Bali, the Maldives or Thailand?

Which is better for a honeymoon, Bali or the Maldives?

The Maldives for pure privacy and water, Bali for variety. On Bali you do things; in the Maldives you mostly don't, and that is the point.

Most Maldives resorts take up a whole island. You arrive by speedboat or seaplane, and the reef, the spa and the restaurants are all part of the same resort. It is quiet, very private and designed for two. What you give up is culture and choice: there is little to see beyond the resort, and dinner is wherever the resort serves it.

Bali has more to do in a day than a Maldives resort has in a week: a volcano at sunrise, a water temple, a kecak dance on a cliff. The beaches are good, not the turquoise lagoons of the atolls. Traffic is the price of all that variety.

Bali, the Maldives or Thailand: how do they compare?

Side by side, without the brochure language:

The three trade-offs in one table:

Cost depends on the same few things in all three: the season, the room type and how many nights. In the Maldives the resort and its transfer are almost the whole bill; in Bali the villa is, and days out are a smaller share.

Is Thailand or Bali better for a honeymoon?

Thailand for island hopping and nightlife, Bali for a single base with culture and day trips. Bali is simpler to plan.

A Thai honeymoon tends to move: Bangkok for two nights, then Phuket, Krabi, Koh Samui or the smaller islands by ferry or short flight. That suits couples who like a change of scene. Bali works the other way: you stay in two places and the island comes to you on day trips.

Food is excellent in both. Thailand's nightlife is bigger, and Bali's temple culture is unique: the island is mostly Hindu, in a mostly Muslim country, and ceremonies happen around you every day. Its rice terraces are part of a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape, the subak irrigation system.

The Bali most visitors come for: Tegallalang, the Tirta Empul water temple and three waterfalls, with your own driver-guide.

★ 5.0 · 6 to 10 hours

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Phuket or Bali for a honeymoon?

Phuket if you want an easy beach base with boat trips to Phang Nga Bay and the Phi Phi islands. Bali if you want more than beaches.

Phuket is Thailand's largest island, with long sandy beaches on the Andaman Sea and boat trips to limestone islands. Its drier months run roughly from November to April, close to the opposite of Bali's. That alone can decide it: for a December or January wedding, Phuket's weather is usually the better bet.

Bali's strengths are inland: Ubud, the terraces, the volcano. The best beach day on Bali is arguably off Bali, on Nusa Penida, where Briyonna, from the United States, wrote: "The entire tour, I felt safe and taken care of."

Which is the best island for a honeymoon?

There is no single answer. For privacy, a Maldives resort island. For variety on one island, Bali. For quiet without cars, the Gili Islands.

The question is what you want to do between breakfast and dinner. If the answer is nothing much, the Maldives or a small island wins. If it is a mix of beach days and days out, Bali is hard to beat, because so much sits within a couple of hours of your villa.

For the most romantic days out on Bali itself, read the romantic things to do guide.

What are the top and the underrated honeymoon destinations?

The usual lists repeat the same names: the Maldives, Bali, Thailand, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Santorini. The underrated ones near Bali are Lombok, the Gili Islands and Komodo.

From Bali, three add-ons are easy to combine with a week on the island:

• The Gili Islands: three small islands off Lombok, reached by fast boat from Bali's ports. There are no cars or motorbikes: you get around by bicycle or horse cart. Gili Meno is the quietest of the three.
• Lombok: Bali's neighbour, with Mount Rinjani, quieter beaches in the south and fewer visitors.
• Komodo: Komodo National Park, a UNESCO site since 1991, reached from Labuan Bajo on Flores, a short flight from Bali. Dragons, pink sand, boats between islands.

Add two or three nights to one of them, at the end of your Bali stay, and keep your Bali days unhurried. The itinerary guide has the Bali part.

Before you head further east, the day trip from Sanur: mantas, Kelingking and GoPro photos of you both.

★ 4.9 · 9 to 10 hours

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Can you combine Bali with the Maldives or Thailand?

Yes, with a flight in between. Bali plus a few nights in the Maldives is a popular pairing: culture first, rest at the end.

There is no simple overland or ferry route, so you are adding a flight and often a connection. It works best with at least ten nights in total: six or seven on Bali, three or four on the other side.

Put the busy part first. Do your days out on Bali, then end the trip somewhere you do nothing at all. The reverse feels like the honeymoon is over halfway through.

Is Bali still a good honeymoon destination?

Yes, if you plan around the traffic and the crowded spots. Bali is busier than it was, and the right base and early starts fix most of that.

The complaints you will read are real: traffic in the south, queues at the famous photo spots, crowds at Kelingking at midday. They mostly hit people who stay in one busy area and see everything at the same time as everyone else.

Start early, stay two places, book private cars and leave room for slow days. Sophie, from the United Kingdom, on the private Ubud day: "it was the perfect way to see the highlights of Ubud for someone who isn't confident riding a motorbike." Safety questions are in the safety guide.

Sunset from the Uluwatu cliff temple and the kecak at 6 pm, the evening most couples remember.

★ 4.7 · About 6 hours

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