Hi all -
I need some help on an idea for a honeymoon. My fiance and I are getting married in October of this year and we were planning on going to Rome, but it’s turned out to be way too expensive.
So…we want to go on an inexpensive honeymoon, preferably somewhere here in the States, where we can incorporate our Catholic faith within…
Please help!! =)
Thanks!
At first glance Hawaii may seem expensive, but it can be done reasonably with a great spiritual component. Fares to the Big Island direct Dallas to Kona were a bit over $300 last June. I went in late Sept/early October for $400 roundtrip to Honolulu with one stop. What a bargain! The “Big Island” of Hawaii has 2 airports with other one being in Hilo. Hilo is beautiful and much cheaper for hotels than the beach coast in Kona, but you can fly into one and out of the other if you wish. Costs vary widely betweent the different islands so check around.
I went with a girlfriend and flew into Hilo and toured the active volcano in the nat’l park. We spent 1 night there and sampled local cuisine on the cheap. Hilo is “old Hawaii” with great prices. We drove a rental down to Kona (3-4 hours around the coastal highway). We spent several days on the beach coast at a luxury resort that offered a huge discount to military/federal employees. There were other more reasonable places in that area also.
There are a number of incredible Catholic churches in Hawaii dating back to the missionary period such as little clapboard ones on the coast. You can catch another short flight and visit Molokai were Fr. Damian ministered to the lepers too.
We actually went to mass on the island of Oahu while staying with another old friend. Her parish in Mililani is modern construction, but near a fairly Catholic area. (Lots of Catholic Filipino immigrants came to Wahiawa to work at Dole even before statehood.) The glass walls slide open on one side to a walled garden so that mass is almost “open air” with just ceiling fans and no A/C.
Sign up online for a fare watcher service for whatever destinations you are considering first. It can be cheaper to fly overseas than to go somewhere in the lower 48.
Last year some coworkers went to Paris the week after Valentine’s Day for a little over $200 per person round trip, direct from Dallas. (off season prices) One lady joined the trip with less than 30 days on her ticket and still got it for $400. Hotels were also offering bargain prices, so they stayed in a mult-bedroom suite and split the cost.
Yes, the weather is a bit chilly but all of the great indoor things like the museums, cathedral and palace are still there and are less crowded off-peak. I’ve been in November and February to Paris and had a lovely time. You can also get the train from Paris to London for a decent price and spend a few days there for cheaper than flying there directly.
, you’d probably be looking at $75-150 per night. There are many Catholic sites nearby, including the historic Toledo Cathedral. It is an easy city to get around. There is also the Palacio Real and El Escorial Palace, and the Prado, one of the greatest art museums in the world, full of Catholic art. I see you also live in Detroit, and Detroit is a big NWA gateway city to Europe. You might find a good airfare. If you go, be sure to sign up for their frequent flyer program, because the bonus miles for signing up, combined with the thousands of actual flight miles, will get you very close to a free domestic ticket in their program.
