Southeast Asia - Ideas for sightseeing & beach?

tellmeaboutit

Hi all, I am trying to plan a nice trip for March/April of 2014 in Southeast Asia -- I have never been so I would like to do some bit of sightseeing but also spend time at some lovely beaches relaxing -would be a couple's holiday for himself and I and we are in our early 30s...

Bangkok has been suggested to me for sightseeing already, but any other ideas?

Obviously I am at the early stages of planning - also considered Hong Kong & Japan but was told it would be much more relaxing and less expensive doing a few places in SE Asia

Your experienced thoughts would be appreciated!

athtrasna

Hoi An in Vietnam, my absolute favourite place on the planet. Vietnam has the charm of Thailand without the sleaze. Beautiful old town, great beaches. Close to the Imperial City of Hue (day trip only, accomodation there is awful).

Tipperary animal lover

How long are ye going for? I'd fly into Bangkok-koh Chang-phnom penh(Cambodia)-shanoukville(Cambodia beach)-ho chi minh(vietnam)-nha trang(beach)-hoi an( lovely town and beach)- fly down to hcmc and back to Bangkok. Travel by plane and bus it's cheap, once out of Thailand things get very cheap in Cambodia and Vietnam. If this is to much I'd second sticking to vietnam ite 100% better than Thailand( Thailand has the better beaches but the scams the sleaze and prices are way more). We're flying in march to hcmc with emirates dublin-dubai-hcmc return for €720 which is very good.

Geezer1000

Avoid Hong Kong unless you want busy busy busy and super expensive to eat & drink. Singapore is fantastic. As for beaches Bali is unreal. Its also worth going from Bali out to Lembongan island for a night.

tellmeaboutit

thanks for all the advice! I am going to do some research on all the places suggested...looking forward to that

we are flexible - would like to go for at least 2 weeks but could extend to longer depending on how many places we decide to visit..

Geezer1000

Macau is good for a few days aswell.

tellmeaboutit

thanks again for the replies... did some searching on the places mentioned and I am thinking very initially of this itin:

- Bangkok (2-3 nights)
- Vietnam (Halong Bay & Hoi An) (5-7 nights) - not sure if there is a train down the coast or maybe best to just fly...
- Bali (6 nights)

I will save HK, and China for another trip as suggested...

What do ye think of this? Hoping to get a nice mix of culture/some nightlife and beach -- looking mostly for relaxation and sun so not too pushed with thailand tourist areas, I did some research on it and does seem quite sleazy, maybe thats bc i looked at Pattaya first

Also guessing I will have to fly back to Bangkok to get home as could not find any flights from Bali (though have not looked that hard yet!)

Fly Hanoi to Da Nang.. Cheap flight and you're very close to Hoi An then. Phu Quoc is a little bit of paradise worth visiting if you fly out of Ho Chi Minh.

Pawwed Rig

Ankor Wat in Cambodia is a must for sight seeing. I did Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Cambodia was by far the best of the three. For beaches though you probably can't go wrong with the Thai Islands.

Riamfada

Tipperary animal lover wrote: »

How long are ye going for? I'd fly into Bangkok-koh Chang-phnom penh(Cambodia)-shanoukville(Cambodia beach)-ho chi minh(vietnam)-nha trang(beach)-hoi an( lovely town and beach)- fly down to hcmc and back to Bangkok. Travel by plane and bus it's cheap, once out of Thailand things get very cheap in Cambodia and Vietnam. If this is to much I'd second sticking to vietnam ite 100% better than Thailand( Thailand has the better beaches but the scams the sleaze and prices are way more). We're flying in march to hcmc with emirates dublin-dubai-hcmc return for €720 which is very good.

How long this this take you and what was the total cost? Planning on doing the same myself in August over 3 weeks?