Honeymoon
Plan your honeymoon: a step by step guide for couples
A good honeymoon starts long before the flight. Settle the style, the season and the budget first, and the right destination and hotel become much easier to find.
Picolo Editorial
Picolo's honeymoon guides contain no affiliate links. Our picks are made independently by our editors.
This guide takes you through the planning in the order we recommend: style, timing, budget, length, booking, documents and the small things that make the trip feel special. Each step links to the honeymoon guides that go deeper.
In short: your honeymoon checklist
Choose the style first: beach, culture, adventure or a short city break.
Match the month to the place: the season matters more than the brochure.
Set a budget together: flights, hotel, transfers and meals all count.
Plan the length: at least ten nights for a long-haul beach trip.
Book early for peak dates: Christmas, Easter and the summer holidays fill first.
Check passports and names: tickets must match the passport you travel on.
Tell the hotel: many resorts mark a honeymoon with a small extra.
Our first choice: a beach honeymoon in the Maldives in the dry season, where we have stayed at Jawakara Islands ourselves. If you are torn between oceans, our guide to the Maldives, Mauritius or the Seychelles compares the three.
This guide is part of our best honeymoon destinations series.
1. Decide what kind of honeymoon you want
Start with how you want the trip to feel, not with a destination. Some couples want two weeks on a quiet beach after months of wedding planning. Others want food, towns and something new every day, or a safari before the sea.
Our guide to honeymoon ideas sorts the options into eight styles, from overwater villas and private islands to city breaks and honeymoons on a budget. Agree on a style first, and the list of possible destinations shrinks quickly.
2. Match the month to the destination
The same island can be perfect in one month and windy, wet or crowded in another. The Maldives and Sri Lanka are at their best in winter, Bali, Zanzibar and Mauritius are dry in the European summer, and the Seychelles are calmest in April, May, October and November.
Our honeymoon calendar shows where to go in every month of the year, with a link to the full guide for each month. If you fly in December, see honeymoon destinations in December.
3. Set a realistic budget
Agree on a total figure before you start looking at villas. Flights, the hotel, transfers, meals and drinks, excursions and travel insurance all belong in it. In the Maldives, the seaplane or speedboat to the resort and the meal plan can add a large share of the total.
Three things lower the cost without making the trip feel cheap: travel just outside the peak season, choose a destination where food and drink are inexpensive, or split the stay between a simple hotel and a special one. See our guide to cheap honeymoon destinations.
Check passports and names before you book. Photo: Amanda Bartel / Unsplash
4. Plan how long to go
For a long-haul beach honeymoon we recommend at least ten nights. The flights and transfers take time, and the first day often goes on rest. In the Maldives, a week is the minimum, and many couples split the stay between two resorts.
A short honeymoon works well in Europe. Four or five nights on the Amalfi Coast or in a romantic city hotel gives you a real break, and the big trip can wait until later. See honeymoon destinations in Europe.
5. Book at the right time
For Christmas, New Year, Easter and the school summer holidays, book flights and the hotel six to twelve months ahead. The best villas and the most convenient flights sell first. Outside the peak weeks, three to six months is usually enough.
Book the hotel and the flights in the same week, so that you do not end up with a room and no reasonable flight, or the other way round. If the wedding date is not yet fixed, choose rates that can be changed or cancelled.
6. Package or book it yourself
A package holiday gives you flights, transfers and the hotel in one booking, with one company responsible if something changes. Booking each part yourself gives more choice of airline, hotel and route.
Our guide to honeymoon packages explains when a package is the better choice and what to check before you book. For a destination wedding and honeymoon in one trip, see getting married abroad.
7. Passports, names and entry rules
Book the flights in the name that is on the passport you travel with. If one of you changes your surname after the wedding, the simplest option is to travel on your current passport and book the tickets in that name.
In the UK, HM Passport Office lets you apply for a passport in your new name before the wedding. It is dated from the wedding day and cannot be used before then. Check the current rules on GOV.UK well ahead of departure.
Also check the entry rules for every country on the route, including stopovers, and that your passports are valid for long enough. The FCDO travel advice has the entry requirements for each country.
8. Tell the hotel it is your honeymoon
Mention the honeymoon when you book and again before you arrive. Many resorts mark it with a small extra, such as a bottle of sparkling wine, a decorated bed or a dinner on the beach. Some ask for a copy of the marriage certificate, and many set a time limit after the wedding date, so check the terms first.
It is also worth asking for a quiet room or villa away from the restaurants and the jetty. On a small island, the location of the villa matters as much as the room itself.
Sunset on the beach at Rosarito, Mexico. Photo: Melanie Rosillo Galvan / Unsplash
A short honeymoon in Rome
Hotel de Russie: a secret garden between Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps
For a short honeymoon close to home, Hotel de Russie gives you Rome on foot and a quiet garden to come back to. The Rocco Forte hotel has 120 rooms on Via del Babuino, and the terraced Secret Garden covers 2,800 square metres, with meals outdoors under the trees. Four or five nights here is a real break before the big trip.
Our verdict
What Picolo recommends: decide on the style and the month together first, and book the hotel and flights six to twelve months ahead for peak dates.
Why: the style and the season decide most of the trip. Once they are settled, the right destination and hotel become much easier to choose.
The trade-off: early booking gives the best choice of villas and flights, but often with stricter terms. Choose flexible rates if the date or the budget may change.
Only have a few days after the wedding? Our mini-moon ideas cover short honeymoons in the UK and Europe, from the Lake District to Paris by Eurostar.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should we plan a honeymoon?
Start about a year ahead for a long-haul honeymoon over Christmas, Easter or the summer holidays. Outside the peak weeks, three to six months is usually enough. A short city break in Europe can be planned a few weeks before.
How long should a honeymoon be?
Ten to fourteen nights is a good length for a long-haul beach trip, because the flights and transfers take time. A week is the minimum for the Maldives, and many couples split the stay between two resorts. In Europe, four or five nights is enough for a short honeymoon.
Should we go straight after the wedding?
Not necessarily. Many couples take a few days away first and the big honeymoon later, when the season is better or the prices lower. It also gives you time to rest after the wedding. Our honeymoon calendar helps you choose the month.
Can I travel on my old passport after changing my name?
Book the tickets in the name on the passport you travel with. In the UK you can apply for a passport in your new name before the wedding, dated from the wedding day. Check the current rules on GOV.UK before you book.
Sources
The guide builds on Picolo's honeymoon, hotel and destination guides and our own stay at Jawakara Islands in the Maldives, which was not sponsored. The passport rules come from GOV.UK. Last checked: 4 November 2026.
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Picolo Editorial