It hasn’t taken long for a few entrepreneurial types to connect the travails of today’s airports, the consciences of modern travellers and the standards of Europe’s whizzy new trains, and produce luxurious and relaxing holidays that never leave the ground. Consider, for example, heading straight from the wedding breakfast onto a nine-day Italian Grand Tour, with European Rail (020 7619 1080, www.erail.co.uk). It takes in the best hotels in Rome, Florence and Venice, via high-speed overnight couchettes; prices range from £553pp to £1,518pp, depending on your room and train choices. Alternatively, head due south and, in 10 days, you can tick off Madrid, Cordoba, Granada and Seville (from £675pp to £1,450pp). Or try Railbookers (0844 482 1010, www.railbookers.com).

WINTER, WHY WARMER?

The winter wedding is now commonplace – but however much the couple enjoy their snow sports, they seem invariably to get straight on the plane to the sunny side of the planet. Why not do what you love? Our ski editor, Sean Newsom, recommends Chalet Mozart, a beautiful and rare one-bedroom chalet in Verbier, only two minutes from the piste. But he does have a word of warning: “Only choose a ski honeymoon if you’re at a similar standard. Otherwise, you’ll spend too much time apart – and you might lose your wife to a ski instructor inside a week.” What a romantic soul. A week for two at Chalet Mozart starts at £1,400 with Ski Verbier (020 7385 8050, www.skiverbier.com), including transfers, but not flights. Airlines flying to Geneva include Swiss (0845 601 0956, www.swiss.com) and EasyJet (www.easyjet.com).

THE SICILIAN DEFENCE

Europe's most romantic city breaks

Rome, Venice, Paris - the world’s most romantic cities - but only if you know how, what, where (and, of course, with whom)

BACKGROUND

• An Indian Ocean honeymoon

• 'I do'... get married in Manhattan

• Your honeymoon? Don't forget the kids

The Aeolians, tiny pimples off the coast of Sicily, have become high-end honeymoon hot spots, but the “mainland” is large, varied and, for many, intimidating enough to disappear into and track down true peace in. The interior of the southeast of the island is considered the thinking visitor’s Sicily, with baroque hilltop towns linked by serpentine roads through genteel, uncluttered countryside. Find yourself an isolated farmhouse, pop to the local market for supplies – and relax. The Sicilian Villa Company (0871 711 0089, www.thesicilianvillacompany.com) offers properties with a pool from £600 a week; fly to Catania with British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) or Air Malta (0845 607 3710, www.airmalta.com). Or try Think Sicily (020 7377 8518, www.thinksicily.co.uk).

ESCAPE MARRAKESH...

...and head for Essaouira. A riad break is certainly tempting, but, for many couples, the mercantile mania and coach-party mobs of Marrakesh leave them confined to their rooms for too long, even for a honeymoon. Get out after a night or two and haul west for two hours, to the far more laid-back Atlantic town of Essaouira. You can still stay in a swanky riad (L’Heure Bleue is by far the pick), but, beyond the ornamental doors, life moves at a donkey-drawn pace, so you can dedicate your days to sipping mint tea on the town square, wandering along the capacious beach and gorging yourself at the harbour’s open-air fish grills. You won’t even need a hubble-bubble to relax here. Rediscover Morocco (0870 740 6306, www.rediscover.co.uk) can put together a week at L’Heure Bleue, following a day in Marrakesh, for £1,095pp, including flights from London or Manchester and transfers.

WHAT COD HAS JOINED TOGETHER

You won’t be the first distinguished Briton to take a honeymoon on this scenic spit of land – Gordon Brown tarried awhile here after his nuptials – but UK visitors to Cape Cod are still rare. In high summer, it should stay that way, as the place gets crammed with Bostonians, but in spring and autumn, you’re on to a winner – the East Coast flight to perfect windswept beaches, all the aphrodisiac seafood you can handle, and a choice of cosseting country inns or your own palatial (and, in these times, cheerfully cheap) beachfront home. The latter option is probably the best way to enjoy time to yourselves – and, with the Cape’s ridiculous range of restaurants, it’s not as if you’ll be washing many dishes. The Vacations Group (01582 469661, www.vacationsgroup.co.uk) can put together a 14-night trip, with a week in a beach house, overnight stops in Boston and a few nights in Vermont or Rhode Island, from £1,395pp, including BA flights from Heathrow to Boston and car hire.

LASTLY... LUNDY

Don’t snigger. This lonely outcrop off the North Devon coast has the cult classic of honeymoons, unknown to the bulk of us, but worshipped by a handful of fans. Twenty-three Landmark Trust properties are spread out over the three-mile length of the island, offering exactly the simple pleasures that many couples seek: peace, isolation, an open fire and not a whole heap to do. Luxury may not be on offer – one cottage doesn’t yet have electricity – but windblown, starry-skied romance certainly is. And you can always check into somewhere swanky back on the mainland when the craving for comfort kicks in. The Landmark Trust (01628 825925, www.landmarktrust.org.uk; ask for the free Lundy brochure) rents out the cottages from £65 a night. Boat transfers cost £52pp return. Highcliffe House, in Lynton, is a lovely place to be pampered back in Devon (01598 752235, www.highcliffehouse.co.uk; doubles from £92).

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