Royal wedding 2.0 is just weeks away, and it has the couple’s biggest fans wondering where they will be whisked away for their first vacation together as husband and wife. After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot on May 19 at Windsor Castle in London, England, the world is their oyster for a luxe royal honeymoon.
Travel + Leisure magazine reports that the newlyweds will head to a royal honeymoon in Namibia, a country in southern Africa that borders the Atlantic Ocean. The choice makes sense, muses Teresa Belcher of Honeymoon Islands travel agency in Haymarket, Virginia, because it’s ideal when it comes to privacy—Namibia is one of the least-densely populated countries in the world. The two will reportedly stay at Natural Selection’s Hoanib Valley Camp, the country’s newest luxury camp, which officially opens to the public in June 2018. Of course, that means the Meghan and Harry will be the first and only guests on the property at the time.
These aren’t your typical rustic African safari accommodations—this is a stylish, six-bedroom tented camp nestled in the remote, wild environment of Kaokoland that’s surrounding by towering mountains, sand dunes, and massive expanses of desert. Sign us up!
But official accommodations aside, Belcher (who can be reached here for more info) dishes on a few other up-to-par destinations that are giving us wanderlust.
1. Even before the official announcement, Belcher had a suspicion that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would be drawn to Africa. At the Ulusaba Private Game Reserve in Ulusaba, South Africa, the newlyweds could choose from two lodges: one featuring panoramic views from the top of a small mountain or another in the heart of the bush, close to the action. From either, Harry and Meghan could escape to the vineyard at Mount Rochelle near the town of Franschhoek—the self-proclaimed food and wine capital of South Africa.
2. The South Pacific would have been a royal curveball, but no doubt the accommodations are fit for a king and queen. Laucala, an exclusive private retreat in the Fijian Islands, combines white sandy beaches with mesmerizing rainforest-laced landscapes.
Here, vacationers can enjoy one of 25 Fijian-style villas set amid coconut plantations, next to deserted beaches, and even atop a volcanic mountain—one that overlooks endless jungles and gorgeous coral reefs. The privacy ranks high—in fact, the details of this dream resort only recently became available to the public on the internet—the resort’s owner is the co-founder of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz, and Laucala was once his personal retreat open only to celebrities looking to escape paparazzi.
3. And if Harry and Meghan were Caribbean-island-bound? The 2017 hurricane season wasn’t exactly kind to this region, but the Necker Island private residence team is “rebuilding it stronger and more modern than ever,” reports Belcher. As Sir Richard Branson’s private island estate in the British Virgin Islands, this choice would support the newlyweds’ homeland—in a British territory and owned by a Brit. It can be booked with an exclusive island buyout, and it just happens to be where the Obamas went on vacation just after leaving the White House.
