Honeymoon Discussions

We are having a hard time planning our Honeymoon. Help!

Our wedding is May 29th, 2016 and the hardest decision we are having to make so far is where to go for our honeymoon! Some ideas we have thrown around have been Italy, Canada, Colorado, or maybe Cancun. We like hiking, exploring, staying in together, seeing landmarks, and just enjoying the culture of wherever we are. We are both very easy going people and can enjoy ourselves pretty much anywhere. 

My fiance's family is Italian, so he has always wanted to go to Italy. We have found it to be quite expensive! Cancun sounded fun because of the all-inclusive resorts. I like free and unlimited booze :) We both just like Canada and have considered moving there sometime in the future. Colorado is close by and sounds cozy. We thought about staying in a cabin somewhere in the mountains and just enjoying each other's company. 

We live in Oklahoma and plan on spending around 7-9 days on our Honeymoon for the first week or two of June. Our budget is $3,000-$4,000. We are open to any and all suggestions on where to go and are not limited on these 4 locations. Where did you go on your honeymoon? How did you book it? How did you find deals? Help!

Re: We are having a hard time planning our Honeymoon. Help!

  • We went to Italy for 10 days. I booked a studio apartment in Florence through Airbnb. It was fantastic. For 10 days, I paid just under 1,000. We had a full kitchen so we were able to cook whatever meals there we wanted. We took day trips to Cinque Terre, Pisa. Lucca and Venice. 
  • I would strike Italy from your list unless you can find a longer time period to go and/or some more money.  Flights from Oklahoma are going to eat up a lot of your budget, and you're essentially going to lose a day in each direction, as there are probably not direct flights and you're going to have to deal with layovers.

     

    As a general rule, i like to see how long a flight is, and make sure i have at least that many non-travel days to go someplace.  So i live in NC, direct flights to Rome are about 8 hours, so plus a day on either end for travel, i wouldn't want to go all the way to Rome for less than 10 days.

     

    If you want to get out and see the sights and go hiking, etc, i don't think an AI in Cancun is a great plan - AIs are AWESOME if you just want to hang out at the resort, go to the beach, and maybe take one or two day tours.  They're not as good if you want to go off on your own.  I think you could find a lot of what you're looking for in either Colorado or Canada, and within your budget.

     

    Have you considered Jackson Hole, Wyoming?  Lots of outdoor activities there and while it's expensive for ski season it is less so during the summer.  Or maybe a national park like Yellowstone?  Northern California is nice too, you can hit San Francisco and also wine country, see the redwoods, maybe go to Lake Tahoe for hiking, etc.

  • JoanE2012JoanE2012 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited November 2015
    delujm0 said:

    I would strike Italy from your list unless you can find a longer time period to go and/or some more money.  Flights from Oklahoma are going to eat up a lot of your budget, and you're essentially going to lose a day in each direction, as there are probably not direct flights and you're going to have to deal with layovers.

     

    As a general rule, i like to see how long a flight is, and make sure i have at least that many non-travel days to go someplace.  So i live in NC, direct flights to Rome are about 8 hours, so plus a day on either end for travel, i wouldn't want to go all the way to Rome for less than 10 days.

     

    If you want to get out and see the sights and go hiking, etc, i don't think an AI in Cancun is a great plan - AIs are AWESOME if you just want to hang out at the resort, go to the beach, and maybe take one or two day tours.  They're not as good if you want to go off on your own.  I think you could find a lot of what you're looking for in either Colorado or Canada, and within your budget.

     

    Have you considered Jackson Hole, Wyoming?  Lots of outdoor activities there and while it's expensive for ski season it is less so during the summer.  Or maybe a national park like Yellowstone?  Northern California is nice too, you can hit San Francisco and also wine country, see the redwoods, maybe go to Lake Tahoe for hiking, etc.

    hahaha, we've flown to Europe from NYC for long weekends!  Just one city, though.  But agree, the airfare from Oklahoma would eat up a good chunk of that budget.

    I do like the idea of the San Fran area.  Napa, Yosemite, San Fran - small roadtrip in that area would be nice!  I've also heard wonderful things about Sedona, Arizona.  
  • 7-9 is lots of time to do the Rockies.  You can go between Banff and Jasper, Alberta and see lots and get some hiking in too.  And if the dollar stays where it is, you'll get a lot of cheap.  Lake Louise is close to Banff too, and you can also hit up the Columbia Icefields in between.  Lots of wild animals on the road and in the towns.  Banff is only about 45 min from Calgary, so it's an easy quick drive.  Jasper is about 3.5 hours from Edmonton, you could also tack on 1-2 of the cities too, both of which have a ton to do.  

  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited November 2015
    Yellowstone National Park.  Stay at the famous Old Faithful Inn.  We also enjoyed Mammoth Springs Hotel, which was more like a college dorm, but surrounded by wildlife.

    http://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/index.htm

    Do plan a side trip to Cody, WY, just east of the park to see the Buffalo Bill Museum.
    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
  • A HM is not like other vacations. After all of the hoopla of the wedding, you really need some down time to decompress & literally do nothing.  An AI would be good for that. Although I have not been in years Cancun was one of the few places in Mexico where I would not do an AI (unless it has changed dramatically) because there were too may other choices & you don't get your monies worth if you leave the resort & I would always want to leave in Cancun.

    Maybe promise yourselves you will do Italy for your 5th anniversary or something when you have more money. 
  • Mediterranean cruises typically begin in June, with many ports in Italy.  If you are up for doing the touristy thing instead of a culture submersion, it can be a more economical way to do things.  Sometimes cruises do free upgrades or special dining/alcohol packages.  You could still get somewhat of an AI feel by doing the cruise.  Plus side, the majority of your meals and your accommodations are covered.
  • Colorado is nice in the summer.  Actually the saying is "come for the winter, stay for the summer."  It's true.

    You can hike, raft, fish, bike, horseback ride really all kinds of things.  Even just relaxing at one of the spas.

    check out Groupon, there are some great deals out there.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • We did a 7-day Caribbean cruise. Since it was our HM, we opted to book a spa suite, which was awesome.  We swam with dolphins in Cozumel, we went zip lining and cave tubing in Belize, and we laid on the beach in Roatan Honduras. I wanted to see some Mayan ruins in either Mexico or Belize, but DH wasn't interested, so we did other activities.  We also had a few days to just relax on the ship between ports, which was nice to keep us from feeling too overwhelmed with activities. A cruise offers a lot of opportunities to experience various locations and activities.  We did a lot, but still felt really relaxed after the trip.  So, you may want to look into a cruise as an option.

    image 

  • My H & I went to Pagosa Springs CO for a vacation last year and it was amazing!  They have so much to do in the area!  They are known for their hot springs.  The closest airport is Durango and then its an hour's drive from there. 

  • I've been to Negril, Jamaica twice (one for HM). One time we booked through apple vacations, one time we used travelocity- no huge difference there.

    I loved Riu tropical palace, couples not so much (food). I loved doing it AI. Everything was paid for so we didn't feel guilty taking excursions, going off the resort to local restaurants, buying stuff in markets. I live in an expensive area. If I'm out at a restarunt and order a cocktail I don't care for- I'm going to dirnk it anyway becasue I just spent $12 on it- here you can tell them if you don't like something (or not) and they will try and make something better!


  • We went to Bali and it was amazing.  We chose to avoid the more touristy places and stayed in spots further away from the big towns, so it was more affordable and it allowed us to relax & unwind completely.  We went for long walks, hired a scooter for the day & explored the surroundings and even did a day trip (hiking trip up an old volcano was an optional extra).  
  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited January 2016
    Silvene, I'm glad you had a lovely honeymoon, but this post is from November, and Bali isn't exactly a budget honeymoon unless you live in Australia.  Airfare alone can be $3000.  Please check the dates before you comment on an old thread.

    @lyndausvi, Please close this thread.
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  • CMGragain said:
    Silvene, I'm glad you had a lovely honeymoon, but this post is from November, and Bali isn't exactly a budget honeymoon unless you live in Australia.  Airfare alone can be $3000.  Please check the dates before you comment on an old thread.

    @lyndausvi, Please close this thread.
    I agree, 3k isn't realistic for Bali.  But I don't agree with closing the thread.  Sure, this OP may not be around.  But many posting within the past couple months are.  It's only two months old...and because of limited activity it's still on the first page - it probably wasn't even a random search to bring up a year old thread. If we're going to be closing threads because they're a couple months old, I think it should be a site wide policy of auto closing.
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