Asia Travel Guide
Plan your own trip across Asia
Asia is the part of the world we keep going back to. This page brings together everything we’ve written and recorded about it: country guides, itineraries from our own trips, podcast episodes and the practical things to sort before you go.
Doug and I spent seven weeks travelling through Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. I’ve had six weeks in India, together we’ve done three weeks in Sri Lanka, and we went from Kuala Lumpur to Penang and Ipoh before taking the coach down to Singapore. Most recently it was the Philippines, where we stayed at an eco lodge in Moalboal. Hong Kong and Bali are in there too.
We plan and book all our own trips, and get around by train, bus, ferry and the odd flight. If it’s your first time in Asia, or you’re trying to fit two or three countries into one trip, the country guides below are the place to start.
The Asia Trip Planning Pack
Our 128-page guide to planning a trip to Asia. A 20-page planner with five mapped routes, a month-by-month seasons chart, nights per base and getting between countries, then nine pages on each of 12 destinations, every one with a three-week itinerary and a map. The Asia Trip Costs Guide for 2027 is included as a bonus.
$29
Choose your destination
Tap a dot or a country to open its guide.
Pick a country for our guide, the posts we’ve written and the podcast episodes that go with it.
Planning a multi-country trip to Asia
Most first trips to Asia try to fit in too much. A route that flows overland often works better than flying between capitals: fewer airport days, and more time in the places you came to see.
Timing is the other thing to get right. The rainy season arrives at different times in different parts of Asia, so the best month for one country can be a poor one for its neighbour. It pays to check the seasons for every country on your list before you fix your dates.
Then work out how many nights each base needs. Moving on every two days is tiring, and a lot of those days disappear into packing and transfers.
Download our free Asia Route Planner
The five decisions that shape a multi-country trip to Asia, on one page, plus worksheets to map out your route, your nights per base and your bookings.
Asia itineraries
Day-by-day plans built from our own trips.
- Japan Itinerary for First-Time Travellers: 21 Days
- 3 Week Vietnam Itinerary: Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City
- Cambodia Itinerary: Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
- 13 Day Malaysia Itinerary: Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Ipoh
- Sri Lanka Itinerary for First-Time Visitors
- 5 Day South Korea Itinerary: Seoul and Beyond
Getting around Asia by train, bus and ferry
Some of our best travel days in Asia have been on the ground rather than in the air. We took the sleeper train out of Hanoi, the coach from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and the train through Sri Lanka’s tea country, and I did a long train journey across southern India.
📖 Read: The Best Train Journeys in India and our Train Travel Guides
Trains, buses and ferries in Asia
12Go covers trains, buses and ferries across most of Asia, including Vietnam’s sleeper trains, so you can compare times and book your tickets in one place.
Before you go
Three things to sort before any trip to Asia.
eSIM
Saily eSIMs work across Asia. Set it up at home and you have data as soon as you land.
Travel insurance
From Australia: Cover-More
From the USA: Travel Insurance Master
VPN
NordVPN keeps your banking and bookings private on hotel, café and airport wifi.
Travel tips by country
Listen: Asia on the podcast
Every Asia episode of the Global Travel Planning Podcast, newest first.
- Episode 108: Cambodia Itinerary, Phnom Penh to Siem Reap
- Episode 106: 3 Week Vietnam Itinerary
- Episode 93: Planning an Independent Trip to China (with Lucy England)
- Episode 92: Philippines Trip Report, Moalboal Eco Lodge
- Episode 91: Japan Theme Parks for First-Time Visitors (with Helen Foster)
- Episode 67: 13 Day Malaysia Itinerary
- Episode 64: Your First Trip to India (with Mariellen Ward)
- Episode 59: Sri Lanka, a 3 Week Itinerary and Travel Tips
- Episode 38: First-Time Travellers to Tokyo (with Helen Foster)
- Episode 15: Insider’s Guide to Singapore for First-Time Visitors
- Episode 14: Visiting Japan, Top Tips for First-Time Travellers
- Episode 13: Discovering Japan, Our 21 Day Itinerary
- Episode 9: Snapshots from Asia, Our Seven-Week Trip
- Episode 4: Vietnam for First-Time Visitors (with Ros and Alan Cuthbertson)
Planning more than one country?
The Asia Trip Planning Pack has the mapped routes, the seasons chart and a nine-page guide to each of 12 destinations, with the 2027 trip costs guide as a bonus. $29.
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