Best Honeymoon Destinations in March

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

March falls inside the Maldives dry season, which is the best reason to come now. The northeast monsoon holds until April, so days arrive clear and the lagoons stay flat and easy for snorkelling. Choose a resort with a house reef and the snorkelling starts at your steps, and most will let you split the stay between a water villa and a beach villa. Packages average around Rs 89,000 per person.

Best Time: December to April

102 Maldives Attractions

Known For : Radhanagar Beach Cellular Jail Scuba Diving In Andaman

For couples who want a beach honeymoon without a passport, the Andamans are at their driest in March, before the May monsoon. Radhanagar Beach on Havelock, now Swaraj Dweep, is the one everyone comes for, and the snorkelling and diving off Havelock and Neil are calm and clear this early. Packages average around Rs 22,000 per person, the cheapest week on this list.

Best Time: October to June

81 Andaman Attractions

Known For : Minicoy Island Agatti Islands Kalpeni Island

Lakshadweep is quieter than the Maldives and much closer to home, and January to April are its dry months, so March is a good window. Agatti, Bangaram and Thinnakara give you lagoons, very few other people and almost nothing to do beyond swimming, kayaking and eating fish. Entry runs on a permit your operator arranges, and the number of beds is small, so book early.

Best Time: September to May

18 Lakshadweep Attractions

Thailand is at the tail of its dry season in March, which suits the islands. Krabi, Koh Lanta and Phuket are hot and calm before the rains, and two nights in Bangkok on either end is easy to add. Avoid Chiang Mai and the north this month. Crop burning fills the valley with smoke from roughly December to April, and February and March are the worst of it. Packages average around Rs 35,000 per person.

Packages average around Rs 32,000 per person, and in March your money buys the right side of the island. The west and south coasts are in their dry window, so Bentota, Galle, Unawatuna and Mirissa all work, and the whale watching off Mirissa is still running. The east coast around Arugam Bay comes good later in the year, so leave it out of a March trip.

Known For : Tanah Lot Uluwatu Bali Swing

Bali in March is at the end of its wet season, so expect short heavy showers, mostly in the afternoon, and green everything. Rates are lower than the July peak for the same villa. Ubud handles rain better than the coast, with rice terraces, waterfalls and a private pool to sit beside, and you can move down to Seminyak or Nusa Dua for the last few nights. Packages average around Rs 64,000 per person.

Best Time: April to October

302 Bali Attractions

Split Vietnam by latitude in March. Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc are warm and dry, and packages average around Rs 60,000 per person. The north is the weaker half, with Hanoi and Halong still cool, damp and often grey this early in the year, so give the south and the centre most of your nights.

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

March is the last comfortable month in Dubai before the heat sets in, so it is the right time for the things nobody does in June: an overnight desert camp, a dhow dinner on the creek, breakfast outside. Beach clubs are pleasant rather than punishing. Flights are short from every Indian metro. Packages average around Rs 41,000 per person.

Best Time: November to April

127 Dubai Attractions

Cherry blossom is why couples pick Japan in March, and March is the front edge of it rather than the whole of it. The bloom starts in the south and usually reaches Tokyo and Kyoto in the last week or so of the month, and it lasts only a week or two once it opens, so watch the Japan Meteorological Agency forecast before you fix dates. Travel in blossom week and you pay peak rates and share every park. Packages average around Rs 141,000 per person.

Bhutan's spring runs through March, with clear mountain air, the rhododendrons starting and the climb to Tiger's Nest more pleasant than it is in summer. Hotels are small and personal, which suits two people. Tsechu festival dates follow the lunar calendar and move every year, so check the date for the dzong you want before booking. Packages average around Rs 36,000 per person.

Nepal in March is dry and clear, which matters if you have come for the mountains. Pokhara, with Annapurna standing behind the lake, is the honeymoon half of the country, and the rhododendrons are out on the lower trails if you want a short walk rather than a trek. Kathmandu is worth two nights for the temples. Packages average around Rs 22,000 per person.

Oman gives you Arabian scenery without the crowds, and March is its last easy month before summer. Muscat is walkable and unhurried, the wadis are cool enough to swim in, and a night at a desert camp in the Wahiba Sands is simple to add on the way to Nizwa. Flights from western India are short, and most trips there are built to order rather than sold as packages.

Known For : Anse Lazio Snorkeling in Seychelles Sunbathing in Seychelles

Seychelles is warm and humid in March, in the changeover between its two trade wind seasons, so days are hot with the odd short downpour and the sea stays calm. Anse Source d'Argent on La Digue is the beach you have already seen in pictures, and a bicycle is how everyone gets around that island. It is a splurge rather than a saving.

Best Time: April to May, September to October

96 Seychelles Attractions

Langkawi is in its drier stretch until about April, which makes March a good time for the island half of a Malaysia honeymoon. Pair three or four nights there with two in Kuala Lumpur, or add Penang for the food. Rainforest, quiet resort beaches and cable car views for a fraction of Maldives money. Packages average around Rs 48,000 per person.

Known For : Dal Lake Gulmarg Gondola Houseboat Stay

March in Kashmir is the very end of winter, which is a different trip from the summer one people picture. Srinagar's almond orchards blossom late in the month, the tulip garden usually opens around the end of March or the start of April, and Gulmarg still has snow for a gondola ride. Bring proper warm clothes. A houseboat on Dal Lake costs little this early, and packages average around Rs 13,000 per person.

Best Time: March - June; September - November

45 Kashmir Attractions

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

Mauritius is worth knowing the season on. March is the end of its warm wet summer, so it is humid with real rain, and the southwest Indian Ocean cyclone season officially runs here until the middle of May. The beaches and the resorts are as good as ever and rates are softer than in winter, but if you want settled weather, Mauritius is a better idea from about May onwards.

Best Time: April to December

147 Mauritius Attractions

Turkey in March is a genuine shoulder: cool, quiet and far cheaper than summer. Istanbul is at its best without the queues, and a Cappadocia balloon at sunrise is the picture most couples want, though flights are called off more often in windy weather this time of year. The Aegean coast resorts are mostly still shut.

March is one of the best months for Egypt, warm rather than hot, which matters when you are walking around Giza or Luxor in the middle of the day. A few nights on a Nile cruise boat between Luxor and Aswan is the easy way to do it as a couple, and the Red Sea at Hurghada or El Gouna adds beach days.

Jordan is small enough to see in a week and March is comfortable for all of it. Petra takes a full day, and the walk in through the Siq is better before the heat. A night in a bubble tent or a Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum is the part couples remember, and you can float in the Dead Sea on the way back.

Georgia is the value pick on this list. March is early spring in Tbilisi, cool but fine for the old town, the sulphur baths and long wine dinners, and the cellars of Kakheti are open all year. The high mountains at Kazbegi and Gudauri are still under snow, so treat those as a day trip rather than a base.

Morocco is in a good spring shoulder in March, warm in Marrakech and mild in Fes, with the Atlas still snow topped behind the city. Stay in a riad rather than a hotel, which is where the character of the place sits, and add two nights at a desert camp near Merzouga.

March is dry season across most of the Philippines, which is when the island hopping works. El Nido and Coron in Palawan are the honeymoon half, with lagoons you reach by boat and very little else to do. Getting there takes two flights and a full travel day from India, so give it ten nights or save it for another trip.

Italy in March is cool, quiet and cheap by Italian standards, a fair trade if you care more about Rome and Florence than about sitting outside. The south is the warmer half. On the Amalfi Coast and the lakes, many hotels and restaurants only reopen around Easter, so check opening dates before you build a trip around Positano.

South Africa splits neatly in March. Cape Town is at its best, late summer with the harvest on in the Stellenbosch and Franschhoek vineyards, and that is the honeymoon part. Kruger is at the end of its green season, so the bush is thick and animals are harder to spot than in the dry winter months. Plan the Cape first and treat the safari as a bonus. Flights are long, and the safari nights cost more than the Cape half.

Known For : Tenerife Auditorium Loro Parque Puerto de la Cruz

If you want warm sun without leaving Europe, the Canaries are the answer in March, sitting off the African coast and mild while mainland Spain is still cold. Tenerife has Teide and the better hotels, Lanzarote is quieter and stranger. Getting there from India means two changes, so it suits couples already routing through Europe.

Best Time: Throughout the year

34 Canary Islands Attractions

Switzerland in March is a late ski honeymoon rather than a green one. The high resorts, Zermatt and Saas-Fee among them, hold snow into April, but the valleys are in mud season, the lake steamers run winter timetables and many mountain restaurants are shut. If you want Interlaken and the flowers, wait for June. The scenic trains run all year.