Suggestions for where to go on our honeymoon!

[Megma]

First, as this is our honeymoon there is not a strict budget for this trip. I will get all the reductions and freebies I can from using points of course and in general would like to be around 5,000 max but otherwise, we plan to go a little wild.

We are not sure where to go for this amazing trip though! Give me your ideas and tell me what you did there that you enjoyed :-)

Some parameters based on what we are currently thinking
-   We’re going in December over Christmas (we’re both off so we can take a long trip)
-   Duration is 10-14 days
-   No Europe. We have both traveled extensively on the continent and want to see/do something different. I also go to Europe for work somewhat regularly (this year Netherlands, Germany and Austria; last year UK and France), so we'll go when my job pays for half.
-   Strong preference for South America or Asia – we’ve discussed Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Galapagos Islands (kinda pricey…), Thailand and Japan (also a little spendy); if you’ve been to any of these places, what did you do?

So where have you been that was totally awesome sauce and what did you do there that made it so amazing?

[wordnerd]

Costa Rica is an affordable and fun option for a short-ish trip (not much travel time or time zone change from the Continental US). I loved Drake Bay on the southern Pacific coast in addition to the normal Monteverde-Arenal junket.

I've also been to Peru, which I think is also a good option. We were too ambitious in our itinerary there. I would suggest focusing on the Sacred Valley/Machu Picchu area. I got norovirus on my way home and our flights were a mess, so it wasn't the best trip, but I know other people have had great experiences there.

I would love to go to Galapagos, yeah, pricey.

[Kris]

^ I was going to say Costa Rica, as well. It's got quite a varied climate, and geography, depending on what you want to see and do, and it's beautiful.

[Dave1442397]

If you're interested in a Galapagos trip, or Peru/Argentina, get in touch with my sister-in-law.

This page shows some of her trips:  http://mythsandmountains.com/author/allie/

Here's a quote from Wendy Perrin's site (link below):

"As the former executive director of the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association, she’s got more than a dozen trips to the Galapagos Islands under her belt.  In fact, she’s currently editing and consulting on the newest version of the best-selling guide to the region, The Galapagos Islands: The Essential Handbook for Exploring, Enjoying, and Understanding Darwin’s Enchanted Islands."

http://www.wendyperrin.com/?destination=galapagos-islands-ecuador-travel-guide-allie-almario

[SwordGuy]

Call me old fashioned, but I suggest you "go to" bed for your honeymoon. :)

[trashmanz]

Japan is quite fun and so is Costa Rica both for different reasons.  If you want an all taken care of program Caravan tours has a very nice Costa Rica tour and they take care of everything, all you have to do is relax and take it all in. 

As far as Japan, I finished this book recently, its a funny account from a foodie perspective, I listened to it on audiobook from the library:

Super Sushi Ramen Express: One Family's Journey Through the Belly of Japan  by Michael Booth

[jrhampt]

I loved Thailand.  The food was fantastic, and there were loads of temples to see in Bangkok, plus gorgeous scenery on the islands.  We gorged ourselves silly on seafood and coconut, pina coladas, rented a motorbike and tooled around the islands, got really cheap massages on the beach while drinking pina coladas out of fresh coconuts, and took a trip up to Chiang Mai, too.  Excepting the air fare, the rest of the trip was pretty inexpensive.  And the food was wonderful (I can't emphasize that enough).

ETA: I've also been to Costa Rica and Japan and enjoyed them both, but the food was nowhere near as good as in Thailand.  Costa Rica in particular had very mediocre food.

I've never been to Peru but had a Peruvian roommate and a Peruvian boyfriend (both born in peru) in college, and I can vouch for their food.  Completely delicious.  I'm hoping to go in the next couple of years. 

[dang1]

Panay Island in the Philippines

[Megma]

Well Sword guy, since we've been living together four years already...😀

So apparently everyone loved Costa Rica! We'll probably go there in future for a shorter vacation, since it's closer/cheaper.

Dang1, I'll look up this island! Dave, I'll also check out those Galapagos posts! We'd love that but I fear it will be too spendy even for the budget buster we have planned 😀Maybe in retirement.

Jrhampt, did you do a tour of Thailand or plan on your own? Was it hard to get around?

[jrhampt]

We didn't do a tour, no.  There's obviously a language barrier, and I highly recommend having a plan in place for how to get to your hotel when you arrive jet lagged in Bangkok.  But if you have a guidebook with a good map, and you're willing to just explore and expect not everything to go smoothly, you'll be ok.  In Bangkok we made sure to stay within walking distance of most of the temples we wanted to see, and just taking the water taxi up and down the river is a fun day.  Train travel was pretty nice (up to Chiangmai).  I did research hotels online before doing each leg of the trip.  You probably want to make sure you get a room with AC, for starters.

Oh, and when you get in a cab trying to get someplace, I recommend having someone else jot down the address on a piece of paper for you beforehand so you can just point at it.  And always carry the card from your hotel with you so you can get back.  You get by with a combo of charades and hotel staff who can speak a little English and write things down for you, plus whatever handy phrases you have in the back of your guidebook

[Megma]

We didn't do a tour, no.  There's obviously a language barrier, and I highly recommend having a plan in place for how to get to your hotel when you arrive jet lagged in Bangkok.  But if you have a guidebook with a good map, and you're willing to just explore and expect not everything to go smoothly, you'll be ok.  In Bangkok we made sure to stay within walking distance of most of the temples we wanted to see, and just taking the water taxi up and down the river is a fun day.  Train travel was pretty nice (up to Chiangmai).  I did research hotels online before doing each leg of the trip.  You probably want to make sure you get a room with AC, for starters.

Oh, and when you get in a cab trying to get someplace, I recommend having someone else jot down the address on a piece of paper for you beforehand so you can just point at it.  And always carry the card from your hotel with you so you can get back.  You get by with a combo of charades and hotel staff who can speak a little English and write things down for you, plus whatever handy phrases you have in the back of your guidebook

Thanks jrhampt for the info on your experience! I've traveled in China (~10 years ago) and this is similar to what I did then, have some at the hotel write in Chinese the name of where we wanted to go and show the taxi the card. Thanks for the reminder of the technique! And good to know it wasn't too hard traveling on your own, I don't really like tours normally.

[jrhampt]

Yes!  I've been to China a few times also.  Definitely same survival techniques; if you were fine there you'll be fine in Thailand.

[LovesToTravel]

We went to Thailand for our honeymoon in 2014; highly recommend!  We leveraged airline miles to fly business class which made the long trip to Asia easy (and very cheap).

We spent the first week on Koh Phangan at a beautiful resort in a villa with a private pool overlooking the ocean.  This was our splurge part of the trip, but for the level of luxury, it was still way less than what you'd pay for a similar accommodation elsewhere.  (Note: Koh Phangan is known for their wild Full Moon parties, but we were on the other side of the island, and it was completely serene - and I think we were even there during the Full Moon.)  We then flew up to Chiang Mai and stayed there for 4 or 5 nights, then onward to Bangkok for a couple days before heading home.  We made a pit stop in Amsterdam "on the way home" for another 4 nights (again, able to slot that into our airline award itinerary for no extra cost / miles).

I planned everything myself, and everything went smoothly (accommodations, travel, excursions, etc.)  Awesome things we did: during our week at the resort (first week there), we spent a lot of time just relaxing in our private pool.  In Chiang Mai, we did a wonderful Thai cooking class (it was a group class but we wound up being the only ones scheduled that day - so it was a private lesson!), visited an elephant rescue camp, and went ziplining through the forest.  Only had a couple days in Bangkok, but explored what we could.  Enjoyed zooming around in tuk-tuks in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. 

Food was amazing, people were so nice, and the scenery was beautiful.  It was an amazing trip.  Would love to go back.  If you can swing the longer end of your proposed timeframe (14 days), I'd do that.  Asia is a long way to go for less than 2 weeks.

Of the other places you mentioned - I spent a week in Tokyo last November and really enjoyed it (was there for a couple of days for work, then stayed an extra week with a friend who lives there).  I would love to go back and spend more time and get to see other parts of the country.  Went to Argentina a few years ago, but only to Buenos Aires.  I didn't love it, but S. America in general isn't a big draw for me, so I wouldn't put much stock in that opinion :)

[Megma]

We went to Thailand for our honeymoon in 2014; highly recommend!  We leveraged airline miles to fly business class which made the long trip to Asia easy (and very cheap).

We spent the first week on Koh Phangan at a beautiful resort in a villa with a private pool overlooking the ocean.  This was our splurge part of the trip, but for the level of luxury, it was still way less than what you'd pay for a similar accommodation elsewhere.  (Note: Koh Phangan is known for their wild Full Moon parties, but we were on the other side of the island, and it was completely serene - and I think we were even there during the Full Moon.)  We then flew up to Chiang Mai and stayed there for 4 or 5 nights, then onward to Bangkok for a couple days before heading home.  We made a pit stop in Amsterdam "on the way home" for another 4 nights (again, able to slot that into our airline award itinerary for no extra cost / miles).

I planned everything myself, and everything went smoothly (accommodations, travel, excursions, etc.)  Awesome things we did: during our week at the resort (first week there), we spent a lot of time just relaxing in our private pool.  In Chiang Mai, we did a wonderful Thai cooking class (it was a group class but we wound up being the only ones scheduled that day - so it was a private lesson!), visited an elephant rescue camp, and went ziplining through the forest.  Only had a couple days in Bangkok, but explored what we could.  Enjoyed zooming around in tuk-tuks in Chiang Mai and Bangkok. 

Food was amazing, people were so nice, and the scenery was beautiful.  It was an amazing trip.  Would love to go back.  If you can swing the longer end of your proposed timeframe (14 days), I'd do that.  Asia is a long way to go for less than 2 weeks.

Of the other places you mentioned - I spent a week in Tokyo last November and really enjoyed it (was there for a couple of days for work, then stayed an extra week with a friend who lives there).  I would love to go back and spend more time and get to see other parts of the country.  Went to Argentina a few years ago, but only to Buenos Aires.  I didn't love it, but S. America in general isn't a big draw for me, so I wouldn't put much stock in that opinion :)

Thanks Lovestotravel! We're really strongly leaning to toward Thailand now, we both have a week off already for xmas so what's another week? 😀

I already checked prices to fly economy plus because straight economy might kill us on that long flight but maybe we can swing business with miles it we start working it now. We racked up a bunch last fall for another trip which we've now decided not to take instead splurging on our honeymoon!

[LovesToTravel]

Woo hoo!  Let me know if you have any questions or need specific recommendations, assuming Thailand is your final decision :)

Regarding business, a few things you could consider which would require less miles : 1. Purchasing economy and using miles to upgrade to business, or 2. only doing business on the way there (using miles).  Going, you'll be flying overnight so being able to get some decent sleep is priceless.  (And toasting yourselves with the champagne that flows freely is fun too!)  On the way back, you're typically flying in the daytime all the way (a very long day following the sun...) but that's a little easier to stomach in economy when you're only taking short naps here and there.

[CatamaranSailor]

Belize...tropical paradise...short flight from the US. Traveling to Asia means two 13-15 hour flights. You could stay in the US....go to Ouray or Pagosa Springs in Colorado. Sit in the natural hot springs. Go skiing..