As anyone in the travel industry will tell you, planning a honeymoon is a huge part of your wedding plans – there’s a lot of pressure to get it right when you’re a travel expert! I got engaged this year in Australia and as soon as we were home, I started dreaming of our honeymoon. I wanted it to be something different and interesting, not like other trips and something we would remember forever.
Luckily, I have plenty of colleagues here at Travel Nation who have enjoyed some fantastic honeymoons, from the depths of Africa to the wild beaches of Indonesia. I decided to find out from them how they turned their honeymoon ideas into a reality.
I was looking for something unique and special with great food. Somewhere a bit unusual – a mix of adventure and a little bit of beach/relaxation at the end
We wanted to do something you wouldn't necessarily do on a normal holiday but with a luxurious honeymoon feel at the end. We also wanted to go somewhere which gave us the chance to sample local food and culture.
A 3-week multi-centre honeymoon to Sumatra worked perfectly for us as we could tick off the adventure and nature part at Lake Toba and trekking to see the Orangutans in the Sumatran rainforest with city breaks in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur by maximising stopovers. Plus, the culture and food in Penang and finally the beautiful beaches in Langkawi.
The highlights were, of course, seeing the Orangutans but also waking up in our Batak house to watch the sunrise over Lake Toba, eating freshly picked passion fruit whilst hiking through the jungle and having a feast of Nyonya food in Penang.
Langkawi and Dubai were the more "honeymoon" parts of our trip, so we treated ourselves to a beautiful sunset catamaran sailing trip in Malaysia and a dhow dinner cruise in Dubai. Both really gave us that little touch of luxury at the end of our adventures.
Read more about Claire’s honeymoon in Sumatra
We wanted to go somewhere we’d never been that was good for snorkelling and diving. We wanted to see wildlife and have an adventure.
We are active people so sitting on a beach for 2 weeks was not too appealing. However, we do love doing that in short sections so mixing some beautiful top end beach hotels with activities such as diving, hiking, caving and climbing was ideal for us.
We chose to honeymoon in Borneo, exploring some of the world’s largest caves, diving with turtles and colourful fish, seeing unique wildlife and climbing the highest mountain in South East Asia. For us, it was the perfect combination.
We had always wanted to visit Borneo due to its unique wildlife. We enjoy trekking and diving in the Sipadan islands had always been very high on our list. We like staying in low-key local hotels, but we also included 3 luxurious beach hotels, which gave the trip a romantic honeymoon feeling.
The country has a perfect balance of beautiful beaches, activities and adventure alongside amazing wildlife, including the diverse marine life, millions of bats at Mulu caves and, of course, the orangutans. The people were so friendly – we absolutely love it.
Read more about Chris's Borneo honeymoon.
I think for me it was about having a trip with lots of variety - wildlife, beach, food and drink and making it a unique and special trip. The accommodation was important, I wanted us to stay in really special places but not necessarily every single night.
I wanted the trip to stand out from other places we had been which was why I created a trip with lots of different elements. I also wanted to enjoy some downtime together, which is why I wanted some luxurious accommodation.
We decided to visit South Africa and Mozambique, including Cape Town, the Garden Route and Kruger National Park.
I chose South Africa because it’s such a perfect honeymoon destination – especially the amazing city of Cape Town, with history, culture, delicious wine and beautiful food. The whole country has great service, really high-end accommodation and is very reasonably priced. The safaris are great especially in the Sabi Sabi, but I think the combination of all of it was the draw for me. Mozambique was a bit of a punt if I’m honest but so worth it. The beaches are stunning and it is so easy to combine with Kruger.
I wanted our honeymoon to be a trip of a lifetime, with a bit of adventure and some beautiful beaches.
We decided for our honeymoon we wanted to travel somewhere neither of us had visited before and also make it a once in a lifetime experience. We also wanted plenty of time to relax in between adventures.
We chose to take a trip to Africa, to go on safari and visit the gorillas in eastern Africa. We chose Rwanda and Tanzania for our honeymoon trip, as both countries are very close to each other and it’s achievable to experience both countries within a normal two-week trip.
Of course, the experience we had with the gorillas was incredible, such a special few hours, and one we’ll both remember forever. The beaches in Zanzibar were spectacular and we also absolutely loved meeting the local tribes in Tanzania.
We wanted something exciting, not too expensive, adventurous and I wanted to show my new husband a place I love.
Henry had always wanted to go to Vietnam, and I had already been several times. We wanted to mix culture and adventure with relaxation at an affordable price, as we were on a tight budget. Henry had never been to Asia before, so it was a whole new world for him.
We decided to focus on just Vietnam so that we could spend as much time as possible in each place. We travelled the length of Vietnam, starting in Ho Chi Minh City and ending in Hanoi.
We really wanted to get a balance between culture and relaxation, so we wanted to travel as slowly as we could without missing any highlights. After Ho Chi Minh, we spent 4 nights at a really secluded resort on Phu Quoc Island (we were the only guests!) to catch our breath after the wedding madness. Then, we spent 4 nights in a little beach resort at lovely Hoi An, 2 nights on a junk boat cruise in Bai Tu Long Bay (which is quieter than Halong Bay) and 3 nights in Hanoi, where we joined a brilliant street food scooter tour.
You can see from the above that we really are honeymoon experts! Whether you want to head to the jungles of South America, look for wildlife in Africa or take a road trip across California, we can put together your dream trip.
If you would like to plan your honeymoon, or even just a relaxing and romantic holiday, give us a call on +44 1273320580 or request a quote. We are experts in planning tailor-made holidays and round the world flights, so we can work together with you until we’ve created your perfect trip.
Fresh out of high school, Milly left her home comforts behind and set off to work in a school in Thailand for a year. Whilst working in Thailand she managed to explore Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and China before uni. In the breaks from her English & American Literature degree she interned for Travel Nation, eventually joining our team in 2014. Milly is fascinated by wildlife and food and weaves these elements into both her own trips and those she plans for others. Her natural instinct for building fascinating trips that take you off the beaten track inform the trips she plans and she currently works as our Product Manager sourcing great hotels and itineraries for our customers.
