Real Honeymoon: Snowboarding in France and Swimming in Mexico

Articles, Real Weddings

Meet Christina and Gregory! They tied the knot earlier this year and went on a dream honeymoon, planned by the fabulous Sarah Appleton.

They originally planned to spend their honeymoon in New Zealand, but thanks to Covid (and even after their travel counsellor, Sarah had planned their amazing trip), they had to reschedule everything. Next, Sarah planned their trip to Sri Lanka, which again, had to be rescheduled.

After all the changes, Sarah suggested skiing in Europe followed by a trip to Mexico, which is exactly what they did!

Couple: Christina Connolly & Gregory Duggan

Length of engagement: 2 years 6 months (Covid extended it by a year)

Honeymoon Date: Jan/Feb 2022

Honeymoon Locations: Tignes, France & Quintana Roo, Mexico

Travel Agent: Sarah Appleton, Travel Counsellor

 

“We are both fairly active so we wanted somewhere where we could do lots of activities. There is only so much chilling out that I could manage before driving my new husband crazy. We both love the snow so a week snowboarding was ideal and Tignes in France is a fantastic location. There is a great ski area, and generally there is good snow especially with the glacier area and the area covered by the Escape Killy pass is fantastic. We also can’t forget that the food in France is absolutely amazing.”

 

“For the second part we knew we wanted some sun, and to spend some time by the water so that we could scuba dive and kitesurf. The Yucatan peninsula in Mexico has such a rich culture, fabulous food and all the activities we could want. We were able to do a small dive into Mayan culture, see wildlife in the nature reserves, kitesurf in glorious sun, scuba dive both on the reefs and in an underground cavern in a cenote and spend a few days relaxing in luxury.”

 

 

We asked Christina and Gregory if they have any expert tips on what to consider when booking a honeymoon! Their advice is brilliant: if there is something you know you want to do, make sure you can actually do it at the time of year you plan to go on honeymoon. Then, plan accordingly!

“For example, there’s no point planning to dive with whale sharks if they are not in the right area at the time you are there. When you have an idea of when you want to go, talk to a travel agent. They will have all the information on the best places to go, from popular locations to more secretive out of the way spots.”

 

 

They both found it very hard to narrow down all their experiences and pick a favourite memory, as you can imagine! But if they had to pick, they’d say the thing they enjoyed the most was visiting the different Cenotes in Mexico.

“Cenotes are fresh water sinkholes in the limestone bedrock of the Yucatan peninsula that you can swim in. They are sometimes underground, sometimes in caves with holes in the ceiling, sometimes more like lagoons. They are filled with life from fish to turtles to bats and were just so refreshing and relaxing to swim in (especially to get a break from the heat when we were used to Irish weather).”

 

Christina and Gregory have some excellent advice for couples planning their honeymoon:

“We used a travel agent for our honeymoon and she made the trip absolutely seamless and planned something for us that allowed us to do all the activities we wanted while also having a few days in
luxury to relax and unwind. Plan a few activities before you go but also leave time to just explore and unwind. Take plenty of photos but make sure and see the trip with your eyes and not just threw a lens. Try something new and have a fantastic trip no matter where you go.”