European honeymoon in early October?

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My fiancé and I are struggling to come to a decision as to where to go on honeymoon.. nothing is grabbing us. It's probably not helped by the fact that we like to do very different things on holiday.. I love the sun and like the idea of lounging on a sunbed in luxury for once, whereas my fiancé's idea of hell is to be stuck in a resort with nothing to do apart from sit by a pool.

Any ideas?

The requirements are:

About a week - 10 days max.
A nice luxurious hotel (we normally do self catering but we agree that for this holiday we would prefer a hotel)
A country that can cope with gluten free (fiancé is gluten intolerant and paranoid about being 'poisoned' with gluten)
A place that has plenty to see and do outside of the hotel, but not too touristy
Shorthaul only - fiancé does not want to travel too far for a week's holiday

We've been considering Sicily and Crete.. I was all ready to book Crete but I've never been to Greece before and something keeps holding me back... worried perhaps that there won't be much to see outside of the hotel? We both love Italy but worry that it won't be that warm by October.

Quite sad really that what should be an enjoyable experience is just causing stress now! Never mind, at least in November I have another holiday booked with my friend to Vegas, leaving the now-DH at home!

Neapolitan Riviera/Amalfi Coast? Should still be warm enough to sit outside.

Cyprus is lovely in October. I lived there for 3 years and autumn was my favourite time of year!

Morocco? Sightseeing and a pool? Personally I would go to California and live a bit.

Nice

Thanks all!

italy vs Gluten free, good luck with that one!!
are you taking babies?

We are having our honeymoon in Madeira in late October

Fly to Nice where it will be warm and sunny at the beginning of October. Stay somewhere nice and comfortable by the sea such as Cannes or Beaulieu. Many lovely 5-star hotels on the beach in both places.

With that as your base, rent a car and do day trips to beautiful historical places such as Saint Paul de Vence, Eze village, St Agnes etc.

italy vs Gluten free, good luck with that one!!

Weirdly, it's one of the best countries for gluten free people! They have a good understanding of coeliac disease there so in fact it's my fiancé's preferred choice because of it.

No kids, just us.

I think we will probably end up in Sorrento... back to our original choice! Not as warm as other places but it's a safe choice as we have both been previously (although not for over 20 years and not with each other)... but treat ourselves to a 5 star experience rather than the hostels we've used in the past!

I think you can't do better than Italy. The gluten free thing is very strong there and it's romantic. Enjoy.

Lisbon would be my pick. Lots of modern restaurants that would be able to cater (also lots of seafood, meat, cheese etc in traditional restaurants so you could choose to avoid gluten!). The city itself is incredible but you could also get the train to Sintra, Belem, or any number of beaches nearby to explore more. Best city I've ever visited.

We did Santorini for ours at the end of September/beginning of October. Great mix of luxury but still plenty to see and not a resort. I'm gluten intolerant and found it fine'.

Sorrento was very easy gluten free, but I wouldn't stay in Sorrento itself for a week.

DP and I went to Rome in December for my birthday, it was amazing, hardly any tourists and so so romantic. We took a walk in the early hours of the morning and had the Trevi fountain entirely to ourselves. We stayed in the Baglioni Hotel and found it the perfect location as we could walk to all the major sights easily. The hotel also threw in a bottle of prosecco and chocolate dipped strawberries on the evening of my birthday, and the baths are big enough for two walking along the tiber in the early evening you can see the starlings swarming which is an amazing sight to behold. The hotel also has an amazing spa on site which is reasonably priced.

Of all the Greek Islands Crete does have a lot to see actually and is one of the few islands that's still likely to be pretty warm so late in the year. I would recommend hiring a car, views driving up and over and around the island are fantastic. Knossos isn't to be missed of course. What's putting you off booking it?

What's putting me off booking it? Lack of enthusiasm from fiancé. His idea of the perfect holiday in October is a week in a cottage in Derbyshire. Whereas mine would be a Barbados beach.

Yesterday we had just about decided on a few days in Sorrento followed by a few days in Ischia!

Crete is gorgeous. Lots to see. There are some lovely boutique hotels there.

If you want UK, how about a really luvurious hotel? Talland Bay Hotel near Polperro or Fowey Hall in Fowey, both Cornwall.

Sicily.

What about Venice? He could walk/sightsee & you could sit by a pool if you choose the right hotel.

Thanks Loveka, I may take another look at Crete. The earthquake in Ischia has put my fiancé off a bit! Not in terms of being scared but just wondering if it will be too disrupted.

I'm afraid the idea of a honeymoon in the UK leaves me stone cold (and it will do literally in October). We go to Fowey regularly anyway as we have friends that live there.

Italy is great option for coeliac. France is pretty woeful. Spain is quite good.

Rome

Have you considered Malta? We've been in October and it's been t shirt and shorts weather. If you chose Valletta there are some lovely hotels and there is plenty to do outside the hotel, especially if you like history. I'm a bit of a fan of the island really as it's still quite quirky!

Just to update you.. we have made our decision and we are going to.. Calgary! Slight deviation from the original intention, but husband to be managed to get some extra time off work and Canada was the first place that we got really excited about. We have however got great holiday ideas from you all for the next 5 years, so thank you!

And I do appreciate I will not lounging around by a pool in Canada in October, but there are plenty of hot springs!