jubileefd

this is a WIDE open post, I'm newly engaged and we are planning a late Sept wedding. Where are some great destination suggestions? We'd like something exotic, warm and of course, romantic. Hurricane season may rule out a few spots! For now, everywhere and anywhere is a possibility!! thankx!

vegasnative

Hawaii, Las Vegas, Bermuda, Virgin Islands, Greece, Spain, Brazil, Fiji
Those all came to mind in the warm, exotic and romantic categories to me!

JarredK

Congratulations.

Unless you narrow your scope a bit, people are probably just going to suggest where they went on their honeymoon. With that said, I could think of no better place than French Polynesia and Bora Bora. If I could do it again, I would go right back there.

Other places to consider (without taking into consideration cost or time): Bali, Fiji, Hawaii, Greek Islands, Seychelles, Cabo San Lucas, Maldives . . . There are so many unless you narrow it down, but these all meet your criteria and will avoid the hurricanes that the Caribbean often gets at this time.

susan1

We also married in September so we were limited in terms of weather.

We choose Aruba and we LOVED it. It was very romantic and we found that there were mostly honeymooners there @ that time of year. We have gone back 3 times.

The Marriot, Raddison or Hyatt are places that I would recommend.

mclaurie

I was married in mid September and we went to the South of France. Gorgeous weather (warm enough for swimming), beautiful scenery, romantic, great food and exotic if you've not been there. You fly to Nice, France (NCE). Here is one b & b that's often recommended as charming and not too pricey. http://www.le-hameau.com/spw/lehameau/
There are many more options depending on your budget and whether you'd rather be on the beach (this is up in the mountains).

You might want to post your budget and from where you'll be traveling.

Congratulations!

jubileefd

Thanks for helping me narrow things down (from a wide open list to a "shorter" list)! I don't know our budget yet since it's such early days, maybe $5K? That might change once I actually look at packages. South of France is wonderful, but I don't think you get much for your $ there. I think we are more likely to go to Europe for anniversaries since Sept is so nice there and it's not a long flight (we are in NYC).
What sounds great to me so far: Fiji, Tahiti/Bora Bora, Greek Islands and Bali. Seychelles sounds interesting too. I guess I have some research to do. If anyone has anything to chime in on these places let me know!

hulajake

Second for Hawaii, we've been looking at Tahiti in the future the pictures of Bora Bora are unreal. Anyway back to the real world Sedona, Arizona is a very scenic place with a contrast of the red rock canyons and the solemn feeling in Oak Creek Canyon.

JarredK

$5K may be a stretch for most of these places. You can probably swing it, but you won't be staying at the top-end resorts and you may be limiting yourself to a week-long honeymoon. The decent resorts on Bora Bora run about $700 and up per night -- just for the room. Of course, staying in a bungalow perched over the most turquoise lagoon in the world is well-worth it.

Other things you may want to consider (not that they should deter you - just to keep in mind): Fiji was in the middle of a coup - I don't know the current status or think it's really affecting tourist travel, but something to keep in mind. Seychelles is very far from NY (like 21 hour flight) and with airfare may be difficult to swing for that budget at all.

hulajake

Just checked this one Little Palm Island Resort & Spa ran the datescheckin 9/24 to 9/29. They offered one in your budget range for a oceanfront one bedroom bungalow for $4354 includes taxes and boat transfers to the island. Airfare may put you at or over budget but should be close. Good luck

J_Correa

If you get good airfare to Europe, your $5K budget may go farther than you think, even with the exchange rate.

We went to Germany in July for 2 weeks and our expenses not including airfare came to about $4K. We stayed at nice, but not expensive places, ate and drank well but didn't splurge on high priced restaurants. We watched out expenses, but we didn't penny pinch by any means.

Also, I believe that since a lot of Europeans have their vacations in August, that by September, esspecially in the resort areas, prices come down but the weather is still good.

My husband and I took our honeymoon in New Orleans, which was great. It doesn't fit the exotic criteria, but it is warm that time of year and romantic. Maybe not what you had in mind, but I thought I would throw it out there as a bit of an out-of-the-box idea. We definitely got some fun responses from people about our choice, one of my favorites was "New Orleans? For your honeymoon? Why don't you go to Hawaii like everyone else?" LOL. We are returning for our 5th anniversary in a few months

jubileefd

thanks everyone. well my $5k may need to be upped then. I just threw a number out there. Let's say $6-7K. We can do more if it's something we love. Bora Bora sounds wonderful..how does Tahiti compare? And I had NO idea Fiji was in the middle of a coup. And yes a 21 hour flight would seem to rule out Seychelles..I think that's about 5 hrs more than we can handle!

JarredK

Some people absolutely love Tahiti but most tourists/honeymooners just use it as a jumping off point to transfer to Moorea, Bora Bora or some of the other French Polynesian islands. I was in the later category, so I can't really speak about the island of Tahiti itself. For a first trip, most people will do Moorea, Bora Bora and maybe one other island (time dependant). Moorea is the closest to Tahiti, so it is very easy to do. It's very lush, has great jagged emerald peaks, a beautiful lagoon, and great resorts. Bora Bora is probably the most romantic, but also will have the most honeymooners. The lagoon is amazing and the resorts on Bora Bora are probably the most luxurious in French Polynesia (but also $$$). Air Tahiti also just started (about a year ago) direct flights from NY to Tahiti (only about 13 hours).