It’s no secret that celebrities influence trends and inspire travel. Put some Hollywood in your honeymoon and peruse the sexy escapes of three jet-set couples, whose well-publicized wanderlust put these best honeymoon destinations on everyone’s wish list.
See which honeymoon destinations made the list in 2017
Kauai, Hawaii
Joe Manganiello reportedly surprised Sofia Vergara with a giant gem during a family Christmas celebration on the Garden Isle of Kauai, Hawaii. The picture window at The St. Regis Princeville Resort suite overlooked cerulean Hanalei Bay. Honeymoons here can include a love-themed hula performance, a four-course wine-pairing dinner in a candlelit cabana, and a bespoke ocean-side spa treatment with mango butter. Explore the greenest, wettest island in the chain by horseback, take a heli-tour past waterfalls and over valleys and mountains that doubled as Jurassic Park sets, and sample local specialties like food-truck shave ice, as Vergara did.
Jamaica
Tricked-out floating party barges give Beyonce an excuse (like she needs one!) to pose in bikinis and temporary metallic tats. During 2014’s hop around the Mediterranean via megayacht, she and Jay Z touched down in the sun-splashed French town of Antibes and renewed their vows at a beach bash in Corsica. In 2013, they sailed from Spain to Sorrento’s Italian coast, causing a romantic scene in a rowboat headed for Capri’s luminescent Blue Grotto caves. Caribbean Queen Bey and her king regularly drop anchor in the Turks and Caicos, Haiti, St. Barth and Anguilla. During a Jamaica jaunt, they recharged at GoldenEye‘s Ian Fleming Villa, the home where Fleming penned 14 James Bond novels. The Oracabessa Bay estate features a dedicated cook, a butler, a private beach and an outdoor tub. Finance Jet Ski rentals and a Blue Mountain Coffee Scrub at the spa with the resort’s honeymoon registry.
Los Cabos, Mexico
Things heated up for Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello during an extended Labor Day weekend in Mexico, believed to be their first official vacation together and deemed “heaven” on her Insta. Their steamy stay at Zoetry Casa Del Mar Los Cabos (reopened in October 2015 as Casa del Mar Golf Resort & Spa) included soaking up rays poolside, indulging in cigars and jetted tubs, a private toes-in-the-sand dinner, and a couples massage on the Presidential Suite’s balcony. Nearby, Auberge’s Esperanza is another Hollywood hot spot: Think LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian, and Josh Duhamel and Fergie. Tucked between two bluffs and perched high above beaches inaccessible to the public or paparazzi, the resort offers a spacious penthouse with ocean views and a balcony for spa treatments. Stogie aficionados can enroll in a cigar-rolling seminar and sip margaritas during the A Night to Remember private beach dinner.
Dominican Republic
Casa de Campo, on the Dominican Republic’s southeastern coast in La Romana, hosted Jay Z and Beyonce not once, but twice, in 2014. The second time, they celebrated their sixth anniversary with sunset wine on their private strip of sand, as well as beach walks, scooter rides, cabana rentals and dinner at Beach Club by Le Cirque. While at the bougainvillea-swathed compound, they settled into the Punta Minitas 34 villa — also the setting for Josh Murray’s proposal to Bachelorette Andi Dorfman, Drake’s “Started from the Bottom” video, and an Instagram shoot by @badgalriri (aka Rihanna).
Punta Mita, Mexico
For Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s second honeymoon (oh, to be a celeb and afford two honeymoons!), the Wests shacked up at the as-seen-on-TV Casa Aramara, a party pad in Punta Mita, Mexico, built by Girls Gone Wild creator Joe Francis. Other claims to fame: Mario Lopez staged his second wedding here, and Jennifer Aniston, Eva Longoria and Demi Moore have lounged around its azure pool and exclusive playa. If money is no object, sample specialties by the house chefs, and take advantage of the trademarked “Anything” phone button to get fries delivered at midnight, summon the on-call masseuse or have the car brought around. Re-enact their leap of faith on zip lines at Rancho Mi Chaparrita.
Turks and Caicos Islands
Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello didn’t waste any time jetting off to their honeymoon at COMO Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The pair showed some skin and snapped selfies on the mile-long, white-sand beach. No doubt the couple also enjoyed their own private pool, direct beach access and round-the-clock attention from their personal butler. #Jofia isn’t the first A-List pair to steal away to this 1,000-acre private-island resort; Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner got hitched here in happier times.
Cuba
Trendsetters even in travel, Jay Z and Beyonce ventured to Cuba almost two years before President Obama softened tourism restrictions on the island in 2015. The historic Hotel Saratoga, built in 1933, was fitting for Jayoncé — the open-air colonnade has staged impromptu concerts by musical luminaries for decades. Chauffeured around on the seat back of a top-down teal vintage convertible, reminiscent of the Kennedys, they stopped to take in a guided neighborhood tour, cigar breaks, a performance by theater group La Colmenita, and dirty-dancing lessons at some of Havana’s legendary nightclubs.
Santa Barbara, California
Proving that a romantic escape doesn’t need to be far from home, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West darted up the Pacific Coast to spend a weekend at Santa Barbara’s classic San Ysidro Ranch in 2013. They booked the same 2,000-square-foot, two-bedroom stone cottage that welcomed newlyweds JFK and Jackie O in 1953, as well as Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson in 2014. Babymooners of sorts, the new parents stayed close to the room and were often seen cuddling North West and each other on the upper private deck. Venture just off property to experience Santa Barbara’s seasonal whale-watching, quiet coves for stand-up paddle boarding, and places aplenty to taste local wine.
Palm Beach, Florida
In March 2015, Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello flew to Florida to visit Vergara’s relatives and stayed at Palm Beach’s huge and historic hotel, The Breakers, taking advantage of its snorkeling reef, catamaran sails, four pools, Pilates classes near the sand, and rentable bungalows with bottle service and open-sky showers. Joe and So returned to the elegant estate in the summer, walking the property’s 140 acres of Atlantic coastline and checking out some of the 80,000 square feet of event spaces. The multiple visits immediately sparked wedding-venue gossip — which was validated in November 2015 when they tied the knot in an extravagant, flower-swathed ceremony at the South Florida landmark.
Scottsdale, Arizona
After Jay Z quietly put a ring on it in 2008, he and Beyonce secreted away to Scottsdale, Arizona’s Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, a 53-acre retreat flaunting an infinity pool, 105 amenity-laden casitas and suites, and panoramas of Paradise Valley’s rock formations. Learn to rub your partner the right way with an interactive Massage 101 treatment-turned-teaching-moment at the Asian-inspired spa. Then take to the sky with Rainbow Ryders’ sunrise hot-air-balloon ride over the Sonoran Desert. Or stargaze over spoonfuls of coconut panna cotta, and take a mixology class featuring three signature drinks from the bartenders at Jade Bar.
Las Vegas
Vegas is a smorgasbord of decadent delights, from Couples Good Luck Rituals at Wynn to suites with solariums and reflecting pools at Bellagio. Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello rang in the New Year in the Live Entertainment Capital with Manganiello’s Sabotage co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger and his GF, Heather Milligan. After dining on rib-eyes at Strip House (Vergara slayed in a bright-red body-con Hervé Lèger dress — a honeymoon must-pack), the foursome caught Britney Spears’ sexy Piece of Me show at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
Florence, Italy
Florence, the buzzing city on the banks of the river Arno where you can behold Michelangelo’s David, holds a lot of sentimental value for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West; it’s where they walked down the aisle and is believed to be where they conceived Nori. Have a meal of a lifetime at Enoteca Pinchiorri, which boasts three Michelin stars — and catered their Forte di Belvedere wedding reception. Sleep off your food coma on the same pillows the wedding party used at Belmond Villa San Michele, a converted 15th-century monastery outfitted with custom furniture, marble bathrooms, terraced gardens, a heated pool and a massage gazebo. Sightsee on the back of a Vespa, and learn tricks of the trade at Belmond’s cooking classes or with a guest-exclusive meet-and-greet with the family behind the world-famous Vivoli gelateria.
Ireland
The low-key Emerald Isle wasn’t obvi for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s post-hitching hideaway, but a little country calm was just what they craved after their Italian destination-wedding-week media storm. Kimye stayed in a series of landmark lodgings including Ballyfin Demesne, a 19th-century Regency estate at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Try a little role-play (it’s your honeymoon, why not?) and use the hotel’s costume closet and photographer to re-create your favorite steamy Downton Abbey scenes. Zoom through the bucolic landscape of Ballyhoura on mountain bikes, then refresh with a post-cycle picnic of freshly made tarts, apple juice and sausages, plus pints of Guinness in a local pub.
Paris
Regulars at runway shows, the Kim Kardashian and Kanye West never miss an opportunity to pick up new pieces, hang with designer friends like Valentino or stop by the Louis Vuitton Foundation museum in Paris. With fears of not fitting into your gown behind you, stuff your face with Ladurée macarons, rich hot chocolate from Angelina, and Gallic gastronomy at Michelin-starred (and star-filled) restaurant Hotel Costes, where Kim hosted her bachelorette dinner. Retire to their hotel of choice, Le Royal Monceau — Raffles Paris, just steps away from the Champs-Élysées and offering room personalization, an onsite movie theater for private screenings, and a first-night, heart-shaped treat created by the Picasso of patisserie, Pierre Hermé.
New Orleans
Joe Manganiello had already confessed to a reporter that Sofia Vergara was his celebrity crush when he hightailed it to New Orleans to demand a date with the Colombiana, who was there shooting Hot Pursuit (Go, Joe!). He wooed Vergara — who makes no bones about her food fanaticism — at Li’l Dizzy’s with a shared plate of the best fried chicken that side of the Mississippi. Get your sweetie some sugar at Vergara-approved bakery Sucré, then work it off with a stroll through the New Orleans Museum of Art sculpture garden. After a sunset cruise on Steamboat Natchez, put on your dancing shoes and check out the unrivaled live-music scene. Southern hospitality awaits, just as it did when Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly and the Clintons roamed the gilded, muraled halls of the Sazerac Bar at The Roosevelt.
