Relaxing honeymoon or active honeymoon?

SmallenForever

I'm trying to plan my honeymoon and am wondering if anyone could share what they are glad they did/did not do on their honeymoon. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to book us for lots of activities or if it would be better to just relax, stay in, and eat and shop (and for some of the acitivies, I have to buy tickets way in advance, so I can't decide while I'm there).

So, I guess the question is: did you plan lots of activities on your honeymoon or did you just try to relax and do nothing? Is there something awesome that you did and you'd recommend or something you'd recommend against? Did anyone regret just staying in the hotel all day or do you regret trying to do too many things?

Jells2dot0

It really depends on the type of person you and your FI are. I am never really into active trips, so we chose a fairly non active HM. I think it also depends on where you want to go. There are plenty of places that can offer a mix and I don't think that most of them require you to book tickets upfront. I guess knowing what destinations and resorts you are considering and your budget would help!

SmallenForever

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_relaxing-honeymoon-or-active-honeymoon?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:66aa3ee0-bbed-4f1b-a4d9-5e0c359ce2eaPost:78840054-a403-4bd7-8e02-af8c492a2786">Re: Relaxing honeymoon or active honeymoon?</a>:
[QUOTE]It really depends on the type of person you and your FI are. I am never really into active trips, so we chose a fairly non active HM. I think it also depends on where you want to go. There are plenty of places that can offer a mix and I don't think that most of them require you to book tickets upfront. I guess knowing what destinations and resorts you are considering and your budget would help!
Posted by Jells2dot0[/QUOTE]

<div>I'm not going to a traditional honeymoon place and a lot of the shows and activities book up really fast. I guess I'm just asking in general did people enjoy just spending time with their new husband or did they prefer treating their honeymoon like an ordinary vacation and do tons of stuff, sightsee, etc.I just don't know if I should plan like I usually do and book things, have an iteneray, or if I should just plan to hang and do nothing instead. We usually are very active on vacations, but I'm not sure if I should do more romantic things instead like stay in and cook or book in room massages, etc. </div>

dazyabbey

I think it honestly depends on your personalities as well as where you are going. My husband and I are very active when we travel and that was no exception for our honeymoon.

When we went to Mexico a couple years ago there was one day we decided to cancel our plans to go to Tulum and instead relax on the beach. After about a half hour in the hammocks and relaxing we got bored. We are very GoGoGo type people. We like being active and trying to experience as much as we can.

How I travel though is I try not to overbook it and I kind of reach a happy medium. I usually list what I want to do at the destination and kind of organize a little bit (Depending on the type of vacation though) and fill in the spots and activities. It is somewhat important to do this depending on your destination. We went to Washington DC and the hours for the museums were very on and off so it was important to figure out which day we wanted to do certain museums and activities because the next day it might be closed or one day they might close at 5 and 7 the next day.

I think it really depends on what you are doing though and how active you and your husband are.

MrsGandthebeag

We did a mediteranean cruise for our hm.  We booked excursions for each stop of the ship beforehand.  We ended up canceling one as we decided that day we just wanted to lay on the beach in crete.  After the cruise we spent 4 nights in Rome and were on the go the whole time.  It wasn't what I consider a relaxing trip, but given where we were I think it's the type of vacation we had planned on.  We had a great time.

Now when we go to places like the Bahamas or Mexico we spend a lot more time drinking, laying in the sun and getting pampered with an excursion here and there.  

Maggie0829

H and I did a little combo of both.  We went to Key West and then spent a day in Miami Beach.  In Key West we knew we wanted to do some snorkeling and go on a sunset cruise but other thant that we made no plans ahead of time.  When we got there we just went with the flow and decided on things to do as we went a long.  Some days we just relaxed by the pool.  Other days we went on snorkeling trips or walked around to see the sights.

In my opinion the best vacations are the one's where you don't have a set itinerary and just do things as you want to do them.

cwaggoner07

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_relaxing-honeymoon-or-active-honeymoon?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:66aa3ee0-bbed-4f1b-a4d9-5e0c359ce2eaPost:f816737a-d227-4601-94f7-90a0b4670940">Re: Relaxing honeymoon or active honeymoon?</a>:
[QUOTE]. In my opinion the best vacations are the one's where you don't have a set itinerary and just do things as you want to do them.
Posted by Maggie0829[/QUOTE]

<div>I completely agree. We didn't have any set plans, and we thought we would laze about, but after the first day we were ready to go do stuff! We should have known, we've never taken a lazy vacation together in our life (by choice). But we went to a tropical resort where it was easy to plan things day by day.</div>

JoanE2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_relaxing-honeymoon-or-active-honeymoon?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:66aa3ee0-bbed-4f1b-a4d9-5e0c359ce2eaPost:b3831709-33a5-45f8-8d5c-56d4bd48b8c7">Relaxing honeymoon or active honeymoon?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm trying to plan my honeymoon and am wondering if anyone could share what they are glad they did/did not do on their honeymoon. Right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to book us for lots of activities or if it would be better to just relax, stay in, and eat and shop (and for some of the acitivies, I have to buy tickets way in advance, so I can't decide while I'm there). So, I guess the question is: did you plan lots of activities on your honeymoon or did you just try to relax and do nothing? Is there something awesome that you did and you'd recommend or something you'd recommend against? Did anyone regret just staying in the hotel all day or do you regret trying to do too many things?
Posted by SmallenForever[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>I think this is really a personal preference.  H and I love to travel.  We mix up our trips all the time...some are beachy, some leave us always on the go touring European cities.  </div><div>
</div><div>For our HM, we chose to relax in Bora Bora....it was a dream destination for both of us.  We chose right too because we needed this relaxation.....we had to reschedule our wedding due to Hurricane Sandy.  We relaxed, got nice tans and then came back and got married.  :D 

</div>

anssett

Depends on you. 

FI and I don't sit around well. After a day on a beach we're bored and are looking for something to learn/explore/experience. We plan trips with the opportunity to do a lot, even if we wait until we're there to decide. For our honeymoon it's 2/3 adventure, 1/3 relaxing. 

Swazzle

The majority of our vacations in the past have been on a beautiful beach and very relaxing so we decided to kind of do the opposite for our honeymoon. We're going to South Africa and while we're in Cape Town we have things planned for almost every day. When we go on the safari, we'll have a game drive each morning and night but we'll be able to relax a bit in the middle of the day. 

alithebride

what dh and i did or did not do on our hm or on all of our trips doesn't matter in the slightest. your HM is for you and dh so do what works for you!! if you're unsure about doing too many things or not enough book a few and save the other time for lounging

dazyabbey

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_relaxing-honeymoon-or-active-honeymoon?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:11Discussion:66aa3ee0-bbed-4f1b-a4d9-5e0c359ce2eaPost:cb94436d-5625-4e6e-b491-700308c8ba62">Re: Relaxing honeymoon or active honeymoon?</a>:
[QUOTE]The majority of our vacations in the past have been on a beautiful beach and very relaxing so we decided to kind of do the opposite for our honeymoon. We're going to South Africa and while we're in Cape Town we have things planned for almost every day. When we go on the safari, we'll have a game drive each morning and night but we'll be able to relax a bit in the middle of the day. 
Posted by rdr716[/QUOTE]

We want to do something similar to that for our 5 year anniversary. How long are you going to be there? And how much is it/what company did you book with? I am just curious. Thanks!

Swazzle

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_honeymoon_relaxing-honeymoon-or-active-honeymoon?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:11Discussion:66aa3ee0-bbed-4f1b-a4d9-5e0c359ce2eaPost:4fc86c5b-c1d7-4f94-b62f-b019cd2d1a1c">Re: Relaxing honeymoon or active honeymoon?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Relaxing honeymoon or active honeymoon? : We want to do something similar to that for our 5 year anniversary. How long are you going to be there? And how much is it/what company did you book with? I am just curious. Thanks!
Posted by dazyabbey[/QUOTE]

<div>We'll be gone for 10 days, 2 of them are traveling though. We'll be in Cape Town for 4 nights and on the safari for 3 nights. I booked everything though South African Airways Vacations. They were highly recommended by my coworker who did something similar for her honeymoon and said everything was perfect. I especially like that they handle all of your transfers (we'll be taking a total of 6 flights). The packages and prices are listed on their website.</div><div>
</div><div><a href="http://www.flysaavacations.com/south-africa-travel/south-africa-packages/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">CLICK</a></div>

dalm0m

We did a combo.  The first 2 days were relaxing.  The most exciting things we did were go on walks & out to dinner.  Then we had an active HM with lots of travel & sightseeing.  The last 2 days were also relaxing.

Do whatever fits your lifestyle personality but I'd make at least the 1st day total downtime . . . you're gonna need it.  We were wiped out. 

jemmini6

We did a combo.  Usually, our vacations are pretty active, but we figured for our HM, we'd want to relax a little bit.  We booked two 'big' activities ahead of time and decided that if we wanted to do something else, we could find something while we were there, or we could just relax.  It actually worked out really well, we did book a few more things while we were there, but we also relaxed a lot more than usual, it was a good balance.