Best Honeymoon Destinations in February

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

February is the middle of the Maldives dry season, which is as close to a safe bet as a beach honeymoon gets. Packages average around Rs 89,000 per person. Most resorts sit on their own island, so the trip is one boat or seaplane transfer and then nothing left to organise: a water villa over the reef, house-reef snorkelling straight off the deck, and a sandbank dinner if you ask for one. Valentine's week fills first and costs the most.

Best Time: December to April

102 Maldives Attractions

Thailand in February is in the cool dry season, the best stretch of the year for the whole country. Most couples split the trip: Krabi or Koh Samui for the quiet end of it, Phuket for the beach clubs and the Phi Phi day boats, Chiang Mai inland if you would rather have temples and hill air than sand. Flights are short and food is cheap enough that a longer stay stays affordable. Packages average around Rs 35,000 per person.

Known For : Radhanagar Beach Cellular Jail Scuba Diving In Andaman

The Andamans are at their driest in February, with calm seas for the Havelock and Neil Island ferries. Radhanagar Beach is the one everyone comes for, and the snorkelling and diving off Elephant Beach are the best in Indian waters. No passport, no visa and rupees throughout, which makes this the cheapest good honeymoon on the list. Packages average around Rs 22,000 per person.

Best Time: October to June

81 Andaman Attractions

February keeps the west and south coasts dry, so Bentota, Galle and Mirissa are the right side of the island to book now. The east coast around Arugam Bay is not. A week covers the beaches, the Kandy temples, a tea-country train ride and one leopard drive in Yala. Packages average around Rs 32,000 per person.

Vietnam is in its cool dry season in February, at its best in the centre and south: Hoi An, Da Nang, Nha Trang and the Mekong Delta. Hanoi and Halong Bay are cold and often misty this month, so pack for it. Tet, the lunar new year, falls between late January and 20 February and closes much of the country for several days, so check the date before booking. Packages average around Rs 60,000 per person.

February is calving season in the southern Serengeti and the Ndutu plains, when around half a million wildebeest calves are born inside two to three weeks. The predators follow them, so the game viewing is the best of the year. Add a week on Zanzibar afterwards, warm and dry either side of the safari, for the beach half of the honeymoon. It is the splurge on this list.

Japan in February is a snow trip, not a blossom trip: cherry blossom is still six to eight weeks away. Hokkaido is at peak powder, the Sapporo Snow Festival runs for a week in early February, and the Shirakawa-go farmhouses sit under deep snow. Book an onsen room with its own bath and the evenings look after themselves. Packages average around Rs 141,000 per person.

Known For : Dal Lake Gulmarg Gondola Houseboat Stay

For a snow honeymoon that needs no passport, Kashmir in February is hard to beat. Gulmarg has the gondola and the best skiing of its season, the Dal Lake houseboats in Srinagar run through winter with heaters and kahwa, and the Mughal gardens are quiet. Roads up to Gulmarg do close after heavy snow, so keep a spare day. Packages average around Rs 13,000 per person, the cheapest here.

Best Time: March - June; September - November

45 Kashmir Attractions

Known For : Burj Khalifa Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo At the Top Burj Khalifa

Dubai's weather peaks in February, around the mid-twenties, and it is the only stretch of the year when the outdoor half of the city is comfortable. Couples get a lot back for a short flight: a desert night with dinner among the dunes, the Burj Khalifa at sunset, a dhow dinner in the Marina, and beach days that need no planning. Packages average around Rs 41,000 per person.

Best Time: November to April

127 Dubai Attractions

Known For : Minicoy Island Agatti Islands Kalpeni Island

Lakshadweep in February is flat, clear and dry, which counts for more here than anywhere else because the lagoons are the whole point. Agatti, Bangaram and Kadmat run only a handful of resorts and permits are limited, so this is a book-early trip rather than a last-minute one. There is no visa or international airfare in the total, but the small number of resorts keeps rates from being cheap. Carry cash and expect no nightlife at all.

Best Time: September to May

18 Lakshadweep Attractions

February is peak snow in the Alps, which makes Switzerland the ski honeymoon on this list. Zermatt, Grindelwald and St Moritz put couples on a train rather than in a hire car, and the Glacier Express is at its best in winter. It is expensive and Holidify carries almost no Switzerland-only packages, so plan on a custom itinerary and quote.

Cambodia sits in the cool dry season in February, the kindest month of the year for walking Angkor. Sunrise at Angkor Wat, an afternoon at Ta Prohm and a slow boat on the Tonle Sap fill three days, and Kep or Koh Rong add a beach week after. Almost everything listed pairs Cambodia with Vietnam, so a Cambodia-only trip needs a quote rather than a package price.

Oman in February is the Gulf at its most comfortable and far quieter than Dubai. Muscat's souks and the Grand Mosque take a day, then it is wadi swims, a night in a Wahiba Sands camp and the Musandam fjords by boat. Turtles nest at Ras al Jinz through the year. It costs more than Dubai for a trip of the same length, and most itineraries are built to order rather than sold as packages.

February is the best window for Egypt, warm in the day without the heat that makes Luxor punishing later in the year. A Nile cruise between Luxor and Aswan is the honeymoon version of this trip, with the Giza pyramids at the start and a few days diving the Red Sea at Hurghada or Marsa Alam at the end. The Red Sea resorts are all-inclusive, which keeps the second half of the trip predictable.

Italy in February splits two ways. The Dolomites are at full snow, so Cortina and Alta Badia suit a ski honeymoon, while Venice is in Carnival season, which shifts each year with Lent, so check the dates before you book flights. Rome and Florence are cold but close to empty, which is the trade. The Amalfi Coast is largely shut this month. The Dolomites ski weeks are the expensive half; Rome and Florence rooms are at their cheapest of the year.

February is dry season on the Yucatan, which is where a Mexican honeymoon usually goes: the cliff-top ruins at Tulum, cenote swims inland, and Riviera Maya resorts that are mostly adults-only. Whale sharks are a June to September thing, not a February one. It is a long haul from India, so plan two weeks rather than one.

February is the driest part of the Caribbean year, and St Lucia is the one island here that does not look like the others: the Pitons rise straight out of the sea and most resorts are built to face them. Sulphur springs, a catamaran round to Soufriere and rainforest walks fill the days. Flights go via London or the Gulf and take most of a day.

Best Time: December - April

Barbados in February is dry, breezy and busy, the peak of its season. The west coast is calm and swimmable, the east coast is for watching rather than swimming, and the island is small enough to cover in a hire car over a week. Oistins on a Friday night is the local fish fry instead of another resort dinner. Expect peak-season room rates.

Best Time: December - April

Known For : Victoria and Alfred Waterfront Table Mountain Two Oceans Aquarium

Cape Town is in late summer in February, warm and dry with long evenings. Table Mountain is clear more often than not, the winelands around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek make an easy overnight, and the Boulders Beach penguins with Cape Point fill one good day. The southeaster blows hard this month and can shut the cableway, so go up early.

Best Time: October to April

41 Cape Town Attractions

Known For : Hana highway drive Haleakala volcano summit Water sports

February is humpback season off Maui, and the whales come close enough to watch from the shore at Kaanapali. The Road to Hana, sunrise at Haleakala and snorkelling at Molokini crater fill the rest. It is warm, but this is Hawaii's wetter half of the year and the windward side gets rain. Getting there from India means two long flights.

Best Time: Throughout the year

62 Maui Attractions

Known For : Skyline Gondola Kawarau Bridge Shotover River Jet Boat Ride

Queenstown in February is late summer, the warmest and driest stretch of the New Zealand year and the best time for the walks. Milford Sound works as one long day trip, Central Otago has the wine tasting, and the jet boats and bungy are there for couples who want them. It is peak season, so book rooms and the Milford coach early.

Best Time: December to February (summers) or June to July (winters)

44 Queenstown Attractions

Whistler is mid-season in February with the deepest snow of the year across Whistler and Blackcomb. Couples who do not ski still get the Peak 2 Peak gondola, the village on foot and the Scandinave outdoor baths in the snow. Vancouver is a two-hour drive, so the two pair into one trip. Lift passes and lodging are at their most expensive this month.

Known For : Tanah Lot Uluwatu Bali Swing

Be honest about the timing here: February sits in the wettest part of Bali's rainy season, with heavy afternoon downpours and long cloudy stretches. It is still cheap and very green, and an Ubud villa with its own pool is fine in rain, but the Nusa Penida boat trips get cancelled and beach days are not reliable. Packages average around Rs 64,000 per person.

Best Time: April to October

302 Bali Attractions

Known For : Alcazaba de Malaga Atarazanas Market Roman Theatre Malaga

Malaga in February is mild rather than warm, around the mid-teens, so treat it as a city break with a sea view instead of a beach holiday. The Alcazaba, the Picasso museum and long tapas lunches are the point, and Granada with the Alhambra is two hours away by train. Costa del Sol hotels are at their cheapest this month.

Best Time: Throughout the year

27 Malaga Attractions

Known For : Castle Hill Budapest Fisherman's Bastion St. Stephen's Basilica

Budapest sits near freezing in February, and the thermal baths are the reason to come in winter. Szechenyi and the smaller Gellert are warm outdoors in the snow, the Castle District is empty, and the Danube cruises still run. Days are short, so plan two things rather than four. Holidify lists almost no Hungary-only packages, so this is a custom booking.

Best Time: March to October

46 Budapest Attractions

France in February is really two trips. Chamonix, Val d'Isere and the Trois Vallees are at full snow and are the reason to come this month. Paris is cold, wet and dark by six, which suits a museum-and-restaurant honeymoon and not much else, while Provence and Nice are milder but out of season. Holidify lists almost no France-only packages, so budget for a custom itinerary.

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

Mauritius in February is warm and green, but this is the middle of its wet season and the southwest Indian Ocean cyclone season typically runs from about mid-November to late April. Most trips are fine and the resorts are strong value, so treat it as a good bet rather than a certainty: keep flexible dates and buy travel insurance.

Best Time: April to December

147 Mauritius Attractions

Known For : Anse Lazio Snorkeling in Seychelles Sunbathing in Seychelles

The Seychelles in February is hot, humid and at its wettest, and it falls inside the southwest Indian Ocean cyclone season, which typically runs from about mid-November to late April. Anse Source d'Argent and the Praslin and La Digue beaches are as good as ever, and the rain tends to come in short bursts, but do not book this month expecting settled weather. It is the costliest beach option here, wet season or not.

Best Time: April to May, September to October

96 Seychelles Attractions

Fiji in February is in its wet season and inside the South Pacific cyclone window, which is why it sits last on this list. The Yasawa and Mamanuca island resorts are cheaper now and the diving holds up, but flights from India are long and the weather risk is real. Worth it only with flexible dates; otherwise look at Fiji again between May and October.

Best Time: July - September