a very similar honeymoon and they got great deals on upgrades as its quiet over there. I'll PM you a list of hotels were using if you want, we sent hours in front of hotels.com and tripadvisor to find them!!! Getting maried next week flying week after so I can feedback on them after that

Rew

Gatica wrote: »

Vaccinations is on my to-do list. I have many already from previous travel, but need to update a few.

Cost me 160 quid this morning so shop around!

Gatica

Thanks! that would be great... Always good to hear some first-hand experiences.
We're looking at some flights with Air Asia (some flights may be out of Thailand) and Sky Scanner website. They do better deals sometimes than the airlines themselves.
Friend recommended Rambuttri Village Inn in Bangkok and Hotels.com review for it were quite good too.

Rew

Gatica wrote: »

Thanks! that would be great... Always good to hear some first-hand experiences.
We're looking at some flights with Air Asia (some flights may be out of Thailand) and Sky Scanner website. They do better deals sometimes than the airlines themselves.
Friend recommended Rambuttri Village Inn in Bangkok and Hotels.com review for it were quite good too.

We scoured Tripadviser and booked nothing that didn't have a 4+ rating on there and was a4* or 5* hotel. We wanted mid to high end on everything and the prices worked out pretty well. Ill pm you one now.

Excited!

Hi Everyone,

I would really appreciate any advice help anyone can give me. My husband to be and I are getting married mid november this year and are kind of stuck when it comes to honeymoon for that time of year.

What we are looking for in a honeymoon is a really nice hotel since its our honeymoon and we're used to supervalu breaks only! Also nice food and interesting surroundings with the option of excursions to sites/cultural/historical places of interest.
Im not really the back packing type and would like a bit of luxury thrown in. If it were summer time i would probably look at sorrento / venice and places like that but most of those places would just probably be murky weather according to travel agents. We would like either fairly decent weather (as in sunshine) or i wouldnt mind going the whole hog for a winter honeymoon as in snow but still be able to do plenty, there are obvious ski options but neither of us have ever done this before and would try it for a day but not the entire holiday.

Any suggestions / opions are very welcome

clint_silver

Excited! wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

I would really appreciate any advice help anyone can give me. My husband to be and I are getting married mid november this year and are kind of stuck when it comes to honeymoon for that time of year.

What we are looking for in a honeymoon is a really nice hotel since its our honeymoon and we're used to supervalu breaks only! Also nice food and interesting surroundings with the option of excursions to sites/cultural/historical places of interest.
Im not really the back packing type and would like a bit of luxury thrown in. If it were summer time i would probably look at sorrento / venice and places like that but most of those places would just probably be murky weather according to travel agents. We would like either fairly decent weather (as in sunshine) or i wouldnt mind going the whole hog for a winter honeymoon as in snow but still be able to do plenty, there are obvious ski options but neither of us have ever done this before and would try it for a day but not the entire holiday.

Any suggestions / opions are very welcome

skiing is the most amount of fun you can have with your clothes on, do it for a week but not 1 day as youll spend the first day falling over, by the end of the week youll be hurtling down the slopes at 30-40mph whooping with delight.

maybe hit the states? lots of places over there you can be at snow covered peaks in 2-3 hours from a sun vacation.

wrmwit

We're off to Cuba for 2 weeks. Few days in Havana, few days in Trinidad and a week in Varadero. Cuba has everything we want in a honeymoon; culture and beaches! And it's reasonably priced too!

Excited!

Thanks very much Clint_Silver, i hadnt even considered the states but what you say is true so ill ahve a look at that we're hoping to do it for about 2k thought so that may limit me where ever i look!

Gatica

I would opt for skiing as well. It's a lot more fun than people imagine, even if you're a beginner.
How long are taking off for your honeymoon?
Thing is 2k will get you 1 week of decent skiing somewhere comfortable. This is because between classes and rentals you can easily spend a lot.
So if you're taking more than 2 weeks, you may not be able to stretch your budget by much for doing something sunny as well. Perhaps look into eastern Europe for cheaper skiing?
Chile is meant to be good for both skiing and sunshine, don't know cost of flights though.

Anything closer to the equator will be warmer than here in November! So you can also look into a more luxurious holiday than a Supervalu break at slightly closer locations like Canaries, Tenerife or Cape Verde.

Excited!

Thanks Gatica,

We are only going on honey moon for a week and on discussion we have decided we would rather experince a skiing holiday next year or the year after but not as our honeymoon as it would probably take us the week to learn how to do it.

Eqypt and tunusia seem to have some political unrest at the moment and i dont want to go anywhere like this. We had been thinking mexico but its a very long flight for one weeks holiday.

We can stretch to 3k but that would be our max really, I havent travelled all that much so im not great with the ideas, but im mindful that by including a travel agent we could be spending money on them that could mean a nicer hotel or something!

byhookorbycrook

patsyrockem wrote: »

We are also heading to Bali in sept. 4 nights in Kuala Lumpur and then on to Nusa Dua for 10 nights. Can't wait. A difficult time of year weatherwise in a lot of honeymoon destinations but Bali seemed to tick a lot of boxes. Glad to hear we're not the only irish people heading there, distinct lack of irish people on forums etc. Anyone with tips for Bali would be much appreciated. Roll on September:D

There's actually an Irish bar in Kuta!!Do one day there, for the craic, but that's enough.

Bambi2

We're off to Kenya for a fortnight!! Can't wait.

We had looked at Barbados or Cancun with a city break in US on the way back but we just found they were essentially Canaries-style places but with an extra grand's worth of a price tag. We're getting to Kenya for SLIGHTLY more and more wow factor thrown in!

Tango One

After looking at Thailand, We are thinking of going to San Francisco for 3 days then fly to O'ahu for a day, check out Pear Harbour. Next fly to Maui for a week it look nicer than O'ahu. Finally head to Vegas for a little under a week. Anyone done anything like this? Have I allowed enough time in San Francisco and Honolulu.

Zaph

You might already know this, but it's a 5 hour flight from San Francisco to Honolulu and about 6 hours from there back to Las Vegas. That's nearly two extra transatlantic flights to be factored in. It's a lot of airports and flying for a two and a half week holiday.

Gatica

I am considering doing several flights with 3-4 days at each destination (SE Asia). We're travelling for about a month. Does this sound overly ambitious?
Is that only because it's supposed to be a relaxing honeymoon or as a general travel itinerary?

paulbok

Why not look at taking trains between some destinations? You'd get to see someof the countryside and won't be as tiring as spending 1/2 of a day in airports and on planes every few days. mightn't be suitable for every destination but worth looking at.

Tango One

Zaph wrote: »

You might already know this, but it's a 5 hour flight from San Francisco to Honolulu and about 6 hours from there back to Las Vegas. That's nearly two extra transatlantic flights to be factored in. It's a lot of airports and flying for a two and a half week holiday.

Ah it a long trip to get to Hawaii that why I'm trying to break it up a little with San Francisco and Vegas.

Zaph

Gatica wrote: »

I am considering doing several flights with 3-4 days at each destination (SE Asia). We're travelling for about a month. Does this sound overly ambitious?
Is that only because it's supposed to be a relaxing honeymoon or as a general travel itinerary?

If I was travelling for a month I'd have no problem moving around every 3-4 days, but I wouldn't want to be flying every time. Apart from the fact that you see a lot more of where you are by road or rail, it just seems an awful waste of time hanging around airports so much, regardless of whether it's a honeymoon or not.

Our honeymoon starts with an 11 hour flight to the west coast of the States, but after that we have 9 days to drive only about 450 miles with several stops on the way, before a 5 night stay in one place. Then it's a very short internal flight followed by 4 nights in our final destination before heading home. That's plenty of time in airports as far as I'm concerned.

Gatica

The only reason we're flying is time really. The bus journeys for those distances are ~12 hours, and I don't think that I could even sit that long, never mind waste the day travelling. You're right though, you probably do get to see a lot more of the countryside from the window of the bus than the plane.
I actually hadn't counted travel time to/from airport and check-in times. I'll have to redo some calculations and figure that out then!

patsyrockem

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

There's actually an Irish bar in Kuta!!Do one day there, for the craic, but that's enough.

If i suggest one day in an irish bar on my honeymoon, I'm sure i'll be spending a lot more days in an irish bar after my divorce;)
Hope to head to Kuta for a look anyway, half day maybe?
Need to get jabs sorted soon, oops!!!

PCPhoto

Tango One wrote: »

After looking at Thailand, We are thinking of going to San Francisco for 3 days then fly to O'ahu for a day, check out Pear Harbour. Next fly to Maui for a week it look nicer than O'ahu. Finally head to Vegas for a little under a week. Anyone done anything like this? Have I allowed enough time in San Francisco and Honolulu.

We did a similar holiday 2/3years ago .... its expensive in Hawaii (Maui) ...but fantastic place to relax and chill out.

We did Dublin-Toronto (visit my sister for a day and see Niagara Falls) - then San Fran for a little over a day (enough time to see all the main sites - but not enough to properly explore the city)....from San Fran to Hawaii (Big Island) ...we stayed in Hilo and drove to a place which is not an official track but we were walking on actual lava...and flowing lava was 20feet away ...fantastic experience...highly recommend it....we were there for 3/4 days.

Next we travelled to Maui ..Lahaina is the best place to visit as it gets the best of the weather and is not far from all the good diving/snorkeling spots...we stayed here for a week

and from here to Vegas ... 3/4 days in vegas is more than enough to gamble, sightsee and chill out....after Vegas ..we went to New York for another few days and then home.

Fantastic holiday we would recommend it... we have no idea what to do for our honeymoon though (Sept 2013) ... we dont want to go back to anywhere we have been before but we have travelled a fair bit (did the thailand triangle chiang mai-koh samui-bangkok this year ...in April...fantastic)

if you do visit Maui ... and like scuba diving there's the option of a shark tank dive ...yes you dive in a tank with loads of sharks and other fish ...its great (you must be PADI open Water qualified though) .... mokolini is great for diving or snorkeling ....but its a boat ride away from maui....turtle beach is another place ... huge green sea turtles inches away from you as you snorkle (we also had this while snorkeling at mokelini)