Ten Cheap Honeymoon Ideas for Couples on a Budget

Between paying for the wedding and setting up a new household, many couples find there’s not much money left in their budget for the honeymoon. But who says you have to spend a fortune to enjoy a romantic honeymoon? Here are ten great ideas for a more affordable (and romantic) honeymoon.

1. Ask for the gift of a honeymoon

You can defray the cost of your honeymoon, or maybe even cover the cost entirely, by listing it on a honeymoon gift registry. A honeymoon registry works just like a wedding registry, but instead of buying china dishes for you, your wedding guests buy you a trip to China (or the honeymoon destination of your choice). Yes, your guests could just contribute cash toward your honeymoon, but giving a particular portion of the honeymoon (dinner at a fancy restaurant, or a carriage ride through the historic district of a far-off city, for example) is somehow more meaningful. For more information about honeymoon registries, including a comparison of some of the most popular registries, go to our honeymoon registries page.

2. Exchange homes

If you prefer to mingle with the locals rather than escaping to a walled-off resort, look into a home exchange for your honeymoon. In a nutshell, home exchanges involve swapping your home (or RV or yacht) with someone else—you go live in their house while they live in yours. Is it safe? Tens of thousands of people have participated in home exchanges in the last few decades, and according to ExchangeHomes.com, reports of property damage are rare; it has never received a report of theft. That’s because home exchanges are built on trust, typically by exchanging lots of e-mails, photos, and videos in advance of the swap. Read more at our home exchange honeymoon page.

3. Rely on the hospitality of others

If swapping homes is impractical, maybe you can simply rely on the hospitality of others through a hospitality club. These organizations connect travelers with locals who are willing to open their homes for free or at a very low cost. Yes, you may sacrifice some much-needed privacy, but you’ll save money and make lifelong friends. One couple incorporated home stays into much of their year-long honeymoon. Find out more at our hospitality club honeymoon page.

4. Win a free honeymoon

“Nothing in life is free”—unless you win a free honeymoon vacation in a promotional sweepstakes or contest. Quite a few travel agencies and other companies run contests giving away honeymoon vacations as a way of promoting their services. Let’s face it, the odds of winning a free honeymoon are remote. On the other hand, the cost of entering is usually just the time you spend searching the web for “honeymoon contest,” or “vacation contest” and filling out online entry forms. (Try the same searches using the word “sweepstakes” too.) Or check out our list of free honeymoon contests.

5. Go camping

Firelight and shooting stars every night . . . breathtaking natural beauty . . . snuggling with your honey in a cocoon of zipped-together sleeping bags . . . . Yes, camping can be romantic, as long you’re well prepared and have the right equipment (warm sleeping bags, a comfortable mattress pad, and a waterproof tent are a must). Plus, it’s pretty cheap–$10 to $20 per night at most locations. It’s even cheaper if you cook your own food. You can mix a few nights of camping with a few nights in hotels to make your honeymoon more affordable. And don’t overlook the rustic (but cheap) cabins available for rent at many state and national parks. Some even offer a honeymoon cabin! Find out more at our camping honeymoon page.

6. Honeymoon at a hostel

Once upon a time, hostels were viewed as down-and-dirty accommodations for young backpackers traveling on a shoestring. These days, however, hostels offer high-quality accommodations to people of all ages. While dormitory-style lodging is still the norm, many hostels now offer private rooms or cabins; a few specifically invite honeymooners. Plus, some hostels are located in historic or unique settings (on a boat, in a former prison, or in a retired airplane, for instance). Find out more at our hostel honeymoon page.

7. Travel in the off season

It may be obvious to seasoned travelers, but those with less experience may not be aware of how affordable it can be to honeymoon in the “off season”—basically, any time other than when most people travel to your destination. Certain destinations’ accommodation and airfare prices may be slashed by 30 percent or more during the off-season compared to the peak travel season.

8. Find cheap airfares

Airfare can eat up a substantial portion of your travel budget. Make sure you find the lowest fare by doing your homework:

• Search for travel on Bing. Normally we wouldn’t endorse a particular brand, but Bing has developed a great travel search tool that allows you to search for flights from more than 100 airlines and agencies simultaneously. It also has patented an algorithm for predicting when airfares will be lowest. You can find a brief overview here.
• If you’re not sure where to go on your honeymoon, check out FareCompare.com for an interactive map of the cheapest airfares to destinations around the world from your closest airport. It also has great tools for finding the cheapest time to fly.
• Be flexible about your arrival and departure dates; the major travel portals (e.g., Bing, Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity) all have options to search for the cheapest flights within a range of dates. Any one of these alternatives could potentially save you hundreds of dollars.
• Be sure to compare rates for alternate airports within a reasonable traveling distance. You might live half an hour from a major airport, but the smaller airport a couple hours away might have substantially lower fares, perhaps saving you hundreds of dollars. Again, the major travel portals all have options to look for flights at nearby airports.
• Don’t overlook the discount airlines. Some may not be listed on the big travel portal websites, even though they might have the lowest fare to your destination. If you’re flying internationally, check out foreign carriers as well.
• Go directly to airlines’ websites to check for “web-only” specials.
• Sign up for Twitter or Facebook feeds from your favorite airlines in order to monitor sales and specials. Some airlines have even been known to run Twitter-only sales.

9. Try a super-flexible last-minute honeymoon

If you don’t have your heart set on a particular honeymoon destination, try setting aside a budget for your honeymoon and booking a super-discounted package at the last minute. You can get great deals at the last minute because travel suppliers—airlines, cruise lines, hotels, and so on—like to operate at capacity. Empty seats and empty rooms cost the travel provider nearly as much as when they’re occupied, so if it looks like a spot is going to go empty, it makes sense to fill it—even at a deep discount. That’s great for the budget-conscious honeymoon couple. The catch, of course, is that travelers must be very flexible with their plans and choice of destination. You’ll find a list of places to look for last-minute deals at our last-minute honeymoon page.

10. Be a savvy traveler

Some deals are not advertised—for instance, when an economic crisis, currency fluctuations, or a natural disaster make a particular country extremely affordable for tourists. (You don’t want to go during the natural disaster or political crisis, obviously, but in the wake of such events, the local tourism industry may be heavily discounted as it recovers.) Keep tabs on what destinations are real deals by subscribing to budget travel newsletters; start with Frommers.com, BudgetTravel.com, and About.com’s Budget Travel website.

11. Bonus: Subscribe to this website

As we find honeymoon deals and come up with more cheap honeymoon ideas, we’ll let you know. Subscribe by Twitter, Facebook, or e-mail by using the tools in the sidebar.

Still looking for ideas? Check out TripAdvisor’s list of 52 of the world’s most romantic vacations.