Best places to visit in Asia
107 destinations across 29 countries, each with its seasonal window and budget tier.
Almaty, KazakhstanBig-mountain backdrop, Silk Road bazaars, cheap alpine skiing
Andong, South KoreaRiverbend folk village and masked dances, Confucian academies in autumn
Astana, KazakhstanSci-fi steppe capital of glass towers and gold spheres, warm short summer
Atauro Island, Timor-LesteOne of Earth's richest reefs off a sleepy island, dry-season diving
Baku, AzerbaijanWalled old city beside flame-lit towers on the Caspian shore
Bandar Seri Begawan, BruneiGold-domed mosques and the world's largest stilt village, dry months
Bandhavgarh, IndiaDense Bengal-tiger jungle, prime dry-season big-cat sightings
Bandipur, NepalCar-free Newari hilltop town with Himalaya views, autumn clear
Bangkok, ThailandGlittering temples and new green parks, cool dry-season street food
Batanes, PhilippinesIvatan stone villages on green cliffs, clearest before the storms
Battambang, CambodiaFrench shophouses and a circus, dry-season rides on the bamboo train
Beijing, ChinaForbidden City halls and wild Great Wall ridges, clear golden autumn
Bozjyra, KazakhstanChalk spires above the Ustyurt desert, spring and autumn 4x4 country
Bukhara, UzbekistanLiving medieval bazaar town of minarets and trading domes, mild shoulder
Bundi, IndiaBlue-washed Rajasthan of step wells and a fort, no tour buses
Busan, South KoreaHillside mural villages and seafood markets by the beach, warm coast
Cameron Highlands, MalaysiaCool tea terraces and strawberry farms above the tropical heat
Camiguin, PhilippinesVolcano isle of waterfalls and hot springs, calm dry-season dives
Chengdu, ChinaPanda nurseries and numbing hotpot, teahouse afternoons in mild seasons
Chettinad, IndiaMerchant mansions and fiery Tamil cuisine in cool dry winter
Chiang Rai, ThailandWhite Temple and misty hill tribes in cool, dry northern winter
Chongqing, ChinaHotpot capital and river-canyon skyline, spring and autumn only
Con Dao, VietnamEmpty islands of turtle nesting and reefs, calm seas in dry months
El Nido, PhilippinesBacuit Bay's limestone lagoons by boat, dry and calm in high season
Ella, Sri LankaHill-country tea trails and the Nine Arches Bridge in clear season
Fuvahmulah, MaldivesA one-island atoll where tiger sharks patrol the dry-season blue
Galle, Sri LankaDutch-walled fort over the south coast, dry and golden in winter
Gokarna, IndiaGoa's quieter cousin: temple-town beaches, dry winter swells
Göreme, TurkeyFairy-chimney valleys and dawn balloon flights over Cappadocia
Gyeongju, South KoreaSilla burial mounds and hillside temples, cherry blossom or golden autumn
Ha Giang, VietnamMotorbike loop past limestone passes, golden rice in October
Hakone, JapanHot-spring ryokan and Mount Fuji views over Lake Ashi, clear autumn days
Hampi, IndiaBoulder-strewn Vijayanagara ruins in cool, dry winter light
Harbin, ChinaIce-and-snow palaces lit neon and Russian domes, deep January freeze
Hirosaki, JapanCastle moat buried in cherry petals, late-April bloom in the far north
Hoi An, VietnamLantern-lit old town and tailor shops, dry before autumn floods
Hong KongNeon harbour skyline and dim sum, green peaks and islands, dry autumn
Hualien, TaiwanMarble cliffs of Taroko Gorge above a jade river, cooler autumn hikes
Istanbul, TurkeyBosphorus ferries, spice bazaars, and a mosque-domed skyline
Jaffna, Sri LankaTamil north of temples and crab curry, dry when the south rains
Jeju Island, South KoreaVolcanic craters and lava-tube coast, green tea fields and spring hikes
Jiufen, TaiwanLantern-lit teahouse alleys tumbling to the sea, misty mountain nights
Kanazawa, JapanSamurai quarters and Kenrokuen garden, gold leaf and autumn colour
Karakol, KyrgyzstanTrekking base by Issyk-Kul under snow peaks, alpine lakes in high summer
Kaş, TurkeyLycian coast diving and harbor tavernas on the turquoise sea
Kashgar, ChinaSilk Road bazaar and Sunday livestock market on China's Uyghur frontier
Kazbegi, GeorgiaHilltop Gergeti church under a glacier peak, green in summer
Khiva, UzbekistanWalled desert city of Ichan-Kala, mud ramparts glowing at sunset
Khongoryn Els, MongoliaMongolia's singing sand dunes rising from the Gobi, camel treks in summer
Khorog, TajikistanPamir Highway town below the Roof of the World, brief summer overland
Koh Kood, ThailandThailand's last quiet island: jungle waterfalls, dry-season clarity
Koh Lanta, ThailandLong, laid-back Andaman sands, dry and swimmable in high season
Koh Rong Samloem, CambodiaWhite-sand Saracen Bay and bioluminescent nights, dry-season calm
Koyasan, JapanMountaintop monastery lodgings and lantern-lit Okunoin, autumn best
Kuching, MalaysiaBorneo's easy city: riverfront laksa and proboscis monkeys nearby
Kyoto, JapanTemple gardens and geisha districts, blazing maples in November
Labuan Bajo, IndonesiaGateway to Komodo dragons and Padar's ridgelines, dry-season seas
Lake Khovsgol, MongoliaDeep blue alpine lake ringed by taiga and reindeer herders, brief summer
Leh, IndiaLadakh's high passes and Pangong blue, reachable only in summer
Lijiang, ChinaNaxi canal town under snow peaks, cobbled lanes and spring meadows
Luang Namtha, LaosJungle treks to hill-tribe villages, cool and dry in the north
Majuli, IndiaThe Brahmaputra's river island of monasteries, dry-season calm
Munnar, IndiaRolling tea hills of the Western Ghats, misty post-monsoon green
Nagasaki, JapanHarbor-hill trams and Dutch-China heritage, mild bright autumn
Naoshima, JapanArt-island museums on a serene Seto Inland Sea coast
Ninh Binh, VietnamKarst towers over rice-boat rivers, green and gold by late spring
Nong Khiaw, LaosRiver town under karst cliffs, dry-season viewpoints at dawn
Okinawa, JapanWhite Ryukyu beaches and longevity cuisine, warm clear early summer
Paro, BhutanTiger's Nest clings to a cliff, best in clear spring and autumn
Penang, MalaysiaStreet-food capital of Southeast Asia in its driest months
Perhentian Islands, MalaysiaTurtle snorkeling off clear sands, open only outside the monsoon
Phuket, ThailandLimestone bays and beach clubs, calm sunny high-season swims
Pingyao, ChinaIntact Ming city walls and courtyard inns, China's old banking capital
Pokhara, NepalAnnapurna reflected in Phewa Lake, clearest after the monsoon
Quy Nhon, VietnamQuiet crescent beaches and Cham towers, warm dry-season sea
Raja Ampat, IndonesiaEarth's richest reefs and karst lagoons, calmest October to April
Rote Island, IndonesiaHidden dry-season surf and empty palm-lined shores
Samarkand, UzbekistanRegistan's tiled madrasas glowing turquoise, Silk Road spring and autumn
Seoul, South KoreaPalaces, hanok lanes and all-night food alleys, best in crisp autumn
Shanghai, ChinaArt-deco Bund and neon skyline, garden teahouses, mild spring and autumn
Siargao, PhilippinesCloud 9 barrels and palm-lagoon hops, best before typhoon season
Siem Reap, CambodiaSunrise over Angkor Wat's towers, clear cool dry-season mornings
Sighnaghi, GeorgiaWalled hill town over Kakheti vineyards, harvest wine in autumn
Singapore, SingaporeHawker feasts and Supertree gardens, driest in the early-year window
Siquijor, PhilippinesFolklore island of waterfalls and white sand, driest in spring
Sokcho, South KoreaGranite peaks of Seoraksan ablaze with foliage, seafood port below
Song-Kol, KyrgyzstanHigh nomad pastures and yurt stays around a silent alpine lake, July only
Spiti Valley, IndiaHigh-desert Himalaya and cliff monasteries, open only in summer
Sukhothai, ThailandThailand's first capital in ruins, lotus ponds cool in dry season
Tainan, TaiwanTaiwan's oldest city and its street-food soul, warm dry winter dining
Taipei, TaiwanNight-market feasts and hot-spring hills, mild dry autumn and spring
Takayama, JapanEdo-era merchant streets and sake breweries, spring and autumn festivals
Tana Toraja, IndonesiaCliff graves and boat-roof houses, funeral season in the dry months
Tbilisi, GeorgiaOld-town wine culture and supra feasts before summer heat
Trincomalee, Sri LankaEast-coast whale runs and Nilaveli sand at their calm summer best
Ubud, IndonesiaBali's temple-and-terrace heart, greenest in the April-to-October dry
Udaipur, IndiaLake palaces in golden winter light, post-monsoon full lakes
Ulaanbaatar, MongoliaSteppe capital of temples and Naadam wrestling, gateway in warm July
Varkala, IndiaRed laterite cliffs over Kerala's Arabian Sea, dry-season sunsets
Xi'an, ChinaTerracotta warriors and a walkable Ming wall, Muslim Quarter street food
Yakushima, JapanMoss-draped rainforest and thousand-year cedars, misty spring hikes
Yangshuo, ChinaKarst peaks along the Li River, misty bamboo rafts in spring and autumn
Yerevan, ArmeniaPink-tufa boulevards, brandy cellars, and Ararat on the skyline
Yogyakarta, IndonesiaJava's soul: Borobudur sunrise and batik streets in the dry months
Zhangjiajie, ChinaSandstone spires wreathed in cloud, glass walkways above misty gorges
Zhangye, ChinaRainbow-striped Danxia hills glowing at sunset, dry summer light best
Ziro, IndiaApatani rice terraces and a September indie-music festival