Our 2022 Honeymoon - NYC, SF, LA, SD and Hawaii

HermioneGranger · 18 Feb 22, 08:16 PM

Hello everyone!

I have been an avid trip report reader for many years. They've been instrumental in my previous trip planning and the general excitement building before a trip. They've also helped soothe the pining when I haven't been able to take the trip I've wanted to. So, I figured now would be a good time to start my very own trip report so that I have it to look back on.

About Us

I am Emma and from Scotland. My husband to be is Chris from England. We both live and work in Scotland and are in our 30s. We don't have any children yet other than our precious wee cat, Edith.

I've been to Florida a number of times with my parents and with friends; it's one of my favourite places in the world and I could happily go there time and time again however I'm so excited to see some more of America and tick off a few more things from my World Wide To-Do List. Chris has been to Orlando, NYC, LA, and SF in the past too however is happy to go back to these places for the Honeymoon as we've planned things he hadn't done before or that he's happy to do again.

The Planning

When it came to Honeymoon planning, we wanted to strike the balance between places with lots to do and lots to see and then also have time to chill out and relax. We get married at the beginning of May and we really needed to have the honeymoon basically immediately after so we settled on:

New York - 11 May to 15 May
San Francisco - 15 May to 18 May
LA - 18 May to 21 May
San Diego - 21 May to 24 May
Hawaii - 24 May to 31 May

We're then flying to London for a few days for a concert and to see family before we come home and our married life really begins. To say I'm excited about this trip is an absolute understatement.

I have been reading through the various trip reports on here for inspiration and am so far pretty settled with our NYC and San Fran plans but still open for our LA, San Diego and Hawaii plans.

New York City

11 May - we're flying with BA on the 0825 from LHR to JFK. This should get us there about 1105. Taking into account immigration etc (which I'll be honest and say I have no idea what to expect but still have the 2 hours at MCO with my 13 month old niece burned into my mind) , I'm expecting us to be at the hotel around 1400. I haven't decided between getting the public transport which seems simple enough or getting a traditional NYC cab. Our plan is to STAY AWAKE! So we'll be heading out to have a nosy in Times Square as our hotel is near there, go for a wander to get our bearings and I've booked us into the Empire State Building at 1930 to see the sunset and then I expect we'll plop into bed!

12 May - I have booked us into the 9/11 Memorial and Museum for 10 am then onto the Ferry for the Liberty Island and Ellis Island visit at 1pm. We're then planning on walking over the Brooklyn Bridge (with a detour to see the Charging Bull and Wall Street) to get some pizza, and get the ferry from Dumbo back to East 34th Street where we'll walk back to the Hotel via the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, and Bryant Park.

13 May - We're planning on going to the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space museum. You're going to see a theme throughout this trip as Chris is in the military and we've unintentionally planned a very military based trip! Then we're going to go to Top of the Rock and then to a Mets game.

14 May - This is going to be a slightly slower paced day with a slight lie in, then we're going to go the Natural History Museum, with a walk back to the hotel through Central Park and then we have Jersey Boys tickets before an early night for our 0830 flight to San Francisco.

I've purchased the CityPass after some agonising as I thought it gave us the best value and allowed us to book into all the things we were really keen to do. There are definitely things we aren't doing that I would like to if we had time but you know what that means... we'll just have to come back!

That's probably enough rambling from me for now but I'll be back with more updates soon. I'm currently in quarantine so this is a nice distraction!

**scottishnellie** · 18 Feb 22, 08:53 PM

Ooh this looks so exciting!

Can�t wait to read along with your updates. I am currently in covid jail so this is a nice distraction for me too!

P&S · 7 Mar 22, 07:28 PM

Sounds like an exciting honeymoon

HermioneGranger · 9 Apr 22, 02:02 PM

After a bit of a break (oops!) I'm back for the next part of our pre-Trip Report.

San Francisco - 15 May - 18 May

15 May

So we fly from JFK into SFO landing at around mid day. We're staying at the Riu Plaza Fisherman's Wharf which looks pretty nice. I've mostly planned to just go for a wander, get our bearings and have some dinner on this day. I'm keen to go on the cable cars so we might do this then.

16 May

After reading Cornishfrogboy's trip report, I really wanted to do the Dylan's bike tour so I've booked this for today. They've swapped around the order of it so we're going out to Muir Woods in the morning, then back to the shop for the bike and cycle round the neighbourhoods and over the Golden Gate Bridge. I went for the e-bikes as I've not ridden a bike in about 20 years so this should be a good laugh! I'm excited for this, it seems like a really good way to see the city.

17 May

Alcatraz is the plan for the morning and then we're planning on going back to anything we see on our bike tour that we want to have another look at.

LA - 18 to 21 May

Our flight to LA isn't until 1530 so I think we'll have a lazy morning, maybe hang out at the pool for a bit and do any last minute bits before heading to the airport.

We land around 1700 and we're picking up a car for this part of the trip. I'm a bit nervous about driving in LA as it seems MENTAL but I'm sure it'll be fine. We're staying at the Millennium Biltmore and I honestly cannot wait for a cocktail in the bar. It just looks like pure Hollywood Glam and I'm so excited for it.

Now, I have to be honest...Chris has done most of the planning for LA so I can't remember which day we're doing what on (what kind of planner am I?!) but we're doing all the usuals - Griffith Observatory, Chinese Theatre, Walk of Fame etc. I also want to go to Santa Monica.

We've booked the Warner Brother's tour and also the best bit... a day at Disney! I'm extremely excited to get my Disney fix. Having been to WDW a number of times, I'm looking forward to seeing what Disneyland is like. We've booked a park hopper ticket so planning on doing both parks in the one day - we're both big Star Wars and Marvel fans so I'm sure we're going to love it.

San Diego - 21 to 24 May

21 May

The plan is to do any last minute sight seeing we fancy in the morning and then drive down to San Diego in the afternoon. I really want to stop at some sort of roadside diner or something on the way there so keen for any recommendations.

We're staying at the Best Western Yacht Harbour Hotel which looks decent enough. Our plan is to check in, get some dinner and then head out to the Gaslamp quarter for a night out.

22 May

This is our scheduled hangover and chill out day. I think we'll spend some time at the pool, maybe go to Balboa Park for a wander. I'd like to go to the Top Gun bar for a drink and some food so this might be the day for that.

23 May

So today we have the USS Midway booked in the morning and then the Hornblower cruise in the afternoon - again inspired by Cornishfrogboy! As I said, you'll notice a theme throughout this trip of seeing all things military. I'm excited for both of these - especially the boat trip.

Hawaii - 24 to 31 May

The last week of our trip is all about relaxing and chilling out after our hectic previous couple of week. We're flying out on Hawaiian Airline and we've treated ourselves and upgraded our seats for this flight. We're staying on Oahu for the week. We looked into moving around the islands but given we just wanted to relax we decided just to stay in the one. We can always come back

We're staying at the Trump International Waikiki (hate the man and his politics but the hotel looks divine). We're going to go for a hike (I really hope this more like a walk

) up Diamond Head and I've booked a full day tour round the island. I've also booked the Pearl Harbour museum - well a full day guided tour round all 4 museums and then a tour of Honolulu city.

The rest of the trip will be spent at the beach, in a bar and hopefully relaxed and enjoying wedded bliss.

Food

One of my favourite things about holidays is the food and I'm hoping this trip is going to be no exception.

I'm desperate for an NYC pizza slice, a food cart falafel, an ice cold Bud Light and some American pancakes and bacon. As well as some Lays, some junior mints and chips ahoy cookies. All the good stuff!

We're hoping to do a mix of fast food and nicer meals throughout the trip so I'll need to get researching for the nicer places. I think a lot of the meals during the day will just be grabbed when we're going from one place to the next.

So there we have it...our 3 week honeymoon. I'm beyond excited for both the wedding and the honeymoon...only 4 weeks to go!

Inky · 9 Apr 22, 02:38 PM

Sounds fabulous!

Beaker's Fluff · 9 Apr 22, 03:07 PM

Sounds amazing.

Trumps hotels are incredible, we stayed in Toronto, best hotel I have stayed in.

18 Feb 22, 08:16 PM	#1
	18 Feb 22, 08:16 PM HermioneGranger Surfing at Typhoon Lagoon
HermioneGranger Surfing at Typhoon Lagoon Join Date: May 17	Our 2022 Honeymoon - NYC, SF, LA, SD and Hawaii Hello everyone! I have been an avid trip report reader for many years. They've been instrumental in my previous trip planning and the general excitement building before a trip. They've also helped soothe the pining when I haven't been able to take the trip I've wanted to. So, I figured now would be a good time to start my very own trip report so that I have it to look back on. About Us I am Emma and from Scotland. My husband to be is Chris from England. We both live and work in Scotland and are in our 30s. We don't have any children yet other than our precious wee cat, Edith. I've been to Florida a number of times with my parents and with friends; it's one of my favourite places in the world and I could happily go there time and time again however I'm so excited to see some more of America and tick off a few more things from my World Wide To-Do List. Chris has been to Orlando, NYC, LA, and SF in the past too however is happy to go back to these places for the Honeymoon as we've planned things he hadn't done before or that he's happy to do again. The Planning When it came to Honeymoon planning, we wanted to strike the balance between places with lots to do and lots to see and then also have time to chill out and relax. We get married at the beginning of May and we really needed to have the honeymoon basically immediately after so we settled on: New York - 11 May to 15 May San Francisco - 15 May to 18 May LA - 18 May to 21 May San Diego - 21 May to 24 May Hawaii - 24 May to 31 May We're then flying to London for a few days for a concert and to see family before we come home and our married life really begins. To say I'm excited about this trip is an absolute understatement. I have been reading through the various trip reports on here for inspiration and am so far pretty settled with our NYC and San Fran plans but still open for our LA, San Diego and Hawaii plans. New York City 11 May - we're flying with BA on the 0825 from LHR to JFK. This should get us there about 1105. Taking into account immigration etc (which I'll be honest and say I have no idea what to expect but still have the 2 hours at MCO with my 13 month old niece burned into my mind) , I'm expecting us to be at the hotel around 1400. I haven't decided between getting the public transport which seems simple enough or getting a traditional NYC cab. Our plan is to STAY AWAKE! So we'll be heading out to have a nosy in Times Square as our hotel is near there, go for a wander to get our bearings and I've booked us into the Empire State Building at 1930 to see the sunset and then I expect we'll plop into bed! 12 May - I have booked us into the 9/11 Memorial and Museum for 10 am then onto the Ferry for the Liberty Island and Ellis Island visit at 1pm. We're then planning on walking over the Brooklyn Bridge (with a detour to see the Charging Bull and Wall Street) to get some pizza, and get the ferry from Dumbo back to East 34th Street where we'll walk back to the Hotel via the Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, and Bryant Park. 13 May - We're planning on going to the Intrepid Air, Sea and Space museum. You're going to see a theme throughout this trip as Chris is in the military and we've unintentionally planned a very military based trip! Then we're going to go to Top of the Rock and then to a Mets game. 14 May - This is going to be a slightly slower paced day with a slight lie in, then we're going to go the Natural History Museum, with a walk back to the hotel through Central Park and then we have Jersey Boys tickets before an early night for our 0830 flight to San Francisco. I've purchased the CityPass after some agonising as I thought it gave us the best value and allowed us to book into all the things we were really keen to do. There are definitely things we aren't doing that I would like to if we had time but you know what that means... we'll just have to come back! That's probably enough rambling from me for now but I'll be back with more updates soon. I'm currently in quarantine so this is a nice distraction!

9 Apr 22, 02:02 PM	#4
	9 Apr 22, 02:02 PM HermioneGranger Surfing at Typhoon Lagoon Thread Starter
HermioneGranger Thread Starter Surfing at Typhoon Lagoon Join Date: May 17	After a bit of a break (oops!) I'm back for the next part of our pre-Trip Report. San Francisco - 15 May - 18 May 15 May So we fly from JFK into SFO landing at around mid day. We're staying at the Riu Plaza Fisherman's Wharf which looks pretty nice. I've mostly planned to just go for a wander, get our bearings and have some dinner on this day. I'm keen to go on the cable cars so we might do this then. 16 May After reading Cornishfrogboy's trip report, I really wanted to do the Dylan's bike tour so I've booked this for today. They've swapped around the order of it so we're going out to Muir Woods in the morning, then back to the shop for the bike and cycle round the neighbourhoods and over the Golden Gate Bridge. I went for the e-bikes as I've not ridden a bike in about 20 years so this should be a good laugh! I'm excited for this, it seems like a really good way to see the city. 17 May Alcatraz is the plan for the morning and then we're planning on going back to anything we see on our bike tour that we want to have another look at. LA - 18 to 21 May Our flight to LA isn't until 1530 so I think we'll have a lazy morning, maybe hang out at the pool for a bit and do any last minute bits before heading to the airport. We land around 1700 and we're picking up a car for this part of the trip. I'm a bit nervous about driving in LA as it seems MENTAL but I'm sure it'll be fine. We're staying at the Millennium Biltmore and I honestly cannot wait for a cocktail in the bar. It just looks like pure Hollywood Glam and I'm so excited for it. Now, I have to be honest...Chris has done most of the planning for LA so I can't remember which day we're doing what on (what kind of planner am I?!) but we're doing all the usuals - Griffith Observatory, Chinese Theatre, Walk of Fame etc. I also want to go to Santa Monica. We've booked the Warner Brother's tour and also the best bit... a day at Disney! I'm extremely excited to get my Disney fix. Having been to WDW a number of times, I'm looking forward to seeing what Disneyland is like. We've booked a park hopper ticket so planning on doing both parks in the one day - we're both big Star Wars and Marvel fans so I'm sure we're going to love it. San Diego - 21 to 24 May 21 May The plan is to do any last minute sight seeing we fancy in the morning and then drive down to San Diego in the afternoon. I really want to stop at some sort of roadside diner or something on the way there so keen for any recommendations. We're staying at the Best Western Yacht Harbour Hotel which looks decent enough. Our plan is to check in, get some dinner and then head out to the Gaslamp quarter for a night out. 22 May This is our scheduled hangover and chill out day. I think we'll spend some time at the pool, maybe go to Balboa Park for a wander. I'd like to go to the Top Gun bar for a drink and some food so this might be the day for that. 23 May So today we have the USS Midway booked in the morning and then the Hornblower cruise in the afternoon - again inspired by Cornishfrogboy! As I said, you'll notice a theme throughout this trip of seeing all things military. I'm excited for both of these - especially the boat trip. Hawaii - 24 to 31 May The last week of our trip is all about relaxing and chilling out after our hectic previous couple of week. We're flying out on Hawaiian Airline and we've treated ourselves and upgraded our seats for this flight. We're staying on Oahu for the week. We looked into moving around the islands but given we just wanted to relax we decided just to stay in the one. We can always come back We're staying at the Trump International Waikiki (hate the man and his politics but the hotel looks divine). We're going to go for a hike (I really hope this more like a walk ) up Diamond Head and I've booked a full day tour round the island. I've also booked the Pearl Harbour museum - well a full day guided tour round all 4 museums and then a tour of Honolulu city. The rest of the trip will be spent at the beach, in a bar and hopefully relaxed and enjoying wedded bliss. Food One of my favourite things about holidays is the food and I'm hoping this trip is going to be no exception. I'm desperate for an NYC pizza slice, a food cart falafel, an ice cold Bud Light and some American pancakes and bacon. As well as some Lays, some junior mints and chips ahoy cookies. All the good stuff! We're hoping to do a mix of fast food and nicer meals throughout the trip so I'll need to get researching for the nicer places. I think a lot of the meals during the day will just be grabbed when we're going from one place to the next. So there we have it...our 3 week honeymoon. I'm beyond excited for both the wedding and the honeymoon...only 4 weeks to go!