Where to go
Where to go for culture in April
Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Egypt, China, Japan, South Korea
- ThailandBangkok and Phuket. The Grand Palace and Wat Pho are the first pair, and Yaowarat is the night market after. Floating markets use more than one pier, so this plan does not pin them to a single stop.
- IndonesiaBali. Ubud is temples, rice terraces, and yoga. A volcano sunrise and the waterfalls are a separate outing. Seminyak is beaches and beach clubs, and Uluwatu is cliffs and surf.
- TurkeyIstanbul and Antalya. Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque share Sultanahmet. The Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market sit toward Eminönü, and the Bosphorus is the crossing to the Asian shore.
- VietnamHanoi. The Old Quarter and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum are the Hanoi pair. Ha Long Bay is an overnight cruise, not a neighborhood, and Ninh Binh is the rice-paddy day.
- Sri LankaColombo. Colombo is the arrival name. The days run through Sigiriya and Dambulla, Kandy and the tea train, Yala, then Galle — not a walk around the capital.
- EgyptCairo and Hurghada. The Giza plateau is the pyramids and the Sphinx. Islamic Cairo and Khan el-Khalili are another day. Luxor and Hurghada are in this plan, and they are not a walk across downtown.
- ChinaBeijing. The Forbidden City and Tiananmen are the first Beijing pair. Mutianyu is the Great Wall day. The Temple of Heaven and the hutongs are in the city, and 798 is the art district.
- JapanTokyo. Shibuya, Harajuku, and Meiji Shrine are in Tokyo. Tsukiji and Ginza are another day. Kyoto, Mount Fuji, and an onsen are trips out of the city.
- South KoreaSeoul. Gyeongbokgung and Bukchon are the palace day in Seoul. Myeongdong is shopping. The DMZ is a tour out of the city. Gangnam and Hongdae are the night.