budget non-beachy honeymoon ideas

cfront7

Hi! We are starting to think about where to go for our honeymoon and need some ideas. We are not beach people and don't really do water activities so mexico/caribbean spots don't appeal to us. We like to really explore the places we vacation in and go to museums, shopping, and other attractions, so plenty to do is must. Also we have a budget of under $3k. My dream would be London or Paris but I think those would be way over budget. Any ideas?

TheSlowskys

When are you going and for how long? What about Ireland, Iceland, or Spain?

JoanE2012

Europe is definitely doable.  Have you checked travel websites?  Gate 1 has a 13 day package to Turkey with flights and most meals for $1399.  They also have independent tours with 3 days London and 3 days Paris starting at $1199.

If you're interested in central America, a 7 day tour to Costa Rica starts at $989.

cfront7

We are going May 2013 and for atleast a week.

dazyabbey

Your budget would probably be tight for Europe if that is your entire budget and spending money. If it is airfare/hotel then it might be doable but it would still be close. A lot of the time the deals they have are not specific for your time frame and the city you are leaving from. Being from Boston though that will help you a lot. I would check websites and see what you can do. We went to London and Paris from Omaha, NE and we spent 5 nights in each place. 5 1/2 days in London and 4 1/2 in Paris. Our airfare and hotels were around $4200 total for the both of us. We stayed at pretty basic hotels but airfare to Europe is pretty expensive in the summer and we went last month before the huge tourist season.

We booked out package through European Destination which after almost a year of research we found them to be much cheaper then other websites including Gate1.
Spending money while you are there will probably be a minimum of 100 Pounds a day which is about $150 right now. Paris was much more expensive though and with food and activities we probably spent about $200 a day. We also didn't want to be on a super tight budget when we were there so we knew we would be spending a lot of money and we wanted to be able to go to a nice French restaurant and spend a ridiculous amount of money because we never do that back home and we probably won't be going back.

I think if you ended up going to South America your money could be stretched much further. You could get airfare much cheaper and usualy the tourist things to do are very inexpensive. I think you and your fiance should sit down and figure out what you want to do and what your total budget would be. Start pricing out trips and see if it is doable.

Websites that I have used are:
EuropeanDestinations.com
http://www.solartours.com/
AllInclusiveOutlet.com

Also, even if you don't like the idea of going to Mexico and sitting on a beach, that isn't the only thing to do there. I think when we went to Mexico I spent like 20 minutes laying on the beach then got bored. Most of the time we were exploring the local ruins. Zip lining, snorkeling, going to shows and just having a fun time.

Good luck!

hz80408

I agree that Europe would be hard to do on your budget, although it is possible.

Right now with the expensive of flights, $3K would probably get you to Europe and leave very little for hotels, let alone food, entertainment, transportation, etc.  Plus May-Aug is more popular tourist season, so if you're considering taking a HM right after your wedding, prices would be more.

However, like some pp's said; you can book some great deals via tour packages.  I'd suggest signing up for Travelzoo emails.

We recently booked a 7-night Ireland trip for this fall through Travelzoo.  For $1,150 per person, we have a direct flight, 7 nights of hotels, upgraded fullsize automatic car with insurance.  If we would have booked the flight directly from the airline, our same flight, just the flight, no hotel or car, would have cost us $1,185 per person.

One other consideration with booking a Europe trip, especially with the packages, is to remember there's a ~6hr+ time difference.  Although we had a really good experience with minor jet-lag going to Europe for our first time, I would plan on losing your first day due to jet lag.

What about somewhere in the US like Napa Valley, Yellowstone, NYC, Chicago, New Orleans, San Fran, etc?

TheSlowskys

Just thought of Montreal and/or Quebec city? Both have a French flair, good food, museums, quaint cobblestone streets.

annieoldfield

Yep, i was going to say what slowskys said. Thinking of montreal for our own cause we dont want beach type either. Maybe try out some skiing too!

cfront7

Thanks for all the suggestions and info! We have some serious thinking to do now...

aragx6

If you decide to try Europe, check out airbnb or homeway where you can rent out someone's condo. A dear friend just went to London and stayed in a lovely condo in a centrally located residential area for a week for what we're spending for 3 nights at our hotel in Picadilly.

Also look at cheaper European destinations!