Where to go
Where to go for culture in December
Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Egypt
- 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.
- 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.
- IndiaGoa. North Goa beaches and the Anjuna market come first. Old Goa churches and spice plantations sit inland. South Goa is the quiet stretch, and Dudhsagar is a falls day.
- 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.