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Hazel Knowles

Choosing the right destination for that all-important honeymoon will ensure the perfect start to your marriage

It's the most important holiday of your life - the first vacation of your married life and, for many young couples, the last holiday as a carefree pair before the children come along.

Pick the right destination, and a honeymoon can be a delightful memory to last a lifetime - and the perfect start to a marriage. Select the wrong destination and it can be an expensive mistake and the scene of your first argument  as husband and wife.

Here, we look at five honeymoon destinations around the world to suit all budgets and tastes, and detail the downsides as well as the upsides of what might appear to be ideal destinations for newlyweds.

Piece of paradise

Necker Island,  Caribbean  (www.necker.com)

Why honeymoon here?

Because if you've got the money and you really want a romantic getaway, this is probably the most extravagant gesture you can extend to your new spouse - a paradise island in the Caribbean all to yourselves for HK$360,000 a night. Famous former guests on this most exclusive of resorts include Princess Diana,  Oprah Winfrey  and Eddie Murphy. Necker Island is a 30-hectare  private island in the British Virgin Islands owned by Virgin  boss Sir Richard Branson.  Amazingly,  he bought the entire island for less than HK$3 million. Today, it has a complex of fully serviced, luxurious Balinese-style holiday villas which can accommodate up to 28 people, should you wish to bring the in-laws along on your honeymoon. Normally, you have to book the entire island to stay there but there are special Celebration Weeks when you can share the island at a relatively modest rate of about HK$176,000 for the whole week. That price includes all food and drinks and unlimited champagne. Apart from eating, drinking and lying on the beach worrying about how you're going to pay the bill at the end of the honeymoon, Necker Island offers a range of suitably top-drawer entertainment for guests including sailing, snorkelling, tennis tournaments and kite-surfing. It's horrendously pricey, but  this is one of the world's most luxurious and exclusive retreats - and hopefully you'll only get married once.

What's the downside?

The price. Staying there for a few days may cost you more than the deposit on your marital home. If you're sharing the island with other guests, you should be aware that the kind of people who stay at Necker can sometimes be accompanied by suited bodyguards wearing dark sunglasses - the sight of which can dampen the romantic mood as you watch the sunset from your villa balcony. But then again, if you can afford to honeymoon here, you'll probably have one or two bodyguards of your own.

What time of year should we go?

The weather in the British Virgin Islands is fairly consistent throughout the year, with temperatures of 26 to 31 degrees Celsius.

Showers are most likely from August to October, and the hurricane season is from June to November.

How much will it cost?

From HK$176,000 to HK$2.5 million for one week, depending on whether you choose to share the island or have it all to yourselves.

Jungle Fever

Borneo (www.visitborneo.com)

Why honeymoon here?

It's certainly different from the usual honeymoon haunt. Teeming wildlife, jungle terrain and spectacular white sandy beaches make Borneo perfect for the kind of adventure that will produce a lifetime of memories. If it's a tropical paradise you're after - just a two-hour flight away - it couldn't get better. Spend your time swimming and diving in the clear blue water off the island of Sipadan,  one of the world's best diving spots, trek through a 125-million-year-old rainforest that is home to scores of unique plants and the orang-utan and proboscis monkeys.   The more energetic can climb the 4,095-metre Mount Kinabalu,  go mountain biking, horse riding or white-water rafting. Many tours will offer you the chance to experience eco-tourism and spend your nights in local villages, sleep under the stars, in beach huts on  sandy bays or alternatively escape into the lap of luxury at one of Borneo's resort hotels.

You can recapture the romance of Borneo's colonial days by taking a journey on the last of the fleet of steam trains on the North Borneo Railway, built by the White Rajas of the British Crown.

Alternatively, you can explore the island's sultanate of Brunei from the Empire Hotel & Country Club (www.theempirehotel.com),  a palatial five-star beach resort with a   championship golf course,  eight swimming pools, private cinema and scuba-diving and water sports centre, among other attractions.

What's the downside?

Borneo is a honeymoon destination for couples wanting to exert energy on matters other than love. It also rains and its teeming insect life means you should pack a raincoat along with the insect repellent and sun block. City dwellers may find it less of a paradise and more of a jungle nightmare.

What time of year should we go?

Borneo has a typical equatorial climate with consistent daily temperatures ranging between 23 and 32 degrees Celsius.  It rains throughout the year, but it's best to avoid visiting from November to February, which are the wettest months of the year.

How much will it cost?

Dragonair flies to Borneo's Kota Kinabalu three times a week. Details and prices are available on www.cathaypacific.com.  Two-night honeymoon packages at the Empire Hotel & Country Club range in price from US$983 to US$1,180 a night.

Get hitched the Greek way and chill out

Santorini,  Greece (www.santorini.net)

Why honeymoon here?

Because this volcanic Greek island, famous for its whitewashed stone homes and dazzling blue sea, has become one of the favourite overseas destinations for Hong Kong couples to tie the knot in recent years.  The Greek consul-general in Hong Kong has reported a steady stream of young couples asking to marry on the island, and a thriving wedding industry has sprung up around the trend, making it relatively simple to organise a ceremony followed by a honeymoon. The island's official website offers Catholic or Greek Orthodox church weddings and civic ceremonies in venues ranging from restaurants to wineries to beaches, old mansions and even weddings at sea. There is plenty to do once the nuptials are over. Santorini has a 4,000 year history, a volcano to visit and a collection of quaint seaside villages where you can sip glasses of retsina  in the evening and watch the sun sink into the inky blue Aegean Sea.  The striking colours of the island and the dry climate make for striking photographs to remember your honeymoon by. The other reason to  choose Santorini is that it is connected  to about 80 other Greek islands by a cheap and reliable daily ferry service, so you could spend time island-hopping before returning  to Hong Kong.

What's the downside?

There are no direct flights from Hong Kong to the Greek capital, Athens, so getting to Santorini is not easy. You have to fly via Bangkok, Singapore, or Dubai to reach Athens and then get a connecting flight or a boat to Santorini. Then there is the question of Greek bureaucracy: if you plan to marry as well as honeymoon in Santorini, plan well ahead because filling in forms and getting approval is a notoriously slow process throughout Greece.

What time of year should we go?

The weather in Santorini is at its driest and best from May to October, but the island is best avoided in the peak summer months of July and August, when it is overrun by tourists.

How much will it cost?

Flights to Athens from Hong Kong cost HK$5,500 to HK$8,000 return, depending on the route and the time of year. Flights from Athens to Santorini can be booked online through Aegean Airlines (www.aegeanair.com)  and cost about HK$2,000 return.

Love Boats

Cruising in the Mediterranean

Why honeymoon here?

Because a cruise offers the best of both worlds - luxury hotel facilities combined with the option of seeing some of Europe's most spectacular destinations, which make great backdrops for those snaps in the honeymoon album. All those days - and nights - at sea give newlyweds plenty of quality time with each other to wine and dine, take moonlit deck walks under the stars and re-enact some love scenes from the movie The Titanic. A cruise in the Mediterranean will take you to some of Europe's most romantic cities: the Moorish kingdoms of Spain, the glamorous French Riviera and Monte Carlo,  picture postcard Portofino,  Venice,  Athens  and as far afield as Istanbul and Egypt. Cruise with Silversea (www.silversea.com)  and you have the option of shore tours that will take you further than the usual stop-over port. These include a four-day Italian trip that includes a night at the 18th-century Villa del Balbianello  on Lake Como  and at Villa d'Este  hotel in Cernobbio,  one of Europe's most luxurious properties.

What's the downside?

The routine of a life at sea is not to everyone's taste, especially if you like to do your own thing and enjoy the flexibility of independent travel. On a cruise you get a taste of places, but usually do not have the time to fully appreciate or get to know them. Also, cruises favour the elderly traveller. You could find yourself sharing the dining room with a party of pensioners, which could cancel out some of the romance factor for young newlyweds. Likewise, you should check out your partner's sea legs before booking a cruise, unless you are prepared to see more of the sick bay than those romantic moonlit skies.

What time of year should we go?

If it's the Med, then it has to be summer. Any time from May to October is best, when the sunlight and clear blue skies produce an intensity of colour that is unrivalled elsewhere in the world.

How much will it cost?

Prices vary depending on the liner you choose and when you book. But if it is the luxury and fully inclusive factors that you want, you can expect to pay anything from HK$30,000 upwards for a week-long cruise. Silversea's seven-day Athens to Venice, Realms of Myth and Legends, voyage costs about HK$50,000, while a 14-day Splendours of the Mediterranean cruise with P&O  will cost about HK$24,000. Good deals can be found with specialist cruise travel companies on the internet (www.cruisedirect.co.uk).

An exotic train ride

Sapa,  Vietnam

Why honeymoon here?

Because if you want to honeymoon somewhere different, Sapa is a novel and cost-effective regional option. Until recently, this mountain town on the border between Vietnam and China was a backpackers' destination and getting there involved a long, uncomfortable and distinctly unromantic bus or motorbike journey from the capital, Hanoi. All that changed with the opening of the four-star Victoria Sapa Resort  (www.victoriahotels-asia.com)  and the addition of a luxury train compartment to the regular overnight train service running from Hanoi towards the Chinese border. This means that honeymooners can fly into Hanoi, spend a night in a suite at the Sofitel Metropole Hotel,  and then enjoy the romance of a private compartment on the train from Hanoi to Lao Cai,  about 55km from Sapa. The train, which has a dining car, leaves in the evening and arrives in Lao Cai at dawn. Sapa, with its hill tribes, colourful markets and hiking possibilities, has enough to occupy energetic honeymooners for a weekend, after which they can return to Hanoi or travel via the capital to Ha Long Bay  in the east, where they can spend the night beneath the stars on board a junk or in a cabin on the new five-star colonial-style paddle steamer the Emeraude (www.emeraude-cruises.com).  The Emeraude itinerary includes cooking lessons, swimming on deserted beaches and 6am tai chi sessions.

What's the downside?

Travel in Vietnam is not as easy as Thailand or other more established regional tourist destinations, and while it might suit the intrepid, some honeymooners might find it a bit too much hard work. Sapa in particular is a fairly adventurous resort and couples who prefer to lounge by the pool might find Phuket or Bali a better option.

What time of year should we go?

The weather in northern Vietnam is usually at its best from May to December although, like Hong Kong, it can be hot, humid and stormy in July and August.

How much will it cost?

Return flights to Hanoi cost about HK$5,000. Rooms at the Metropole are about US$250 a night. The luxury train to Sapa costs between US$205 and US$280 return, while rooms at the Victoria Sapa Resort cost from US$126 a night. A cabin on the Emeraude costs US$341 to US$567 per person.



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