My girl friends and are trying to plan a vacation at the end of October. We cant seem to agree on where to go. We've talked about Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Shanghai, Beijing, Macau, etc, etc. We're planning a 7-10 day trip. I need help with the itinerary. I'm sure we can probably do a few of the places we listed above. However, since none of us have been to any of those places, its hard to decide where to go and what to do. We want a full experience...meaning we want culture and touristy stuff, but we'd also like the nightlife and going to the clubs. Any suggestions?
Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand
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Thailand. Spend 6 days in bangkok and 3 or 4 days in Chiang Mai. In 7-10 days I would only do one country and I think Thailand suits your interests.
Thailand would be great! Massages, shopping and sightseeing. Everything is very inexpensive. We spent 3 nights in Bangkok, 3 in Chiang Mai and 3 in Phuket at the beach. We had Thai Airlines pass and were able to fly non-stop between Chiang Mai and Phuket. It was culturally so different and interesting. We stayed at Ramada Inn in Bangkok and it was close to night market and took tuk tuk's sightseeing. We were able to do everything on our own and didn't need to book at tour.
depends where you are coming from: usa??? its a long flight...
so i would choose only one place...for me it would be hong kong at medium expense or thailand at lux level for moderate to cheap prices....
personally i would find thailand the most alluring....stay on the river...cheap eats even in very nice restaurants, lots of nite life, and shopping you cannot believe at reasonable prices...you could easily do a full week or more just in bangkok...no need to go elsewhere...lots of reasonable flights into that airport...
I'd take Vietnam.
Fly to Hanoi, stay at nice hotels such as Sofitel Metropole ($135--$150/night) De syloie ($55/night), take trips to Halong Bay (sleep in the junket) and go to Sapa for 3 days(the mountain, Nepal of 30 years ago).
Shopping is great in Hanoi.
Bangkok is still very hot to me at the end of Oct.
Hanoi is changing fast, it's better to go now than wait.
you can go to Thailand anytime.
I would also suggest that you visit Thailand. Bangkok and Chiang Mai or Bangkok and Koh Samui or Phuket would be my suggestions. You don't say how old you are. Are you wanting to include a beach? Chiang Mai might not have the night life you are wanting, but you could find activity on Patong Beach on Phuket.
Shopping in Bangkok is amazing! Prices are very reasonable on a lot of goods.
Carol
I think Thailand is a wonderful place for your first visit to Asia. I'd rec. Bangkok, then either a few days in the Golden Triange, or a southern beach area, if that's your thing.
I don't know where you live, but you may consider 2 nights in Hong Kong on your way home if you live in the US. We always do this on our way home from Asia. This way, you'd get to experience to very different countries and cultures.
There's plenty of night life in Chiang Mai and a large ex pat community.
Scenarios,
A few months ago, I traveled to Thailand and to Hong Kong with my first cousin. We had a great time shopping for a few days in Bangkok, and playing on the beaches of the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. Koh Samui was great! Flights are cheap there and it's easy to get around.
We went to Hong Kong a few days before making our way back to the States. The nightlife and the shopping there was great! If you end up going, write back and I'll try to find the name of some of the places we went. We had so much fun, and met wonderful people from around the world in each country, everywhere we went.
Can't you fit in more than one since you'll be on that side of the world?
If you want cultural stuff, Beijing will serve the purpose, it has many nice place like the palaces and the great wall, all are in near distance, suggest you to grap a travel guide on beijing and take a look, personally I love beijing a lot. And there are places for clubbing as well as night market as well.
Thailand is great place if relaxation is the main purpose, you don't need to worry too much about money there, as everything are quite cheap, great massage and nice shopping place if you go to bangkok. Puhka great for beach lovers.
I live in Hong Kong, it's a great place if you like city, it's a city where everything is within short distance and very convenient. Good for shopping and if you like night life, as most of the shops here close at 10pm and shopping mall (called "am/pm" its opening hour is until 12am), and plenty of places for clubbing. But if you like cultural stuff, probably beijing will be a better place.
Or else, you can combine beijing (more on cultural side) with either hong kong or bangkok (if you prefer city, think u can either pick hong kong or bangkok).
For Shanghai, I don't like it a lot (but I'm Hong Kong Chinese, so my view may be a bit different), it's a big city but I find the services there not very good, and not really special about it. Of coz there are good clubing places there as well but not much on cultural stuff.
I haven't been to Vietnam before, so I leave it to other people to comment.
scenarios, 7-10 days isn't much time, to say the least, and you should limit yourself to one country, and only two areas at most in that country.
I haven't been to Thailand or Hong Kong so I can't comment there, but you could get a taste (no more) of either China or Vietnam in that time. If China, Beijing for sure - a great city. I also liked Shanghai - it may not have much in the way of temples, but it has its own fascinating, more recent, history. However, I can accept that Hong Kong would be a legitimate alternative.
If Vietnam, I'd spend enough time in Ho Chi Minh City to get in one or two side trips (Mekong, Cu Chi Tunnels, Cao Dai Temple) and then head for Hanoi, with a side trip to Ha Long Bay. I'd recommend Hoi An on the central coast too, but time is not on your side. I'm sure you'll want to go back to China or Vietnam and see some of what you've missed anyway.
To sum up, don't even think of visiting two countries in 7-10 days - that would be crazy, and you'd be short-changing both them and yourself, particularly as you're after a "full experience".