Asia travel guides
46 cities in Asia: where to stay, rough daily budgets, getting around and when to go, plus how to meet the people who live there.
- AlmatyKazakhstanKazakhstan's largest city sits at the foot of the snow-capped Zailiysky Alatau range.
- BangkokThailandGilded temples, river ferries and street food at every hour.
- BeijingChinaThe capital of imperial China, built around the vast Forbidden City and ringed by modern boulevards.
- BusanSouth KoreaSouth Korea's second city, a working port wrapped around beaches, hills and seaside temples.
- CangguIndonesiaA surf town on Bali's south-west coast that has grown into a busy hub of cafés, co-working spaces and beach bars.
- Chiang MaiThailandNorthern Thailand's old capital sits inside a square moat, with more than a hundred temples, mountain air and an unhurried pace that keeps many travellers longer than they planned.
- ColomboSri LankaSri Lanka's commercial capital is a coastal mix of colonial buildings, Buddhist temples and busy markets.
- Da NangVietnamA modern beach city in central Vietnam with a long sandy coast, mountains on its edge and bridges over the Han River.
- DelhiIndiaMughal monuments, crowded bazaars and wide colonial avenues share one sprawling capital.
- El NidoPhilippinesA small town at the northern tip of Palawan, facing a bay of limestone islands, lagoons and white-sand beaches.
- EllaSri LankaA small hill-country village ringed by tea estates, waterfalls and ridges.
- FukuokaJapanA compact, easy-going city on the northern coast of Kyushu, famous for its ramen and riverside food stalls.
- GoaIndiaIndia's smallest state mixes palm-lined beaches with whitewashed churches and Portuguese-era towns.
- HanoiVietnamA thousand-year-old capital of lakes, scooters and pavement kitchens, where breakfast is a bowl of pho on a plastic stool.
- Ho Chi Minh CityVietnamStill called Saigon by most locals, this is Vietnam's largest city: millions of motorbikes, French colonial landmarks, rooftop bars and excellent street food served on plastic stools.
- Hoi AnVietnamA former trading port of ochre shophouses, silk lanterns and riverside cafés.
- Hong KongChinaSkyscrapers packed between steep green hills and one of the world's busiest harbours.
- JaipurIndiaRajasthan's Pink City: hilltop forts, bazaars that have traded for centuries, and a food scene that runs from street-side kachori to royal thalis.
- KandySri LankaThe last royal capital of Sri Lanka, built around a lake in the green hills of the central highlands.
- KathmanduNepalA dense, spiritual valley city of temple squares, stupas and courtyards hidden behind wooden doorways.
- KrabiThailandA coastline of towering limestone cliffs, mangroves and island-studded water on the Andaman Sea.
- Kuala LumpurMalaysiaMalay, Chinese and Indian cultures share the same streets in KL, so a single day can take in mosques, temples, colonial buildings and the Petronas Towers, with a hawker meal at every turn.
- KyotoJapanJapan's old imperial capital, with over a thousand temples, wooden machiya townhouses and gardens raked into stillness.
- Luang PrabangLaosA small town on a peninsula where the Nam Khan meets the Mekong, with gilded monasteries, French colonial houses and a pace that slows right down after dark.
- ManilaPhilippinesA sprawling, hectic capital where Spanish-era churches stand near glass towers and what is often called the world's oldest Chinatown.
- MumbaiIndiaIndia's restless financial capital, where Victorian Gothic stations and Art Deco seafronts sit beside markets and fishing villages.
- OsakaJapanJapan's kitchen and its most outgoing city: neon canals, standing bars, and locals far more likely to strike up a conversation than in Tokyo.
- PaiThailandA small town in a mountain valley in northern Thailand, known for hot springs, waterfalls and a relaxed traveller scene.
- PenangMalaysiaAn island state where George Town's shophouses, clan houses and temples reflect centuries of Malay, Chinese, Indian and colonial history.
- Phnom PenhCambodiaCambodia's capital sits where the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers meet, with royal pagodas, French-era buildings and busy markets.
- PhuketThailandThailand's largest island is far more than its party strip, with quiet coves in the south and a historic old town full of shophouses and cafés.
- PokharaNepalA lakeside town at the foot of the Annapurna range, and the start or finish of many Himalayan treks.
- RishikeshIndiaA pilgrim town where the Ganges leaves the Himalayan foothills, known for yoga, ashrams and white-water rafting.
- SamarkandUzbekistanA Silk Road city of turquoise domes and tiled madrasas, rebuilt in splendour by Timur in the 14th century.
- SapporoJapanThe capital of Hokkaido, laid out on a neat grid with snowy winters and cool, green summers.
- SeoulSouth KoreaRoyal palaces, granite mountains and a food culture that runs late into the night.
- ShanghaiChinaChina's biggest commercial city, where colonial-era banks on the Bund face the glass towers of Pudong across the river.
- Siem ReapCambodiaThe gateway to the temples of Angkor, Siem Reap is a laid-back riverside town of markets, guesthouses and garden restaurants, with Angkor Wat a short tuk-tuk ride to the north.
- SingaporeSingaporeA compact, green city-state where hawker centres sit beside glass towers.
- TaipeiTaiwanAn easy-going capital where mountains rise at the end of the street and the night markets matter as much as the museums.
- TashkentUzbekistanCentral Asia's largest city, rebuilt with broad Soviet boulevards after the 1966 earthquake.
- TokyoJapanA vast city that works as a cluster of villages, each with its own shopping streets, shrines and late-night counters.
- UbudIndonesiaBali's inland town of rice terraces, temples and dance performances.
- UdaipurIndiaA city of lakes and palaces in the Aravalli hills of southern Rajasthan.
- VaranasiIndiaOne of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, stacked in stone steps along the Ganges.
- YogyakartaIndonesiaThe cultural heart of Java, still home to a reigning sultan, with batik workshops, shadow-puppet theatre and a busy student life.