Honeymoon adventures
Honeymoon adventures are for couples who
want something more than just another
beachside vacation.
 |
|
Fire and ice mix to
make a romantic mood—yes, that really is a fireplace in a
room made of snow and ice. (Photo:
Ice Hotel
Québec-Canada © Yves Tessier) |
Imagine you and your
honey snuggling together in a pair of zipped-together sleeping bags,
keeping each other warm even though you're
on a bed made of ice inside a hotel made of snow and ice.
Sound romantic? If so, join the crowd of couples heading to ice hotels
around the world. Besides the novelty factor, these destinations offer a variety of
unique winter activities including dogsledding, playing a pipe organ made of ice,
watching the northern lights paint the nighttime sky, or warming up in a sauna.
Start by reading our overview of ice hotels, then read about specific
destinations in
Alaska, Canada,
Sweden,
Finland, and
Greenland.
Ancient desert fortresses .
. . royal palaces . . . women in brilliantly colored saris . . .
elephants and camels and cows mingling with cars in the streets . . .
the fabled Pink City of Jaipar . . . wildlife preserves for rare tigers
and birds . . . shops full of ancient emerald jewelry . . . . That's a
snapshot of Rajasthan, India's northwestern desert province.
If you’re the outdoors type
who likes fishing, why not work it into your honeymoon? Plenty of
couples have (we've got links to their stories to prove it). Even if
only one of you is interested in fishing, most fishing resorts offer
plenty to keep non-fishing types happy.
Around the World Honeymoon
If you have the time and
money to burn, why not circle the globe for your honeymoon? More folks
have done that—by air, boat, and foot—than you'd think. For just one
example, check out
The Honeymoon, a
web site documenting one couple's three-year honeymoon around the world.
One place to start planning such a trip is Circle The
Planet.
Dolphin Honeymoon
Forget snorkeling—why not
swim with the dolphins for a really unforgettable honeymoon experience?
A number of companies offer dolphin encounter packages; you can find
some of them listed in our planning section under
Ecotourism.
Fly-in Honeymoon
Want to really get
away from it all on your honeymoon? Head for a remote, roadless
destination accessible only by air. Use your favorite search engine to
search for "fly-in honeymoon," "fly-in lake" or "fly-in vacation" and
you'll find a number of companies that will whisk you off to your own
private lakeside cabin. Retreating to a secluded wilderness doesn't
necessarily mean roughing it, though—in fact, a number of resorts and
tour companies will make sure you spend your wilderness honeymoon in
luxurious comfort.
Purcell
Mountain Lodge in British Columbia, for instance, is a ten-room
mountaintop resort that bills itself as "a kind of luxury bed &
breakfast with gourmet dining" near spectacular Glacier National Park.
Midnight Sun Honeymoon
Tromsø features stunning natural beauty, a
lively nightlife, and—in the summer—a sun that never quits.
Photo: Eiliv Leren ©
Destinasjon TROMSØ |
To really maximize your
honeymoon fun, head to a place where the days are long—that would be way
north in the summer, or way south in the winter. A good candidate is
Tromsø, Norway. Located on an island well north of the Arctic Circle,
this vibrant city of 62,000 experiences the Midnight Sun from May 21 to
July 21. During this time, it's light outside all day and night. With
summertime temps ranging between 40°F and 80°F, that Midnight Sun gives
you plenty of time to enjoy Tromsø's many nightspots (yes, there are
quite a few, thanks to the city's 10,000 university students), the
stunning mountains, fjords, and islands, and various cultural
attractions. Visit
DestinasjonTromso, the town's tourist site, or read an article about
it in
The Guardian.
Photo Safari Honeymoon
Go on safari for your
honeymoon, shooting exotic wildlife—with a camera, not a gun (unless
you're into Hemmingway and/or you both don't mind dealing with blood and
death on your honeymoon). A number of companies offer luxury honeymoon
safaris—Safari2Africa,
for instance, offers a fly-in safari package at a variety of remote
locations, including the contrasting regions of the Kalahari Desert and
Okavango Delta. A less expensive option would be to conduct your own
honeymoon photo safari; head to
phototravel.com for guides to planning your own North American photo
safari.
Polar Honeymoon
If snow and ice are your
thing, you may as well go all the way and spend your honeymoon at the
North Pole (or the South Pole, if you prefer)—or at least close enough
to make your friends and family shake their heads in wonder. Sound too
far out to be real? Check out the North Pole honeymoon package from
North Pole Adventures—they'll
provide you with a "double tent suite," food, drink, and privacy at the
North Pole. The
Northwest Passage, an adventure tourism outfit, offers five-day ski
trips to the North Pole from the Borneo Ice Station—or, if you prefer,
you can take their champagne flight over the North Pole. The same
company will also fly you within one degree latitude of the South Pole;
you ski the rest of the way with expert guides. See
Barb's Travel
Journal: Antarctica for a first-hand account of one intrepid
explorer's experience.
Queenstown Honeymoon
If you're
the type of couple who likes a little adventure with their romance, then
Queenstown may be the perfect honeymoon idea for you. Here you can go
bungee jumping in the place that invented the sport—but that's not all.
You can also go jet boating, white water rafting, diving, mountain
climbing, aerobatic flying, luge riding, parapenting, hang-gliding, and
swinging through a canyon on the world's largest rope swing.
Treehouse Honeymoon
There's something a little
playful, a little magical, about hiding away in a treehouse. You can
experience that magic on your honeymoon at a surprising number of
treehouse hotels around the world—here are just two to get you started. Brazil's Ariau Amazon Towers
Hotel is built entirely at the level of the
rainforest canopy, which you can tour via four miles of wooden catwalks
seventy feet off the ground. The hotel, which offers guided explorations
of the biological and cultural world of the surrounding rainforest, even
has a honeymoon suite. For something a little more rustic (and less
expensive), try Cedar
Creek Treehouse. It's a little more like a classic kids' treehouse,
except that it's fifty feet up a cedar tree—and it has a spectacular
view of Mt. Rainier.
Underground Hotel Honeymoon
Stay in "the world's only
underground hotel," the Desert
Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy, South Australia, where many residents
live in underground homes. Explore the stark beauty of the Australian
Outback, and hunt for the elusive but beautiful opal that brought mining
to these parts.
Underwater Honeymoon
 |
|
An artist's rendering
of the Hydropolis Underwater Resort Hotel, seen from above
the surface. The entire 220-suite complex will be huge,
occupying 27 acres (Image
courtesy Hydropolis) |
Plenty of couples have
honeymooned on the ocean—but how many spent their honeymoon beneath
it? And yet, at Jules' Undersea Lodge,
honeymoon couples wake to an underwater vista of tropical fish
twenty-one feet below the surface of Key Largo's Emerald Lagoon. The
lodge is small—about the size of a cottage—but fully equipped with air
conditioning, hot showers, a galley, videos, books, stereo—even a
gourmet chef who dives down to prepare meals. Honeymooners and other
romantic couples can reserve exclusive use of the lodge—complete with
mood music, fresh flowers, caviar appetizer, and gourmet chef service
for breakfast. At the moment, Jules' Undersea Lodge claims to be the
only underwater hotel in the world. But if your honeymoon will be after
October 2006, you'll have another option in the
Hydropolis Underwater Resort Hotel
in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The hotel, which will have 220 suites,
will feature two glass domes containing an underwater concert hall and a
ballroom; the walls of the bubble-shaped suites will also be made of
glass. Sound good? Start saving your pennies now—rooms
will reportedly let at more than $5,000 (USD) per night.
Volcano Honeymoon
Remember Joe Versus the
Volcano (Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan jump in a volcano and live happily
ever after)? While we don't recommend starting your married life by
jumping into a volcano, touring volcano country on your honeymoon is one
sure way to put a little fire into your newlywed romance. The definitive
volcano resource on the web is Volcano Web; its
Current Volcanic Activity page lists all the active volcanoes around
the world. Or visit the
Volcano Travel page at volcanologist John Seach's VolcanoLive.com
for a taste of the booming business of volcano tourism.
Have ideas for honeymoon
adventures to add to
this list? Drop
us a line.
Last updated:
February 09, 2010 |
