Dubrovnik, Croatia.

No way, Dubrovnik would have more tourists than…. uh.. Brugges!

How did you know I would read this?

Seychelles? I hear it is beautiful and it is fun to say.

You probably dont want to go to Grand Beach, which is near Winnipeg, but legend has it (only believed by Manitobans) that Playboy ranked it in their top 5 beaches of all time.

What about Madagascar? Must be beaches there, and huts too. I spent a week in Dubrov, and while beautiful – hutless.

Ive also heard the beaches of Moazambique are spectacular in every regard, I read some articles about that a while back.

Wait a minute, is this in the right forum??? Jungles and huts in Europe??? ^^

Tanzania?

That was on my mind at the time, but if there is anything particularly spectacular, say Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia….
I am looking for suggestions from anywhere really.

Anything around Greece and Italy really stand out for anyone?

Kahunna – I do keep hearing good things about Dubrovnik. I’ll keep it on the list.

sick – of course you are going to read this! I called it Beach Getaway just to get your attention
Seychelles is on the list and I hadn’t thought of Madagascar… hmmm…

Far too many choices… I really am beginning to think that he just wanted me out of his hair for a few days while I did research. Now if my internet connection will just stay up and running!

I absolutely agree with Tunisia… plus, you can jaunt off to other areas in the Mediterranean, or visit Egypt, if you get bored.

I also personally loved Bermuda and the Caymans, but felt the Dominican Republic was a bit… overrated in comparison. Some of the villages on the Adriatic in Italy are beautiful and less visited than the pure resorts… I was in Lido di Jezolo and loved it.

Have you done any research yet? www.worldtraveltips…. or Lonely Planet are probably the best places to go…

N…

No jungle in Tunisia afaik, but when you’re talking about natural sights, the Sahara’s hard to beat. I’m sure you can get a cheap package deal out of London, and spend a few days travelling around to see the Sahara and some historic sights. Carthago isn’t the most interesting one, though. And the coast is touristy. We went to Bizerthe in the north and that was ok, but that was in april.

Maybe the south coast of Crete would do too, somewhere near Ierapetra. I was there in september and whereas the north coast was tourist hell, the south coast was a lot more pleasant – there were tourists there, but not so much, and a lot of them were Greeks. Again no jungles, but the scenery of Crete is quite stunning, it’s very mountainous, and there’s an absolute wealth of archeologic sites.

seraphim wrote a bang on travelogue about Tunisia.

Almost as good as some of mine!

Which I may have saved in my sent messages. So if you want, I could e-mail it to you if I find it, redkat.

hands down the seychelles off africa….

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys!

After spending most of yesterday doing research, here are the combinations I have come up with:

Portugal (Azores and Mediera) & Spain
Montenegro & Croatia
Morrocco & Tunisia
Mauritius & South Africa
Seychelles and Mauritius

I’ve read a lot of the posts on the board about these places. But is there any particular combination that would just be hard to beat for a two week (maybe longer if finances allow) honeymoon?

Seraphim – would love to get your spiel on Tunisia, I didn’t see it on the board. My email is cubestorm@hotmail.com

Kahunna/Nimiety – looked at your website and saw some fab things about Croatia and Montenegro. Are the Budva beaches in M. less touristy than Croatia?

keppiezbt – what can you tell me about the Seychelles? They look absolutely amazing! But how are they in August? Temp? etc? The web site says despite their S. Hemisphere location that they are pretty warm in August. Any experience?

Thanks again

quote:Are the Budva beaches in M. less touristy than Croatia?

More ‘local’ tourism than foreign tourists. Hoenstly, I saw Dubrovnik in late September and it was chock a block, I sure wouldnt want to go in summer, especially as a honeymooner.

I think Tusnisia and Morocco would be okay, but Morocco brings with it alot of hassle that isn’t really worth it for a short visit (but a long visit id great)

I like the Seychelles and Mauritius idea the best as they seem the most exotic and mysterious. Imagine being in such a tiny place surrounded by so much ocean!

quote:Are the Budva beaches in M. less touristy than Croatia?

From what I gathered from a local, Budva was the only beach access the Serbs had during the Patriotic War of the ’90’s – so they built a ton of hotels & apartment complexes in preparation (haphazardly, as one local put it). It still is very popular during the summer – as well as Dubrovnik. (Sickboy is absolutely right, it will be packed there.) When I went to the area in October and May, there were very few tourists… so I’m sorry for suggesting it right away for your summer trip.

Sick – Why is Morrocco a lot of trouble for a short visit? I haven’t heard that before, but would like your thoughts.

Maybe I will reconsider Croatia and Montenegro. My fiance is now thinking he likes the Portugal option best, but I think that the Azores and Madiera will be packed as well… it being mid-August when we’re going.
Anyone know how the Azores and Madiera are in August?

You could combine Tunisia with Malta or Italy as well, they’re connected by ferry, I think you’d have to fly to get to Morocco?

Ugh, it seems like I deleted that e-mail after all. Sorry

Hey seraph, I know I asked you about my Yugo and Georgia travel email, if you can, could you please forward them back to me? Maybe I’ll dust them off and share them with my new fans here

Unfortunately I dont have your Tunisia one either, as I just checked my old Yahoo account, and that account was game over.

As for Budva, there is a fantastic looking strip of bars that Im sure would be game on during the summer but was sadly dead in late September. Id really love to give that a go.

Yeah, Tunisia would require a flight to Morocco as I don’t think train service through Algeria is reliable, quick, safe or even operational.

I really enjoyed my time in Morocco, it is just that it is very in your face and there is a lot of hassle when trying to do it independently. Of course they are all good experiences and make you a better travel, but it is off putting at first. It takes a couple days to get used to, to sort of get your ‘travel groove’ on the country. That is why I think it is better to go for a long time. If you go a short time, the annoying things take up a significant portion of your time, if you go a long time, you wont even remember the hassles by the end of it.

Hope that made sense.

oh yeah, I though seraph’s Malta idea was good too

Why don’t you go to one of the places devastated by the Tsumami. Thailand, Maldives, anywhere in the Indian Ocean. It’s been ages since it happened and they’ve made many resort towns resort towns once again, hut’s are pretty simple to build I hear and plus you would help a dying economy.

quote: but nothing in Asia

Sickboy, I forwarded your e-mails about Georgia and Azerbaijan back to you (hopefully to the right adress), but I can’t find any older ones.

You absolutely rock. Wish I could still write like that – part of the reason why I don’t. Then agian it has all been holidays lately, not big arse travels.

You are a champion, much appreciated!

Now, just need to decide if those are more worth of the pub or Fave Places…

Seraphim – No worries about the old post Malta is an idea, but Italy is out. My fiance cringes whenever I mention Italy . That is one trip that I will have to do without him.

sickboy – Is Morrocco more in your face than China? If it is then I think you are right about too much hassle for a short do.

goes to do research on Malta

I didn’t find China in your face at all, but I only saw Beijing, a slice of Tianjin and Tangguk where we landed.

Then again I was with my newly acquired Korean friend who was fluent in Chinese who got me around to BJ, he took m eout on the town and I was in the company of his father and his CCP badge, so I never had any hustle even when I was on my own.

In Morocco there was a heap of it, and it does take time to get your defenses up and running, as well as how much of your time is consumed each day defending yourself. For a short time I just dont feel it is worth it. Thats why I always recommend the posters here thinking about Tangier as a day trip to reconsider.

Why does the future hubby have against Italy?

Was there much hassle in Tunisia seraph, and how did you handle it?

There wasn’t much hassle as in people trying to sell you something, but we did get harassed by guys all the time. It wasn’t dangerous or anything, just annoying. I don’t think there’s much you can do about that, though when some guys in Matmata were going "where are you from? where are you staying? etc" when we went for an evening walk and we answered (truthfully) that we were staying with a local, they laid off immediately, so that could be a good strategy. There’s also a risk of theft in crowded places, someone stole my raincoat from by backpack in the medina in Tunis on our first night there (no big deal), and then someone tried to grab my friend’s daypack on the train from Tunis to Sidi Bou Said. She was sitting on the floor with her leg through the shoulderstrap, so when he grabbed it as he got off, he almost pulled her out of the train as well, but the people around them immediately pulled her and her backpack (which contained all her money, passport, plane tickets, so that would have been a big deal) back in. They also seemed more shocked than we were, so I’m not saying all Tunisians are thieves or this sort of thing happens every day, just be careful in crowded/touristy places. In contrast, the people we met in Matmata said they didn’t even lock their cars.

Well, I don’t know about cost of getting there, but the one place I can think of that fits all your other requirements is Belize.

1. not in Asia

2. warm (Belize is warm year-round, it lies in the tropics)

3. jungle (Belize has undeveloped tropical rainforest)

4. diving/snorkelling

5. "huts" on the beach (I’m pretty sure Belize has hotels that come close to this type of getaway)

6. historical sights (Mayan ruins)

7. not too touristy (August is low season for the Carribean…high season for Southern Europe / Mediterranean)

sickboy – In Beijing they are a bit more used to foreigners than in other areas. In the areas where tourism consists of hiking, renting a horse or something like that (esp. in off season) you will be accosted by everyone who lives there. I’ve even had a very small old woman hang off my arm, while screaming hysterically in Chinese and dragging a small child behind her. That was a bit on the freaky side.

I’m not sure exactly what he has against Italy. He has been there, spent a few weeks there and now refuses to go back. He has similar feelings toward the big cities in Indonesia e.g. Jakarta.

seraphim – Tunisia doesn’t sound too bad. Just like Tianamen Square when they see lone lost foreigners []

*goes to research Belize as per LTB’s suggestion *

quote:
sickboy – In Beijing they are a bit more used to foreigners than in other areas. In the areas where tourism consists of hiking, renting a horse or something like that (esp. in off season) you will be accosted by everyone who lives there. I’ve even had a very small old woman hang off my arm, while screaming hysterically in Chinese and dragging a small child behind her. That was a bit on the freaky side.

LMAO That is too funny, redkat.

A French friend of mine says that when she in China, in off-the-beaten-track places where they rarely saw foreigners, some locals were just walking up to her and touching her nose (I think I remember her saying that it was mostly children). Apparently, she says, they were amazed by her "French nose." LOL.

I guess people were amazed at her European nose vis-a-vis an Asian nose, but moreover, my friend has what she calls the "stereotypical French nose" (like Jacques Chirac.) Having lived in France, I never really noticed people’s noses…but I have noticed Chirac’s.

Arm hair gets a big reaction as well.

the seychelles is not cheap. tourism is very regulated there…like the maldives…and its not a place to go on a budget. your looking at at least 100 dollars a day for something mid range.

Its warm there all year round. I dont know where your coming from but if your life me, and live in say Boston, the seychelles is like a heat wave.

Its a touristy place but its not like say phuket thailand where its an ocean of people (no pun intended). Its pretty quite, great diving, and absolutely relaxing. a tropical heaven in every sense of the word.

its can also be kinda pricey to fly there.

Arm hair is a HUGE thing in Asia. Both a fellow teacher and my fiance (both walking carpets) have been petted by random people on buses, walking down the street, etc.
My fiance even had a 17 year old male student approach him after class and ask if he could, erm…. touch his beard

keppiezbt – not too worried about cost or anything else you mentioned. The only prob with the Seychelles and Mauritius is that August is their peak wind season and not recommended for people who want to go swimming/snorkeling/diving. Too bad we aren’t planning on an October Honeymoon, b/c October is highly recommended for those things. Oh well….

goes back to researching Portugal and the Carribean area