The world’s most popular honeymoon destinations, according to TikTok and Instagram
The pandemic is officially over, the world has opened up again, and travel is back to normal – finally. With the return of normalcy – and despite the cost-of-living crisis – travellers are desperate to get away, none more so than the thousands of couples getting married and looking forward to their honeymoons.
As we enter the 2023 wedding season, new research by Asda Money Travel Insurance reveals the world’s most picture-perfect honeymoon destinations – at least according to TikTok and Instagram.
The exhaustive study looked at all the countries in the world, as well as some of the most popular destinations (e.g. Santorini, Bali, Paris), to find the most popular on social media – and thus, where to go if you want to stay on trend with the influencers. Or maybe where not to go if you want to avoid them – we don’t judge.
Top of the list on Instagram is the Maldives, with over 134,000 posts, followed by Italy with nearly 32,000. The opposite is true of TikTok, as Italy leads the way with an incredible 16.5 million views, closely followed by the Maldives with 11.9 million.
It’s not surprising that the Maldives is the number one destination for Instagram enthusiasts. With its floating pool breakfast trays, long white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters with views of manta rays and the glitter-bomb of stars to light your evening dinner, the Maldives has been a favourite of celebrities and influencers alike for years.
The Maldives being beaten by Italy on Gen Z’s favourite social media platform, TikTok, is interesting and matches research conducted by American Express in 2022 that found Italy to be in high demand among younger Millennials and Gen Z. With romantic gondola rides along the Venice canal, vineyards of Tuscany, and ancient cities all to be found just a short train ride from each other, it’s not hard to see why.
Road trip honeymoons are also on the rise, and an Italian road trip through long swathes of open countryside and ocean views, stopping intermittently for vineyard tour is the trip of the moment. It’s no wonder Charles and Diana chose to take their second honeymoon there.
The top 5 countries for a romantic honeymoon, according to Instagram are:
The Maldives (134,006 posts)
Italy (31,921 posts)
Greece (14,790 posts)
Thailand (12,858 posts)
Japan (10,785 posts)
The top 5 countries for a romantic honeymoon, according to TikTok are:
Italy (16.5 million views)
The Maldives (11.9 million views)
Greece (8.6 million views)
Malaysia (1.9 million views)
Mexico (1.4 million views)
Asda Money also investigated the most popular destinations for a honeymoon, which included specific cities and areas of a country. Across the board, Bali was the favourite, with Hawaii and Paris placing second and third respectively.
The top 5 destinations for a romantic honeymoon, according to Instagram are:
Bali, Indonesia (121,981 posts)
Hawaii, USA (48,282 posts)
Paris, France (16,314 posts)
Santorini, Greece (9,523 posts)
Rome, Italy (6,097 posts)
The top 5 destinations for a romantic honeymoon, according to TikTok are:
Bali, Indonesia (6.9 million views)
Hawaii, USA (5.1 million views)
Paris, France (4.4 million views)
Cancun, Mexico (4.1 million views)
Bora Bora, French Polynesia (2.1 million views)
No matter where you’re planning on going for your honeymoon, Asda Money recommend that you have a travel insurance policy that covers all your travel needs. Their travel insurance includes UK and overseas cover, alongside cover for COVID-19, so you can be protected wherever you choose to go.
Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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What figure might you get if you added Kenya, Botswana, South Africa etc together for safaris?
I’m glad that you put “according to TikTok and Instagram” into the title.
I’d wager that the more exotic (and expensive) the location, the more likely you are to post on social media.
If we’re talking straight stats there are probably a lot of people who have to go to far less glamorous locations than the Maldives for their honeymoon.
Is it time to get a teeny weeny concerned when we start to use TikTok and Instagram to provide judgements / opinions etc etc?
Is there any other way that we could sort out the world’s most popular honeymoon destinations?
So where do we Americans go for our honeymoons? I doubt that we fly all the way to the Maldives.
Friends have been to Mexico. I’m surprised not to see Hawaii in the list.
I also know that Paris, followed by some travel in Europe, is popular too.
If honeymooners are gonna go to the trouble of doing TikTok wherever it is, it’s gonna be awesome.
What will the next headline be? The most popular honeymoon views on TikTok and Instagram.
Will it be selfies on the balcony? Champagne toasts? Romantic views?
So many of my friends will be sharing this post around. I haven’t done the maths yet but I think I’m looking at half a dozen weddings this year and next. Then God knows how many for 2025. There’s an awful lot of honeymoon talk whenever we get together for brunch or drinks.
Has anyone got any explanations for why the Maldives are top on Instagram whilst Italy is top on TikTok?
It’s just not that the figures are reversed there is a huge gap between them.
This is all quite tempting without ever coming to any real conclusions.
Could we have some more pieces on honeymoons please? I have this hope that one day, after going out for over 6 years, that my boyfriend will finally propose.
You could do all sorts of features, like 6 best safaris for honeymoons. Most romantic Indian Ocean island honeymoon venues.
You can probably see where my thinking’s going!
Don’t forget the mini-moons!
My daughter and her husband couldn’t fit in a big Africa trip plus beach break into their work diaries so they had a mini-moon straight after the wedding and did their big honeymoon several months later.
I think that’s what’s now known as a mini-moon. It’s also a good example of a First World Problem.
My point is that you ought to run a post on the best mini-moons.
And what sort of thing do couples usually do for their minimoons?
If my friends are anything like typical they usually go somewhere to chill out for 3 or 4 or 5 days after all the drama of the wedding.
A lot of them do self-catering in places like the Yorkshire Dales and Sussex though some can’t resist Bordeaux or Tuscany etc