Best Honeymoon Destinations On a Budget

Known For : Dal Lake Houseboat Stay Shikara Ride

Kashmir gives couples a lot of room for the money. A houseboat on Dal Lake, a few nights in Gulmarg or Pahalgam, and shikara rides in the evening. Packages average around Rs 13,000 per person, roughly a third of what a comparable week in Southeast Asia costs once flights are counted. April to June is mild and green, and October brings the chinar colour.

Best Time: March - June; September - November

45 Kashmir Attractions

Known For : Radhanagar Beach Cellular Jail Scuba Diving In Andaman

The Andamans are the closest thing to a Maldives honeymoon without the Maldives price. Radhanagar beach on Havelock, the quieter shores of Neil Island, and diving and snorkelling off both. Packages average around Rs 22,000 per person, roughly a quarter of the Maldives average. Flights run via Chennai or Kolkata to Port Blair and the inter-island ferries are worth pre-booking.

Best Time: October to June

81 Andaman Attractions

The standard Kerala honeymoon route is Munnar for the tea hills, Thekkady for the spice plantations and a night on an Alleppey houseboat, and it is priced keenly because so many operators run it. Packages average around Rs 15,000 per person. The houseboat is the part worth paying up for, since a private upper deck costs little more than a shared one.

50 Attractions

Thailand is where a modest budget buys a very good room. Packages average around Rs 35,000 per person, and a beachfront pool villa in Krabi or on Koh Lanta costs less than a mid-range hotel in most Indian cities. Direct flights from several Indian metros keep the airfare down. Pick one island rather than three and the trip gets both cheaper and more restful.

Known For : City Palace, Udaipur Sajjangarh Palace Lake Pichola

Udaipur works better for a honeymoon than a Rajasthan circuit does, because you stay in one place. Two or three nights in a room looking at Lake Pichola, dinner on a rooftop, a boat out to Jag Mandir, and that is the trip. Rates climb sharply from December to February, so September and October are the better value.

Best Time: October to March

42 Udaipur Attractions

Packages average around Rs 32,000 per person for Sri Lanka, and the reason it lands that low is the airfare from Chennai or Bengaluru rather than cheap hotels. For a honeymoon, skip the full island loop. The hill train from Kandy to Ella, then three or four nights on the south coast at Tangalle or Unawatuna, is the better shape.

Himachal is the other very cheap option, and the trick is to pick one valley rather than three. A quiet stay above Manali, or a cottage in Dharamshala with the Dhauladhar range behind it, beats a week of driving between hill stations. Packages average around Rs 13,000 per person. Avoid the May and June rush if you want the place to yourselves.

45 Himachal Pradesh Attractions

Vietnam is long and thin, and honeymoon budgets go wrong by trying to see all of it. Pick the middle: Hoi An for the old town and the tailors, then Da Nang or Phu Quoc for the beach. Packages average around Rs 60,000 per person, and food and local transport cost very little once you are there. A night on a Halong Bay cruise boat is the one splurge worth making.

Meghalaya is for couples who would rather drive through cloud forest than sit on a beach. Shillong, the Cherrapunji waterfalls, the boat on the clear water at Dawki, and Mawlynnong. Packages average around Rs 24,000 per person. The rain is the point from June to September, but October to April is drier and the rates are much the same.

12 Attractions

Known For : Pangong Lake Khardung La Leh Palace

Ladakh is cheap on the ground and the flight to Leh is short, so the money goes further than the scenery suggests. Packages average around Rs 23,000 per person. It is a June to September trip, and couples should plan two easy days in Leh before Nubra or Pangong because the altitude takes getting used to. Rooms are simple rather than luxurious, which is the honest trade here.

Best Time: April - Mid-July

72 Ladakh Attractions

Known For : Calangute Beach Dudhsagar Falls Fort Aguada

Goa is the cheapest honeymoon most Indian couples can book, and in September or late April a sea-facing room costs a fraction of its December rate. South Goa is the quieter half, with long open beaches at Palolem and Agonda and small resorts rather than large ones. No visa and a short domestic flight mean almost the whole budget can go into the room.

Best Time: October to March

195 Goa Attractions

Known For : Abbey Falls Mandalpatti Raja's Seat

Coorg is a drive from Bengaluru or Mangaluru rather than a flight, which is most of why it is cheap. The coffee estate homestays are small, often four or five rooms, and the rate usually includes meals. Two or three nights around Madikeri, Abbey Falls and the Dubare elephant camp is enough. Holidify Coorg packages mostly run on to Mysore or Ooty, so there is no clean single-destination average to quote.

Best Time: October to June

38 Coorg Attractions

Sikkim is quiet in a way that few honeymoon destinations still are. Gangtok as a base, then Lachung and the Yumthang Valley, with Pelling for the Kanchenjunga view on a clear morning. Packages average around Rs 20,000 per person. Permits are needed for the northern districts and the operator arranges them, so book the trip rather than the parts.

12 Attractions

Known For : Tanah Lot Uluwatu Bali Swing

Bali costs more than its reputation suggests but still gives couples the most room for the money. Packages average around Rs 64,000 per person. A private-pool villa in Ubud costs a fraction of the same thing in the Maldives, and splitting the week between Ubud and the coast at Nusa Dua or Jimbaran buys one inland stay and one beach stay for the price of a single resort week elsewhere.

Best Time: April to October

301 Bali Attractions

Nepal is the cheapest overseas honeymoon from India by a clear margin. Pokhara is the part that suits couples, with lake-view rooms, the Annapurna skyline on a clear morning and short walks rather than treks. Kathmandu is worth two nights at the start. Packages average around Rs 22,000 per person, and food and taxis cost very little on top.

Known For : Minicoy Island Agatti Islands Kalpeni Island

Lakshadweep is the quietest island honeymoon India has, with only a handful of islands open to visitors and very few rooms on each. Agatti and Bangaram are the ones to look at, and the lagoon water is as good as anywhere in the region. With no international airfare or visa to pay for, the cost sits well below an equivalent overseas island week. An entry permit is required and is arranged through the operator, so book early because the room supply is small.

Best Time: September to May

18 Lakshadweep Attractions

Cambodia is quiet and cheap once you are there. Sunrise at Angkor Wat, then the islands off Sihanoukville or a few nights at Kep, where the guesthouses are small and meals are often included. Almost every Cambodia package Holidify lists is really a Vietnam and Cambodia combination, so there is no clean single-country average to quote. Ground costs are among the lowest in the region.

Bhutan is more affordable for Indian couples than for anyone else, because the daily levy Bhutan charges visitors is set much lower for Indian passport holders. Check the current rate and budget it on top of the package, which averages around Rs 36,000 per person. What you get is quiet: Paro, Punakha, the walk up to Tiger Nest, and very few other tourists.

Malaysia splits neatly into a couple of nights in Kuala Lumpur and then Langkawi, where the resorts are large, well kept and cheaper than their Thai equivalents. Packages average around Rs 48,000 per person. Meals are often included at the Langkawi properties, which takes a real cost out of the daily spend.

Azerbaijan is one of the cheapest short-haul options outside Asia, helped by direct flights to Baku and hotel rates well below anywhere in Europe. For a honeymoon it is worth leaving the city for a couple of nights in Gabala or Sheki, where the mountain hotels are inexpensive and quiet. April to June and September to October are the comfortable months.

Georgia is the one on this list where the food and the wine are the reason to go. Tbilisi old town, then Kazbegi for the mountains or Kakheti for the vineyards, where small guesthouses charge very little and include meals. Late spring and September are best, and the weeks either side of them cut hotel rates noticeably.

Known For : Paradise Beach, Pondicherry Aurobindo Ashram Auroville

Pondicherry suits couples who want a short, slow honeymoon rather than a long one. The French Quarter is small and walkable, the heritage guesthouses are quiet, and Auroville and the beaches just south fill the rest of the time. It is close enough to Chennai or Bengaluru that getting there costs almost nothing.

Best Time: October to March

48 Pondicherry Attractions

Known For : Stay in an Overwater Bungalow Ithaa Undersea Restaurant Scuba Diving in Maldives

The Maldives can be done on a budget, but only on the local islands. Packages average around Rs 89,000 per person and that figure reflects resort stays; guesthouses on Maafushi, Dhigurah or Thulusdhoo come in well below it, with the same water and house reefs a short boat ride away. The flight from Kochi or Bengaluru is short, which helps. Take a speedboat rather than a seaplane.

Best Time: December to April

102 Maldives Attractions

The Philippines is cheap once you arrive and expensive to reach. With no direct flight from India, a connection through Singapore or Hong Kong adds both time and airfare. If you go, Palawan is the honeymoon half: El Nido and the lagoons, or Coron for the wrecks.

Armenia is quiet, easy and cheap on the ground. Yerevan is small enough to walk, and a couple of nights in Dilijan or by Lake Sevan give the trip its slow half. The trip is expensive for the region, and that is the airfare rather than the hotels. Once there, restaurants and taxis cost very little.

Known For : Seven Coloured Earth of Chamarel Le Morne Brabant Underwater Waterfall

Mauritius is the shoulder-season case on this list. Resort rates drop sharply in May, June, September and October, which are cooler and drier and perfectly good for a honeymoon. Most properties are all-inclusive, so meals and water sports are already paid for and the daily spend comes to almost nothing.

Best Time: April to December

146 Mauritius Attractions

Egypt gives couples two very different halves. Cairo and a Nile cruise for the temples, then Hurghada or El Gouna on the Red Sea, where the resorts are all-inclusive and the diving is cheap. The cruise is the part worth paying up for, since a cabin with a window makes a real difference over four nights.

Turkey packs a lot into one trip: Istanbul, then Cappadocia for the balloon morning, then the coast at Kas or Olympos. Rates fall a long way in April and October while the weather is still good, which is the single biggest saving available here. Domestic flights between the three are cheap and short, so getting around does not eat the budget the way overland travel does elsewhere on this list.