Adventure honeymoon?

tycourt

Anyone go on an "adventurous" honeymoon?
We've done a beach, drinks and relaxation vacation before. We are looking for something that involves being outdoors and exploring.
Any ideas? Also, where are you planning on going?

madamerwin

What about somewhere in South America? I've always wanted to go to Argentina and Chile, I hear they're great places to visit - vibrant culture, jungles, and good food. Or you could go to Machu Picchu. That sounds pretty adventurous. 

We're going to an all-inclusive in Mexico, so no grand adventure for us! But we have never been to Mexico, nor to an all-inclusive, so we're thrilled.

JoanE2012

What is your budget, when are you looking to go and for how long?  And you mention adventurous and outdoors/exploring.  They can be very different.  Are you looking for adventure like hiking Machu Picchu or outdoors/exploring like the castles or gardens in a European countryside?  

WinstonsGirl

Outdoors and exploring will give you a lot of options.  

I've heard amazing things about Costa Rica and Belize, though I've never been  But I think stuff like zip lines, hiking, etc.  Kauai is also supposed to be amazing for hiking.  

New Zealand has lots of those types of things too, but that will require longer times and more budget.  

We did an Eastern Med cruise.  We hit Greece, Croatia, Italy, Israel, Egypt and Turkey.  Tons of stuff to see there.  Istanbul is one of our favourite cities.  

Iceland is also great for camping/hiking and lots of cool things like geysers/volcanos/glaciers.  It's cold in the summer though, but everyone we met seemed to be camping around the outer ring road.  But be prepared with toque and gloves if you go.  We dove the continental divide there, and you can snorkel it too.  

Also on out list of places to go is to hike Manchu Picchu.  If you want closer, there are those week long hikes (Pacific Coast Trail for example) where you pack everything in and go.  It was beautiful, but a long week.  But ditto PP's.  What's your budget/timelines, and define outdoor adventures.  

blu819

We just booked our honeymoon to Japan. Both of us have been to the Caribbean multiple times, I've been to Europe several times, and we both wanted to try something different. 

We're starting off in Tokyo and traveling across the country to Kyoto and Osaka while doing day trips here and there. The more I do my research the more excited I am becoming!

I think it's a great way to start married life together experiencing something you haven't done before.

500days

It definitely depends on budget and time of year. We are having our wedding this summer and our honeymoon is booked for Alaska. We will be doing a land and cruise tour including whale watching, hikes, helicopter tours, glacier viewing and ziplining. For a more tropical adventurous honeymoon, I would consider Costa Rica or Hawaii.

katiekessler123

Check out "Uncruise".

delujm0

We spent 2.5 weeks in southern africa and did a ton of hiking and other outdoor activities, as well as beach stuff, while there.  However it was probably on the high end of most couples' budgets.  What is your budget OP?  That will help us give you better ideas.

 

We went to Hawaii a few years ago and also did a lot of outdoorsy stuff...hiking, zip lining, snorkeling, etc.  There are similar options in central and south america, or even in the southern caribbean (St. Lucia, Grenada, etc).  Would something like Alaska interest you?  Europe?  There are a lot of options, but it all depends on your budget and the time of year/length of trip.

amelisha

We're going to Peru and hiking the Inca Trail, as a few people mentioned.

We also loved our time traveling in South Africa/Namibia/Botswana/Zambia, and if you have something like that in mind, I'd be happy to give you more details.

kimberly0315

Depends on budget and where you are interested in going.  New Zealand is a great place for hiking, skiing, glaciers, swimming, sailing, bungee jumping, camping etc...

pattyandmichael

Have you considered a safari at all?  For the last part of our honeymoon we spent a week in South Africa, half of which was at a safari lodge.  We loved it!  It's not adventure in the typical sense - you're not exerting yourself physically - but it's an incredible experience and quite an adrenaline rush at times.  The downside is that the lodging and flights can be expensive.  We were able to minimize costs by getting free flights. 

nicemarmot

Inca trail sounds awesome. It's in my list of places to visit. I am originally from Argentina, and from what I hear from my family, I would not necessarily recommend visiting at this point in time.

melbenso

We did a Western Caribbean cruise that included some adventurous outings.  We climbed and explored Mayan ruins in Mexico.  We went to an animal preserve in Honduras and held monkeys and other animals (I love monkeys, so this was a huge bucket list thing for me).  There were also cave tubing and scuba diving excursions and all sorts of other adventurous things.  But there were also beaches and pools to relax by and frosty alcoholic beverages to drink.  It was a nice combination of both worlds.

ETA - our budget wasn't super high.  I think we spent about $2,500 on the whole thing, including airfare and drinks on the ship.

redheadbride15

We're going to Hawaii but plan on spending the whole time backpacking, camping, kayaking, and hiking (I guess we're not really sit-on-the-beach-with-a-Mai-Tai type of people).

klk111415

@redheadbride15 check out Arnott's Lodge if you haven't already!  They have some pretty awesome tours for discounted rates.  Also a cheap place to stay in Hilo.

chraron

Unfortunately we didn't have that many days off for our honeymoon, but we wanted to make our 4 days full of adventure.  We went to Costa Rica and had a fantastic time in the Arenal area of the country.  We were able to zip line, rappel off of waterfalls, 40+ minutes of rapids on the Rio Bolsa! We also got to see some pretty cool animals and a wide variety of birds too.  I also have to say the food in Costa Rica was as amazing as well!

FutureMrsSereda

We were planning on going alligator and boar hunting in the south but then it turned out that one of FI's friends was planning a destination wedding 6 weeks after our wedding so going to their wedding will be like our honeymoon we still want to go on the hunting trip someday though!

MandyMost

Others have already mentioned South America, or I think Hawaii is a great compromise between a "typical" relaxing beach honeymoon and some outdoor adventure. No one has mentioned Iceland yet. That's a trip I'm hoping to do soon! It's quick to get to from the east coast, and there's lots of outdoor adventure. Depending on the time of year you can maybe see the Northern Lights, or it's daylight all day!

mountaingirl8

Wow, everyone has some great ideas! I wanted to add that Southeast Asia can be a really amazing destination. Flights can be expensive, but once you get there everything is super cheap! Places like Bali and Thailand are popular with honeymooners, but Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, and other parts of Indonesia (like Lombok) are also amazingly beautiful with tons of things to explore. Good luck with your trip planning!

pattyandmichael

Great point about SE Asia.  You named a whole lot of places I haven't been but we did include a four-day visit to the Palawan region of the Philippines on our honeymoon.  It was far from your usual honeymoon destination in that the area we visited is not really well-developed in general.  However, the natural beauty of the region was breathtaking.  It easily outshined Maui, which is not easy to do.  We stayed in the nicest hotel in town and it was something like $130/night and our full-day boat/snorkeling trips were $25 so it definitely is inexpensive.

I've attached a picture from the Kayangan Lake area.

mountaingirl8

How could I forget the Philippines! I haven't been, but Boracay is on the list. I've heard from several people that there are many places in SE Asia that outshine Maui.

Miclan88

The big Island of hawaii is a great adventure destination. On our 10 day honeymoon we probably spent about 5 hours in total just sitting on the beach. There is so much to do and it's beautiful! I would check out the book Hawaii the Big Island Revealed. It was our lifeline and has a lot of good tips and secrets.