Fid........ My brother went to Athens, Mykanos, and Santorini. .......... Said that Santorini is a must and it is by far his favorite place ever.
A cruise to Aruba? Get it? A honeymoon cruise... An island paradise... Nevermind, that was tasteless. That mention of surfing lessons reminds me of that commercial where the instructor is totally hitting on the dude's girl then decides to go horseback riding.
Then you could sing to her "Aruba, Jamaica, oooh I wanna take ya Bermuda, Bahamas, come on pretty mama"
AFLette and I will be going on our honeymoon next fall. Priorities for the honeymoon - in order: ~Beach ~Privacy (we are looking for like a bungalo type thing.) ~Modern amenities ~Great food ~Shopping ~Totally and completely American speaking place. ~Stay in the US (the Caribbean is acceptable.) ~Activities (snorkleing or something.) ~Price
Hawaii has everything you want, except you won't be able to get both privacy and price at the same time. But I can't think of anywhere else in the US where you can get everything -- possibly parts of California or Florida -- Orange County CA has beaches and shopping, but who wants to go there for your honeymoon? I can't speak for the Caribbean though.
Leva, you should try and see the Travel Channel, maybe you can get some ideas to go a fine honeymoon destiny from there.
She's a Cannuck with Dutch roots. We already have been to Amsterdam and that really isn't our idea of a honeymoon. We really wanna go someplace for a week or week/half and just relax on a beach together -- our vacations are always to "see sights" like in Paris, Amsterdam, Chicago, NYC, etc. We just wanna relax which is why Greece, especailly the islands seem so favorable. Excellent. I wonder what the weather is like in late-May or early-June. We obviously don't wanna roast in the summer heat of Greece -- I was there in college during the summer and it was hotter than hell so that is a consideration I'd have to look at. Another place we've thought of is the Mediterranean west-coast of Italy.
You want to make sure you don't choose an island the Brits, Dutch or Germans haven't invaded and spoilt. An d avoid certain times of the year to help that. Plus, as you say a Greek summer can be HOT.
Yeah, right now we're pretty much thinking Hawaii, the Keys, or the Caribbean. It's just a matter of finding that right place to stay. The nice thing is if we go to the Keys or Hawaii, our flight is paid for with sky miles. With the Caribbean, we'd have to go to a main island in order to get a free flight cause Delta doesn't fly to a whole lot of those smaller places.
Not that your honeymoon has to mimic my brother's to a tee. but Do you want me to find out which hotels he stayed in? The reason I ask is because he told me that when he goes back there he will stay in the same exact hotels. They were that good. I will also find out about the weather for ya.
I second the Hawaii recommendation even though I've never been there on a honeymoon...just to visit family a couple of times. You probably won't get any privacy on Oahu, but you could probably get it (although for a pretty penny) on the other islands. A coworker of mine rented a house on Maui or one of the smaller islands. They shared it with some of their friends so that brought down the cost a bit, but it was still spendy. If you do decide to hit Hawaii...of all my Hawaii guidebooks...this one I got from my niece when we were there last December kicks ass.... http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...002-9042530-2566450?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 I would definately recommend these books if you were going. In fact if you want to borrow my Oahu book I can send it out to you. I won't need it for another year or so when we go back.
Well, while we'd really like to get a bungalo type thing, the fact is, as long as it's a beach and we can do nothing for a week, we're gonna be happy. I think putting privacy that high on the list was a poor choice of words. What I really meant was - no kids around. I like other adults. We'll have a blast if it's all couples wherever we go and we run into people all the time. I just don't want little kids cluttering up the beach and pools.
If you go to Kona (on the Big Island), do not stay at Uncle Billy's Kona Bay Hotel. Rugrats scampering up and down the hallways at all hours. On our honeymoon, my wife made me find a new hotel after one night there. We ended up at the Keauhau Beach Resort which was better from a rugrat perspective -- good snorkeling too, walking distance from the hotel -- beach not so good though -- if you want beaches on the Big Island, your best bet is the Kohala Coast north of Kona which has many resort options, but they're pretty far out of town so you're kind of stuck there for meals and stuff. On Maui, you have the Kaanapali Beach area which has a number of nice resorts, and the Kihei and Wailea areas which have a number of nice resorts. I haven't been to Oahu or Kauai. I second FearM9's recommendation for the "Revealed" series of guidebooks -- there's one for each of the main islands (Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Big Island).
We had our honeymoon at Anse Chastanet on St. Lucia. It was absolutely sublime, but I don't know if it's for everyone. For one thing, it's extremely expensive (we preferred to have an inexpensive wedding and to splurge on the honeymoon). Furthermore, AFL wouldn't like the fact that the rooms don't have air conditioners, televisions, or phones (they're all open-air). But it's also extremely secluded, and you're pampered the entire time you're there. There are almost no children around, and the restaurants are absolutely first-rate. The snorkeling is sublime, the spa is sublime, and the morning yoga classes are sublime. The rooms are designed so that you have total privacy--you can't see anyone else's room (unless you crane your neck). Although the lack of AC makes it sound like the guests are roughing it, it is also the nicest hotel I've ever been to.
My friend's parents own a hotel in Palma de Mallorca. If you're intereted, PM me and I'll try and get you in touch.
I vote for Croatia. Granted I haven't been there yet, but I can give you a report in about 6 weeks. My trip has a little less beach time than you are probably aiming for, but we are going in October. Plus it's cheap. We have booked rooms in private houses that range in price from 15-20 euro a person.
Croatia is nice but certain areas have been spoiled by tourism imo. Yuck. Go to Montenegro instead, or at least travel across to one of the islands like Krk or something...
