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We are traveling to Maui in the end of March 2010 for my sister's 50th birthday and 25th anniversary and are considering tacking on a piece of Asia before heading back to Atlanta, We would probably have a max of 7 days including travel time to get back to Atlanta. I have never been to Asia (except for India) - my husband has been to Hong Kong and Toyko but just on business. Also if there is somewhere else outside of the 4 places that you'd recommend from Maui that would be fine as well. We want to save Australia and New Zealand for when we have more time.
We like seeing seeing the sights and experiencing the culture, and as another poster said walking but not hiking and are not big museum people if that helps at all.
Thanks for your help.
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Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing or Singapore
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Have you checked flight schedules/prices? Tokyo will be easiest of the places you mention. In fact you'd probably have to connect throught Tokyo to get to any of the other destinations. If you have a maximum of 7 days, 3 of these are travel days, that leaves you with 4 days in your choosen destination. Not sure where you live and what kind of climate you are used to, but Beijing and Tokyo will be colder than HK or Singapore.
We live in Atlanta - so we get a little of each season usually none extremem (except right now it feels more like FL!!) We don't mind cold but would rather avoid extreme heat.
Well, take a look at www.weatherbase.com for the temps and rainfall at each of your possible destinations.
It's hard to know what to recommend, the destinations are so different from each other.
I don't know what you mean by extreme heat... I spent a week in Atlanta one summer and it's no hooter in SIngapore than it was in Atlanta that week. Singapore has the advantage of being a manageable size, so you could see much of it in your allotted time. Tokyo is likely the easiest to get to as mentioned above. But do look at the airlines schedules. It would be nice if you could fly non-stop to your chosen city.
I just checked and the only nonstops are to Narita (Tokyo). You have quite a choice of airlines to take you from HNL to NRT. I counted nine on the search engine I use.
I would suggest Kyoto. It's a very manageable city, with lots to do in both city and country-type environments. Lots and lots and lots of places to walk and explore, really overflowing with cultural experiences. The temperatures will be very pleasant, you will not be at the peak of the tourist season, and you'll be amazed at how well everything works.
I live in Hong Kong, and have found that getting to and from Hawaii and Hong Kong (and Singapore) is a bit of a pain. I am not aware of any non-stops to Hong Kong or Singapore, so I believe you would have to go via Japan. Given that, and your short time, I would agree that you may want to stick with Japan. (There used to be a Continental flight that went from HNL to Hong Kong via a quick layover in Guam. It was not an every day flight and I believe was seasonal. I am not sure that this flight is offered any more.) For reasons I don’t understand, people in SE Asia don’t seem to want to go to Hawaii, but Japanese go a lot.
Note also that the weather in Hong Kong in March is awful IMO: foggy, damp and cool, lots of overcast days. (I tend to leave Hong Kong and travel elsewhere in March if I can.) While Tokyo would be cool to cold, you may get lucky and get some spring-like weather and also perhaps early cherry blossoms, hard so say. Singapore would be hot and humid, but certainly doable and interesting if you can work flights out. See weatherbase.com and other weather sites for information.
Guam would be another consideration, but may be too much like Hawaii to be worth the time and effort. Same with something like Fiji or Tahiti.
I agree that if you go to Japan you may want to consider a place like Kyoto that is smaller and more offers more to see of traditional Japan than a huge city like Tokyo.
Sorry, just saw that Beijing is also in consideration. You would have the same flight issues from Hawaii that you would for Singapore and Hong Kong, i.e. long flights via a change in Japan. Beijing will be cold in March (with possibly some wind/sand storm issues) but is certainly very interesting and lots to see and do in a 5 days or so if you can work out flight schedules.
Japan would be your best bet weatherwise and at the end of March would mean the start of the cherry blossoms season in Tokyo and Kyoto. Definitely worth a trip at that time of the year.
Aloha!