Choosing Honeymoon Destination
So, You are an Indian who landed on to this page, while looking out for Where to go on honeymoon?
Which would be the place as per the weather in that season?
Where can I make most out of my money?
Where can I get food as per my preferences?
Where can I afford luxury?
What should be the best romantic place in my budget?
So, being an Indian, we have to think about a couple of extra things like where can I make most out of what I spend. For example, When you spend in dollars/euros V/S when you spend in smaller currencies like Vietnamese dong, Thai baht, Indonesian rupiah.
So, let’s assume most of the weddings takes place in India around year-end(November and December). I would choose honeymoon destination based on these factors below
Currency rate
So, this is the main deciding factor for most of us. Moreover, ToadsOnTheRoad being a blog related to backpacking we will discuss this before any other factors.
So, it the level of lavishness one can afford directly depends on how expensive the currency is.
Prevailing Weather in that season
Guys don’t usually care much about weather in most of the cases, but unfortunately, girls do. They want to flaunt their honeymoon wardrobe without having extra layers. Also, they want to have as many as unique outfits possible, and it’s highly unlikely that you will be carrying numerous options for winter layers. Or if you do, you will end up paying almost half of the airfare for baggage only.
What type of destination it should be
So not all target destinations are the honeymoon destinations, as per my opinion honeymoon destinations shouldn’t be just beautiful BUT should be romantic, where one can spend some quality time, some alone time, live lavishly, some tourist spots if not many. So, I wouldn’t prefer destinations I would generally love to travel, for the honeymoon because I don’t want to roam on streets, backpack, spend the whole day out on roads exploring and experiencing surroundings. I think we do have the rest of our lives to travel like a traveller. So, let’s leave this kind of travel for rest.
Beach areas, green places with natural beauty in abundance, scenic islands should be ideal spots for your honeymoon which is more about knowing each other or having quality time together rather than the destination. You will travel together again in your life, but it won’t be a honeymoon trip.
So, in the month of December and January, the following places are good to go places as per my preference shared above
- South East Asia(Bali, Vietnam, Maldives, Thailand, Malaysia)
- Macau, Hong Kong
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- Australia
- Seychelles
Based, on these above factors I decided it for myself. Be it BALI and MACAU. Bali is tropical, beach, scenic, beautiful like anything. Most of all Balinese people are real gems, I know I said the same for the Vietnamese folks. It matters a lot when you travel, that how friendly and helping are the people around. I chose MACAU to experience the modern luxury, casinos, have a Chinese flavour in our honeymoon memories. Since travelling to Vegas, Nevada is quite expensive. I decided to visit the Chinese counterpart of it. Also, its easy to visit hong kong from Macau. Even a day trip to Hong Kong is possible to Disney land.
Both of these choices were great !
Bali Memories
I loved Bali, stayed in a pool villa. Its an almost 110 sq metre villa with a pool and small open kitchen amidst the completely green surroundings. A place where you can spend days without feeling a need to travel outside. I mean starting from their in-house masseurs to their lavish breakfasts, super courteous staff, city centre pick up and drop services to the cleanliness of pool and villa it was marvellous. It ranges from 6000-50000 INR, depends on what you choose. It’s all affordable isn’t it, this you can’t afford in Europe or the United States or New Zealand their currencies being a lot stronger than ours. For that we can backpack at some later point in our lives, even couchsurf to make it more affordable. Just click here to know more about Couchsurfing.
You can rent a scooter, and explore Bali on your own to travel deep into the countryside. It’s not expensive at all (INR 500 for a day). You don’t need to make any considerable deposits to get a scooter.
So the Bali I talked about till now is Ubud, a little to the north of Bali ( Denpasar Airport). 90-120 mins car drive is costing somewhere around 1500 INR. Ubud is more countryside, green, natural, beautiful.
The southern part of Bali is more commercialised, modernised, connected, and has a lot to do in terms of activities. Near to beaches, airport, malls, street food, Indian food, other international cuisines. You have great options for water sports primarily parasailing, scuba diving, jet ski.
Food: Indians can survive easily
Affordable Luxury stays: Yes(starts from 3000 INR onwards)
Indian Restaurants: Yes
Water sports: Yes(Affordable like 6000 INR for activities like sea walker, parasailing, jet ski for a couple )
Vegetarian food options: Yes
Shopping options: Yes
Friendly People: Yes
Travelling cost: Cheap(You can plan a honeymoon trip to Bali for as low as 1 lac for a week for two)
People: Friendly
Macau Memories
Macau is a different experience from Bali. Macau is luxury, a glimpse of China and Chinese culture. I love meeting people from different cultures and realise how we are so different but still the same.
So Macau is a Portuguese territory until 1999, so it reflects a mix of culture. It has large casinos and malls on the Cotai Strip, which joins the islands of Taipa and Coloane. We stayed in two hotels, one little far from the airport across the river but more luxurious, more royal, traditional, little more like Chinese region, this hotel is Grand Lisboa one of Macau’s oldest hotel. Another one is I would say just super luxurious without any cultural hint thereof just like Vegas, big displays on the street just absence of alcohol both on slots and roads, this hotel is Grand Sheraton.
What to eat in Macau?
So, for non-vegetarians who can eat anything and are eager to try new meats, I think it will be heaven for you. But for vegetarians or just chicken eaters, it would be slightly tricky. You can either stock bread, cake, wine, cookies, etc. On the Taipa side, I found a Marks and Spencer bakery inside Grand Sheraton, which is my one stop shop for the whole of my stay. As near Grand Sheraton, it’s challenging to find 7eleven kind of stores. Near Grand Lisboa, we found a Japanese departmental store, which has a lot of different frozen options as well. So what can a vegetarian or chicken eater have is :
1. Mc Donalds Burger
2. Frozen meals(Parathas, or other snacks)
3. Buy a packet of bread and cheese.
4. Buy a cake and stock it.
5. Don’t forget to try Portuguese egg tarts; they are delicious.
6. Buy some cup of noodles.
Note: I know this is very specific from person to person, but travelling with your food from your country takes away almost half the fun of travelling, as you won’t even step away from your comfort zone. As per me, we travel to explore, to see, to experience, to feel the new place. I don’t think that experience is complete without trying their cuisine or if not whatever we can find there. I find it challenging in Macau, but still, these are the experiences we take, the memories we make, and that’s what matters at the end of your trip. So, go out, be free, make most out of it.
Bali
Why
– No visa requirement for Indians(not even on arrival), Affordable luxury, humble people, good food, breathtaking beauty, natural beauty in abundance, overall it has a lot to offer to every kind of traveller( be it backpacker, tourist, honeymoon couples, luxury travellers, bloggers, explorers)
What to note :
– As you know, Indonesia is a group of islands and is prone to volcanic eruptions, and a recent tsunami. You have to plan your travel with that kind of flexibility in mind.
Macau
Why
– No Visa requirement for Indians(not even on arrival), a glimpse of China and its culture, luxury, deserves the title Asian vegas, heaven for hardcore non-vegetarians cuisine explorers, casinos, you can visit Hong Kong even for a day or two(Disneyland is a day trip)
What to note:
– It’s expensive(not comparing it with Bali, but its generally expensive in terms of stay, food, casinos, slots, etc.), difficult for strict vegetarians who need a variety of Indian food or Mexican or anything with potato, or baked snacks.