A honeymoon can be memorable even if you spend it in your own bed in front of the TV -- but if you want the WOW of a lifetime, here are 20 wows to consider:
1. Imagine helicoptering onto the site of a genuine 13th-century SCOTTISH CASTLE (occupied by Oliver Cromwell in 1648), where you'll be treated to a short hydro pool session in the Aqueus spa and luxuriate in one of 14 history-drenched rooms. Cavort with falcons and owls (if you hold your wedding on the premises, you may hire an owl to deliver the ring), then dine in the dungeon. Naturally there is golf nearby.
Dalhousie Castle,
Bonnyrigg, Edinburgh,
Scotland, EH19 3JB
Phone: 44-01875 820153
info@dalhousiecastle.co.uk
2. You're asleep in the Royal Suite, having spent the day dogsledding, rock-climbing, bear-watching, glacier-hiking or cross-country skiiing; relaxing in a spa; then dining in one of several restaurant (or did you call room service?) A staff member gently awakens you, per your request, so you can see the NORTHERN LIGHTS. Heavenly!
Alyeska Resort
P. O. Box 249
Girdwood, AK USA 99587
Phone: 1-907-754-1111
Fax: 1-907-754-2200
guestservices@alyeskaresort.com
3. The bus ride from Montego Bay to Runaway Bay is no great shakes, and a bit shakey (though roads are slowly improving). Once you get to HEDONISM III, oh, my! From the mirrored ceilings to the jacuzzi in the bathroom, from the swan-shaped towel sculpture on your bed to the fast service, your room cries "luxury." Forget your diet; food and drinks are on the house, including buffets and onsite specialty restaurants. Forget your clothes, too; there are areas called "nude," "prude" and "clothing optional." Day trips are available but if your time is short, you'll prefer to take advantage of activities ranging from dances to bodypainting to relay racing, and prize chips add up to free rum or Tia Maria. Hedonism III adds up to FUN!
Superclubs
PO BOX 222800
Hollywood, FL USA 33022
Phone: 1-877-467-8734
4. Gaze out over Yalong Bay in SANYA, CHINA, from the private balcony of your honeymoon suite, indulge in a Rainforest Shower, take a banana boat ride, spend the day at the luxurious Mandara Spa, shake your newly relaxed booty at the Samba Night Club or eat, drink, man, woman at one of the hotel's restaurants and bars. Within 100 miles of the hotel you can day-trip to the (practically next door), the Luhuitou (Turn-Round Deer) Park, the intriguingly named End of the Earth, the Seven Fairy Hot Spring, Nanshan Temple, Wuzhi Mountain and Pacific Waterfall and Jianfengling Tropical Rainforest.
Sheraton Sanya Resort
Yalong Bay National Resort District
Sanya 572000 China
Phone: 86-898-8855 8855
Fax: 86-898-8855 8866
5. Turn one way, you've got the splendid sea. Turn the other way, you've got the mountains that cover most of KAUAI, where since 1992's Hurricane Iniki destroyed the island's fences, chickens run not only free but rampant. There is no public transportation to speak of; rent a car at the airport and drive all around the island (except for an impossible patch in the northwest), to see sunsets, cliffs and waterfalls. Pono Kai has its own private mile-long beach, pool and jacuzzi, and your spacious apartment will be look out over sea or garden. ; ask the activities desk to arrange a whale-watching excursion, horseback riding up in the mountains and, not to be missed, a luau! For stay-at-home-and-snuggle nights, your kitchen is well equipped and you can stock up at two good supermarkets down the road.
Pono Kai Resort
4-1250 Kuhio Highway
Kapaa, Kauai, HI 96746
Phone: 1-808-822-9831
Fax: 1-808-822-9054
ponokai@hawaiian.net
6. View California's NAPA VALLEY from a hot-air balloon; wave down to Auberge du Soleil on Rutherford Hill, where your private cottage's amenities include a jacuzzi, two fireplaces and a two-person steam shower. Pamper yourself at the Spa du Soleil, admire the Sculpture and Photo galleries; then dine handsomely, as the Auberge du Soleil began its life as a restaurant. Napa is wine country, so make some time to visit a few of the 200 wineries in the neighborhood.
Auberge du Soleil
P.O. Drawer B
Rutherford, CA 94573
180 Rutherford Hill Road
Rutherford, California
Phone: 1-707-963-1211 /1-800-348-5406
Spa du Soleil: 1-866-228-2490
Fax: 1-707-963-8764
7. IBIZA, one of the Balearic islands of Spain, is not known for its inhibitions; shed yours and dance the night away at the pre-club bars, clubs and after-club bars. By day, you have water sports, religious monuments, museums, and everywhere you look, beaches, beaches, beaches! On the waterfront near San Miguel, on the opposite side of the island from its capitol, Eibizza, sprawls the all-include San Miguel Park and Esmeralda Mar, an all-inclusive resort that may tempt you to stay in, day and night, but don't give in; ferries pick up and drop off beach-hoppers and disco buses will entertain and transport you all around the island, which is no more than a half-hour's drive from coast to coast. Fly in and out of Es Codolar Airport, outside Eibizza.
Apartments San Miguel Park and Esmeralda Mar
07815 Puerto de San Miguel, Ibiza
Tel: 0034 971 334 602
Fax: 0034 971 334 615
sanmiguelpark@ibiza-online.com
8. Your MACKINAC ISLAND idyll won't be disturbed by the traffic noise; no cars are permitted! Stroll or bicycle (rentals abound) along the boardwalk overlooking Lake Huron, or hire a carriage to explore the interior, (try Fort Mackinac). The Butterfly House, the Great Turtle Park and the Wings of Mackinac Butterfly Conservatory are just three of the many gentle attractions of this leisurely paced Victorian haven. Bathe in claw-footed tubs at Pine Cottage or play the baby grand piano used in the movie "Somewhere in Time," on display at Chateau Lorraine. These sister B&Bs offer breakfast fit for a... Hemingway (Ernest purportedly honeymooned here).
Pine Cottage/Chateau Lorraine
PO Box 1890
Mackinac Island, Michigan 49757
Phone: May - Oct, 1-906-847-3820
Nov. - Apr, 1-386-322-0953
9. Set up housekeeping at 133 Hedges Avenue, a four-bedroom, two-bath house on Australia's lush GOLD COAST. (It's one of a kind, so book well in advance.) Everything you need is a short walk or drive away, you enjoy a private deck, lawn, garden and beach shower. Meals are not included but housekeeping is. Good surfing (and golfing) here!
Beach House on Hedges
Mermaid Beach
Gold Coast
Queensland, Australia 4218
10. Buenas Aires is nice but hop a plane from there down to Islas Mavinas Airport in the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia, in tax-free TIERRA DEL FUEGO, Patagonia. Make the Presidential Suite at the five-star Las Hayas, set in its own beech-forested park, your home base from which to explore; enjoy the amenities, but do go out! Apart from the fireball crash site, you'll see ostriches, albatrosses, doves and penguins, the lighthouse and train (both at the "end of the world") and that famous jail (closed since 1947 but still a reminder of Ushuaia's longtime Spanish domination); the Andes, glaciers, cliffs, lakes and steppes. You can snorkel, skin-dive or sail in the Beagle Channel, or trek through Tierra del Fuego National Park. Ask about dinosaur graveyards; new species have recently been discovered! (Want to extend your honeymoon even farther south? Check out idea #11!)
Las Hayas Resort Hotel
Luis Martial 1650 (Camino al Glaciar)
Ushuaia-Tierra del Fuego
Ushuaia 9410, Argentina
Phone/Fax: 54-1-449-9808
lashayas@overnet.com.ar
11. If you've had a Northern Hemisphere winter wedding, or if you're not ready to go home yet after a stay in Patagonia, take an 11- to 13-day summer honeymoon cruise to the ANTARCTIC. Witness astonishing wildlife, icebergs and fjords, all aboard one of several well-equipped, quite comfortable research ships.
50plus Expeditions, Inc.
40 Brisbane Road
Toronto, Ontario M3J 2J8
Canada
Phone: 1-866-318-5050
Fax: 1-416-749-8850
info@50plusExpeditions.com
12. You're not quite awake but you can't wait to see the Grand Canal of VENICE from the balcony window of your suite at the four-star Palazzo Sant'Angelo. Once you can tear yourself away, you devote some time to the marble bathroom: a hydro massage sounds good. But the breakfast room overlooks the canal, too, and the whole sparkling city, with about 150 other canals and 400 bridges, awaits you. Smooch in a vaporetto on the canal, drifting under the Rialto Bridge toward the palatial Ca' d'Oro (Golden House), and its art-laden Galleria Franchetti. Cross the Grand Canal in a traghetto, and walk all over the six Venetian neighborhoods, or sestieri. There are islands to explore, and you must see the Doge's Palace, as well as Saint Mark's Basilica in Saint Mark's Square. Lacemaking and glassblowing are two fine arts still practiced in this watery world.
Palazzo Sant'Angelo
San Marco, 3488-3489
Venezia, Italia 30124
Phone: 39-041-2411451
Fax: 39-041-2411557
palazzosantangelo@sinahotels.it
13. Been dying to visit Czechoslovakia? Too late! It no longer exists. However, PRAGUE still stands in all its golden glory on the Vitava (Muldau) River, serving as the capitol of the Czech Republic, a relatively small nation that nonetheless boasts nearly a thousand castles! Pension Pav is centrally located, charmingly decorated and flexible in its board plan: breakfast is always included but you can opt for dinner too, or all three meals, in its Italian-style Ristorane U Pava --but bustling Prague offers a plethora of dining experiences. You won't need a car, because everything is easily reached on foot or by tram or subway, including huge Prague Castle, right in the heart of town, with its monasteries, a cathedras, churches, a convent, palaces, a toy museum, towers and a Royal Garden. The Jewish Quarter (Franz Kafka's hometown) is just one of many neighborhoods chock full of living history; check out the backwards clock tower!
Pension Páv
Kremencova 13, 110 00
Prague 1, Czech Republic
Phone: 420-224-933-760, 3729
Fax: 420-224-933-080
pension-pav@prague.st
14. NEW ORLEANS' French Quarter is, at any given moment, one big, jazzy party; there's always something going on. Visit Mardi Gras World, the aboveground Lafayette cemetery and the Musee Conte Wax Museum; take the Aquarium Zoon Cruise or the Steamboat Natchez Riverboat Cruise; hire a mule-drawn carriage and see the sights, from Jackson Square to Bourbon Street. Come home to the nearby but less frantic (and noisy) Garden District for some home-style relaxation, but retire to decadent luxury in the Bordello Room of the 1891 Castle Inn.
1891 Castle Inn of New Orleans
1539 4th Street
New Orleans LA USA 70130
Phone: 1-504-897-0540
Toll-free: 1-888-826-0540
Fax: 1-504-895-2231
castleinn@worldnet.att.net
15. Allow yourself to be rocked to dreamland in your first-class sleeper by the hypnotic rhythm of the TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILROAD, a whopping 6,152 miles in seven days from Moscow to Vladivostok. From the dining car, be amazed by the range of scenery. Stop over in Omsk or elsewhere along the way, but book each portion of your trip separately, in advance, to be sure you have a compartment all the way through. If your stopovers are overlong, fly back from Vladivostock. Plenty of western tour operators can help you book your trip, although theoretically you can do it yourself right at the Leningrad Railway Station, Leningradski Vokzal, in Moscow. (You'll need a Russian visa.) Choose "Rossiya," the fastest, most comfortable train in the fleet.
Leningrad Station
3 Komsomolskaya
Moscow, Russia
Phone (Ticket Office): 7-095-262-9504
16. Be names, not numbers in a charming cottage by the Welsh seaside. Rover won't chase you if you leave the Italianate architecture and gardens of the Village but you won't want to (except to check out the historic rairoads at Minffordd). The site of the popular 1960s TV program, "The Prisoner," PORTMEIRION now captivates everyone who cares about beauty, fine dining classic pottery and natural conservation. In fact it's a bit harder to find than to escape; hire a car, or take a train from London's Euston Station to Bangor and cab it the rest of the way.
PORTMEIRION
Gwynedd, LL48 6ET
Cymru/Wales.
Tel: 44-01766 770228
Fax: 44-01766 771331
Enquiries@portmeirion-village.com
17. After a delightful swim and a spa treatment by the pool, sip fine wine on the private balcony of your luxuriously appointed cottage. Enjoy high tea on the shady lawn and gourmet meals in the lodge (where you can, but won't want to, check your email). Take a Sundowner Cruise on the Chobe River at sunset. Be driven through the Chobe National Park and see lions, hippos and the largest concentration of elephants in all of Africa. Day-trip to Victoria Falls. You won't run out of delights at Bostwana's fabulous all-inclusive resort, CHOBE CHILWERO LODGE.
Chobe Chilwero Lodge
Chobe National Park
Kasane, Botswana
Tel: (South Africa): 27-11-781 1497
Fax: (South Africa): 27-11-787 7658
southernafrica@sanctuarylodges.com
18. Only 19 couples at once may be spoiled rotten by the staff of 110 at VATULELE, the award-winning Fijian all-inclusive private-island hideaway that eschews your shoes and declines your tips. You're not the only ones who'll want the Varle Vinge, the air-conditioned pink Honeymoon Bure (villa), with its plunge pool and private deck; you'd better book about a year in advance. All the bures are beachfront, yet have natural jungle settings. The diving is spectacular, the food international and the service...
Vatulele
Reservations and Information Office
Nadi International Airport
Fiji
Tel: 679-672 0300
Fax: 679-672 0062
res@vatulele.com/info@vatulele.com
19. The Washington Irving Inn, on eight acres just outside Hunter, New York, is a perfect base for exploring the phenomenal natural beauty of the CATSKILLS. (Not all rooms have air-conditioning, a whirlpool bath or a canopy bed -- ask for them!) Join the proprietors for High Tea, and enjoy the outdoor swimming pool. In fact, outdoor activites abound, among them birdwatching, hiking in the mountains, fishing, year-round skiing and horseback-riding. You may even see the "Largest Kaleidoscope in the World." There are half a dozen fine museums in the vicinity. Like Rip Van Winkle, you might want to stay in the Catskills for 100 years!
Washington Irving Inn Bed & Breakfast
Rt: 23A, Box 675
Hunter, New York USA 12442
Phone: 1-518-589-5560
Fax: 1-518-589-5775
washingtonirvinginn@verizon.net
20. Everything about the JOLLY HOTEL LOTTI in PARIS has a golden glow about it, from the lobby to the bar to the restaurant to your suite with its heated towel rack and Italian marble bath. Maybe it's the warm colors and mosaic floors. Maybe it's the little treats on your nightstand. It's probably the overall effect of sheer elegance and luxury, in the heart of Paris, between Place VendĂ´me and the Tuileries. Paris itself needs no introduction, but just for starters, you're a stone's throw from l'Opera, the Musee d'Orsay and the Champs Elysee. Go breathe in the City of Lights. It exists just for you.
Jolly Hotel Lotti
7 Rue de Castiglione
75001 Paris FRANCE
Phone: 33-0-1 42 60 37 34
Fax: 33-0-1 40 15 93 56
lotti.fr@jollyhotels.com
The world has more than seven wonders and more than 20 wows, but any one of the above would be an extravagantly romantic way to begin the greatest of adventures: your married life together.
