Most anniversary trip guides will not be blunt about it: It's not about where you go; it's about whether or not it's the place that's right for you as a couple. Santorini is extraordinary. So is Costa Rica. Neither is suitable for all. The couples who remember their best anniversary trips as truly enjoyable are the ones who chose a place that matched their reality—how they travel, the activities that truly interest them, etc.—instead of what they think they should travel to. In this guide, we've highlighted suggestions by traveler type so you can find providers that suit your needs, not someone else's.
Before comparing flights, answer this one honest question: What does an ideal day away look like to us? Do you get up at 5 am to go for a walk, or do you lie in bed until 10 am? Is dinner a three-hour experience at one great restaurant or a stroll around a night market? Do you want to do a lot or do you want to do nothing? Your answer shapes all the choices that follow.
Here we have highlighted some of the ideas for traveling on the occasion of an anniversary, you can identify with yourself and then find the places to go.
These memorable trips for lovers to the moon are designed around physical connection, and it's no secret that it creates the most memorable and lasting moments any couple can have together, especially if it's your best day together.
Costa Rica
No other place offers adventure by day and indulgence by night like Costa Rica. In a matter of hours, you can find cloud forests, active volcanoes, and surf breaks on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Coast. There is nothing like zipping through the Monteverde rain forests at dawn and soaking up the volcanic hot springs as the sun sets in Arenal. In fact, it is not roughing it; these boutique eco-lodges are all over the country and have an adventure vibe without sacrificing comfort.
Iceland
The sort of common reverence that romantic stories don't typically inspire: Northern Lights overhead, geothermal springs steaming in snowy valleys, waterfalls in your chest. If both of you don't want to talk at the same time, Iceland is the place for you and your partner. The two best places to start a week of anniversary travel ideas you will not tire of talking about for years to come are the Golden Circle route and the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.
New Zealand South Island
Few places offer a more dramatic landscape and adventure scope than New Zealand's South Island for an anniversary trip. Queenstown offers bungee jumping, white water rafting, and canyon swinging; the drive to Milford Sound is a must to experience the scenery, as most people can't believe it's this way when driving through. It's the anniversary year, and if couples have been quietly luring New Zealand onto the list for years, they're meant for active days followed by earned accommodation.
These anniversary travel ideas are based on how you really experience a place, not how a highlight reel does. If your most memorable experiences happen around a table, in a museum, or while strolling through an area that reveals itself gradually, these travel ideas are built around that.
Kyoto, Japan
If you're looking for something so real rather than something materialistic, then Kyoto is the most complete cultural destination on earth for couples. More than 2,000 temples, seventeen UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and a culinary culture so precise that a single meal defines a trip. Stay in a traditional ryokan with a tatami room and private onsen bath. Before the crowds, walk through the Bamboo Garden of Arashiyama. Enjoy a three-hour dinner and arrive at 12 courses. Cherry blossom season and fall foliage are the most beautiful times to visit Kyoto, but it's no less pretty in other seasons.
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon is what few European capitals can match in genuine culture without the self-consciousness of being too famous. But it's those narrow streets in Alfama, pastéis de nata eaten while standing at a counter, Fado spilling out of a door at 10 pm, and Lisbon at a natural, relaxed pace that provide a sensory feast. It's pricey enough to be a worthwhile alternative to Paris or Rome, and cheap enough to be worth it. If you're looking for an anniversary trip that isn't a cliché, then Lisbon in Europe is your best bet.
For the fifth, tenth, or twenty-fifth anniversary — These are the years that call for something truly special.
The Maldives
The Maldives offers a more sensory escape from daily life than anywhere else in the world. The overwater bungalow reality – a glass floor that shows turquoise water below, a private deck that drops directly into a lagoon – is just what it says on the tin. This is best when it's a snorkeling reef, there's no television in the room, and there is an outdoor spa over the water. The Maldives is the closest place to experience the sense that there is no life beyond this moment, for a milestone anniversary.
Santorini, Greece
Santorini's reputation rests on the sunset from Oia, and it really is as spectacular as all the photos say, as long as you catch it at the right angle and time — and somewhere other than the main spot and at peak hour. Couples who book a suite with views of the caldera will be rewarded with a more tranquil island like Akrotiri, and a day on a private catamaran. Santorini offers such stunning scenery that a picture can never truly capture its essence, which makes it feel like your own experience.
Not all of these trips for the best anniversary need a passport. A romantic anniversary getaway doesn't have to mean an overseas destination—some of the best, most satisfying getaways are just an hour or so from home and shouldn't be ignored when choosing a trip.
Sedona, Arizona
Photographs can't capture the magic of Sedona's red rocks. The rock faces glow from within during the golden hour and halt conversation mid-sentence. Sedona is a hub for outdoor adventure with more than 200 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails, as well as a true health resort featuring some of the top spas in the American Southwest, for couples. It offers good lodging and meals, making it one of the most dependable places to stay for a domestic anniversary year-round.
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is likely the most overlooked romantic city in the USA. The Spanish moss and old live oaks on 22 public squares make it the walking city no place else in America can match. Antebellum architecture appears at every turn, and the historic district has been a veritable treasure trove for the past ten years, as the restaurant scene has grown more refined without losing its distinctly slow, unhurried character.
The goal is to get a ball into the frame. The ones you book inside of it are where the actual anniversary memory resides. Technically, a week in Costa Rica and a week in Costa Rica is the same trip. Still, it yields very different results, since one week involves a sunrise hot air balloon ride and a week a private waterfall hike and a cooking class with a local chef. It's what you did, what you saw, how you said what to one another during that experience; that's what you take with you.
Here is where the experiences of anniversary gifts are truly meaningful – as a part of a trip, and as a present from other people with a heart to give something special. Spur Experiences offers this category in a variety of destinations—aerial adventure, food tours, cooking classes, water-based adventure, and more. If couples are planning anniversary travel and want something that makes an itinerary enjoyable and truly memorable, this's one of the most helpful planning resources they can find here.
Planning Tips That Actually Matter
If you want to go to one of the popular international anniversary destinations, you can expect much better accommodation at the same price if you book early. If you are planning to go to one of the popular international anniversary destinations, you can expect much better accommodation at the same price if you book early. Don't shrug off the shoulder season; May and September in Europe, October in the Caribbean, and spring in Japan offer reduced crowds, reduced prices, and places that aren't at peak tourist volume—last but not least, plan one out-of-the-box day in all anniversaries. The best stories are the ones you had when you weren't certain you were going anywhere, and you turned a corner and took a detour that just happened to be interesting.
At the heart of each anniversary planning is a declaration of what you value, how you want to invest your time, and what kind of experience you want to have together. Not all the best anniversary destinations are the most popular. Some reflect who you are as a whole. They are the ones where the tempo and nature of the days align with the kind of partnership you've been cultivating in this elapsed period of time that you are enjoying. Choose honestly. Book early. Be prepared for the unexpected. The rest follows.
