LOW BUDGET
For $3,000
Ontario, Canada
Paddle a canoe into Algonquin Provincial Park, chill in hammocks beside moose and deer, go skinny-dipping in moonlit lakes, and see a starry sky so perfect you’ll swear off planetariums forever.
Stay: Book a private cottage through CottageRental.com, which offers searches based on budget, with photos to confirm that the lake advertised isn’t a swamp. Kick back in your private digs overlooking the navy waters of Otter Lake, complete with a pool table, floating dock, canoe, fishing poles, and rowboat built for two (from $700 Canadian a week).
Eat: The Inn at Manitou (manitou-online.com), serves up a bastion of civilized luxury amid the call of wild loons. French chefs cook epicurean poetry (such as three distinct treatments of foie gras, or cold chocolate soup). On a more low-key night, grab some Molsons at the floating patio at the Kee (thekee.com).
Play: Take a three-hour paddle to a campsite, or hire a guide for a more rigorous adventure of sweat and s’mores (OutforAdventure.com offers fully equipped five-day trips into the park; $650 per person).
MID-RANGE
For $8,000
Bahia And Salvador, Brazil
Sunbathe on remote beaches and explore rain forests by day; drink maracujá caipirinhas and dance, dance, dance by night.
Stay: Plan a multi-stop trip. First, stay at Salvador’s retro-modernist Hotel Cocoon, on a gorgeous beach near the center of town (from $80 a night; hotel-cocoon.com). Later, go to Txai Eco Resort, a compound on an old cocoa plantation overlooking the ocean, surrounded by Bahia’s last virgin stretches of the Atlantic rain forest (from $400; txai.com.br).
Eat: Trapiche Adelaide on the water has terrific scampi risotto with grapefruit, and one of the best wine lists in northern Brazil (trapicheadelaide.com.br).
Play: Take a break from lazy sunbathing with a surfing lesson from Easy Drop surf school (easydrop.com). At night, watch your new hubby shimmy to the rolling rhythm of a samba band in a sweaty dance hall. If you’re lead-footed gringos, take Afro-Brazilian dance lessons in Salvador ($7 per hour at Bahia Dance; bahiadance.com).
HIGH-BUDGET
For $15,000
Hanoi And Hoi An, Vietnam
Fly into Hanoi and take a train to Hue, a beautiful city of castles. From there, it’s a gorgeous few hours’ drive to Hoi An, a peaceful spot with isolated beaches and a UNESCO-certified old quarter.
Stay: In Hanoi, the Sofitel Metropole Hotel is in the old French quarter, which means the city’s best parks, lakes, and restaurants are within steps (sofitel.com; from $400). In Hoi An, book a villa at the Nam Hai Resort. Each faces the South China Sea and stunning Cham islands, and has its own garden and swimming pool (thenamhai.com; from $550).
Eat: For high-end contemporary and a Zenlike vibe, go to Hanoi’s Wild Lotus for Vietnamese fusion cuisine. Hoi An’s Brother’s Café serves upscale versions of local fare in a courtyard by the river’s edge.
Play: Hit the tailor shops of Hoi An for the best in bespoke. Set sail out of Hanoi into Halong Bay: Cruise in a private junk or aboard the Emeraude, a turn-of-the-century paddleboat with luxury cabins (emeraude-cruises.com; overnights from $375).
SEE ALSO: Where to Go for One Week