Honeymoon April 09 - Best value for £££'s?!

onesocklizzie

Hello all,
I'm getting married on 24th April '09 :j and looking to book a honeymoon. We were planning on booking 7-10 days in America - prob vegas and san fran or new york....max budget £3000.

3 questions really;

Should we even contemplate going to the usa considering how weak the £ is against the $?

If so, should we book now or wait, might tour ops release special offers to encourage travel...?

If not, where should we go at the end of April that offers sun, fun and more value for the rather ailing £ ??!!

Any help/ideas greatly appreciated.

onesocklizzie x

Liz_the_Whizz

Hi lizzie,

Tricky isn't it? We have already got flights booked to Newark in May 09 so I'm trying not to watch the £:$ slide too closely.

The fact remains that it should still be possible to find good value accommodation and food in the US because there are so many choices. Whether you want to go budget on your honeymoon is another matter;) .

It may not be your thing, but an alternative to think about is South Africa.

We went this summer and met lots of honeymooners doing a loop with a few nights in Cape Town to do the sights and the wineries, then a few nights on safari at Jock's Safari Lodge (where we bumped into them), then off to Mauritius for a week in the sun. If you only had 7-10 days, you could always go to the coast in KwaZuluNatal instead, we stayed at the resort of St Lucia and loved it.

The exchange rate between the rand and the pound is still pretty good, better than when we were there. Accommodation and food were very reasonable and good to excellent in standard. It's easy to get around with a hire car. And the other great thing is that you don't get jet lag when you fly to Africa as the time difference is only 3 hours - a major plus if you only have 10 days. We flew with Emirates via Dubai which was very reasonable (c£400 pp).

There is a lot of investment in roads, airports etc at present too in South Africa in preparation for the 2010 World Cup so it's a good time to visit.

Some people report security worries but once out of Joburg, we felt completely safe the whole trip. We would not take our 7 yo if we thought there would be a problem.

Hope you have a great time whatever you decide to do.

onesocklizzie

Thanks x

My other half's family are South African and we have considered going but were told the weather in sa at the end of April/beginning of May wouldn't be too warm at all :0( so that's put us off really. What month did you go?

richardw

onesocklizzie wrote: »

we're told the weather in sa at the end of April/beginning of May wouldn't be too warm at all

mmm agree with that.

Perhaps http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g187892-d195170-Reviews-Palazzo_San_Domenico-Taormina_Sicily.html

You can get flights from Gatwick to Catania on BA, Air Malta, Monarch and other charter airlines.

Gosia

Hi onesocklizzie

I too was going to suggest South Africa. The pound against the rand is indeed pretty strong.

In fact I am going there in December for the whole month and cannot wait.

Hmmmm the weather may not be fantastic as it will be autumn but I believe that everything will look golden and you will probobly get lots of sunshine.

The worst time to go to SA weatherwise is probobly July and August when it's winter and it gets dark early and is cold and rainy.

I would say go for it. Also if you organise the flight and the trips yourself i.e. Cape Town to Jo'berg to do the Kruger tour etc you'll be suprised as to how far your money will go. Just visit www.google.co.za which will take you directly to the South African sites.

Enjoy

onesocklizzie

Hmmmmm, all food for thought, we might have to re-visit the idea of South Africa, though pretty sure we'd rather go around xmas time to get the best of the weather too.... any other ideas or destinations?

richardw

I was in Cape Town at the end of March and it was definitely cooling off, somewhere in southern europe getting warmer may be preferable.

swiss69

Barbados is nice and very warm in April - mango bay all inclusive - very good

onesocklizzie

Ooh! Barbados! Swiss69 - who did you travel with?

Liz_the_Whizz

onesocklizzie wrote: »

Thanks x

My other half's family are South African and we have considered going but were told the weather in sa at the end of April/beginning of May wouldn't be too warm at all :0( so that's put us off really. What month did you go?

Hi Lizzie,

August which is the depth of winter there - some days in was only in the 80s;) . In truth, it was pretty cold at night but warm to hot during the days, but their winter is the very best time for a safari as better views of the anilmals when there are no leaves on the trees. We did have some windy days but no rain to speak of.

I guess the other drawback of SA for you is that you might be expected to visit family, not necessarily what you want to do on your honeymoon.

The answer is probably to go back to your first idea of California/Vegas, which is after all what you really want to do. And as it's your honeymoon, you want it to be somewhere YOU see as a dream holiday.

Who knows what bargains there might be by then in the US when more Americans start to venture to the UK for the first time for years on the strength of the dollar.

Have a great trip, wherever you decide on.

onesocklizzie

Thanks for your thoughts.

Its all a bit complicated as I have a daughter aged 7 who I hope will come with us when we do get around to going to South Africa. So it would be a shame to go there without her....
A little selfish I know but I would really like to have a week on my own with my new husband (!!) - she'll be happily staying with her dad.
Just don't really know what to do regarding usa and the $, though Liz the Whizz your comment about the deals because of the Americans coming over here etc could be good.

onesocklizzie x