I would recommend Puerto Vallarta – they have lots of nice hotels, nice beaches, nice side trips (jungle!), and for culture, you get a good feel for Mexico by making sure you visit ‘old Vallarta’, or even stay in old Vallarta if a hotel you like is there (ask your travel agent). Walking the streets of old vallarta, stopping in a little shop for cafe con leche…it’s a nice place. I have fond memories of P.V., and if you escape to old vallarta it’s not as commercial as Cancun…I’ve heard people say Cancun is like being in America…

cancun is nice because its just a bus ride into chicken itza, a huge pyramid. theres others around too. theres also a really beautiful water park called Xel Ha thats a good way to spend a day, you can swim with the dolphins and all that. its also not far from cozumel, another place you could stay a couple days.
puerta vallarta is very beautiful too though, and between the two i enjoyed it more, there was just more to do. theres still the all-inclusive hotels and stuff, and the beaches are pretty nice, but theres so much more to do around the city, and its a bit cheaper as well, so you can spend more money on tours, which are the real fun.

I’ve been to Cancun. If you want GORGEOUS turquoise waters, and your MO is just to sit in the sun, then Cancun is great and beautiful. But, the better hotels are in the Hotel Zone and there is NO culture in the hotel zone… there is very little Mexico in the hotel zone. If you still want the pretty water and white sand, but more culture, I would recommend Playa del Carmen – just outside of Cancun… smaller, less commercial.

I was going to recommend Puerto Vallarta too. Just like makin-me-tick said above… very cute cobblestone streets, much more “old feel” and not commercial. You can drive north to Sayulita (about 60min drive) which is really cute – good surf. But, this is Pacific Ocean, so not as nice of water as the gulf of Mexico waters of Cancun… Pacific Ocean is awesome (I’m from CA) but nothing beats that turquoise water of the Gulf.

CONGRATS on the wedding!

I would hihgly recommend a place called Playa del Carmen. It’s not too big and not too small. IT is so romantic and there are lots of things to do. The tourism is low there and it’s a perfect honeymoon spot!

Consider San Felipe… Beautifully set on the Sea of Cortez. You’ll have the quaintness of a small fishing village , as well a s a exciting night life. You can explore the surrounding areas by quad runners or just a walk on the beach. I drove about 45 minutes south and found beauitful natural hotsprings nested in the lava rock only 30 feet from the Sea of Cortez.

The Valley of Giants is also located in San Felipe, Check out the site…http://www.sanfelipe.com
and http://www.playadelparaiso.com

Many years of happiness to you both.

ANOTHER PIC OF SAN FELIPE

I agree that Playa del Carmen would be a great choice! It’s just 45 minutes south of Cancun, so still easy to fly in & out of that airport. There are great ruins nearby (Tulum) and of course you can take the 4-hour bus ride to Chichen Itza if you want a daytrip. Great beach clubs. Also you can take the ferry over to Cozumel island for great snorkeling, it leaves right from Playa. There are all-inclusive resorts nearby, if you’re into that, but also a ton of great smaller, family-run resorts that are in the city and more laid back and authentic. We stayed at La Tortuga (www.hotellatortuga.com) in a swim-up room! :)
Have a beautiful honeymoon!

i’d agree with jessiedbeverley.

I didnt like cancun.. it was mainly shopping malls from my memory but i suppose if you can afford all that stuff and day trips to easy places then it would be fun.

I prefered the more remote and authentic simple and relaxed places along the caribbean coast.

If youre there for two weeks you could check out beatuful cities like San Chrstobel and then some of the coastal places like Tulum

The only place I’ve been is Puerta Vallarta. I stayed at the hotel called La Palapa. There was a pool on the roof and it was a nice place to stay. WE took a day trip out towards the jungle and some small towns. I remember distinctly the beach, the clubs and the smell of the pollution in the air. It was a long time ago, not sure what has changed.

I’d avoid going to Cancun. It has a very Westernized feeling to it, especially, as stated earlier, in the Hotel Zone. I’m not a HUGE fan of the Maya Riviera for that reason—it caters too much to the folks who want nothing more than to party and visit bars.

Nope. For me, one of the nicer spots was Chetumal, near the border with Belize. On a big bay, nestled into the jungles, the scenery is spectacular! Accommodations weren’t that expensive, featured a more local flavor, yet were still comfortable. The food was incredible! Make time to hang your hammocks and enjoy the beauty of the beaches at sunrise!

If you want to go to a big tourist place, then some place like Cancun or Puerto Vallarta are fine. But I am not sure why you’d go to Mexico in the first place, because any place in the sunshine and on the beach would do, and you could go some place a lot closer to Norway, where apparently you’re from.

However, since you’re coming all the way from Norway, it’s less important that you go to a huge resort complex that is a non-stop flight from a large US city. You can choose some place smaller.

So I have a different suggestion. One possibility is to go to a smaller town that is not so far from one of these big resort towns. For example, you can go to Bucerías or Sayulita north of Puerto Vallarta. These sorts of places still have nice hotels, but will have more of a Mexican flavor. If you want to have the big resort experience, or your life is not complete without going to a Wall-Mart, you can still take a bus or a cab, and in an hour or less you’ll be in PV.

Alternatively, I’d suggest going to some place that is where the Mexicans go on vacation as opposed to where the North Americans go. An example would be Puerto Escondido, in Oaxaca. There are no huge high end hotels, like there are in PV or Cancun, so if that’s your thing, you’d be out of luck. But there are plenty of mid-range hotels that are clean and nice. This sort of town has an eclectic mix of tourists from Mexico, North America, and other places – like you.

If you had the interest and the time, it is not so far from Puerto Escondido up to Oaxaca. The drive (you could rent a car or take a bus – there are lots of buses) is spectacular. Oaxaca has a beautiful central square, and an ENORMOUS folk art/craft market that draws wares from not the immediate area but also places further to south. It is well worth a visit – the sort of sightseeing that I think is really interesting.

Also, I don’t know if it is still offered, but I did a bird-watching expedition led by a Oaxacan ecological society. We went around the estuary and lagoon and the mangrove swamps. It was fascinating, even if you weren’t 100% into birds. The money you spent on the tour benefited the organization.

Anyway, just some thoughts for you – I hope you enjoy your honeymoon!

I went to this AMAZING place called San Agustinillo in Oaxaca, Mexico. I stayed in a little, beautiful palapa called Punta Placer. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We also spent a week in Oaxaca city …(9 hours by bus)and climbed the pyramids, ate the best food (considered one of the top 10 culinary destinations in the world) and witnessed some ancient culture (Dia De Los Muertos – first week in Nov). I wouldn’t recommend Cancun unless you enjoy the very touristy kind of places. Playa Del Carmen is nice, so is Cozumel. But if you really want something different and romantic, try San Agustinillo. Best bet is to fly into Hualtulco and then take a taxi. If you go during turtle season, you can watch the baby turtles hatch in the moonlight and flip their little way to the pacific. Best of luck!

Playa del Carmen is less touristy than Cancun, and close to the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Also worth checking out is the Isla de Mujeres, which is a ferry ride from Cancun. It’s a tiny and very romantic little island. A friend stayed there on her honeymoon. I’ve found the hotel zone in Cancun totally scary and westernized. I’ve stayed in the real city of Cancun, and while it has local flavor, it’s a little too gritty for a honeymoon. If you stay around Playa del Carmen, take a trip out to the natural swimming holes, called cenotes, that will be in the surrounding areas.

I didn’t do much touring of the resort areas in Mexico while I was there and, overall, I’d recommend looking into other countries as alternatives – Costa Rica, Belize. I think Mexico just sounds too crazy with all the narcotrafficking wars right now. And that stuff has affected the tourist areas such as Cancun.
I did visit the coastal city of Huatulco in Mexico and that would be nice if you’re looking for something a bit different than the usual tourist spot and still want to be near the water. It’s was a real quiet and calm town with nice views of the water and might have what you’re looking for in terms of culture. I wouldn’t trust what is put out as “culture” in the large tourist areas, as money more than anything else drives what is pitched to foreign tourists.

Isla Mujeres!

It’s a ferry ride from Cancun. Our guide there called it ‘Cancun without makeup”. You’ll have the best of both worlds if you stay there. You can sightsee by day on Isla & party nightly in Cancun.