Timing of Trip?
 

Hi everyone,

We've been doing a ton of research for our honeymoon next year, and we're excited at the prospect of heading to SE Asia. We've literally just started the wedding planning process, and because the honeymoon takes priority we need to figure out our timing for that before we settle on a wedding date (2-3 week vacation of a lifetime trumps 1 day party)!

The itinerary we've generally settled on is as follows:

Fly into Hanoi
Bai Tu Long Bay/Halong Bay (considering one of the tours that loops in Ninh Binh)
Sapa and/or Mai Chau
Siem Reap
Khoa Sok
A Thai Beach - likely one in the gulf to avoid monsoon season (Ko Tao? I would LOVE to swim with whale sharks!)

We may also add Bangkok, but we tend to prefer the smaller villages when we travel so most of our time will be in villages and in nature.

My job is very demanding so I only have a few pockets where I can take 3 weeks of time off at once. June would be the easiest for me to take off, but monsoon season makes me very nervous - as does the heat. What's the point of seeing nature if you're too miserable to be outside? May is the next time that would be feasible, and March would be the most difficult even though I know it's ideal weather wise there. Alternatively, having a wedding in March makes me hesitate as we had such extreme weather last year in the Northeast, and we have many guests coming in from California and elsewhere. December, January, February & April would all be impossible for me.

I know there will be differing opinions. A friend of mine did a similar trip last year in June and had a fabulous time, but what I read online is very different from her experience.

I suppose we could always wait until the fall of 2019, but spring would really be ideal. I'm leaning towards May, but would love some input from those who have more experience with this part of the world. Your thoughts and advice are very much appreciated in advance!

Note that there is no monsoon season affecting all of those areas equally. You need to look more closely at weather in each place you plan to visit. Use one of the weather websites like weatherbase.com

Also, I note that you have listed 6 to 7 destinations. That is unrealistic for a two to three week trip to SE Asia. You will need to make some decisions about your priorities. Note that each time you change locations you will lose at least half a day (often, most of a day) of sightseeing and enjoying the locations you have chosen. Also, all of that moving around is expensive, SE Asia rewards slow travel - you need to spend enough time in each place to get a feel for it - not possible in a day or two. Also, note that it takes 4 nights in a place to get three full days.

You have made your job more difficult by conceptualizing this as a "vacation of a lifetime." You will take many more trips together. Think of this as your first trip to this part of the world, not your last. It will make prioritizing easier and your plans more realistic.

No matter when you choose to go, you can have a wonderful and rewarding honeymoon. The dates you choose may impact which places you visit, but there are plenty of places to visit in SE Asia at any time of the year.

Hi Kathie - thank you for your comment. I've already done hours upon hours of research on the weather from weather websites, blogs, etc, and the best time to travel to each of these locations. March seems to be ideal, but May seems to be a bit of a wildcard, which is why I'm trying to collect first hand feedback from people who are personally familiar with the locations.

The itinerary above is by no means final and will likely be cut down in order to fully enjoy each location we go to. As my request for feedback was related to the weather, I felt it was important to share where we are considering. As for your feedback regarding the 'trip of a lifetime', I respectfully disagree. We travel internationally frequently, but this may be the only time we'll be able to take this amount of time off to be able to travel to this part of the world. We have demanding jobs with limited time off, and we are coming from the US so it's not a short trip. It's a nice thought that this will be our first trip to these places, and you're very lucky to be able to approach trips with that mindset, but unfortunately, that is not realistic for us for this particular trip so I want to know as much as I can before we settle on a time to go.

Thanks again.

Firstly, congratulations on your forthcoming wedding!

Here is link to a tour operators site which I use a lot for determining weather throughout Asia.
https://www.selectiveasia.com/vietna...ys/weather/may

I have linked it for Vietnam and your preferred month of May but it is really easy to play around with it for different countries and months. as you will see, as far as one can predict in these days of climate change, May is a pretty good time to cover most of Vietnam

With regard to your choice of locations:

Sapa Very picturesque but now overrun by tourism. a good time to visit though.

Mai Chau Very pretty, although the main town is again very touristy, especially at weekends. Some very nice properties further out into the countryside.

Ninh Binh we really liked. Beautiful karst scenery, similar to that in Ha Long

if you are at all interested in getting off the beaten track or doing some trekking, we did a 5 day loop from Hanoi, out to Mai Chau through the Black River Valley and Pu Long National Park ending In Ninh Binh. it would be easy to tag on Bai Tu Long at the end.

Details and photos of our time there and our other travels in Vietnam can be found in our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/vietnam/

Staying in Vietnam, I would take a look at the Central Region. Phong Nha The Be caves are amazing and, depending on how much you like caves, could be worth considering. Getting there would be the issue. We got an overnight train (which also stops at Ninh Binh)

Siem Reap/ Angkor It will be hot and you can expect showers but it will be a bit greener and a lot less crowded. May is not a bad time to visit.

Beach time in May is a little more problematic. The gulf coast of Thailand is ok and the weather should be great but the beaches are not as good as the Andaman coast. I have dived in Koh Tao a couple many years ago, the diving and snorkelling are good but sadly saw no whale sharks - lots of other sharks though! Many of the beaches are rocky and not that great for swimming as I recall

Khao Sok This is more the Andaman side of Thailand I think. we visited from Khao Lak. it is pleasant enough but teh lake doesn’t bear comparison to Bai Tu Long and the jungle is just ok. Personally, I would give it a miss.

Have you considered Bali for beach time? The weather should be good in May, although it will clearly take some time to get there.

Cambodias beaches should also be ok in May and easier to get to from Siem Reap.

Thank you crellston! This information is super helpful! Bali is not out of the question - I looked into some flights, but it looked like it may be better to stay in Thailand so we don't waste the travel time. It's still something to keep in mind. The Andaman side is also something I'm still thinking through as it sounds like the beaches are way better and the weather may still be ok. I'll also have to take a look at your 5 day loop - it sounds promising! We're also very interested in the caves, but we feared that it may take too much time to get there - perhaps the overnight train is a good solution to that.