Best Honeymoon Destinations in August

Known For : Tanah Lot Uluwatu Bali Swing

August is Bali in its dry season, which surprises couples who assume all of Southeast Asia is wet right now. Days are bright, the humidity eases and the south coast stays calm. Split the trip in two: Ubud inland for rice terraces, waterfalls and a villa with its own pool, then Seminyak or Nusa Dua for beach clubs and seafood grills on the sand. Packages average around Rs 64,000 per person.

Best Time: April, May, June and September

304 Bali Attractions

If the budget stretches, August is the month Kenya beats everywhere else on this list. The wildebeest herds are usually crossing the Mara River from July onwards, and a couple can watch it from a private vehicle with a guide who knows where the herds are massing. Book a small camp with a handful of tents rather than a big lodge, then finish quietly at Diani on the coast. Packages average around Rs 2,37,000 per person.

Tanzania gives you the August herds and an island to slow down on afterwards. The northern Serengeti holds the Mara River crossings, and the camps up there move with the animals rather than staying put. Zanzibar is a short flight away and in its cool dry season, so Stone Town and the beaches at Nungwi make a good second half. It is one of the costlier trips on this list, with the northern Serengeti camps the expensive part.

Known For : Black River Gorges National Park Underwater Waterfall Seven Coloured Earth of Chamarel

August is Mauritius in winter: mid-twenties, dry, and noticeably cheaper than the December rush. It is windier on the east coast, so choose the north or west if you want flat water for swimming. You get the same lagoons, the Chamarel earths and Black River Gorges without the peak-season crowd or the peak-season rate.

Best Time: April to June and September to December

146 Mauritius Attractions

Known For : Pangong Lake Khardung La Leh Palace

For couples who would rather not spend on flights, August is Ladakh at its best. It sits in the Himalayan rain shadow, so while the rest of north India is under the monsoon, Leh stays dry and clear. Give yourselves two days to acclimatise, then drive out to Nubra and Pangong. Roads lower down can shut briefly after heavy rain, so keep a spare day. Packages average around Rs 23,000 per person.

Best Time: April - Mid-July

72 Ladakh Attractions

Known For : Dal Lake Gulmarg Gondola Houseboat Stay

Kashmir stays comfortable through August, which is why it fills up with Indian couples during the monsoon months. A houseboat on Dal Lake and a few days split between Gulmarg and Pahalgam is the classic week, and the Mughal gardens are still green. It is also the cheapest honeymoon on this list. Packages average around Rs 13,000 per person.

Best Time: March - June; September - November

45 Kashmir Attractions

Sri Lanka in August depends entirely on which coast you pick. The southwest, including Galle and Mirissa, is wet. The east is dry: Trincomalee, Pasikuda and Arugam Bay get their best weather now, and almost nobody plans a honeymoon around it. Pair a few days in the hills at Ella with the east coast beaches. Packages average around Rs 32,000 per person.

August is Iceland at its warmest and the last of the long evenings, so you can be out on the south coast at nine at night with the light still going. Whale watching from Husavik is at its peak and the interior roads are open. It is expensive, and you will want your own car rather than a coach tour.

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

August is deep winter in Queenstown and the ski fields at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables are running. It still works if neither of you skis: gondola dinners, hot pools, a Milford Sound day trip and empty lakeside walks. Winter clothes are essential. It is a long and expensive flight from India, and August is Queenstown's ski high season, so rates are not low either.

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

45 Queenstown Attractions

The fjords are at their easiest in August. Ferries and mountain roads are all open, the days are still long, and Bergen across to the Sognefjord is a straightforward self-drive for two. Add Tromso if you want to be north of the Arctic Circle without the winter cold. It is one of the costlier trips here, more for food and hotels than for the flight.

Scotland has its warmest and longest days in August, and the Edinburgh festivals are on, so book the city early or skip it altogether. The Highlands are the honeymoon half of the trip: Skye, Glencoe and a few nights at a small inn on a loch. Rain is likely whatever the month.

The Alps are at their best in August. Cable cars, mountain trains and the high walking trails are all open, so a couple can settle in Interlaken or Zermatt and spend the days going up. It is the most expensive place per day on this list, and Holidify carries very little single-country Swiss inventory, so most trips here are built to order.

Thailand splits in two in August. Phuket, Krabi and the whole Andaman side are in the southwest monsoon with rough seas, while Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao on the Gulf side get their drier stretch. Book the Gulf rather than the Andaman and you get the cheapest good beach week here. Packages average around Rs 35,000 per person.

August is dry-season game viewing in Kruger, when the bush thins out and animals stay close to water. On the other side of the country the southern right whales are calving off Hermanus, near enough to watch from the cliff path. Cape Town itself is cool and wet in August, so treat it as the wine and food half of the trip. Most of the budget goes on the Kruger lodge nights, so a shorter stay there brings the rest within reach.

Winter in Australia is the right time for the tropical north. August is dry and mild on the Great Barrier Reef, so Cairns, Port Douglas and the Whitsundays are at their most comfortable for sailing and diving. Sydney and Melbourne will be cold, and this is a long way to fly.

Malaysia is the easy short-haul answer if Bali is booked out. August is reasonably dry on the west coast, so Langkawi and Penang both work, and Kuala Lumpur is an hour from either. Borneo adds orangutans and Kinabalu if you want more than a beach week. Packages average around Rs 48,000 per person.

Georgia in August is warm and dry, and it is one of the few places here where a couple can eat and drink well for very little. Base yourselves in Tbilisi, then go up to Kazbegi for the mountains and out to Kakheti for the wineries. Batumi on the Black Sea is busy but cheap.

Uzbekistan is hot in August, over 35 degrees most afternoons, so this becomes a mornings-and-evenings trip. It is worth the planning: the Registan at Samarkand and the old town at Bukhara hold up against anything else on this list and are far quieter than Europe. Fast trains link the cities.

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

Be clear about the trade before you book. August is the Maldives in its wet season, so expect grey stretches and choppier water, and in return you get the lowest villa rates of the year. If the overwater villa matters more to you than guaranteed sunshine, this is the cheapest month to have one. Packages average around Rs 89,000 per person.

Best Time: December to April

102 Maldives Attractions

Japan in August is hot and humid, and it is both typhoon season and the Obon holiday week, so trains and hotels get tight. Go for the summer rather than in spite of it: fireworks nights, festivals in most cities, and the cooler mountains at Hakone, Kamikochi and across Hokkaido. Packages average around Rs 1,41,000 per person.

August is Korea at its most humid, and the tail of the rainy season, so plan indoor afternoons. Seoul is comfortable enough for a city honeymoon, and Jeju is the island half, with coastal walks and the Hallasan trails. Sokcho and the east coast beaches are at their liveliest now. Holidify lists very few Korea packages, so most trips here are built to order.

August is the wrong month for Italy and it is worth saying so plainly. It is the hottest, most crowded and most expensive stretch of the year, Venice and the Amalfi Coast are at capacity, and many businesses close for the Ferragosto break in mid-August. If you have set your heart on Italy, head north to the Dolomites and the lakes rather than the coast.

Croatia is lovely and, in August, extremely busy. Dubrovnik and Hvar are at peak-season rates and the old town is shoulder to shoulder by mid-morning. It works better if you sail rather than stay put, or if you swap the famous stops for Istria in the north.

Known For : Hagia Sophia Sultan Ahmed Mosque Topkapi Palace

Istanbul in August is hot, around 30 degrees with heavy humidity, and the queues at Hagia Sophia and Topkapi are at their longest. It still works as a short city honeymoon if you start early, take the Bosphorus ferries in the afternoon and eat late. The lira is weak against the rupee, so food and local transport cost very little.

Best Time: March to November

102 Istanbul Attractions

Known For : Praca do Comercio Ajuda National Palace Tram 28 Lisbon

Lisbon is the most bearable of the southern European cities in August, because the Atlantic keeps it cooler than Madrid or Rome. Expect crowds all the same. The city is walkable in the evenings, Sintra is a half-hour train ride away, and the beaches at Cascais are clean if cold.

Best Time: March to October

24 Lisbon Attractions