Design us a wonder of the world honeymoon!
May 22, 2012 10:55 PM Subscribe
HONEYMOON FILTER - are we crazy for considering this?
Help us plan the best honeymoon ever!
My fiance and I are from Australia. We are getting married in the end of October in Singapore, and we are planning for a November honeymoon. We have about 4 weeks to play with and are planning the trip of a lifetime, with some luck, and the help of the wisdom of the pleasant Mefite people.
Apologising in advance for the length but I figured the more information I provide, the better.
Basically, Mr Shazzam and I want to go to the following:
New York
Galapagos Islands
Machu Picchu
Iguazu Falls
And possibly one other city in Argentina or brazil enroute back to NYC.
THE PLAN
After cobbling together information from the internets, we would start by flying into NYC (from Singapore, where our wedding is).
We would spend a few days in NYC, and then we would head to the Galapagos Islands.
We've read the past metafilter questions on the Galapagos, but would appreciate any other information - cruise? large boat? small boat? stay on 1 island and island hop by small boat? We are looking at around a week here.
After being completely mindblown in the Galapagos, we would head to Peru to Machu Picchu.
Again, any information would be great. Like, how to get to Peru from the Galapagos, which way to get to Machu Picchu, (and whether any recommended airlines), how much time you recommend there, and what not to miss.
Lastly, we would like to head to Iguazu Falls.
We believe that we can fly directly there from Machu Picchu so a recommended entry point, recommended airlines or flight websites and / or tour companies which are offering this option would be appreciated.
We are unclear as to the best route back to NYC but we understand that either a flight via Rio de janeiro or buenos aires (and stopover) is possible.
SO. Here's where you come in.
We have fantasized with the above plan for a few days now, and whilst we're attempting to read the whole of the internets about these trips, we want to know from YOU:
1. Are we crazy for considering this all in one trip?
2. What is the best way for getting from place to place on our itinerary? (Which countries to fly into/out of, and any other information)
3. What not to miss in the surrounding areas assuming we traverse all those regions?
4. Assuming we can get ourselves to NYC very easily, what do we need to know about getting from country to country?
5. We're not rich, but don't mind spending on experiences of a lifetime - what kind of costs are we looking at for a nice-ish honeymoon at each leg of our trip, without going all out luxurious all the time? (some luxury info is appreciated!)
6. What particular tour operators would you recommend, if at all? We don't want a one stop shop tour company that will take us on the entire 4 weeks, but if we do need tour operators for each Wonder, or the islands, we'd like good ones!
Looking at the super rough plan above, is there anything you'd do differently? Is THAT the way you'd accomplish it all?
TL; DR VERSION:
Metafilter, design us a honeymoon that encompasses Galapagos, Machu Picchu & Iguazu Falls. We'd love you to and would appreciate any guidance!
Assume some disposable income, 2 intrepid travellers (already well travelled and up for most things), who love to latin dance, with a love for awesome experiences, photography and wanting to celebrate our marriage, and based on the above, tell us what YOU would do.
Apologising in advance for the length but I figured the more information I provide, the better.
Basically, Mr Shazzam and I want to go to the following:
New York
Galapagos Islands
Machu Picchu
Iguazu Falls
And possibly one other city in Argentina or brazil enroute back to NYC.
THE PLAN
After cobbling together information from the internets, we would start by flying into NYC (from Singapore, where our wedding is).
We would spend a few days in NYC, and then we would head to the Galapagos Islands.
We've read the past metafilter questions on the Galapagos, but would appreciate any other information - cruise? large boat? small boat? stay on 1 island and island hop by small boat? We are looking at around a week here.
After being completely mindblown in the Galapagos, we would head to Peru to Machu Picchu.
Again, any information would be great. Like, how to get to Peru from the Galapagos, which way to get to Machu Picchu, (and whether any recommended airlines), how much time you recommend there, and what not to miss.
Lastly, we would like to head to Iguazu Falls.
We believe that we can fly directly there from Machu Picchu so a recommended entry point, recommended airlines or flight websites and / or tour companies which are offering this option would be appreciated.
We are unclear as to the best route back to NYC but we understand that either a flight via Rio de janeiro or buenos aires (and stopover) is possible.
SO. Here's where you come in.
We have fantasized with the above plan for a few days now, and whilst we're attempting to read the whole of the internets about these trips, we want to know from YOU:
1. Are we crazy for considering this all in one trip?
2. What is the best way for getting from place to place on our itinerary? (Which countries to fly into/out of, and any other information)
3. What not to miss in the surrounding areas assuming we traverse all those regions?
4. Assuming we can get ourselves to NYC very easily, what do we need to know about getting from country to country?
5. We're not rich, but don't mind spending on experiences of a lifetime - what kind of costs are we looking at for a nice-ish honeymoon at each leg of our trip, without going all out luxurious all the time? (some luxury info is appreciated!)
6. What particular tour operators would you recommend, if at all? We don't want a one stop shop tour company that will take us on the entire 4 weeks, but if we do need tour operators for each Wonder, or the islands, we'd like good ones!
Looking at the super rough plan above, is there anything you'd do differently? Is THAT the way you'd accomplish it all?
TL; DR VERSION:
Metafilter, design us a honeymoon that encompasses Galapagos, Machu Picchu & Iguazu Falls. We'd love you to and would appreciate any guidance!
Assume some disposable income, 2 intrepid travellers (already well travelled and up for most things), who love to latin dance, with a love for awesome experiences, photography and wanting to celebrate our marriage, and based on the above, tell us what YOU would do.
Best answer: The part of your time line you might want to look at is between the wedding and the travel. Weddings are stressful (even if you are low key awesome folks who love each other). How big is your wedding? Or how much family are you dealing with? Are you giving yourself a week to nap and recover in between? Just think about how much travel and adventure you want to do if you are dead tired. And then once you take a proper break - go for it! Looks like a blast.
posted by mutt.cyberspace at 2:27 AM on May 23, 2012
posted by mutt.cyberspace at 2:27 AM on May 23, 2012
First, seconding mutt.cyberspace. Weddings are draining; you'll need a few days just to recover.
Second, I would not, personally, try to see all of these things in such a short time span. You are going to spend, literally, days in the air; and any time you spend days in the air, you're going to spend just as long or longer in airports. Things are going to go wrong. You will miss connectors and have long layovers. Luggage will be lost. You will stand in customer service lines. None of these things are fun or interesting.
posted by sonic meat machine at 3:47 AM on May 23, 2012 [2 favorites]
Second, I would not, personally, try to see all of these things in such a short time span. You are going to spend, literally, days in the air; and any time you spend days in the air, you're going to spend just as long or longer in airports. Things are going to go wrong. You will miss connectors and have long layovers. Luggage will be lost. You will stand in customer service lines. None of these things are fun or interesting.
posted by sonic meat machine at 3:47 AM on May 23, 2012 [2 favorites]
Hmmmm I dunno, it sounds pretty freaking awesome to me. Then again, I just spent 11 days flying from NYC to Honolulu to Maui to Honolulu to Tokyo to London and back to NYC. 3 days in Hawaii, 3 days in Tokyo, 3 days in London and (what felt like) 3 days in the air. Totally awesome and totally worth it.
As for how to get to and from all these places, I would agree that a travel agent is probably your best bet! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, and enjoy your kick-ass honeymoon!!
posted by Grither at 4:14 AM on May 23, 2012
As for how to get to and from all these places, I would agree that a travel agent is probably your best bet! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, and enjoy your kick-ass honeymoon!!
posted by Grither at 4:14 AM on May 23, 2012
Honestly, I would skip New York. It's going to be much more expensive than your other destinations, and not worth it for such a short time. Is there a reason it's on your itinerary?
posted by Deathalicious at 4:22 AM on May 23, 2012
posted by Deathalicious at 4:22 AM on May 23, 2012
I don't want to be a party pooper, but the jet lag you will be feeling between Singapore and New York is going to be excruciating. I travel a lot, and that SE Asia -> US East Coast trip is the worst I've faced in terms of jet lag. It probably takes me ten days to get myself into a semblance of order, so I would double Deathalicious's advice and skip New York.
Spend a few days somewhere cheap and chilled out, get your head on straight, and then enjoy the rest of your holiday.
Then again, maybe you are less susceptible to jet lag or I am a total wimp and you will be fine.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:34 AM on May 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
Spend a few days somewhere cheap and chilled out, get your head on straight, and then enjoy the rest of your holiday.
Then again, maybe you are less susceptible to jet lag or I am a total wimp and you will be fine.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:34 AM on May 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
Second Deathalicious - NYC is pretty far out of the way, and 4 weeks really isn't all that long. You'll essentially lose 2 or 3 of those 28 days travelling back and forth to NYC.
Rest of the trip sounds awesome, though. Can you imagine you'll regret doing it on your 40th anniversary? I didn't think so.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:14 AM on May 23, 2012
Rest of the trip sounds awesome, though. Can you imagine you'll regret doing it on your 40th anniversary? I didn't think so.
posted by backwards guitar at 6:14 AM on May 23, 2012
Response by poster: Hi all! Thanks for your answers so far!
Darlingbri - we are DEFINITELY going to go via a travel agent, but wondered if people had suggestions/ideas from personal experience on whether our itinerary seemed sound of mind (you know, within the realms of sanity)!
Mutt.cyberspace - EXTREMELY good point! We are coming off the back of 3 separate weddings in 2 countries (crazy multi-culturalism going on) and are jokingly calling our wedding carnival "the festival of us". We had thought to put 2 days between the wedding and the trip, maybe we'll make it 5 days instead.
The reason we're flying into NYC is there doesn't seem to be a good way to get from Singapore to the Galapagos Islands! It seems to be a 45 hour trip. Flying into NYC would give us a chance to soak in some shows/great restaurants, get over any jetlag, and then do the rest of our travel from there. I guess we chose NYC because well, NYC is awesomeness! We COULD ignore NYC and head instead straight to Brasil. Hmm. Food for thought.
As for jetlag - we're not too worried, we've done the East Coast trip several times now.
Everyone we've spoken to says we only need a few days for Iguazu and a week max for Galapagos. Anyone have any ideas on what to do around those areas that is just awesome and shouldn't be missed? And is the way we're doing it the way to do it?
Thanks so far! looking forward to more opinions rolling in!
posted by shazzam! at 6:39 AM on May 23, 2012
Darlingbri - we are DEFINITELY going to go via a travel agent, but wondered if people had suggestions/ideas from personal experience on whether our itinerary seemed sound of mind (you know, within the realms of sanity)!
Mutt.cyberspace - EXTREMELY good point! We are coming off the back of 3 separate weddings in 2 countries (crazy multi-culturalism going on) and are jokingly calling our wedding carnival "the festival of us". We had thought to put 2 days between the wedding and the trip, maybe we'll make it 5 days instead.
The reason we're flying into NYC is there doesn't seem to be a good way to get from Singapore to the Galapagos Islands! It seems to be a 45 hour trip. Flying into NYC would give us a chance to soak in some shows/great restaurants, get over any jetlag, and then do the rest of our travel from there. I guess we chose NYC because well, NYC is awesomeness! We COULD ignore NYC and head instead straight to Brasil. Hmm. Food for thought.
As for jetlag - we're not too worried, we've done the East Coast trip several times now.
Everyone we've spoken to says we only need a few days for Iguazu and a week max for Galapagos. Anyone have any ideas on what to do around those areas that is just awesome and shouldn't be missed? And is the way we're doing it the way to do it?
Thanks so far! looking forward to more opinions rolling in!
posted by shazzam! at 6:39 AM on May 23, 2012
Best answer: I would consider flying Singapore > Amsterdam > Quito > Galapagos, where you can replace Amsterdam with any humane and cost efficient direct flight destination your travel agent suggests with flights to Quito: Santiago, Rio, whatever. Amsterdam appears by far to be the cheapest route, with flights for 3,800SGD return in November (make sure you tick the box for flexible dates to get the best fares.)
If you are able to arrange layover days, I would place less emphasis on the tourism attractions of the mid-point destination than I would on a plush hotel with 24 hour room service, fantastic beds and the ability to sleep like a mofo.
I would honestly at all costs avoid the US if you have no particular reason to be there. The visas, pre-registration, retina scans, and security theatre are excruciating enough on a single leg 8-hour journey, and can easily take 3 hours in and of themselves; I would become a terrorist threat after the kind of journey you guys are discussing.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:18 AM on May 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you are able to arrange layover days, I would place less emphasis on the tourism attractions of the mid-point destination than I would on a plush hotel with 24 hour room service, fantastic beds and the ability to sleep like a mofo.
I would honestly at all costs avoid the US if you have no particular reason to be there. The visas, pre-registration, retina scans, and security theatre are excruciating enough on a single leg 8-hour journey, and can easily take 3 hours in and of themselves; I would become a terrorist threat after the kind of journey you guys are discussing.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:18 AM on May 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: A month is plenty time for this trip. But skip NY only because you will have to pack lots of walking/outdoorsy gear for your Latin American destinations that won't be necessary there and will weigh you down.
Get to South American destinations via LAX or Europe. Plenty of people fly from Asia via Amsterdam to Lima, Quito etc (KLM).
Flights around Peru/Brasil: TACA, TAM, LAN. There's lots of other smaller ones, YMMV (and so does safety). Cuzco flights depart in the morning but all European flights arrive in the evening so you have to stay over in Lima. Now, many people skip Lima but I really like it - there's enough to see for a couple of days. I was just there last week and went cycling, did a cooking class, walks, and went down to Pachacamac.
Most likely you will have to go via Lima and Buenos Aires or Rio to the Falls. There just aren't that many direct connections from the smaller airports. Be aware fog in Cuzco and Lima is common and can lead to delays (and then last year in BA I was delayed by the Chile volcanoes). Be sure to pad your itinerary. Keep it chilled.
Congratulations!
posted by wingless_angel at 12:02 PM on May 23, 2012
Get to South American destinations via LAX or Europe. Plenty of people fly from Asia via Amsterdam to Lima, Quito etc (KLM).
Flights around Peru/Brasil: TACA, TAM, LAN. There's lots of other smaller ones, YMMV (and so does safety). Cuzco flights depart in the morning but all European flights arrive in the evening so you have to stay over in Lima. Now, many people skip Lima but I really like it - there's enough to see for a couple of days. I was just there last week and went cycling, did a cooking class, walks, and went down to Pachacamac.
Most likely you will have to go via Lima and Buenos Aires or Rio to the Falls. There just aren't that many direct connections from the smaller airports. Be aware fog in Cuzco and Lima is common and can lead to delays (and then last year in BA I was delayed by the Chile volcanoes). Be sure to pad your itinerary. Keep it chilled.
Congratulations!
posted by wingless_angel at 12:02 PM on May 23, 2012
2nding just a few days in Iguaçu, apart from the falls there's not much to see there.
posted by Tom-B at 5:32 PM on May 27, 2012
posted by Tom-B at 5:32 PM on May 27, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:08 AM on May 23, 2012 [1 favorite]