Appreciate general suggestions on a preliminary itinerary.

Around 30 days in Asia from Western Canada starting second week of March 2019.

Will be 1 to 3 couples. Staying at nice hotels and flying business class (relevant to the frequency of stops as it is easier to travel more frequently with business class). Will hire a top rated (by Tripadvisor) guide or company at each spot. So for locations listed I don’t want to bore you with asking things to do.

I am am wondering if I am missing something to add on or substitute. All travellers are just under 60 but very active (such as 10 km runnners, a recent half-Ironman, etc).

Thinking of Hong Kong-Hanoi-Halong Bay-Siem Reap-Bangkok-Chengdu (Panda reserves)-Xi’an-Beijing-Kyoto-Tokyo. Usually fly in, stay 3 clear days and depart (one night at Halong Bay, maybe 2 at each of Angkor Wat and Xi’an).

Also so not sure if I should do more on the continent and make Japan a different trip.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Are you sure you could see and experience with this time frame? I would find it ridiculously rushed; YMMV. Examples: I wanted a full week just for the highlights of Beijing, and I travel HARD. I wanted 6 full days for Kyoto. Etc.

I would strongly recommend against any guides or tours in China.

Good luck!

You have WAY too much for your limited time. Remember that it takes three nights in a place just to get two full days. It takes three full days (4 nights) in Siem Reap just to see the major temples. For sure I'd move Japan to a separate trip, and I'd suggest that China should also be a separate trip. Thirty days would be fine for a SE Asia trip: Thailand, Cambodia, VN, Laos for instance.

And you don't need a guide for any place on your list, with the possible exception of Angkor. Get a copy of Dawn Rooney's book, Angkor: A Guide to Cambodia's Wondrous Temples before you finalize your plans.

I agree with the comments from both of the wise ladies. It is irrelevant that you are flying business class. Flights in and out of Beijing are frequently delayed due to weather problems, and that's the whole plane, not just coach.

I have been to all of the places you mentioned, and I personally feel that China has the most to offer historically for a first trip to Asia. The country is huge, and you could really see it in depth. It all depends on your interests, of course.

I have come to dislike using guides. I never remember a single word they say. I find it is much better to read up on my own. However, I often have a reliable driver pick me up at the airport and drive me around for the day. I have found the most exceptional drivers are those that my son found via various websites, but they sometimes cancel at the last minute. Therefore, when I travel alone, I always get my drivers via the hotels. A wonderful driver will take you to out of the way restaurants for lunch, and possibly little villages.

Thank you very much for your comments. I was guessing on time to spend in these cities based on seeing packaged tours only having 2 or 3 days at each place. I will revisit the length of stay at each stop and move Japan to another trip.

I am a little uncertain about not using a private guide or private tour when I don’t know the languages or customs. I will have to think that one through.

Thanks to to the three of you for your comments.

Just to clarify, if you stay in a hotel like the Grand Hyatt in Beijing, for example, they will take care of all your arrangements. They have uniformed drivers in Mercedes, and you pay for their service by the day. I wrote to their concierge there months in advance of our trip, and she helped me with my itinerary, back and forth, back and forth. I got comments like, "Your itinerary is good, but may I suggest the following....."

In general, I have found that Asian hotels are the best anywhere in helping with arrangements. They get that you want to plan in advance, and are passionate about putting your whole trip into place. You can use a local agency to accomplish the same goal, but it will cost more, and the itinerary will look sterile and pre packaged.

Tours any where in the world give only a cursory overview and let you "see" things by driving past them.

Please consult some of the many threads on this forum that address the problems of using private guides or tours in China. Using them in other parts of Asia is an entirely different thing -- and, I believe, far less problematic.


Good luck!

I don't doubt CaliforniaLady, but I would suggest that arranging your travel through your hotel concierges is likely to cost far more, and give you far less of an experience of China, than proceeding on your own -- which is surprisingly easy. JMO!

Perhaps I could add a bit:

One of the things I love about traveling to parts of the world that are unlike my neck of the worlds (the US) is seeing the different ways in which people interact with each other. I loved riding subways in Beijing and elsewhere in the places I have visited in Asia in part because of the opportunities those rides provided: It was only by riding buses and trains in China that I really saw how differently men and women interact with each other than they do in Western cultures. It was only by riding buses and trains in China that I really saw how families treat their children. It was only by riding buses and trains in China that I saw how people treated their elders.

Your call, of course, but honestly, there are some cultural insights that you might gain if only you take public transportation when visiting China.

Don't base how long to stay in a city on what group tours do. I've never seen a group tour that spends enough time in any one place - most of what they arrange for you to see is a "drive by."

Agree with kja about guides (and using public transport), and everyone about length of stay. Even dropping Japan you are too rushed for my taste. One overnight is fine for Halong bay, but it takes most a day to get there and another to get back. You could get by with two full days (three nights) in Xi'an, although I have spent more, but everywhere else on your list deserves at least three or four full days, and often more. I have been to China three times and the last trip was seven weeks on my own. My last trip to Asia I spent five weeks just in Japan, and even though it was my second visit I still didn't get to everything I want to see. My first visit to Siem Reap was two full days plus sunset, and I had to go back for a week.

Instead of relying on a guide to show you what s/he thinks you "should" see, please settle down with some guidebooks (start with the glossies with lots of pictures) and decide what YOU want to see and how long it will take.