Families & couples
What are the best honeymoon destinations, and when do they suit?
Facts checked against the cited sources on
Most honeymoon lists open with beaches and sunsets and say little about weather. This page opens with weather, because the date of a honeymoon is usually set by the wedding rather than the climate. We picked nine destinations from different parts of the world, then looked up what each country's weather service publishes for a nearby station: the months with the least rain and the months with the most.
The nine are our selection. We describe the criteria next, then each place in turn, a comparison table and the limits. If your budget is tight, our companion page on honeymoon on a budget uses official price indices instead of climate. Couples planning a longer stay can also read our guide to aparthotels for couples.
How we chose these nine places
We wanted variety in what a honeymoon can be, so we chose one or two places for each of four trip types: tropical island, warm-sea beach, historic city and southern-hemisphere coast. Each place also had to have monthly climate normals from a national weather service on the WMO World Weather Information Service, so that every pick has a figure behind it. That left Bali, Mauritius, Madeira, Hawaii, Cancun, Rome, Cape Town, Phuket and Paphos.
Nothing in the selection rests on reviews, popularity counts or rankings. We did not use travel-forum material, and we do not say any place is more romantic than another, because we found no official source that measures that. What we can report is when rain and heat arrive, which is the practical constraint for a trip with a fixed date.
Bali: a long dry stretch from April to October
The BMKG station at Denpasar, in the 1961 to 1990 normals on the WMO site, records monthly rainfall below 100 mm from April (88 mm) to October (63 mm). August is the driest at 25 mm with a mean high of 29.6 °C and a low of 22.5 °C. January is the wettest at 345 mm over 27 rain days. From November to March every month in the table totals 179 mm or more.
So a honeymoon between April and October falls in the station's lower-rain months, while a December or January wedding meets the wet season. The warmest month is April, at a mean high of 34.4 °C. Our Bali page lists what we hold on the island.
Mauritius: cool and dry in winter, humid and wetter in summer
Mauritius Meteorological Services describes a warm, humid summer from November to April and a relatively cool, dry winter from June to September, with October and May as transition months. Its climate page gives a long-term mean annual rainfall of 2,010 mm for 1971 to 2000, and says February and March are the wettest months and October the driest across the island. We did not find cyclone-season dates on that page, so we do not state them here; the service's own cyclone pages are the place to look.
The WMO site's Port Louis station, which is a single point, shows the same shape with its own figures: a July mean high of 26.7 °C and low of 19.3 °C with 18 mm of rain, against a February mean high of 31.4 °C with 160 mm. Because this is one station on the coast, rainfall elsewhere on the island can differ. See our Mauritius hub for the stays we list.
Madeira: a narrow temperature range all year
Funchal's mean high stays between 19.1 °C in January and February and 25.7 °C in September in the 1961 to 1990 normals on the WMO site, a range of under seven degrees. Rain is lowest from June to August, with July at 2.5 mm, and highest from November to January, each month about 100 mm or more. The mean low stays between 12.8 °C and 18.9 °C.
For a couple who want warmth without strong heat, those numbers describe a mild island year with a dry summer. The main caveat is the age of the data, since the period is older than most in this page. See Funchal for our listings.
Hawaii (Honolulu): warm all year, driest from April to September
The National Weather Service data on the WMO site (1981 to 2010) show a mean high of 26.7 °C in January and 31.5 °C in August, with a mean low from 18.9 °C in February to 23.9 °C in August. Each month from April to September records under 20 mm, and June is the driest at 6.6 mm. December is the wettest month in the table at 82.3 mm.
That is a modest swing for a tropical station. The WHO UV index page recommends shade at midday and a shirt, sunscreen and hat from UV 3, and from UV 8 it advises avoiding the outdoors at midday; we did not find a UV-by-month series for the islands on an official page, so we do not give one. This is one station on one island, so Honolulu is no guide to the rest of the chain. See Honolulu.
Cancun and the Caribbean coast: dry spring, hurricane-season autumn
The Servicio Meteorologico Nacional data on the WMO site (1971 to 2000) put April at the lowest rainfall, 37.9 mm, with February at 45.7 mm and March at 52.7 mm. The same station records September at 224.6 mm and October at 221.1 mm. February's mean high is 28.7 °C, and August's is 33.6 °C with a low of 24.8 °C.
The US National Hurricane Center gives 1 June to 30 November as the Atlantic hurricane season. Its page puts the peak at around 10 September and says most activity falls between mid-August and mid-October, and it reports 1991 to 2020 averages of 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes a season for the basin as a whole. A couple marrying in early autumn should read travel-insurance terms and the cancellation rules of every booking with that window in mind. See Cancun for our stays.
Rome: a city honeymoon with a dry July and a wet autumn
Rome's station, in the 1971 to 2000 normals from the Italian Air Force meteorological service, records a July mean high of 30.3 °C and the lowest rain of the year at 19.2 mm. Late spring and early autumn are cooler: May has a mean high of 22.8 °C and low of 11.6 °C, and September has 26.5 °C and 15.2 °C. October and November are the wettest, at 113.3 mm and 115.4 mm.
A city trip depends more on walking time than on beach days, so the shoulder months in the table matter. Our Rome page lists stays, and our best-time pages cover the wider country.
Cape Town: a southern-hemisphere summer from November to March
The South African Weather Service data on the WMO site (1961 to 1990) show each month from November to March with 20 mm of rain or less, and the lowest is November at 14 mm. January's mean high is 26.1 °C and February's is 26.5 °C, while June is the wettest month at 93 mm with a mean high of 18.1 °C and low of 7.8 °C.
This reverses the calendar of the northern picks, which is useful for a winter wedding in the north. The trade-off for a southern-summer trip is that it is the opposite season to Rome or Madeira, so a couple choosing between them is choosing a hemisphere as much as a place. See Cape Town.
Phuket and Paphos: a monsoon coast and a dry-summer island
Phuket has a sharp split. The Thai Meteorological Department figures on the WMO site (no period stated) give each month from December to March under 62 mm, with January the driest at 23.3 mm, and each month from May to October above 230 mm, with September the wettest at 386.5 mm. The warmest month is March, at a mean high of 33.8 °C and low of 24.9 °C. A honeymoon in the lower-rain stretch avoids the heaviest months. We have no official source on crowds or prices by month, so we make no claim about them.
Paphos Airport, in Cyprus, shows almost no rain from June to September: 1.6 mm in June, 0.0 mm in July and August, 5.8 mm in September. Mean highs are 30.6 °C in July and 31.0 °C in August. December and January are the wettest months in the table, at 86.5 mm and 91.5 mm. Note that the period is only 2002 to 2011, so a decade of data stands behind it. See Paphos for our listings.
Nine places by rainfall pattern
The table below gives the lowest-rain and wettest stretches at each station so you can read across by month. Read it with the wedding date first: find your month in the left-hand column of your shortlist and see which side of the pattern it falls on. Differences in normals periods and station locations mean small gaps between places should not drive the decision.
| Station and normals period | Lowest-rain stretch | Wettest stretch |
|---|---|---|
| Denpasar for Bali (BMKG, 1961 to 1990) | April to October, each month below 100 mm, with August lowest at 25 mm | November to March, each month 179 mm or more, with January at 345 mm |
| Port Louis for Mauritius (Mauritius Met. Services, 1971 to 2000) | June to November, each month 24 mm or less, with October at 15 mm | January at 131 mm and February at 160 mm |
| Funchal for Madeira (Portuguese met. institute, 1961 to 1990) | June to August, each month under 12 mm, with July at 2.5 mm | November to January, each month about 100 mm or more |
| Honolulu for Hawaii (National Weather Service, 1981 to 2010) | April to September, each month under 20 mm, with June at 6.6 mm | December at 82.3 mm |
| Cancun, Mexico (Servicio Meteorologico Nacional, 1971 to 2000) | February to April, each month under 53 mm, with April at 37.9 mm | September at 224.6 mm and October at 221.1 mm |
| Rome, Italy (Italian Air Force met. service, 1971 to 2000) | June to August, each month under 37 mm, with July at 19.2 mm | October at 113.3 mm and November at 115.4 mm |
| Cape Town, South Africa (South African Weather Service, 1961 to 1990) | November to March, each month 20 mm or less, with November at 14 mm | June at 93 mm and July at 82 mm |
| Phuket, Thailand (Thai Met. Department, period not stated) | December to March, each month under 62 mm, with January at 23.3 mm | May to October, each month above 230 mm, with September at 386.5 mm |
| Paphos Airport, Cyprus (Cyprus Dept. of Meteorology, 2002 to 2011) | June to September, each month under 6 mm, with July and August at 0.0 mm | December at 86.5 mm and January at 91.5 mm |
Limits of this list
Climate normals describe long-run monthly averages at one station, not the weather for your dates. A rain total says little about how the rain falls, whether in short showers or all-day cloud, and we did not find an official source that separates the two for these stations. Cyclone, monsoon and hurricane seasons add risk that averages hide; we cite the US National Hurricane Center for the Atlantic basin only.
This page does not advise on entry rules, health requirements or safety. For entry rules, check each country's official immigration website. For safety and health, read your own government's travel advice and your national travel-health service for the dates you plan. We also do not rank places by price: the budget companion page handles that with published indices.
Practical notes for a longer honeymoon stay
For a trip of ten days or more, a space with a kitchen and a separate living area can ease the routine: breakfast in, laundry done, the main meals out. Our guide to cooking in an aparthotel kitchen explains when that saves effort. It does not suit every couple, and some people want the daily service of a hotel, so read what each listing includes.
The table of our own data below shows how many aparthotels we list in each country on this page, the median nightly price and the share with a kitchen, taken live from our catalogue. It is a count of what we hold, not a measure of quality or of how suited a place is to a honeymoon.
Aparthotel stays in these countries
From our own catalogue, computed 8 October 2026. Prices are the median lowest nightly rate per property for two adults, two nights, about two weeks ahead, in euros. They move daily and are not a forecast.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best month for a honeymoon?
There is no single best month. The pattern depends on the destination and hemisphere. In the station normals we read, Bali's lower-rain months are April to October, Cape Town's are November to March, and Phuket's are December to March. Pick the place that suits the wedding date.
Which of these honeymoon destinations has a hurricane season?
Cancun is in the Atlantic hurricane basin, which the US National Hurricane Center dates from 1 June to 30 November. Most activity falls between mid-August and mid-October on its page. We cite no seasonal dates for other regions because we did not read an official page for them.
Is this list a ranking of the most romantic places?
No. It is our selection of nine places chosen for trip-type variety and the availability of national weather-agency normals. We found no official measure of romance, so the order of the sections is not a ranking.
Do these places suit a honeymoon in the northern winter?
In the normals we read, Cape Town's November to March months each have 20 mm of rain or less, Phuket's December to March months each have under 62 mm, and Honolulu's winter months run warm, with a January mean high of 26.7 °C. Bali's winter months are its wet season.
Where can I check entry rules for these countries?
Use each country's official immigration website. We give no entry or visa advice on this page, because requirements depend on your passport, trip length and dates.
Stays and pages mentioned in this guide
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- Aparthotel Hidden Fees: Extra Charges and City Taxes
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Sources
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