Europe or Sandals Honeymoon?

Knottie1458761049

My fiance and I are stuck between doing a honeymoon at a Sandals resort, or going with our original plan to tour Europe. We began looking into Sandals because the thought of planning a whole Euro tour, and backpacking after our wedding seemed a little daunting. But the thought of staying in an all inclusive may be boring for us.  If anyone has any experience with either, especially costs for Europe, please share! We are thinking Italy, Greece, and Ireland, possibly more if we can make it work.

horselover2017

I love Italy/Europe! It depends on whether you like beaches or adventure etc.  I recommend Europe if you've never been. Italy is the most romantic place - we are going there!

Knottie1458761049

Thank you! Any idea of what to budget? If we do Europe we want to go for at least two weeks

Knottie1458761049

Thank you! Any idea of what to budget? If we do Europe we want to go for at least two weeks

horselover2017

I'd say 8-10grand.  Average cost is usually 5 grand per person but I'm sure you can find honeymoon packages.

STARMOON44

If you're daunted by the planning don't plan to backpack through 4 countries in 2 weeks! Italy and Greece would be a great combo, and personally I think you'd get a lot more out of it than Sandals. 

Knottie1458761049

Thank you! We are trying to keep our budget as low as possible, but without staying in hostels. Any tips on keeping costs down while making it still romantic?

And yes! I think limiting to 2 is a good call

JoanE2012

What is your budget?

Knottie1458761049

We are hoping to keep it to 3-4000 pp

climbingsingle

Where would you be flying from? 

I'd always pick Europe over Sandals, but that's because I've been to two Sandals resorts already and I'm over it. But honestly, I'm not really a big fan of AIs anymore. They feel inauthentic. 

If you have a smaller budget, I'd suggest choosing just one country. You can also rent an apartment or house on Airbnb. My H and I did that for our HM. We spent 10 days in Italy, and spent less than $1000 on lodging. 

STARMOON44

Here is how I'd think about the budget:
3,000- airfare to Europe (id hope for cheaper, but it can get costly)
1500- food (roughly $50 per day per person. Not enough for luxury, but plenty especially if any hotels include breakfast and you picnic for lunches). 
2,000- hotels. You need to average right around $150 per night. If you do 12 nights instead of 14 and go Airbnb for at least some of it, that gives you wiggle room. Again, not luxury but not hostels either. 
1,500- in Europe travel, sightseeing costs, and shopping. So you want to not be doing tons of expensive intercity travel and instead look for cheap and easy connections, and not see every possible city, but should be enough for all of your museum entrance fees and things. 

And then Id start figuring out what that trip really looks like, and if you like it. Get a guidebook from the library, scout hotels online. There are lots of different ways to make it work. 

CMGragain

You want coastal spots in Europe?  When are you going?  Here is an example of some deals on European cruises:

http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=10051
http://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=26622

There are also huge bargains on trans-Atlantic cruises, where you fly over to Europe and after seeing the sights and cruising around, you set sail for the USA, and five or six peaceful sea days where you can relax and recover.  Aer Lingus has good one way to Europe prices.

A cruise is a lot like a resort, except that it moves from place to place.  You don't have to plan.  The cruise offers you choices of things to do every day.  You will have to be frugal on your budget, though.