Top honeymoon destinations for 2024

Whether you are after a peaceful Polynesian paradise or prefer the bustling, samba-filled streets of Rio, the world is your oyster when it comes to 2024's hottest honeymoon destinations.

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil's historic capital city is made for couples with a spring in their step. 

During the day, "avoid the queues and see the sights of Rio de Janeiro on a private helicopter tour of the city," said Harper's Bazaar. Board your chopper from the peak of Sugarloaf Mountain, which you can reach via a short cable-car ride. Fly over the sandy expanses of Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and enjoy jaw-dropping views of Christ the Redeemer. 

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Check in at Copacabana Palace, the "undisputed grand dame of Rio de Janeiro", which has hosted the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Princess Diana. During Carnival in February, its "white-stone walls pulsate with energy" and "live samba music drifts across the open-air restaurant Pérgula as guests sway, sipping potent caipirinhas". Indulge at its Michelin-starred Italian outpost Cipriani, before heading out to "join 90,000 others for a night watching the parades at the Sambadrome".

Cartagena, Colombia

Colombia was once "a less obvious honeymoon destination", said CN Traveller. But tourism in Cartagena, on the Caribbean side of the country, has grown more than 300% in the past 12 years. 

The city's "deep-rooted romance" comes from an "old, walled town" that "woos with sun-yellow colonial villas and cathedrals, balconies with billowing bougainvillea, and slow ambles through cobbled streets to arcaded squares". But modern life is breaking through with "freshly experimental kitchens" to rival Lima's and a "savvy fashion crowd". 

Former president Juan Manuel Santos is "a fan" of Restaurante Donjuán in the upmarket beach resort of Bocagrande. Things get "steamier" in the area's late-night salsa bars, or an hour’s boat ride away at the "protected Rosario Islands – ideal for a castaway canoodle".

Tokyo, Japan

The "capital of good taste", Tokyo has more Michelin stars than any other city, making this the perfect destination for enamoured foodies, said CN Traveller. After dinner, head to one of the city's tucked-away drinking dens, where "mixologists blend craft cocktails with laser precision at intimate 10-seater bars" or if the bean is more your thing, the capital's "narrow back streets bristle with slow-drip coffee bars". For post-dinner entertainment, "sumo wrestlers scuffle in stadiums" and "kabuki performers peacock around theatres". 

And once you've had your fill of the high life, "neon-soaked thoroughfares thrum with restaurants staffed by robots and cafés filled with goats". Time your honeymoon for October and November when sunny days and "autumn colours lend a certain romance".

Tahiti

The largest island in French Polynesia has "soaring peaks, tranquil lagoons and crystalline waters", which have together drawn honeymooners to the island's South Pacific shores for years, said CN Traveller. Tahiti's "black-sand beaches and two extinct volcanoes" characterise its "rugged scenery", giving the remote island an "off-grid appeal". The Papenoo Valley is a favourite of British tourists, who come for the "luxuriant jungles" and "string of waterfalls". Book in at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort, which has its own "natural aquarium" and views "across the volcanic peaks of Moorea Island" and an "overwater gourmet restaurant".

Kenya

"Nights spent under swoon-worthy skies that twinkle with stars, accompanied by candlelit bush dinners," give Kenya the wild factor for adventurous couples, said The Independent. The East African savannah’s exclusive glamping sites are "purpose-built to escape the crowds" with awe-inspiring wildlife views and sophisticated lodges that provide the perfect viewing spot from which to see lions, leopards, rhinos and elephants "mere metres away". 

The Angama Mara's "elegant tented suites" even have freestanding bath tubs to wash away the dust of the day. Hold hands with your loved one on a 4x4 game drive that will give you the chance to witness the "dramatic Great Migration", the journey of around two million wildebeest across the Maasai Mara.