I love travelling in Asia, and I tend to make a 'big' trip in autumn when I can. This year, my 'big' trip will include a visit to Laos. After that the only countries in S E Asia where I won't have been will be Burma and Vietnam. I've started a new job and realistically, it's going to next to impossible to get time off in autumn. I definitely don't want to travel in the extreme heat or around holidays (like Tet) when many things will be closed.

If I can't travel in autumn, when is the best time to visit Burma and Vietnam?

I found this website to be very helpful and easy to use when checking out weather in SEA and deciding where and when to go;

https://www.selectiveasia.com/vietnam-holidays/weather just click on the country and then the month and check out the smiley faces! Also provide a few tips for each time of year.

Vietnam is difficult because its topography and the fact that it is a long thin country, means tha weather varies dramatically not only by season but also by where you go. We are in Central Vietnam at the moment and it is very HOT 35c with humidity around 100%.

For Burma, you want Nov, Dec, Jan and maybe the first part of February.

Thanks for the great weather website, Crellston! Glad to see the smileys in Hanoi and further North for the time I'll be there, mostly in October.
Reminds me of the smiley face feedback emojis in the Singapore Airport bathrooms: "Rate my cleanliness" followed by affirmation that the signboard itself is frequently disinfected. Rather (TMI word?) retentive!

Planningtravel, based only on research (not yet having been) it seems the weather in VN varies by area--can be miserably hot/humid/sweltering in one part of the country, while bearable in another. Might it help to narrow down where in the country you most want to go?

We were in VN in February. We also wanted to avoid Tet and our plans to be there then were based around that. We had cool, foggy weather in Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay. The day we got to Sapa it fogged over and stayed that way for 2 more days. As we left nd drove down the mountain the fog lifted. Hoi Ann and Hue were nice, not too hot and generally sunny. However the day we headed to the beach from Hoi An was cool, windy and not beach weather. In Saigon and the Mekong Delta it was very hot, but ok.

We were in Myanmar in mid January into February and had no rain or fog. It varied from very hot to just plain hot.

Calinurse. Interesting bathroom signs in Singapore - they do seem to be somewhat obsessed. We have passed through KL airport several times recently and there they seem more concerned with personal hydration. In the men's bathrooms they now have signs everywhere so you can colour code your pee on a scale of 1-7 !!!

We were in Myanmar for 3 weeks in February 2010.

Main recollections are it was v.hot, v.dry [never rained], slash and burn was in progress which hinders distant views particularly in places like Bagan, Inle Lake and Kalaw.

We were on the road for much of the time in a beat-up Toyota Corolla with no A/C, so had to keep the windows open to let the air circulate. Started the day off freshly showered, finished it with orange faces, orange hair, orange cloths!

going to Myanmar in December. there is a tour (here http://bookatour.weebly.com/store/p2...26Myanmar.html), I hope they know what they are doing =)
I've done my research earlier, it seems fine to visit burma in winter

Yes, definitely try to schedule around the burning of the hills. The timeframe for that varies, but you will be safer in early January than into February esp late Feb. We had one trip completely planned until I realized we would go right into the burning season. I cancelled and rescheduled for the next year going in earlier in January.

I did Hanoi and HCMC in October of 2014, really lovely weather. I just did Burma in May, and aside from a downpour in Yangon, and getting struck by lightning on Inle on June 3rd, the weather was lovely Their rainy season is much different than the one i grew up with in Florida where rainy season meant rain every day!

I'm so sorry to hear that you were struck by lighting in Burma, needmorevacation. How are you recovering? I hope the road to recovery is going well. Get well soon!

I do appreciate the replies and suggestions. I doubt I'll get time off in October, November, December and January. Burma and Vietnam are on my bucket list, so I was looking at when to take time off in 2016 to visit at least one of those countries. I really don't want to travel in June, July or August when airfares are sky high and when sights are crowded due to school holidays. That leaves me with September or February - May to travel.

Planning, you can read Needsmore's trip report here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-hospitals.cfm

In my opinion, if you want to go to Burma go sooner rather than later. Burma is changing rapidly. There are more visitors now than ever before, but they still only get a small percentage of the visitors that VN sees. VN will be same/same in five years, Burma will not be. We visited in 2009 and 20011 and were amazed at the differences in two short years, and that was just before the big changes took place. We are considering returning to Burma this year or next.

Take a look at the weather for each place in Burma you want to visit at www.weatherbase.com April is the absolute hottest month so you will want to avoid that. I've been traveling in SE Asia since the mid-1980s, so am accustomed to the heat, but even in November, Yangon is the hottest city I've been to.

Agree with Kathie, go to Myanmar as it is rapidly changing. Vietnam has been on the tourist radar for much longer.

I was in Myanmar in March 2014. It was very hot, but no big deal for me (Aussie), you just sweat a lot. February might be slightly cooler.

I'd also been before in August 2013, it was again hot, but with torrential rain at times. The rain was actually fun.

I went to Vietnam in March a few years ago, visited the delta region, HCMC, and Hoi An.
It was very hot in the south, but I found it cold in Hoi An. The day time temps there were 20 C.

My definition of hot is 38 C in dry heat and about 34 C with high humidity, your tolerance might be different.

Kathie, your comments are exactly why I've been saying I must go to Burma before it changes. I've said this for the last three or four years and Burma just hasn't fit into my travel plans.

I've put off visiting Vietnam as it really won't change from what it is today and it's and easy country to travel around independently in (I much prefer independent travel to tours).

Thank you for the link to needsmorevaction trip report.

Two years ago I was in Singapore and HK, two cities that I've been to often. I was late in the booking/planning process and tried to visit Burma but it just wan't possible as I only planned about two months in advance when I knew that the trip [to Singapore and HK] was definite. At the two month mark, it was impossible to plan an itinerary that would allow me to travel in Burma independently as many hotels, flights, etc were booked. I need to plan a trip to Burma in advance, and now with my work schedule I may not get a chance to visit the region when it's ideal to travel.

I went in 2010 with a friend, she went 18 months later and said it had really changed. I am going back to Myanmar this November, so will be very interested to see the changes over the last 5 years!

If you're not there in peak season, it should be relatively easy to book hotels and flights when in the country.

In March 2014, I arrived in Yangon with only a few nights accomodation booked.

My trip encompassed, Yangon, Mandalay, Pyin OO Lyn and Inle Lake.

All hotels and flights were booked a few days prior to the actual flight/stay with no trouble.

There's a trip report if you search my user name.

Smeagol, I'm going back in November too.

I'm trying to see if I can book a Pandaw cruise in November - there may be a whole bunch of there in November!

Woohoo - GTG in Mandalay ?

We're going to a wedding and will only be there a few days, but you never know how the planets might line up...

Wouldn't that be a kick if we could all gtg in Burma?

Well, I should have asked in the op how many days I'd need to see Rangoon, Mandalay and Bagan. Inle is maybe on my itinerary. How many days should I allocate for these sights?