Honeymoon in October
 

I am posting this on the Europe board although it may need to be moved. My fiance and I are getting married and starting our honeymoon the second week in October. I am having a brutal time finalizing plans. We want to go somewhere for 10 days and we LOVE laying on the beach with cold drinks just relaxing. We are fine with site seeing and culture but this is first and foremost a relaxation trip.

She will not agree to postpone until the spring for better Carribean weather (or even until any later date, which is fine). I was looking into something different like Croatia, but the weather might be a little cool there. Ideally, we would stay in 2 places over the 10-11 days. Any advice on something I may be overlooking? I would put our daily budget for room and food around $600.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks

Jeremy

Hi jl,

The weather in the second week in Oct might be a little iffy for the Amalfi Coast in Italy, but Positano or Praiano could suit.

Also consider Malta.

((I))

I think you're in for a bit of a crap shoot at that time of year. We've hit absolutely perfect weather in the South of France in mid-October, but also run into less great conditions. My advice would be to pick a place where your odds are decent, but opt for a hotel/locale where you'll be happy even if the weather isn't ideal. (And it is your honeymoon, so staying indoors isn't the worst thing). I love Croatia, and the dollar still goes far there, but you're right that you're probably pushing the envelope on weather. I'd think about the Amalfi/Ischia/Capri, maybe Sardinia (although that could easily break the bank), maybe Sicily or the Aelian Islands, or Southern France (certainly good hotel options there, and a spa goes a long way to covering for bad weather).

If you are just a little bit selective then your daily budget seems adequate for most cities/towns.

Since you want beach weather in mid October, you will have to select carefully. I would research weather patterns for Nice, Cannes, and Antibes (the typical Cote d Azur).

I have no personal experience with Corsica, sardinia or other islands.

I feel like I am picking the worst time of the year to go to the places we want to go. We have both been all over Mexico and Hawaii and wanted to spice it up a little. Italy might be worth looking into, as is France. Thanks all!

What about Cyprus? The weather should still be nice in October.

My husband and I had a fabulous honeymoon in Italy 2 years ago on the Amalfi Coast. We flew into Rome, and spent 3 days sightseeing. Even if you arent "sight-seeing" types, Rome is really spectacular. Plus there is fabulous food! Then we took the train to Naples and the ferry to Capri. We spent 2 nights on Capri - which was the highlight of our trip. Then we spent 5 nights in Positano with daytrips to Amalfi, Ravello, and Pompeii. Then we spent 1 night in Naples and took a connecting flight out of Naples into Rome and then back home to the states.

Everything was fabulous, and it was really an excellent trip. If you have more specific quesitons, ask away!

Steve, you are a mind reader! I have spent the last couple of hours on the Amalfi coast and am thinking Rovella, Positano and Capri....what did you do for your flight? I guess Rome, then train to Naples? That is the part I am stuck on as DC to Naples is kind of weird (the best priced one includes an 8 hr layover! I will pay more to get there soon)

So....I am leaving on Oct. 10, coming home on the 21st. Basically 9 nights since i don't count the night we get there and before we leave. That is enough time right?

We are NOT sightseers...we will probably do one cultural thing a day but mostly want food, drink, entertainment and RELAXATION (and those other fun things that I imagine come with the honeymoon :)

Thanks

Sorry....I see it is Steviegene...in my excitement I wrote too fast!

We flew into Rome and then When we were done we took a train down to Naples.
From the train station in Naples when went directly to the Capri ferry.
I would highly, highly recommend staying on Capri - especially since you like relaxing. It is fantastic at night, glamourous and luxurious. There is a lot of shopping and some nice easy walks around the island that offer gorgeous scenery. I don't know what the weather would be like in October - but when we went there were some decent beaches. Especially the day we rented a moped (so so much fun) and drove around the island - Marina Piccolo was especially pretty and quaint. We stayed in La Minerva in Capri Town, which was affordable but beautiful. I think we got the nicest room (I think #11).

Positano was also lovely. The scenery and cuisine are amazing. We stayed at Albergo Miramare. The highlight of our time there was the complimentary 1/2 day boat ride that came with our room. It was so romantic!!! There are also great day trip options from Capri, Ravello is a town up on the mountain, Amalfi has a great center square, and Pompeii of course is world-famous.

I adored the Amalfi Coast, especially Capri. We however, are the complete opposite of your travel style. We are not "sit on the beach" people and tend to do A LOT of sightseeing/walking/doing stuff. The beaches on the Amalfi Coast are not the miles of white sand you see in the carribean and I don't know that the weather will REALLY be warm enough to want to sit on the beach. So you might want to consider if it is right for you.

Heres another suggestion to totally confuse you.

Ive heard great, great things about Costa Rica. It has beautiful beaches on the Caribbean side, snorkeling and a lot of relaxation. there is a rainforest and it supposedly doesnt get much for hurricanes.

Thanks....great information! I should clarify that by sit on the beach, I mean that we just enjoy sitting back and relaxing. But we will most definitely walk every square inch of any location we are in....just not that big into museums or ruins or any of that, at least not on our honeymoon. This is going to be a low key trip. I'm certain that we would return someday, but this being our honeymoon, we would rather spend it pampering ourselves than doing too many tourist activities. I'm going to start my hotel research now. Corresponded with the Hotel Palumbo in Rovella and am looking at 3 days there, 3 in Positano, and maybe 1 or 2 nights in Capri. I like the idea of flying into Rome as it seems more accessible than Naples, but I doubt we will stay there except maybe the night before our flight returns to the states.

Thanks again!

My sister went to Costa Rica and loved it....I think we are looking for something a little more upscale (i know Costa Rica has some outrageous placs, but i mean in terms of overall ambiance) since we only get to do this once.

The more research I do, the more I think the Amalfi Coast is the spot for us. She will love the shopping and we are both very much into dining and experiencing new things (I hate the word foodie).

Someone just emailed me that the hotel in Rovella is on Luxury Link...never tried that site, but i might have to check it out.

Thanks again!

Rovello is beautiful. Keep in mind that it is a little harder to get to than other towns on the coast - since it is so far up on the mountain. I believe you have to transfer buses.
Also, though the views are better in some ways (because you are higher up) it is basically impossible to walk to the ocean.
People have different opinions about where to stay on the coast - see what others say. But keep in mind,it may be easier to stay put in one place (either Positano or Rovello, or amalfi) and do day trips to other areas. that way you dont have to pack your bags up multiple times, and lug them up the hundreds of stairs!! just a suggestion though!

Good thinking...I have a friend who recently visited Rovella and said the same thing about the accessibility but said that the shuttles were easy to come by and a short ride. I am basically following his itenerary except for the hotels. I have heard that Capri, while gorgeous, isn't more than a day or two and that positano is the place to spend the most time. Is that true?

Thanks

Jeremy

Capri was our favorite part of the trip. But I wouldnt stay for more than 3 days. It is very small, and there is SO much to see on the coast. IMO I would fly into Rome and spend the night - flight usually get in in the am and that way you would have one day in Rome and a restful night. Then I would take the earliest train to Naples possible, get the ferry to Capri (and you'll be there by mid-day) do the 2 nights on Capri and remaining nights in one locale (either ravello or positano. Then final day leave amalfi coast late and make your way back to rome for the final night.
When we went to Capri, our first day we cam e in on the ferry early. We went u p to the hotel, left our bags and went back down to the marina grande. There we took a boat trip around the island with the blue grotto. It was fantastic. The next day we rented the moped which was great - and drove up to anacapri (very picteresque), marina piccolo, and to the lighthouse on the opposite end of the island. Our final day, we had planned to leave early to go over to Positano. However, the ferry did not run until 3pm. So we walked up to Vila Jovis. An easy hike up to some ruins of an emporer of Rome. It had really gorgeous views of the coast. So thats an overview itinerary of a 3 day stay - (we also fit in some shopping, walking on the paths overlooking the ocean, late night dinners, people watching at the marina with beers, and a lot of gelato eating).

If you want really warm weather that time of year, I would think about Morocco, too.

Jeremy - While I recognise that this is going to be your honeymoon, I think you want to restrict your beach activities to "lying on the beach", not "laying on the beach". "Laying" is something that you do to something or someone else - e.g. lay the book down on a table, and when you are referring to a person, well, it's something that you generally don't want to do in a public place, if you get my drift. :)

Now that I've got one of my grammar pet peeves off my chest, I'll offer some suggestions. Have you considered the Canary Islands, possibly in combination with a touch of city culture (e.g. Madrid or Barcelona) in Spain? The Canaries, off the coast of Africa, are part of Spain. I think it's possible to fly direct from North America, but you could also probably arrange a decent connecting flight (with a nice stopover) either via London or Spain.

In October, I don't think that the Canaries will be boiling hot, but they probably will be hot enough for some relaxing time in the sun. You might choose one of the more developed islands (with lots of hotel deals, busy nightlife, pools etc) to start with and then spend a few days somewhere more remote (like La Gomera).

We went to Spain and Morocco for our honeymoon last year. Morocco would be great, but I don't think it's the best place for a beach holiday. (Although there is a Club Med just inside the medina walls in Marrakech that might fit the bill.)

For something a little more exotic (I don't know what your price range is), how about Oman? We spent two weeks there in late March-early April. It was consistently sunny, the temperatures in the range of 25-35C. There's a gorgeous new Shangri-La Resort that has just opened, and it would be a great place to relax. Oman is very safe (the safest place I've ever been) and clean. It's not crowded, people are friendly and it's relaxing. Lots of interesting sights to see, good food. The only downsides are that it might be fairly expensive to get to and there isn't much nightlife (which wasn't important to us but would be important to some).

A little closer are options like Turkey and Malta. If you chose Turkey, you would be visiting during Muslim Fast of Ramadan, but I expect that this doesn't have much of an effect on activities in the coastal resorts. Turkey is a very interesting country, so when you're not lying on the beach, there would be interesting sights to see.

I'm surprised that so few folks have mentioned the possibility of somewhere in Spain which is cheaper than Italy and the weather might very well be warmer.

Dukey: Those who live in Spain could set me right, but I'm not sure it's warm enough to lie on a beach in continental Spain in October, although the Ballearics or Canaries likely would be warm enough.