Honeymoon trip suggestions

[Anonymous]

I'm not getting much by way of suggestions from her.
I feel like it is approaching the last minute.
Because of our work we are having to be very flexible so we can split the wedding apart from the honeymoon trip.
She says London and go to the Harry Potter museum. I think that sounds horrible. I've explained that London/Paris in the fall doesn't sound great to me because it will be cold/rainy.
I've suggested Tahiti. I've traveled a lot for work but never for pleasure so I'm at a loss here.
She wants a month long trip (ha ha) I'm thinking 2 weeks (max) including travel and re-assimilation.
I figure we need some sort of activities (light adventure stuff) to do during the day. When I was younger (30s... now early 40's) I liked rock climbing, scuba, running but I messed up my back so it needs to be judicious about adventure activities. She is early 30's and is more into her phone than museums so I don't know what we would do in Europe.

We don't drink so sitting on the beach boozing it up or getting drunk at a club doesn't excite us.

[Anonymous]

do you have a budget?

Tahiti/Bora Bora would be on my no budget list, but 2 weeks there would add up quickly.

[Anonymous]

You haven't told us your budget and that makes it tough. If she is suggesting London and Paris then it would seem like she wants an urban destination, and the French Polynesia will certainly not be that.

Europe is not just about museums but beautiful cities and lots of things to explore. For instance, France has beautiful small towns that would be great for a honeymoon. One region comes to mind is Alsace-Lorraine (Colmar, Eguisheim, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not getting much by way of suggestions from her.
I feel like it is approaching the last minute.
Because of our work we are having to be very flexible so we can split the wedding apart from the honeymoon trip.
She says London and go to the Harry Potter museum. I think that sounds horrible. I've explained that London/Paris in the fall doesn't sound great to me because it will be cold/rainy.
I've suggested Tahiti. I've traveled a lot for work but never for pleasure so I'm at a loss here.
She wants a month long trip (ha ha) I'm thinking 2 weeks (max) including travel and re-assimilation.
I figure we need some sort of activities (light adventure stuff) to do during the day. When I was younger (30s... now early 40's) I liked rock climbing, scuba, running but I messed up my back so it needs to be judicious about adventure activities. She is early 30's and is more into her phone than museums so I don't know what we would do in Europe.

We don't drink so sitting on the beach boozing it up or getting drunk at a club doesn't excite us.

If sitting on the beach isn't an option and your back doesn't allow you do participate in many physical activities, then the French Polynesia is probably a bad choice.

Paris on the other hand is a great choice. It's a very romantic city, and as the PP said, you could combine that with other regions of France.

[Anonymous]

What about a Mediterranean cruise coupled with a few days before/after in Europe? Most Med. cruises are port intensive, so you don't have days and days of hanging out on the ship, and then you can explore cities without having to pack/repack. I think most go out of Barcelona, Rome or Venice, all great cities to explore for a few days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about a Mediterranean cruise coupled with a few days before/after in Europe? Most Med. cruises are port intensive, so you don't have days and days of hanging out on the ship, and then you can explore cities without having to pack/repack. I think most go out of Barcelona, Rome or Venice, all great cities to explore for a few days.

Along these lines....consider Greece!

[Anonymous]

We went to South Africa and Mauritius, it was awesome!

[Anonymous]

OP here....

Budget is somewhat flexible I really don't want to spend of 10K but I guess I'm willing to go that high.
I would feel "comfortable" spending 5 - 6 K.

I haven't traveled for pleasure so I'm not sure if this budget is reasonable or not.
Please let me know if my expectations are out of line.

As for Europe, I've done a lot of business travel in Europe (France, UK, and others).
My experience (in France at least) is always that restaurants are closed when I'm hungry and service is poor. The food has never been that great even at "fancy" dinners with clients. When I rent a car I find myself lost driving around a maze of one-way cobblestone streets. So... I'm a little nervous about trying to pull off a relaxing (happy and carefree) honeymoon trip.

[Anonymous]

Really depend on what you are into/want. I love Europe, but would really not want to honeymoon there. On my honeymoon I really just wanted to relax and not have to have any added stress.

We went to Hawaii. Had a mix of beaches/relaxing, exploring the island, beautiful scenery as well as adventure like snorkeling, hiking he Na'Pali coast, helicopter ride..etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not getting much by way of suggestions from her.
I feel like it is approaching the last minute.
Because of our work we are having to be very flexible so we can split the wedding apart from the honeymoon trip.
She says London and go to the Harry Potter museum. I think that sounds horrible. I've explained that London/Paris in the fall doesn't sound great to me because it will be cold/rainy.
I've suggested Tahiti. I've traveled a lot for work but never for pleasure so I'm at a loss here.
She wants a month long trip (ha ha) I'm thinking 2 weeks (max) including travel and re-assimilation.
I figure we need some sort of activities (light adventure stuff) to do during the day. When I was younger (30s... now early 40's) I liked rock climbing, scuba, running but I messed up my back so it needs to be judicious about adventure activities. She is early 30's and is more into her phone than museums so I don't know what we would do in Europe.

We don't drink so sitting on the beach boozing it up or getting drunk at a club doesn't excite us.

I don't have high hopes for your marriage.

[Anonymous]

South Africa
Vietnam or Thailand
Bali
Italy
Croatia -- sailing between islands

[Anonymous]

I have friends who did the med cruise for their honeymoon and really enjoyed it. They saw so many cities. Full of activity.

We did Italy, as did a few of our other friends, for our honeymoon. The country is easy to navigate via car or train and there's a range of activities to enjoy. We flew in/out of Milan, took the train to Cinque Terra to do the hike and enjoy the quaint costal towns, train to Florence, then drove a rental car around the countryside to see little towns and vineyards. While in the countryside, we saw Assisi (more hiking) and Ravenna (mid-day stop on our way to Venice), amongst other things, and dropped the rental car at Venice and stayed there for two nights. We stayed mostly at B&Bs or guest houses to make the trip more intimate/enjoyable. It was 2 weeks in October, which I think was a great time to be there. Venice in the summer is stinky, so you're better off in the fall anyway. We generally didn't need more than mid-weight jacket and some days only needed a t-shirt.

If we could have been away for longer, I would have skipped Venice and kept going south toward Rome, flying out of there. But for us, 2 weeks is enough traveling.

[Anonymous]

Clearly you don't want to go to Europe. Okay.

If your budget is only $5-6k, then I think you are limited to Mexico and the Caribbean. I mean, you aren't going to Bora Bora or Tahiti for $5k.

[Anonymous]

I love Nova Scotia and bet it would be beautiful in the fall (albeit chilly). We had a great vacay there for less than $5k.

I agree with the poster who commented on your tone - maybe she'd be more confortable giving you ideas if your tone weren't a bit demeaning.

[Anonymous]

Old Quebec. Stay at the Fairmont.