Romantic
Camping Honeymoon
Firelight and shooting stars every
night . . . breathtaking natural beauty . . . snuggling with your honey
in a cocoon of zipped-together sleeping bags . . . . If you prefer
natural beauty to the creature comforts of civilization, or if you are
short on cash, the camping honeymoon has a certain appeal. OK, so in the interest of fairness, camping can also be
a buggy, cold, wet, sleepless, and generally miserable affair. But those
pitfalls can generally be avoided with careful preparation—or by
booking a cabin or lodge in a state or national park. We've got some ideas for planning a
romantic camping honeymoon—plus suggestions for
six romantic camping
destinations in state and national parks around the world.
TOP • THINGS TO DO •
PLACES TO GO • LINKS
Cost
Whether camping is an affordable
alternative to staying in a hotel or B&B depends on a number of factors,
such as the cost of your camping equipment and whether you eat out a lot
or prepare most of your own meals. Tent camping fees range from about
$10-$20 a night, which definitely beats the $80+ price of a decent hotel
room. Even if you stay in a park-sponsored lodge or cabin, you'll
probably pay less than you would for a hotel room—but lodging at the
most popular parks can be just as expensive, if not more so, than nearby
hotels.
(If you're simply interested in our
totally subjective take on romantic camping destinations, skip to
"Places To Go," below.) If one or both of you are inexperienced campers,
but you're really interested in a camping honeymoon anyway, stick to car camping. In other words, pile all your gear into the trunk of
your car, drive to a state or national park, and set up camp right next
to your car. Yeah, it's not as romantic as heading into the wilderness
with just backpacks or canoes, but it has two advantages to the
"roughing it" approach: 1) You can bring along more stuff to keep you
comfortable; 2) you can make a quick getaway to the nearest motel if
necessary.
If you like the idea of spending
your honeymoon in a fantastic natural setting, but don't like the idea
of spending it in a tent, look into renting a cabin or cottage in a
national or state park; these often provide comfortable (if basic)
accommodations more affordably than a hotel. Or consider
renting an RV.
Here's our short list of things to
do to make your camping honeymoon comfortable—and therefore romantic:
-
Plan well in advance. If you
are planning to camp in a popular state or national park, it's
usually a good idea to reserve a site well in advance—especially if
you're hoping to stay in a cabin or lodge. If you're pulling your
honeymoon together at the last moment, consider heading to a less
popular state or national park; they can be just as beautiful as
more popular destinations, but without the crowds. When reserving
your site, explain that you will be on your honeymoon, and ask the
camp manager to recommend the best possible site.
-
Stay comfortable. Pack what
you need to stay comfortable—everything from medicine to good food.
Consult an experienced friend or a book about camping if you're not
sure what to bring (or check the links below). Our point here is don't skimp on the creature
comforts on your honeymoon. Bring decent
sleeping bags—not blankets or kids' sleeping bags (unless
you're positive nighttime temperatures will be warmer than 60°F).
Buy or rent sleeping bags that are rated for the lowest temperatures
you might possibly encounter on your trip. Dress in layers, so you
can add or remove clothes as necessary to keep you comfortable. And
bring along an inflatable sleeping pad—not an inflatable mattress,
but a foam pad or firm self-inflating sleeping pad (such as a
ThermaRest) to provide a
comfortable sleeping surface and to act as a barrier between you and
the cold ground. Any camping store will carry these. Oh, and by the
way: Look for sleeping bags that can zip together and for sleeping
pads that connect together (Thermarest offers a coupler).
-
Stay dry. Don't assume it
won't rain, no matter what the forecast says. Pack comfortable rain
gear, and buy or rent a tent that will stand up to a downpour (you
can test it out with a garden hose prior to your trip). A common
source of dampness is the condensation that forms on the walls of
the tent if it's warmer inside than outside (as on a cold night). Avoid this problem by
buying a tarp for the inside of your tent. Make sure it's a little
bigger than the floor of the tent, so that it forms a shallow "bowl"
inside your tent; the condensation will run down the side of the
tent walls and under the tarp, leaving you dry. You'll also want a
second tarp to tuck underneath your tent.
TOP • THINGS TO DO •
PLACES TO GO • LINKS
Here's a sampling of six romantic
camping destinations to get you started on your search. We've tried to
pick parks that give an idea of the wide variety of camping experiences
you'll find once you start exploring the possibilities. The U.S.
national parks are a no-brainer; check out the U.S. National Park
Service's cool interactive guide (link below) to explore the 384 areas
managed by the NPS. State parks are often overlooked as great
destinations, but some state parks rival the national parks as great
destinations. Finally, parks are a great place to stay relatively
inexpensively practically anywhere around the world—we offer one
example to whet your appetite to explore more.
-
Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness (Minnesota): The Boundary Waters Canoe Area
contains 1,500 miles of canoe routes, nearly 2,200 campsites, more
than 1,000 lakes—and no noisy motors.
-
Yellowstone National Park
(Wyoming):
The world's first
national park and a
World Heritage site,
Yellowstone's unusual natural splendor continues to awe millions of
visitors.
-
Virgin Islands National Park
(U.S. Virgin Islands): Want to spend your honeymoon playing on a
Caribbean beach, but think you don't have the money for it? Check
into camping at Virgin Islands National Park.
-
Petit Jean State Park
(Arkansas): This park is named for a beautiful young Frenchwoman,
Adrienne Dumont, whose love led her to what was then the ends of the
earth. When her fiancé departed to explore the New World, she
disguised herself as a cabin boy named Jean (John) in order to
follow him. He only discovered her true identity when she became
gravely ill; when she died, she was buried on the mountain that now
bears the sailors' nickname for her, Petit Jean. One of the park's
most popular hikes ends at the overlook at her gravesite. Among the
park's natural charms are its many waterfalls (including the 90-foot
Cedar Falls), deep emerald pools, high limestone bluffs, ancient
pictographs, and winding canyons. You can stay in Mather Lodge, a
massive stone and log building overlooking the beautiful Arkansas
River valley, or in one of the private cabins (there's even a
honeymoon cabin with hot tub). The lodge includes a restaurant and
paddleboat rental, plus swimming in a pool reserved for lodge
guests. About 160 miles to the southwest, you'll also find Crater of
Diamonds State Park, where you can hunt for real diamonds and keep
any you find.
-
Pipestem Resort State Park
(West Virginia): If one of you wants to honeymoon in a natural
setting and the other wants to be pampered, this might be the
destination for you. This is much more of a resort than a wilderness
experience, although its natural setting in the Appalachian
Mountains offers breathtaking vistas centered on the Bluestone River
Gorge. Among the resorts' attractions are two golf courses, guided
horseback rides, an outdoor amphitheater, a nature center, the
recreation of a historic homestead, an Olympic-size outdoor pool, an
aerial tramway, miniature golf, lighted tennis courts, lighted
basketball courts, and an archery range. If that's not enough to
keep you busy, you can also go fishing, paddle boating, canoeing,
bicycling, or hiking on more than 20 miles of trails. The resort
features ordinary campgrounds, but also two comfortable lodges (one
with an indoor heated pool, saunas, and exercise room) and cottages.
-
Murchison Falls National Park
(Uganda): For a truly exotic camping experience, drive or fly
into Murchison Falls, Uganda's largest national park. The varied
landscape—everything from riparian forests and swampland to
savannah—is home to all sorts of wildlife, including elephant,
hartebeest, giraffe, chimpanzees, buffalo, crocodiles antelope and
birds. Many of these can be viewed during launch trips up the Nile
River to Murchison Falls, which is undoubtedly the park's central
attraction. There, the Nile is forced through a 20-foot gap in the
rocks before plunging down 130 feet, creating a flow so powerful
that it literally shakes the rocks that make the falls. The park's
web site calls the riverside Nile Safari Camp "one of the most
romantic lodges and camps in the world"; the camp includes a
restaurant and small gift shop. Or stay in the Sambiya River Lodge,
a traditionally designed thatched hotel surrounded by thatched
bungalows. Campsites and accommodations run about $10 a night;
access to the park is about $50.
TOP • THINGS TO DO •
PLACES TO GO • LINKS
National Park
Guide (U.S. National Park Service)
Search for the United States' national
parks by area of interest, activity, park type, cultural heritage, and
location.
-
Interactive Map Center: Or, if you prefer, search for parks by
region on an interactive map. Once you settle on a park, you can
explore its terrain virtually through a Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) map.
The
Best of the Best State Parks
About.com's Darren Smith wrote to the
directors of all 50 U.S. state park systems, asking them to identify the
best parks in their state. This list is the result.
National Parks
Around the World
A comprehensive directory of national
parks around the world; the top of this page contains general park
links, most of which are useless to anyone looking for tourist
information. Scroll down the page for a listing of national park systems
sorted by continent.
Tent Camping Checklist at Coleman.com
We browsed through several dozen
camping checklists before settling on this one to recommend, with three
caveats: 1) You don't need to bring a Coleman stove, although
they are faster and more convenient than starting and cooking over a
fire. 2) Everyone's camping checklist is different; search the web under
the term
camping checklist OR list and browse the various lists to see what
you might want to bring. 3) When we camp, we don't bring even half as
much stuff as many lists recommend. Whittle down your list to the
essentials—anything you are very likely to use, plus anything you might
need in an emergency and can't easily get from a nearby store.
Boundary Waters
Canoe Area Wilderness
Official U.S. National Forest Service
site for the BWCA. But for a better introduction to the wilderness area,
see the Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness web site.
Friends of the
Boundary Waters Wilderness
A good introduction to the BWCAW, with
a downloadable PDF about planning a trip.
Yellowstone National Park
The official site.
Virgin Islands National Park
The official site.
Petit Jean State Park
The official site.
Pipestem Resort State Park
The official site.
Murchison Falls National Park
The official site.
TOP • THINGS TO DO •
PLACES TO GO • LINKS
Your honeymoon story
Have you done this trip (whether on
your honeymoon or other travel)? We'd love to hear about your experience
so we can share it with others . . . just
drop us a line.
Last Updated:
December 12, 2005
|
Cheap
Honeymoons