Want to push the boat out a bit when it comes to your honeymoon? Determined to have the holiday experience of a lifetime? Then take a look at some of these exciting options that are little further afield! We’ve chosen some of our favourite long haul honeymoon destinations for you to choose from.
What time of year are you getting married?
The first thing to consider before deciding on your destination is when you plan to be away, as the weather and the activities available can differ greatly depending on the month. For example, if you’re thinking of visiting the Caribbean, you should keep in mind that the islands have a ‘hurricane’ season late in our summer.
If you’re going away from January to March and fancy a bit of sunshine, the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners suggest that you try an exotic destination such as The Bahamas, Caribbean, Maldives, South Africa or Thailand. If you and your new husband love the snow, why not try skiing at Whistler in Canada or Vail in the USA?
Take a trip to Hong Kong in January and you’ll be able to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, which features parades and lion dances, firecrackers, skyscrapers bedecked in neon and one of the world’s largest firework displays. You don’t need to spend the entire honeymoon there either – Hong Kong could be a stopover en route to Australia or Thailand.
If you fancy going Stateside, you could visit New Orleans during Mardi Gras at Easter. Mardi Gras literally means Fat Tuesday but is renowned today for being a major carnival. Celebrations include extravagant parades complete with song, dance, colourful costumes, water and confetti, feasts, drinks and dancing.
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Like New World wines? Travel a bit further to South America in March and you could enjoy the Vendimia Festival in Argentina, which is a celebration of the grape harvest. You could sample Argentinian wines and barbecued beef whilst watching singing, parades of gauchos showing off their horsemanship, floats and a sound-and-light spectacular.
Getting married in the summer?
If you’re getting married in June, July or August then your options change slightly. Destinations recommended by the UK Alliance of Wedding Planners include Bali, Canada, Indonesia, Kenya, Seychelles and Tibet. You could also take a safari in Botswana!
Take a bit of time
If you’re planning a long-haul honeymoon, it’s going to take you a bit longer to get there and you’re probably going to have to deal with some jet leg as you get to grips with the time difference. Remember, you’re on holiday, so don’t feel you have to race about from the word ‘go’. Take some time to relax and enjoy your new husband’s company!
We wouldn’t recommend long-haul travel if you’re going away for less than five days or so – it may take too long to get over the jetlag, and you’ll be tired after the wedding in any case. Also, because long-haul flights are generally more expensive, you’ll be making more of an investment in your honeymoon, so it’s worth taking a bit more time over it.
Popular destinations
Wedding planner Elizabeth Jane of Elizabeth Jane Events says: “With regards to ‘faraway’ honeymoon destinations, Las Vegas and Mexico now seem to be more popular than the Indian Ocean (Maldives, Mauritius and Sri Lanka) and the usual favourite Caribbean islands of Barbados, Antigua and St Lucia.”
The great thing about long haul is that it gives you plenty of options. If you fancy just chilling on a beach, topping up the suntan and having long lazy lunches then you can do that if you fancy. Or if you want to do something a bit more active – like bungee jumping in New Zealand or learning to dive in the Caribbean – then that’s an option too. You could also investigate other cultures – visit The Great Wall of China or take a boat trip up the Amazon into the jungle.
It all depends on what you’re like and what suits you. There are some excellent tour operators around who will help you to plan your dream long haul honeymoon. You could get in touch with Turquoise Holidays who could arrange a personalized honeymoon for you, or take a look at Thomson, who offer a good choice of long haul packages.
If you’ve been together for a while and don’t really need anything for your home, then you could also fund your long haul honeymoon by asking for contributions towards it as a wedding gift. Many tour operators like Turquoise, have a special honeymoon gift list option to which guests can donate money. If you’re going for this option, we suggest that you take masses of photographs whilst you’re away and use them as thank-you cards so that your guests really feel they were a part of it all! For more honeymoon inspiration, visit the Honeymoon Section of the Wedding Ideas website!
The post The best long haul honeymoon destinations for your perfect post-wedding break! appeared first on Wedding Ideas.