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Asia

The widest range of any continent, from Tokyo's quiet order to Bangkok's noise. Entry rules change often here, so every dossier dates its visa table.

Terraced rice fields in the Sidemen valley at sunrise, with mist lying in the valley and the cone of Mount Agung rising behind

Indonesia, island

Bali

Offerings on every doorstep, surf below the cliffs, and an island that runs on its own Hindu calendar.

Best May–Jun, SepFrom $40/day

Wat Arun's central spire lit at blue hour across the Chao Phraya River, with a long-tail boat crossing the water in front of it

Thailand

Bangkok

Temples at dawn, noodles at midnight, and a river that still carries the city between them.

Best Nov–DecFrom $35/day

Hoan Kiem Lake at dawn, with the red Huc Bridge arching over still water to Ngoc Son Temple and early walkers on the shore

Vietnam

Hanoi

A thousand-year-old capital that still eats breakfast on the pavement.

Best Oct–NovFrom $30/day

The five-storey Yasaka Pagoda rising above the wet stone slope of Yasaka-dori in Higashiyama at blue hour, wooden townhouses with lit windows below

Japan

Kyoto

A thousand years of capital kept in wood, moss and gravel, and at its best before 8am.

Best Apr, NovFrom $65/day

Marina Bay at blue hour, with the Marina Bay Sands towers and the lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum reflected in calm water

Singapore

Singapore

A city of rules, rainforest and hawker stalls, where dinner is cheap and the beer is not.

Best Feb–MarFrom $80/day

The Tokyo skyline at winter dusk seen from a Shinjuku tower, with the snow-capped cone of Mount Fuji silhouetted on the western horizon

Japan

Tokyo

Fourteen million people, trains that leave on time, and dinner at a counter older than your grandparents.

Best Apr, NovFrom $70/day