pred02

Hi,

I am planning my honeymoon in March/April next year and am searching for ideas. We are looking to do 2 weeks, want to spend 10 days doing sightseeing and adventure and then 5 days somewhere on the beach. We live in London, so want to go further afield from Europe.

We were originally looking at India and Maldives, but Maldivies are too pricey as we are also trying to save for a house.

we also have tons of points (300k + 150k) on Marriott so if there is any way we can apply those great.

We both did South East Asia (Thailand and Vietnam) so want to try something new.

thanks

PAX_fips

Throwing Mauritius as an alternative to Maldives into "the ring"

StartinSanDiego

How about South Africa? Or Northern Africa such as Morocco? Morocco is easy to get to from London, offers beaches and a true cultural adventure, and would not make too big of a dent in your savings account. We went as a family last year, partially because the destination is both exotic and affordable, so we were able to really do some fun things without overspending. We did a 2night/3 day tourist trip to a desert tent/camel ride/food for $80pp all in.

mecabq

Seychelles is around the same distance as Maldives, more affordable (there is Cat. 6 Le Meridien which seems like a decent mid-level option or EUR 406 on a random date in March I checked), and, unlike Maldives, offers more than just staying at the resort. It's fun to rent a car and check out local restaurants. The beach and water are almost as nice as Maldives; not sure about the weather that time of year.

Oman is another close-ish option with nice beaches and plenty to see and several Marriott family properties. The W is outstanding.

rankourabu

I ll second Seychelles, but would not bother with the main island. Head straight for Praslin.

Toshbaf

How about decide on the 5 days of beaches, which could be

a. Rio
b. southern California
c. Queensland, Australia

The 10 days of exploring could be
a. Chile or Patagonia
b. Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, maybe San Francisco
c. Great Ocean Road and Melbourne

Azamaraal

You don't really have many points after all the Mariott er

Bonvoy devaluations but South Africa Western Cape has great weather, cheap food wine and accommodation so your money will go a long way (and the points also). Protea Hotels are offered from 10,000 to 30,000 points but the 10,000 pointers are fine and cash rates are in the $100 range.

The Western Cape has so many things to see on a road trip. Beaches are good but for us the water was too cold for swimming.

Have stayed many times in the Maldives. Always prefer Conrad Rangali Island but unfortunately you don't have Hilton points. We stayed in a Holiday Inn Resort about 45 minutes from Male by speedboat that was very acceptable for the price (not a Conrad or Ritz but nice enough) which when we went was very reasonable. So you alternative would be 10 days touring Sri Lanka followed by a short hop over to the Maldives.

Good luck

pred02

Any thoughts on Seychelles vs. Mauritius? Both have direct accessibility from India.

Toshbaf

Seychelles has the highest per capita heroin addiction in the world. 10% of the population are drug addicts addicted to heroin. Sad.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50488877

mecabq

Similar experiences, I would say. Not familiar with any of the Marriotts in Mauritius, but it looks like some better options than Seychelles. I don't think you'd be disappointed with either destination.

Dreamwalker

Hi.

My fiance and I are getting married this April. We are still planning our honeymoon and are considering a few locations/dates.

End of May
July
Late September/October

We aren't sure where we want to go exactly, but have narrowed it down.

Thailand/Maldives
London/Paris/???

We also considered London/Paris/Germany/Maldives

Any recommendations or something we haven't thought about?

lhrsfo

It all depends what you enjoy doing and you've given no clues on that. Personally, I think a honeymoon should be a memorable trip to somewhere you are unlikely ever to visit again, so major cities seem an odd choice.

Dreamwalker

We like beaches, but the last few vacations have revolved around beaches. So we were trying to find something a bit different. I've been to Italy and Greece, but my fiance has never been to Europe. We were thinking of doing some major sighseeing and I personally know more about Europe than Thailand/Maldives.

We love inspiration hotels and want to fly first class whereever we go in a cool first class experience. We love spas and such, which I hear Thailand has some really good ones at cheaper prices. We are animal lovers, but I hate the heat, so Thailand concerns me with the heat.

I guess what I was wanting was ideas on what others have done or experienced in both locations. I don't know if we will get to do another huge trip like this again for a few years as we plan on having kids pretty soon after marriage as we are both older. I think if we do Thailand/Maldives we plan to do Maldives for 4-5 nights, Thailand for 5-7 and maybe one other location for 2-3. Depending on if we could find another cool location. We were looking into Sri Lanka/Thailand/Maldives in some order. We prefer Maldives to be our last stop to just relax before returning.

If we do Europe we are looking at London for 4 nights, Paris for 3 and one or two other locations for 3 each. I even thought about London/Paris/Maldives since it would kind of blind both locations.

Super Mario

I've always liked the idea of the remote beach locations for a Honeymoon if you can afford to do so. I think the setting is a lot more appropriate for a honeymoon vs a big city. It's also a great time to come because once you have kids, the feasibility of such trips becomes much harder.

Duke787

We did Bali and Bora Bora for our honeymoon to get the exploring and beach split. Was awesome though getting from Bali to Bora Bora is not easy and takes a ton of time.

More reasonable might be something like Bora Bora and New Zealand and spend time exploring the South Island.

Bali does have the benefit of being super cheap -- you can get some really good hotel deals on both cash and points.