Alternative Honeymoon Ideas

Many of you may not know that as well as a previous life as a Visual Merchandiser, I also spent 3 years as a travel consultant when I returned from travelling myself for a year.
On this note I wanted to spend today's blog exploring some of my favourite places in the world and some alternative ideas you may not have thought of when looking for somewhere to go on your honeymoon.

Hopefully I've covered a wide variety of budgets here so there is something for everyone.

Tuscany, Italy

Fairly normal you might say ... but very few people visit Italy on Honeymoon and get off the main city routes of Florence, Rome and Venice.
I'd suggest hiring a cottage or farmhouse in rural Tuscany and exploring some of the historic countryside and towns around Lucca & Siena. You can fly into Pisa quite cheaply with Easyjet, hire a car and get exploring!
This gorgeous little converted barn just south of Siena can be hired this year from around £750 a week and you get a private pool. Available on http://www.italian-country-cottages.co.uk/

Cambodia, South East Asia

Ok a bit more exotic here. Many of you may have travelled to Thailand as it has got more and more touristy, but not considered crossing the border over into Cambodia ... in my opinion a travesty! Cambodia has a rich and diverse history and landscape and is possibly my favourite place in the world I've ever travelled to.

As well as amazing food, there are of course the stunning temple areas around Siem Reap which are worth 3 days of exploring either via bicycle or tuk tuk. The famous Angkor Wat is beautiful, but I actually prefer the more ruined temples which have stunning Banyan Trees growing out of them ( Its where Tomb Raider was filmed if anyones interested!). Siem Reap itself has an old colonial charm and some beautiful hotels ...and you  can also take a trip down the Mekong river to Phnom Penh if you want to discover more of the countries more recent past .. although bring plenty of tissues as the Killing Fields are quite harrowing.

Hotels are such good value in Cambodia I'd splash out and stay at the Raffles in Siem Reap, where a week costs around £800 .. but there are plenty of beautiful alternatives such as the Angkor Sayana Hotel & Spa which I found a week at approximately £200! Obviously prices vary massively depending on the season. Be careful to check the weather in South East Asia when you travel as you don't want to be going in monsoon season!

Any good travel agent .. such as http://www.flightcentre.co.uk/ or http://www.trailfinders.co.uk/ will be able to sort you out a fantastic trip to Cambodia. 

I'm going to be exploring more Alternative Honeymoon Ideas tommorow ... including my number one place I want to go to in the world Nicaragua! So make sure you check back in the morning :)

Nikki x