I have been working on planning my honeymoon for next summer (two weeks in August/September) and have done nothing but run into problems. We are 27 and from Seattle. Everywhere we have though of has had one problem or another (too expensive - tahiti, too hurricaney - carribean, too hot and humid - Mexico). We are looking for a vacation where we can enjoy the beach, a pool, some afternoon cocktails, and not do a whole laot else. We would like to stay in a hotel/resort where we can be pampered. Does anyone have any good recommendations in Europe, or elsewhere? I have been to Paris and Germany, but have never been to any beach areas of Europe. Thanks, any help you can give would be great.

We just returned from the Cote D'Azure and think it would be a beautiful place for a honeymoon. The weather is perfect and the views and the sea are breathtaking. We stayed at a little pension so unfortunately we can't recommend a resort. The area may be a bit pricey if you are looking for a luxurious resort for pampering but its always worth exploring the options.

The Amalfi Coast in Italy leaps to mind. Again, pampering may come at a fairly high price, but it would be well worth investigating.

If you type Amalfi Coast and Positano into the search box, you will find many, many threads dealing with the most to the least expensive options.

While I have not been to Positano, nor to either of these two locations - - from what I hear, Cap Ferrat or Cap d'Ail are a match for the picture you are painting.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g1...ce-Hotels.html - - for example...

Whatever your choices, congratulations on your new life together in marriage... and...

Best wishes,

Rex

You might try the Cinque Terre area in Italy (along the Ligurian Coast) for a less expensive but still fabulous honeymoon in Italy. It ought to come in less than Positano in the Amalfi Coast.

We spent 3 nights in Hotel Villa Steno there on our honeymoon in mid-June and never wanted to leave!

Hi tyler,

What is your budget?

For two weeks, everything included (travel, food, lodging, and of course, drinks) we would like to do it under $8,000.

How are the beaches at Cinque Terre?

I spent my mid Sept. honeymoon in the South of France and became a convert to the area. It is evidently very crowded there in August though, because most French (and Europeans in general) take their vacation in August.

You might consider the first week (I assume last week of August) somewhere in Spain or Italy and then the second in France flying into Nice airport. Since I don't know what airfares are like from Seattle and I assume that's included in your budget, I don't know how much you've budgeted for hotels but there should be plenty of options at all prices.

There's loads of info already here if you do some text searches.

Advice for the Cote de Azur
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34489653

There was recently mention of Cassis (where I've not been). It sounds wonderful. Here's one thread (found by typing honeymoon AND beach in the text search above)

Advice for the Cote de Azur
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34489653

There was recently mention of Cassis (where I've not been). It sounds wonderful. Here's one thread (found by typing honeymoon AND beach in the text search above)

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34486680

Because of the activities you want to do (beach, pool, cocktails, relax) I would not discount Mexico. I'm also in Seattle and Puerto Vallarta is a lovely, easy to get to destination (with no jet lag!). I realize that would be the "rainy season" but on West Coast Mexico that is usually rain at night, or brief showers, not a monsoon -and they've only had 1 hurricane in the last 65 years. PV is muy romantico.

Take a look at the area of Juan-les-Pins, between Antibes and Cannes on the Côte d'Azur. Another possibility would be St-Tropez, which is the ideal place to sun and relax.

There are 5 villages in the Cinque Terre. The largest one, Monterosso, has a great sandy beach. The other towns have pebble beaches or deep pools for good swimming. We stayed at Hotel Villa Steno for 3 nights on our honeymoon about 5 weeks ago and loved it. We were up on the hills in the middle of a lemon grove with flowers EVERYWHERE.
Check out their hotel at www.pasini.com.

I have been thinking about your dilemma over lunch and have concluded that, based on what you posted, I'm not sure Europe provides the best value for your money. While some of the beaches are beautiful, if you're not into the culture of the area, it's a long way to fly from Seattle for not (at the moment) great exchange rate. If you want to be pampered, resort hotels at that time will be busy and pricey.

There are some lovely, less travelled, less expensive islands (check the list at http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/...ropeanislands/) like the Azores which belong to Portugal, but I'm not sure you'll find the sort of pampering resort you want at a reasonable price at that time of year.

Your budget is reasonably generous and you should be able to find what you want if you do some shopping. I would not necessarily disount a place merely on price because there are always bargains. Have you looked at the website luxurylink.com? It's not only a good place to find upscale bargains to bid on, but you may get some ideas for destinations too. I've never used it personally (but others here have) but understand the 2 most important things to remember are check prices first to make sure you don't overbid and before bidding for a hotel, contact the hotel directly first and make sure they have availability for your dates. (This may be a way to afford Tahiti or elsewhere) I understand their auctions are better deals than packages bought outright.

Hope this helps.

Finally, what about the obvious places from Seattle like Hawaii or California? With cheaper airfare, you might be able to afford a better hotel.

Good luck!!

Hi tyler,

How about Capri, Ischia and the Amalfi Coast.

You have an adequate budget.

Thanks for all the great advice. I will ook into these places and let you guys know if I have any questions. As for Hawaii and California, we have both been a couple times (and CA is way overrated). We are hoping to go somewhere where we can enjoy a little different culture. We are basically trying to decide between SE Asia (Thailand, Malaysi or Bali), Mexico, or Europe.

Hi tyler,

We stayed 11 nights, 12 days for our honeymoon and it cost us around $7000 (USD). We were in Rome for 3 nights, The Cinque Terre for 3 nights, Florence for one night, and Venice for four. We stayed in hotels ranging from 140E per night to only 125E per night. Nice places with all the conveniences we are used to but not anything extra luxurious. We ate at pretty nice restaurants throughout the trip (and tended to order nicer wines ;-)) and did a few tours that probably added up to around $200 (trip out to the Catacombs with Roman Promenades, etc.). We probably spent about $600 shopping. It all does add up... ;-)

Message - Tyler
A few months ago we spent 5 days - all inclusive - at the Sans Souci resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Unbelievable and sounds like if you are into laying on the beach, pina colladas, and generally doing nothing, it would fit the bill. Our cost was about $2500 including airfare from Houston. It aint Europe, but it aint bad!
Shrink

Shrink, I would love to go to Jamaica, and the Caribean would probably be my first choice for this vacation, except there is a little problem with hurricane season. I would love to go there someday though!