Luxury honeymoon ideas

Classic honeymoon locations such as the Maldives and Mediterranean are all present and correct here – but our luxury honeymoons also introduce you to places that don’t often pop up in the usual top 10s.

Take our honeymoons in Belize: “Belize isn’t necessarily a luxurious destination in the traditional sense,” says Greg Thurston, from our luxury honeymoon specialists Audley Travel. “It’s much more geared towards those that are adventurous and interested in experiencing the country and local life rather than luxury hotels.” Its location on Central America’s Caribbean coast, however, is exceptionally luxurious – lined with palm-fringed, powdery beaches and relaxed hotels that prioritise personality and privacy over the number of rooms they can pack onto a coast.

It’s a similar story elsewhere in the Caribbean, where our luxury honeymoons ditch gated resorts and introduce you to something that many honeymooners don’t get the chance to experience – island life.

“It’s a vacation for the slightly more intrepid,” says Alastair Walls, managing director of Far and Wild, who design our honeymoons in Sao Tome and Principe. “For people who want to make footprints on a beach where there are no other footprints. It’s not about the thread count of the sheets, but these are nice hotels where you can get a nice bottle of champagne.”

These are hotels that embrace their place, committed to their local communities and environment, run by hosts keen to share their passion for the things on the doorstep – whether that’s through private bird-watching tours with a legendary local naturalist or sharing the use of their private sailing ship.

For some trips, it’s their intrepid nature that’s the luxury. You won’t find many other honeymooners following in your footsteps – or snowshoe-steps – when you’re bundled under hand-knitted blankets for a sleigh ride in search of the Northern Lights.

At other times, it’s not the destination that’s the surprise, but the way in which the luxury is shared.

“If you were on a honeymoon with the big players on the islands, it would be a super expensive resort. That would be their highlight,” says Gerald Amis, from Mauritius Conscious, who creates and runs our Mauritius honeymoons. “But ours is something that’s more towards the discovery of the place.”

You could stay in one place – but often, you’ll be encouraged to try at least two spots for a rounded view of a destination. “We want to showcase the country differently, so you’ll stay in the mountains, then stay at a beautiful river lodge, and finish your trip in a very nice boutique hotel – low-key; not a lot of people,” says Gerald. “You’re not in a resort.”

That said, if staying in one place is more your style, we can match-make you with accommodation that suits you for a longer stay. In Turkey, our luxury family-run hotel (honeymoon and penthouse pool suites available) and luxury villa have access to a private gulet for sailings along the Turquoise Coast. Elsewhere, you can retreat to stargazing-friendly cortijo farmhouse, glass-roofed Arctic cabins, and rainforest ecolodges. Peruse our top 10 unusual honeymoon hotels for inspiration.

Forget groomed sands and private coves – our honeymoons favour beaches with a wilder edge. That means sandpipers pattering along the shoreline, palm trees shading the beach, and bars that slot seamlessly into the scenery. What it doesn’t mean is no luxuries. Some of our best beach hotels come with infinity pools and are in strolling distance of the best restaurants in town. You’ll also be in prime position for signing up for sunset cocktail cruises or sunrise kayaking adventures. Sound a bit energetic? Couple’s massages and candle-lit sand-side dinners are all on the cards too – and even photoshoots for honeymoon pics worth framing.

Sundowners by a waterfall, luxury tented camps, private wildlife drives with the best wildlife experts in the business – there’s a reason why luxury safaris are a honeymoon classic. Some of the best ones do away with the old colonial trappings, immersing you in the destination and ensuring local people and places benefit from your honeymoon. That means using solar and wind power, collecting rainwater and cutting waste, and investing in their local communities. Head for the resident-run conservancies for some of the most exclusive experiences, where local people have chosen to reduce tourist numbers for an experience that works best for them. Read our luxury safari guide for more.

This one’s for the sociable honeymooners. Our small ship cruises offer routes around some of the most romantic coastlines in the world – like the island-sprinkled Dalmatian Coast, the wild coastlines of Skye and the Scottish Hebrides, and the tropical islands of the Seychelles. Cabins are cosy yet deluxe, with stylish fittings and characterful trappings – especially if you opt for a refurbed tall ship. Although sociable, our honeymoon-friendly cruises are always small, with average guest numbers of 40 or so. Want the yacht all for yourselves? Our sailing honeymoons in Greece are just the ticket. Expect days spent relaxing on deck while breezing between remote beaches and island ports.

But why stick to just one theme? Many of our honeymooners don’t, opting for trips that combine wildlife, culture, adventure and a beachside finale. They can range from classic combos, like safaris in the Masai Mara and beach time in Zanzibar, or less-visited luxury picks like Borneo, where you can hike rainforests, see orangutans and relax on reef-ringed islands in one trip.

Our Costa Rica honeymoons combine wildlife, beach and rainforest – starting with a mansion stay in the capital city of San Jose, and then launching into volcanic national parks, cloud forest canopy walks, mangrove-knotted river journeys, and a pick of the best beaches on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. You’ll always spend some time on the west coast to marvel at some of the best sunsets in the Americas, either from the oceanside bars of San Antonio or the remote beaches of the Osa Peninsula, where your only company might be the dolphins ducking through the gold-washed waves.

The best honeymoons in Thailand spend plenty of time on the beach – but also make sure to take you out to the elephant-filled rainforests, mountain villages and cities beyond. The country is vast, so there are many options, from rail journeys to island-hopping cruises to city night market tours. Our honeymoon experts will tailor the itinerary to your interests, making sure you factor in some relaxation at the end. That’s usually in Phang Nga Province, where you could spend weeks exploring the sandy beaches, limestone karsts and scattered islands set into bright turquoise waters.

Forget the usual honeymoon itineraries – our Mauritius honeymoons get right to the heart of things, making sure you balance beach time and beautiful hotels with city tours and activities like waterfall walks, e-biking, stargazing, wildlife watching and rum tasting. It might sound active, but it’s also made easy thanks to our local experts who’ll match you up with time to relax in locally run ecolodges and boutique hotels by the beach.

Culture, adventure and wildlife are the three pillars of our South Africa honeymoons. They mainly follow the classic route between Cape Town and the Winelands – but they throw in some treats along the way, such as the chance to stay at a luxury guest house in the foothills of Table Mountain and at a country hotel in reach of the vineyards. Not quite ready to go? There’s also the option to add on a safari in Kenya’s Kruger National Park.

Track the royal Bengal tiger, stay in palatial heritage homes, and tour some of the glitziest palaces in India – finishing with the greatest monument to love of all, the Taj Mahal. En route, you’ll travel by private car and stay in five-star hotels. We also offer honeymoons to Kerala, where days go at a more relaxed pace and highlights include a stay on a houseboat for a meander through the backwaters of Alleppey.