Help Planning Honeymoon
 

Help would be GREATLY appreciated! Me and my fiancé are attempting to plan a honeymoon. Our destination has yet to be decided. I'm wanting a trip to Europe, and I'm fairly open to destination and itinerary. On the other hand, she is concerned about budget and having a trip that is "relaxing". She hasn't been too specific on her "relaxing" request. She likes the idea of some kind of all inclusive Caribbean honeymoon resort because of the ease of planning and money. I think this is what she means by "relaxing" I'm trying to accommodate the both of us by finding something like this in Europe. As far as money, I'm able to get round trip tickets for around $500 a person. The catch is that the destination for that price pop up spontaneously and for a limited time. We also don't want to spend the entire honeymoon traveling because we will only have one week. Any suggestions on destinations and things to do? I'd like to keep the whole trip around $3,000 and at the very most $4,000. Our flight will take up $1,000 of that. We'd like to explore a new culture, nature, romance, and at least some nightlife. I know this is a very broad question, but I guess what I'm getting at is what would YOU do given these wants and limitation. Also, it would be during mid March.

Just a quick comment -- if you mean 'beachy' -- March is not beach weather anywhere in Europe.

First of all, congrats on your upcoming wedding! You should seriously consider the Caribbean, Mexico or Hawaii for your honeymoon if you want beachy and relaxing. Not sure where you're traveling from, but Europe will eat up a lot of time just to get to your destination and return home - not the ideal for only a week's trip. What specific destination is popping up for those $500 tickets? And what do you mean by limited time? Does that time include the dates you want to travel?

Trip planning should be fun, so sit down with your fiance and look thru some travel guide books, but IMHO, Europe doesn't seem to fit the bill for you, at least not now.

She said she would like the beach but wouldn't be opposed to something else. We wouldn't necessarily want to be freezing in the Alps though. As for the plane tickets I was going to use a website called Escape Houston. They post dirt cheap plane tickets (i.e. Houston to Amsterdam round trip for $500). They look for round trip flights to popular destinations for cheap. Because they are specifically looking for cheap, the dates vary and sometimes have to be bought up quickly. My idea was to wait it out and see what pops up that we like. For y'all that don't think that Europe would be optimal, what city/resort would you recommend?

I don't know what the air fares would be like, but March is a great time to visit Costa Rica. Temps are high and most days are dry at the beaches on the Pacific side. It's a bit cooler on the Caribbean side and cooler still in the mountains. The Caribbean side is mostly rain forest, so not as dry but definitely not rainy in March. A daily afternoon shower would be typical. There are lots of all-inclusive resorts.

What's your point of embarkation for this trip: Are you coming from the US or Canada or are you just going to materialize at an airport somewhere and try to hop a $500 flight to Europe?

If your fianceE (ee for her, e for you) is wanting to relax, tan, swim, and basically do the activities that the major western religions tell you to reserve for marriage, consider doing that and going to Europe at a later time. Assuming this is your first marriage and you're young, you'll have time. And it'll be better to cater to her now so that you can insist on going to Europe later.

There is no beachy weather in continental Europe in March. The only European beaches that will have Caribbean type beach weather will be in the Caribbean (Aruba, Sint Maarten, Saint Martin, various British Overseas Territories, and similar sites that are actually territories owned by or part of European countries) or off the coast of Africa (Madeira [which is Portuguese] or the Canary Is. [Spain]; you're not getting there for $500 RT).

She has the right idea, especially for a honeymoon on limited time and budget.

Go to an island or to Belize.

Mexico, Costa Rica, Caribbean - all good!
Consider a cruise too. Get a balcony cabin on a nice ship that visits several islands for some nice beaches.
For ideas on what is available, look at vacationstogo.com. There are many other good websites, but that one is easy to navigate with tons of information. If you decide that is a possibility, post on the cruise forum.