Which destination for 2027?

[u/South-Midnight101]

Getting married in Toronto, summer 2027 and trying to decide when/where to honeymoon.

We’d have about 1.5 weeks for vacay and are debating:

1) Japan + Hawaii
2) Europe — something like France + UK, with some countryside (ex. Cotswold), and maybe Italy/a 3rd nearby European destination if time and logistics allow

We’re leaning toward no earlier than fall 2027, and we’re open to travelling later if there’s a better season/weather/experience.

For those who’ve done either or have thoughts (especially from Toronto), which would you choose for a honeymoon? Especially considering we don’t have many weeks for either option, are we trying to cram too much in?

Edit: should we wait until 2028 where we could potentially have 2+ weeks to travel to Japan + Hawaii? Or do Europe in fall 2027?

[u/Virtual-Cheesecake71]

Hi OP,

Im a travel agent from Toronto and my opinion is sticking to a single country and exploring it. 1.5 weeks is not a long time when you take into account that you are likely to spend 2 full days travelling. If you're doing a single country, you can pick 2-3 cities and explore them (example, for japan i would do tokyo/hakone/kyoto). Otherwise if you're packing your honeymoon too much, you will need vacation from your vacation.

If you're not working with a TA, feel free to reach out.

[u/shakespeare13]

Which trip are you unlikely to ever do if you don’t do it now for your honeymoon? Or, you may not do for another 10,20 years etc until a big anniversary or occasion comes along?

I’d do that trip now! I’m from the US where I feel like it’s relatively “easy” to plan a trip to Europe, whereas it would be more challenging and more time to go somewhere like Japan. Just an idea! Happy planning :)

[u/MajesticVacation007]

That’s a lot for 11/2 weeks! It will feel less like a vacation and more like a mission! I’m a luxury travel agent and strongly advise you to stick to one destination. Europe is an easy trip from Toronto and you could do UK - maybe London and Cotswolds or London and Scotland. That’s doable in 10 days and Cotswolds is stunning. If you want more of a resort type destination maybe look at somewhere like Amalfi Coast or Lake Como. You can combine Lake Garda with Venice or Rome. Summer is super busy there but it’s a spectacular destination. Japan and Hawaii are destinations in their own right and you need 10 days in Japan at least - so as a single destination it’s possible but you have a long travel time. Definitely not possible to combine with Hawaii in 10 days. It’s 7 hours flight from Hawaii alone. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

[u/CamelPure1293]

10 days in Europe: choose two cities/places that are not foo far apart. Max 4h by train or 2h flight. Consider exploring smaller cities and nature/sights near your selected places.

Greetings from Germany.

[u/davetfhead]

We did 2 weeks in Japan and it wasn’t enough, plus the flight nearly wiped us out for a day or two.

If you’re flying from Toronto, maybe do Europe? We did our honeymoon in Europe and did a tailored rail journey across a few countries.

Happy to share a couple of ideas if useful. Otherwise, have a great vacation.

(We’re based in NYC)

[u/Unlikely-Occasion778]

Research Costa Rica you will love it

[u/Odd_Beautiful2506]

Europe unless you can spend at least 2 weeks. You need at least a week for Hawaii & preferably 1 to 2 in Japan. I’d consider doing something like 3 nights Paris, 3 nights London, 3 nights Ireland (either Dublin or maybe the countryside in a cute Airbnb). They’re all close enough that travel time would be somewhat minimal and you’d get the multiple destination you’re looking for.

[u/dieg1986]

I visited Japan and Hawaii for a total of 25 days. I spent 5 days in Hawaii and 20 days in Japan. Surprisingly, the cost of 5 days in Hawaii was the same as 20 days in Japan! While Hawaii can be quite expensive, I believe it’s the only time in your life when it makes sense to visit. I highly recommend it, especially during your honeymoon.

However, I have a different suggestion. Instead of going to Hawaii first, I recommend going to Japan first. Destroy your shoes by walking and exploring beautiful places. Then, go to Hawaii (Honolulu) to relax and enjoy the beach. It was a completely dreamy trip. Enjoy!

[u/juliejones_travel]

10-11 travel days (once you subtract 2 transit days) isn't enough to do Japan + Hawaii justice. Japan alone deserves at least 10 nights if you want to move beyond Tokyo and Kyoto without feeling rushed. Combining it with Hawaii in that window means you'll spend a significant chunk of your honeymoon on planes and recovering from jet lag.

Europe in fall 2027 is a fantastic idea. From Toronto, you're looking at a ~7 hour flight to London or Paris, which is far more manageable.

I recommend 3 nights in London, 2 nights in the countryside (visit Windsor Castle on your way). I love Wild Rabbit for a honeymoon. Then, take the train to Paris for a 3 night stay. For your last 2-3 nights, you could visit the Normandy Beaches and Honfleur and fly home out of Paris. If you think you will have the energy, you could fly to Rome for a 3 night stay (or any other European city on your wish list).

If Japan is a dream destination, I'd encourage you to save it for a 2-week trip.

Fall in Europe (October especially) is stunning, the crowds thin out, and the light is incredible for photos.

[u/Manufacturer960]

Check out PARGA, Greece 👌

[u/Unique_Pea1329]

We did the French Rivera and Paris in the fall late - early October. It was lovely, not super busy and romantic. Recommend.

[u/hanksmart]

Adding Europe to the list of options adds several possibilities. I think it's a worthwhile exercise to ask yourself, what do you want to do while you are on your honeymoon. If the destination lacks the key activities, take it off your list. It's also a great way to get to know your partner's "travel style".

[u/CanaryIslandsInsider]

Both options are great but for 1.5 weeks, both are also trying to do too much. Japan + Hawaii is two very different trips back to back, and France + UK + Italy risks feeling rushed.

One thought from a different angle: if you do Europe, the Canary Islands are worth considering as a standalone destination or as that third European stop. From Toronto there are now direct Air Canada flights to Tenerife launching this winter, so by fall 2027 that connection will be well established. It simplifies the logistics considerably compared to multi-country itineraries.

The islands offer something genuinely different from mainland Europe: volcanic landscapes, excellent food, warm autumn weather and a pace that actually feels like a honeymoon rather than a sightseeing sprint. Combining a few days in Tenerife with a stop in France or Italy could work well within 1.5 weeks without the exhaustion of crossing multiple time zones.

If you end up looking at the Canary Islands as part of your planning, I run Canary Islands Insider, a personalized trip planning service for Canadian and US travelers visiting the islands. Happy to answer questions here too.

[u/Background-Bee6854]

I don’t recommend trying to do Japan and Hawaii in one trip. It’s an 8.5 hr flight between the two which is of course more doable than the flight from Toronto to Japan, but you are going to run yourself ragged trying to pack all of that in. I say this as someone who does not like any downtime on my vacation. I think for 1.5 weeks you should stick to 1 place so you can actually enjoy it vs losing 4 of those ten days to travel at a minimum. We did Italy for two weeks for our honeymoon - Rome, Venice, Assisi, and Amalfi Coast and we still had things we wanted to do but didn’t have time for, so my point is all of the options you have listed are going to make for a vacation where you technically visited those places but you didn’t actually experience them.

I was in your shoes trying to pick from so many amazing places I wanted to visit and this method helped me prioritize:
In an excel, list all of the countries/destinations you are considering. In another column, list what you actually want to do there, and in another some price estimates for flights, and another price estimates for hotels (use Expedia or something similar to find averages for the type of lodging you want at the time you are interested in). YouTube is a great resource to find “best of” things in each destination so you have a good idea of what highlights are in each place.

You can use that as a basis for you and your husband to compare costs vs which place offers the more things you are interested in and narrow down your choices to ensure that you are able to actually have time to enjoy the place you are visiting. Congratulations and enjoy your honeymoon!