The honeymoon: perhaps the most considered holiday you’ll ever embark on and one not simply based on destination, but the thrill of an adventure à deux. It’s a trip that best represents your shared passions, with the potential to ignite new ones, and one that will imprint itself in your shared memory for the rest of your lives. For all of these reasons, we feel it’s worth a little research and a highly tailored approach, which we’ve finessed over the years for all tribes of honeymooner: the adventure-seekers, the fly-and-floppers, the foodies and wellness orientated (or a combination).
Our experts can do the holiday maths by pairing properties, whisking you between countries and continents, and building bespoke itineraries that sprinkle your honeymoon with the fairy dust it deserves.
Here is some honeymoon inspiration to get you started…
ISLAND & BEACH
Where other-worldly waters lap flawless white sands and afternoons are spent exploring reefs and little islets à deux, or sipping cocktails under the shade of giant palms.
Dominica
Lush, untamed Dominica is a serious island honeymoon contender with its wild tangle of green, exotic wildlife and untouched coral reefs. Clinging to a cliff that soars above an aquamarine cove, Secret Bay packs all the tropical wow-factor newly-weds can hope for, with whale watching, riding and cave diving up for grabs when not gazing into the Caribbean sunsets from the honeymoon villa.
The Seychelles
Family-owned Denis Private Island embodies all idylls of a bygone age of far-flung travel, where the raw beauty of the Seychelles is paired with a gin and tonic. A spec of vibrant green seemingly lost in the Indian Ocean’s vastness, couples arriving on the island will feel as though they’ve fallen off the edge of the earth – just with cocktails, impeccable service and barefoot luxe interiors.
EUROPE
Honeymooners often feel compelled to look beyond Europe for epic trips, though formidable beauty, history, wildlife and life-shifting experiences lie right on our doorstep. You just have to know where to find them.
Paris
Referred to as ‘the city of love’ for good reason, Paris oozes romance at every and should be on everyone’s honeymoon list. To see Paris’ new groove up close and avoid the city’s famously eye-watering room rates, newlyweds can drop their cases at Hotel des Grands Boulevards, smack bang in the second arrondissement. This is polished bohemia at its best, with a happening rooftop bar serving cocktails, and retro-boudoir rooms; a cosy retreat after evenings spent roaming Paris’ labyrinthine streets.
Umbria, Italy
An abundance of cypress trees render the hilltop, magical character of this Umbrian castle all the more fantastical – its terracotta roofs shrouded in circles of mist that collect like coils of cigar smoke in the undulating countryside. The restoration process of Hotel Castello di Reschio has been a slow, painstaking ode to local craftsmanship, and couples can now revel in the aesthetic fruits of such endeavours – while eating the estate’s own delicious produce or snoozing in till noon in perfectly-formed suites.
AFRICA
There’s a reason Africa sits high on the list of most honeymooners – for its thrilling wildlife, formidable landscapes and one-of-a-kind camps and wildly romantic sunsets.
Zambia
Enveloped by dense greenery with lodges and wooden decks brushing up against the Zambezi River, Zambia’s Tongabezi Lodge is the stuff of African honeymoon reverie. Newlyweds can be lured out of bed with early morning game drives into the Mosi-ao-Tunya National Park, fish the river or journey downstream to take in the mighty Victoria Falls.
Kenya
Run by a family with a deep-rooted history in Africa, Ol Malo in Kenya has that jolt of authenticity and legend that blends with the mesmerising Laikipia Plateau landscape to form something raw and magical. Set on an escarpment, the lodges and decks peer over the protected, undulating kingdom, as well as a watering hole drawing the full gamut of Kenyan wildlife.
ON THE SLOPES
For couples with a penchant for powder, there’s nothing better than a high-altitude honeymoon, with bundles of Savoyard charm, curling up in cosy chalets and savouring the silence and snow-capped mountain views from a chairlift.
Meribel
We are bona fide Meribel aficionados having fallen for Meribel’s scenic squiggles through pine forests, its toasty, traditional mountain restaurants and chic chalets. Refuge de la Traye is one of them, whose seriously remote and privileged perch, seemingly suspended in the pink Alpine skies, makes it a hopeless romantic.
Val d’Isere
Bragging some of the best snow cover in the Alps and a vast 300km Espace Killy winter playground linked to Tignes, Val d’Isere is a stellar resort for honeymooners with nimble ski legs. For snow (and style), they can make for the highest hotel in France, Le Refuge de Solaise – a reimagined lift station with staggering mountain views.
IN THE UK
Whether minimooners or honeymooners lacking the time, funds or energy for a far-flung escape for now, the UK has some of the most spoiling getaways, from grand old timers to pocket-sized escapes surrounded by pastures green.
Suffolk
Tucked on the edge of an A.A. Milne-style woodland, where daisy-strewn lawns tip into a large natural swimming pond, Doxie in Suffolk embodies all rural romanticism. The thatched cottage’s character remains amid the swish kitchen, outdoor barbecue area, hot tub and sauna – and couples will find it hard to leave having inhaled the fresh air and eaten al fresco every night under a ceiling of stars.
Scotland
For a dash of tartan Scot and a large helping of serious art, newlyweds can head over the border to Iwan and Manuela Wirth’s reimagined Highland coaching inn, The Fife Arms. Bracing walks through the heather-carpeted Cairngorms are well rewarded in Bertie’s whisky bar (a cockle-warming trove of Scotland’s finest malts) or with a long soak in the standalone bathtubs followed by a four-poster snooze.
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
With its intoxicating blend of unsullied beaches, unchartered desert landscapes and fascinating culture, the Middle East is a strong honeymoon contender, particularly with its promise of winter sun.
Oman
From kaleidoscopic dives in the Arabian sea and mystic desert scapes to Muscat’s lively souks and splendid Mosques, Oman is a land of immeasurable beauty. Its Bedouin soul endures, and is keenly felt with Hud Hud Oman, a mobile luxury tented camp taking wide-eyed honeymooners on nothing-like-it bespoke journeys, such as through the Empty Quarter, past flocks of flamingos in the eastern salt flats or snaking along the foot of the Qara or Al Hajar Mountains.
For unfettered Arabian luxury at high altitude, newlyweds can check into Anantara Al Jabal Akhdar – a fort-like sanctuary infused with Omani culture that lords over this vast and craggy kingdom. Couples can expect top-drawer dining, dips in cliff-top infinity pools and adventures to the mountains; most arresting forts and historic sites. The spa treatments here are second to none, and it’s well worth paying a visit.
To Start planning your dream honeymoon today, contact Clare, Gemma and Jo at [email protected] or call +44 (0) 1306 264005 to start planning today.