The best cities for a honeymoon
For couples with a week off and one chance to get it right. Each city here has a sunset stop, a dinner worth booking, a hotel street worth the money and a day on the water or in the hills, and every stop named below is already in the plan. Ranked by how well the days hold together, with budgets running from Luang Prabang's low prices to Venice's high ones.
Spring and fall for Venice, Kyoto, Paris, Dubrovnik and Granada; April to October for Bali; June to October for Zanzibar; October to April for Cape Town; November to February for Luang Prabang; December to April for Queenstown. Carnival in Venice, Golden Week in Japan and Nyepi in Bali fill or close everything, so check the dates before you book the flights.
Checked October 10, 2026. Every city links to a day-by-day itinerary with the hours and prices looked up.
- Venice · Italy · 2 days
Venice
Sleep on the island, in Castello or Dorsoduro, and the evenings are yours: a bacaro crawl around Rialto on day 1, then line 12 out to Burano on day 2 for the painted houses in low light after the day boats have gone. The best view of San Marco is free from Punta della Dogana, and a gondola is a fixed €90 for 30 minutes by day and €110 after 7 p.m., per boat not per person. Book Osteria Anice Stellato on the Fondamenta della Misericordia for the last dinner.
See the itinerary: 2 days in Venice
- Bali · Indonesia · 4 days
Bali
Two nights in Ubud, with a massage on Jalan Hanoman and the legong in the palace courtyard at 7:30 p.m., then two on the Bukit, where the kecak fire dance at Uluwatu starts around 6 p.m. with the sun going into the sea behind the chanting. Day 3 ends at the Jimbaran Bay grills, fish over coconut husks at a table on the sand for about Rp 250,000 to Rp 400,000 a head, and day 4 on a beanbag at La Plancha for the Seminyak sunset at about 6:15 p.m., the same hour every month of the year. The days run Rp 700,000 to Rp 1,100,000 each, so the budget goes on the room.
See the itinerary: 4 days in Bali
- Kyoto · Japan · 3 days
Kyoto
Sleep in Gion or Higashiyama and day 2's Gion evening is the walk home: Hanamikoji and Shirakawa after dark with the lanterns lit. Pontocho Alley on day 1 is the dinner to book, a kaiseki counter in a narrow lane of small restaurants by the river, and Fushimi Inari at 7 a.m. on day 3 gives you the lower torii gates to yourselves. Late March for blossom or mid-November for the maples; May and October for the same temples with fewer people.
See the itinerary: 3 days in Kyoto
- Zanzibar · Tanzania · 4 days
Zanzibar
Day 1 ends on floor cushions on the roof at Emerson on Hurumzi, a set Swahili dinner at $45 a head with the sunset first; day 2 ends on a dhow off Shangani, about 90 minutes under sail for $15 to $20 each with a drink and the sun into the sea at 6:30 p.m. Then two nights at Kendwa, a beach that swims at every tide, with the sunset from the sand and grilled kingfish at a table on the beach at Kendwa Rocks. June to October is dry and about 82°F (28°C), and the days run $40 to $70 a head.
See the itinerary: 4 days in Zanzibar
- Queenstown · New Zealand · 3 days
Queenstown
The TSS Earnslaw, a 1912 steamship, crosses Lake Wakatipu from Steamer Wharf to Walter Peak on day 1, 90 minutes from NZ$129, and the gondola ticket bought on day 3's morning covers a second ride up Bob's Peak for the last light on the Remarkables. Between them: the Glenorchy road, a drink on the lawn at Kinloch at the top of the lake, Bob's Cove, and a pinot tasting in the cave at Gibbston Valley. Rātā is the dinner to book a week or two ahead, and March and April give fall color in Arrowtown and quieter prices than the summer weeks.
See the itinerary: 3 days in Queenstown
- Cape Town · South Africa · 3 days
Cape Town
Day 3 is the one: Kirstenbosch at the 8 a.m. gate, a five-wine tasting at Groot Constantia and lunch under the oaks at Jonkershuis, then Clifton's coves and the Camps Bay sunset from a terrace on the strip, about 7 p.m. in October and nearer 8 p.m. in December, when the wind drops with it. Day 2 is Chapman's Peak Drive, Cape Point and the penguins at Boulders in a rental car. Sleep in Gardens or Tamboerskloof with the mountain over your shoulder; about R900 to R1,500 a day each, and whales in the bay from June if you come in the cheap months.
See the itinerary: 3 days in Cape Town
- Dubrovnik · Croatia · 3 days
Dubrovnik
The cable car to Srđ on day 1 is timed an hour before sunset, €30 round trip, with Kopun's terrace on the Jesuit square booked for afterwards. Day 2 is the Lokrum boat from the Old Port at 9 a.m., a swim in the Dead Sea salt lake before the hot hour, then Buža bar on the rocks below the south wall once the ships have gone; day 3 is the local ferry to Lopud and Šunj, one of the few sandy beaches on this coast. Sleep in Ploče for the view back at the walls over Banje beach, and come in May, June or late September to swim without the July crowds.
See the itinerary: 3 days in Dubrovnik
- Paris · France · 4 days
Paris
Day 2 is the honeymoon day: the Impressionists at Orsay, chairs by the pond in the Jardin du Luxembourg, the Rodin garden, then the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadéro, where it sparkles on the hour after dark, and dinner on Rue Cler. Day 4 ends on the Seine with a choice: a Bateaux-Mouches dinner cruise for the lights or a picnic on the Pont des Arts for the price. Sleep in the Marais or Saint-Germain and book the Marais bistro, Le Petit Marché or Chez Janou, before you fly.
See the itinerary: 4 days in Paris
- Granada · Spain · 3 days
Granada
Mirador de San Nicolás on day 1, an hour before sunset for a place on the wall, the Alhambra going red against the Sierra Nevada and the guitarists starting as the light goes; it is free. Day 3 opens at Hammam Al Ándalus, three pools and a steam room in a candle-lit vault for €52, and ends in Carmen de los Mártires, a garden with a lake and peacocks that few visitors reach. Dinner is three drinks and the free tapas that come with them, so the days run €70 to €110 each, and in winter the Sierra is white behind the palace.
See the itinerary: 3 days in Granada
- Luang Prabang · Laos · 3 days
Luang Prabang
The cheapest honeymoon here, at about US$22 to US$36 a day each, and the quietest: a slow boat two hours up the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves on day 3, then the steps at the tip of the peninsula below Wat Xieng Thong for the sunset where the Nam Khan meets the Mekong, with far fewer people than Phousi. Dinner is across the bamboo bridge at Dyen Sabai, Lao barbecue on floor cushions with lanterns in the trees; book a table at the edge. November to February is dry and clear, and the bridge is rebuilt each November and gone by May.
See the itinerary: 3 days in Luang Prabang
Questions
Which honeymoon city is cheapest?
Luang Prabang at about US$22 to US$36 a day each, then Zanzibar at $40 to $70 and Bali at Rp 700,000 to Rp 1,100,000; in all three the money goes on the room. Venice and Queenstown are the dear ones, with Venice's big tickets at €20 to €35 each and the Queenstown steamship from NZ$129.
What should we book before we fly?
The Nasrid Palaces slot in Granada (sales open about a year ahead and sell out one to two months out in season), St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace in Venice, the Louvre and Versailles in Paris, Robben Island in Cape Town, the Earnslaw in Queenstown in summer, and the one dinner in each city: Rātā, Kopun, Osteria Anice Stellato, a Pontocho kaiseki counter, the rooftop at Emerson on Hurumzi.
Why not Santorini, the Maldives or Bora Bora?
Not here yet; Waystop's itineraries are city plans, and these ten are the cities whose three or four days already work as a honeymoon. Jeju, Nice and Split nearly made the list; see their itineraries for Seopjikoji, Villefranche-sur-Mer and the Pakleni islands.
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