The Basics
Decide first of all on your honeymoon budget: How much can you spend, how far can you afford to travel, how long can you stay? Then make a list of dream trips together, and hone the list according to both of your desires and budget constraints. While some traditionalists still believe it's the man's job alone to plan a honey-moon, most people today would discourage such a tactic
Planning a honeymoon together may prove a good time to start to learn to compromise. And follow the one golden rule of honeymoons, according to Hone: Go somewhere neither of you has been to before, ''as there's nothing more tedious than being given a blow-by-blow account of a holiday one of you enjoyed, or didn't enjoy, with someone else.'' Once you have a wish list, gather information from tourist bureaus, guidebooks, travel magazines or travel agents. Here are some ideas to get that list started.
Nearby Getaways
If your budget both in money and time is tight, go somewhere wonderful close to home. Consider staying in your city's most elegant or historic hotel or most charming bed and breakfast or inn.
Plan activities you never seem to have time for, and become a tourist in your own town.
Great Cities of the World
Imagine strolling the tree-lined boulevards of Paris, hand in hand, exploring exceptional art, cuisine and the essence of romance day and night. Some of the world's best hotels are in Paris, as are those legendary Left Bank pensions.
Or consider Istanbul, one of the world's most intensely intriguing cities, where shopping bazaars are teeming with colors and exotic wares, and where luxury hotels line the Bosporus just as they have since the days of the sultans.
Perhaps New Orleans is your style, the most bohemian of cities that seems to combine elements of Europe with the Caribbean in its architecture as well as its restaurants, where jazz romances you at night.
Become Beach Bound
The epitome of paradise might be Bora Bora, one of Tahiti's most beautiful islands. James Michener once called it the most beautiful island in the world.
Jamaica may be the most popular honeymoon destination in the Caribbean, whether you choose to lie on a beach, hike through fern forests, raft on the Rio Grande or windsurf all day long. Jamaica has all-inclusive, couples-only resorts, luxurious villas, as well as small, intimate inns.
Maui may be the most fun of the Hawaiian islands, with its lively Lahaina for night life.
Then there are Bermuda, Fiji, Puerto Rico, Florida, Baja's Los Cabos, Antigua, St. Kitts, Thailand's Ko Samui or Phuket, France's Cote d'Azur, the Aegean islands of Greece.
It's your honeymoon.
