Exceptional luxury honeymoons in Africa, from private safari concessions to beautiful Indian Ocean islands. There are few better places than Africa for offering you a once-in-a-lifetime experience, with places so gorgeous you won’t want to leave your suite. Discover where it’s worth splashing out – and how to combine some of these highlights into one seamless honeymoon.
Scroll for more
A truly luxurious honeymoon isn’t necessarily about choosing the most expensive hotel every night. It’s about knowing where spending more will genuinely transform the experience.
That might mean a superb safari lodge in a private reserve, where exceptional guiding and low vehicle numbers make all the difference. Or a suite with a private pool overlooking the bush. Perhaps it’s a remote island reached by light aircraft or helicopter, where the setting and sense of seclusion justify the splurge.
Africa gives you plenty of opportunities to go all-out. The trick is knowing which ones are worth it.
Every Cedarberg honeymoon is tailor-made. Tell us what matters most to you, your overall budget, and where you’ve got to with your research so far. And we’ll help you decide where to indulge – and where you may not need to.
How we create an exceptional honeymoon – quiet luxury, zero hassle
Perhaps privacy is your priority. Or outstanding food and wine, superb diving, wellness, extraordinary wildlife, a beautiful beach – or simply having everything run effortlessly.
We’ll recommend the safari lodges, hotels and island retreats that suit you, rather than automatically reaching for the most expensive option. We’ll also work out the flights, heli flips, private transfers and routing so that your honeymoon feels relaxed rather than like a complicated tour of airports.
Sometimes the greatest luxury is simply having the right combination.
Botswana is one of Africa’s most exclusive safari destinations, especially if you stay in the Okavango Delta. Small camps, vast wilderness areas and excellent guiding create a wonderfully intimate safari.
Your days might include game drives, mokoro trips through the Delta or tracking predators, followed by dinner beneath an enormous African sky.
Worth splurging on: location, private concessions, outstanding guiding and a particularly special camp or suite.
South Africa is wonderfully easy to combine: sophisticated Cape Town, beautiful wine country and some of Africa’s finest private safari lodges can all fit comfortably into one honeymoon.
It is also one of the easiest places to mix serious luxury with good-value stays. You may decide to spend more on the safari element or a fabulous Winelands hotel, without needing every night of the trip to carry an ultra-luxury price tag.
Worth splurging on: your safari lodge, a helicopter flip or one memorable food-and-wine pairing experience.
Mozambique works particularly well after safari. Think warm Indian Ocean water, white beaches, dhow cruises, luminous reefs for diving or snorkeling and beautifully private suites.
Bazaruto and Benguerra are particularly appealing for honeymooners who want their beach stay to feel remote and special rather than resort-like.
Worth splurging on: the beachfront setting, intimate lodges and privacy.
For couples looking for something especially secluded, we can also suggest private-island options.
Worth splurging on: a remarkable beach, location and a room or villa that makes you want to never leave
There is a reason safari and beach is the classic duet.
Start with the excitement of wildlife, early mornings and candlelit bush dinners, then slow everything down with a few days of downtime by the Indian Ocean.
But not every safari and beach combination works equally well. Flight connections, seasons and journey times matter.
We’ll suggest combinations that give you contrast without turning your honeymoon into a logistical marathon.
“Luxury is the ease of a t-shirt in a very expensive dress.” — Karl Lagerfeld
There is no single best month for an African honeymoon. Southern Africa, East Africa and the Indian Ocean all have different seasons, so the right combination depends on when you are travelling.
Around 10–14 nights works well for many couples, particularly for a two- or three-centre honeymoon. If you have longer, we usually recommend slowing the pace rather than simply adding more stops.
Absolutely not. In fact, we often recommend against it. A few carefully chosen splurges combined with excellent, less extravagant stays can produce a better honeymoon – and make much better use of your budget.
They are starting points rather than fixed itineraries. We can change the hotels, length, routing and level of luxury to suit you.
There is certainly no shortage of exceptional places to stay in Africa. Our job is to help you work out which ones are right for your honeymoon.
We also highlight some of our favourite luxury honeymoon hotels and lodges below. Places so gorgeous you won’t want to leave your room, let alone your hotel. And where the setting, service and experience genuinely makes them stand out.
Tell us what matters most to you, roughly when you want to travel and the budget you’re considering.
We’ll help you decide where to splurge, where to save and how to combine everything into one beautifully paced honeymoon.
Explore more of our honeymoons in Africa, all tailored around each couple.
Nine to twelve months ahead is ideal if you have particular safari camps, suites or island properties in mind. But we can still create excellent honeymoon trips at shorter notice if you have some flexibility.
It can mean staying in a private reserve or concession with fewer vehicles, booking a private safari vehicle and guide, choosing a secluded suite, or arranging private dining and other special experiences. We’ll explain which upgrades genuinely add value.
Most high-end safari lodges include meals, local drinks and safari activities. Beach resorts and city hotels vary considerably. We’ll make it clear exactly what is and isn’t included.
Yes. South Africa has some excellent malaria-free private reserves and luxury safari lodges, which can work particularly well when combined with Cape Town and the Winelands.
Other safari areas are also relatively low risk. Chat to us.
Choosing from honeymoon destinations in Africa is a bit like picking your first dance song: everyone has an opinion, there’s
READ MORE
Looking for an unforgettable place to propose in Africa? Discover 8 romantic safari proposal ideas, from Table Mountain to Victoria Falls and the Okavango.
READ MORE
The beautiful beaches of the Seychelles … If your idea of paradise is a really pretty beach, then you’re in
READ MORE
Only the best African travel advice, tidbits and tours. No nonsense.
