Where in the World is our Honeymoon?

My ideal honeymoon would be a nice long trip to Europe with stops in Paris, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. We travelled quite a bit when I was growing up and I'd love to return to some of those amazing places and also check out some new ones. But J is limited by the amount of vacation he can take at any one time, which left us with only 1 week for our honeymoon and put a European get away on the back burner. Full disclosure: if we're going all the way to Europe J wants to visit many of the WWII sights (he's a huge history buff) and I couldn't get excited about Juno Beach as a honeymoon destination! As freckled redheads, J and I are not all-inclusive sun vacation people and would go stir crazy sipping daquiris under an umbrella for a whole week. We considered visiting New York or Washington DC but I know we'll appreciate having a lot of down time after the wedding and those cities practically demand non-stop sight seeing.

This left us with our favourite kind of vacation: the road trip. J and I had an awesome vacation along the coast of Oregon shortly after we started dating. We loved making up our itinerary as we went along and having the choice to do as much or as little as we felt like. My only requirement for our honeymoon was that we visited somewhere new to us and J came up with the perfect destination: the Canadian Rockies!

I'm so excited!! The scenery is amazing and we have no shortage of activities to enjoy, from horseback riding, hiking, canoeing and river rafting to soaking in a natural hot springs. We plan to visit both Banff and Lake Louise. Since it's our honeymoon, we could splurge and spend a few nights in the famed Fairmont resorts Chateau Lake Louise or Banff Springs.

 

We'll definitely visit these beauties for a cocktail or afternoon tea but we fell in love with the many charming rustic lodges in the area. Wood fireplaces, no TV or cellphone reception and gorgeous mountain views made this an easy choice.

There are just too many properties to review here, but these were some of our favourites.

Emerald Lake Lodge is located 20 minutes west of Lake Louise. The property has 24 cabins equiped with a balcony, fireplace, hairdryer, coffee maker and telephone. Their restaurant features a gourmet seasonal menu to enjoy after working up an appetite canoeing or fishing on Emerald Lake.

Storm Mountain Lodge is only 25 minutes from Banff and Lake Louise but the 14 rustic log cabins feel secluded and relaxing. There are no phones, televisions or coffee makers but you have an antique soaker tub and fireplace in your cabin. The restaurant has an excellent reputation for delicious seasonal cuisine and fine wines.

 

 

 

Cathedral Mountain Lodge features cabins with a soaker tub, fireplace and Aveda amenities. You won't find any televisions or telephones to interrupt your wilderness experience. A stay at this lodge includes a complementary breakfast and canoeing and a guided hike at nearby Moraine Lake.

 

Moraine Lake Lodge also encourages seclusion with no telephones or televisions on the property, but they do have WiFi. Guests can enjoy complementary afternoon tea and buffet breakfast each day with canoeing and naturalist hike included with your stay.