Honeymoon first week in may 2014

Lor2382

Hi,

I would like some assistance in tips and ideas on a fascinating honeymoon. We are getting married on April 26 and would like to leave for our honeymoon April 28 - may 3. So anytime between those dates we would like to begin our honeymoon . Our honeymoon goals would be:

7-10 days

4-6k USD

Fly out of NY/NJ

 

We are between a couple ideas that would meet our budget and time restraints but our main ideas are as such:

Australia ?

Greek Islands or Italy ?

We have even thought of a Mediterranean cruise if the dates allow this ?

One of our other ideas are Costa Rica or Belize but we learned its the beginning of there rainy season?

We are a young couple about 30 years old that enjoy the beach but also like to do lots of activities. I wouldn't mind walking through Italy or Greece eating delicious food and sightseeing but on the other hand we would enjoy walking around a volcano, caves, zip lining, parasailing, and even jet skiing .Australia seems amazing with wildlife or visiting the coral reef for adventure but not sure if our budget or time period allows for this since its almost a 24 hours one way to Australia. We have been saving up and really would like to take advantage of having one memorable honeymoon that we can always remember.

Please any tips , ideas, or opinions would greatly be appreciated.

Jells2dot0

I got married and HMed in Australia. We left from Arizona and the flights were pushing around $1400pp and then an intra-continent flights were additional. We were also there 2.5 weeks and didn't even scratch the surface. Keep in mind that you'll also lose a day heading there (but you do gain it on the way home). I think coming from the East Coast you are better positioned for the Caribbean, Europe, or you could even make Hawaii work. It will be a tad bit chilly for the beach on the Greek Isles, so I think if you go to Europe, you should focus on sightseeing/culture. In the Caribbean, there are some really nice places that are just cookie-cutter all inclusives or sit around on the beach all day type places. Check out St. Lucia or the British Virgin Islands. I have also been to Belize and the beach on Ambergris isn't that great, but you can stay there, Placenia, and go inland to explore the rainforest. I was there at the end of June and had nice weather. For off the beaten path Hawaii, check out the Big Island and Kauai. Your budget will be a little limiting there, but condos would make it fit more within what you are looking for.

ETA: No matter where you go, it will be fanastic because you are having time together as newlyweds. Especially if you go somewhere that you have never been before. You can explore new territory together as husband and wife!

nalex420

We are going to Australia for our Honeymoon.  We are using Contiki tours.  My sister used them to tour italy and they have great deals and great tours.  The Australia tours range from 5-45 days with everything between and the prices are great.  Good luck planning.

TravelingJen

Given your time frame (late April/early May) and the length of time you have, I recommend that you go to Italy. Assuming your ten days includes travel days, that would leave you with 8 solid days for sightseeing. I would split your time between two locations. Rome would be great for city life, history, and sightseeing and then you could spend the other half of your time in Tuscany for a more relaxed pace exploring small villages and wine tasting. Flying into one location (i.e. Rome) and out of another location (i.e. Florence) will save you valuable time so you don't have to backtrack. I've got several entries in my travel blog on Italy which you can find here.

Pepper6

Does your budget include food/activities?  Or is that just for travel/hotel?  

I just returned from Italy a few days ago, and we went for 12 days (that includes the days we traveled) and just the travel/hotel portion was around $6K.  Granted, your airfare may be cheaper coming from the east coast vs AZ, but probably not enough to make up the budget difference to include the extras.  This would likely be the same case for Australia, Greece, etc, but you'd have to price it out.

Also just an observation...we LOVED Italy, but it was definitely exhausting because most of the activities involve a lot of walking.  I personally enjoyed having our HM (after the stress of planning and having the wedding) to be more relaxing than eventful.  Don't get me wrong, we still fit in a lot of excursions on our HM, but we definitely scheduled in some time to just relax on the beach or by the pool.  When you are in a major sight-seeing destination, it's a little more difficult to justify just bumming around because there's so much to see.  This is definitely a personal preference though as we did meet a few people on our trip who were on their HMs and they were loving it.

mercimarie

@Pepper6, where in Italy did you go? We're doing the Amalfi Coast and Capri for 9 days and then Rome for 3. I SO EXCITE. We're making sure not to commit to too much because I definitely hear you on the relaxing near water.

krizzo17

If you do consider the Caribbean, I'd suggest St Lucia - but probably not Sandals, from what you're describing. We were there in May 2012 and spent one week at Morgan Bay Resort (all inclusive, but not couples-only like Sandals. Very quiet, but relaxing) and one week at Crystals (treehouses in the jungle. That is all I need to say). We went ziplining at Treetop Canopy Adventures, hiked the Gros Piton and Tet Paul trails. There is a volcano, but we didn't go see it. Lots of waterfalls and beautiful beaches, too. I think we spent about $5k for the two weeks, including flights out of PHL. Also, I know JetBlue had direct flights from JFK at the time we were looking, we just couldn't make it work with the rest of our schedule.