10 Best Honeymoon Destinations

It may be a honeymoon cliché, but nowhere in the world can make you feel as relaxed as the Maldives. Maroon yourselves on this eco-friendly desert island, with villas on stilts, a breathtaking lagoon location, excellent diving on the house reef and tranquility-inducing treatments in the holistic spa. Doubles from $850 a night, including breakfast, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

Pick up matching helmets then hop on the back of a Vespa to explore the Amalfi Coast the Italian way. Bed down at Capo la Gala in Vico Equense, between Sorrento and Pompeii high on the clifftops of the Bay of Naples, for bedrooms with gulf-facing terraces, Michelin-starred food and sea-gazing from the spa. Double room rates from $430 a night, including breakfast, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

Built to the precise spec of a wealthy duchess, this boutique resort on Mexico's Riviera Maya is more concerned these days with the demands of its clientele. Be spoilt in the organic spa, sunbathe on miles of tropical beach and order tequila cocktail after tequila cocktail – but don't forget to get out and see the ancient Mayan ruins, too. Doubles from $565 a night, including breakfast, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

Alain Ducasse's Provençal pad is the stuff of Francophile dreams: wend through lavender fields, golden mountain villages and olive groves to arrive at an impossibly romantic hillside hideaway. The interiors are charmingly rustic, the gardens verdant and peaceful, and the food will wow – not least the views from the terrace while you're eating it. Doubles from $321 a night, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

Each vast suite at Jade Mountain has one wall entirely open to the famed Piton peaks, and a private infinity pool from which to admire them. This hilltop hotel is set on different levels, with zigzagging stone walkways, cascading pools and waterfalls. At the top, the terrace bar claims the highest point. Doubles from $1,025 a night, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

It doesn't get much better than Africa for an epic voyage of a honeymoon and Lion Sands in South Africa's Kruger National Park ticks every box: private pool, a telescope on your deck and a treehouse in the bush for secluded suppers. Doubles from $1,700 a night, including all meals, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

Hide out in total seclusion at Post Ranch Inn in California, where redwood cabins and cottages are lined along the rocky cliff. The land's-end location means you'll seldom spot another human; instead, watch soaring condors, starry nights and the Pacific rolling in. Doubles from $1,350 a night, including breakfast, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

Retreat with Athens' A-list to the glamorous island of Spetses, off the coast of the Peloponnese and two and a half hours by car or boat from Athens. The historic Poseidonion Grand Hotel offers honeymooners a heavenly spa, three restaurants and Med-facing rooms – the best of which (the Cupola Suite) has a glass ceiling, mezzanine and private terrace. Doubles from $273 a night, including breakfast, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

Honeymoon in the greatest outdoors at the remote Sal Salis, a bush camp consisting of nine Indian Ocean-facing luxury tents on the dunes of the Cape Range National Park. The reef offers excellent snorkelling, but it's the romance of dining under the stars and sleeping under canvas that will make your trip truly memorable. Doubles from $1,200 a night, including all meals, with Mr & Mrs Smith.

Bali has been a honeymoon hotspot for years and with good reason, exemplified by the Purist – where architecturally innovative villas offer a perfect blend of indoor and outdoor living, bamboo stalks soar above and leafy serenity pervades. The setting, along one of Ubud's holy rivers and shrouded in lush palms, is ideal for a post-nuptial recharge. Doubles from $250 a night, including breakfast, with Mr & Mrs Smith.