Trip through Asia - Flight Order?

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  GG57 on 04/10/2018 - 14:40

  Time of year?
  Apart from family in Shanghai, what interests do you have in the other places?

  • 

    sinewaves7 on 04/10/2018 - 14:48

    Thinking approx Sep next year or some time around there.
    I'm generally interested in history, scenery and culture, whereas my fiancee is a foodie..
    So between us we're interested in basically everything we can find.

    • 

      GG57 on 04/10/2018 - 14:50

      I have not been to Japan, but would recommend Shanghai for an extended stay.
      The food scene is amazing, and obviously there is history and culture within the city and in nearby cities.

      • 

        HighAndDry on 04/10/2018 - 17:31

        Depends on OP's personality and how well he gets on with the in-laws. It tends to be a lot of dinners and get togethers with very little time for rest or doing their own thing (lest they offend some family friend of a distant relative that they could've met up with instead of sleeping for a day).

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  boomramada on 04/10/2018 - 14:44

  For honeymoon, I would pick a country which has no family connection and stick to one country :)
  If no overseas travelling experience, stick to Japan :)

  • 

    sinewaves7 on 04/10/2018 - 14:46

    There's a bit more to it, basically we need to visit some of my fiancee's family in Shanghai regardless, because we can't afford to travel often and they're getting old and we don't know how much longer they're going to be around.
    Turning it into our honeymoon as well is more of a case of convenient timing really. If we could afford it we'd head off to Europe or something like that afterwards, but we can't afford it. So we're going to just combine the family obligations with some exploring around nearby countries and call it the honeymoon.
    Not ideal but it should be okay. Probably just busier than I'd like a honeymoon to be.

    • 

      boomramada on 04/10/2018 - 14:48

      Then Shanghai and Japan or Korea, spend a lil bit more for honeymoon experience in one of the country :)

    • 

      bobbified on 04/10/2018 - 15:22

      Spoken like a true asian - killing two birds with one stone! haha.

      Her family can't complain that you haven't visited them! ;)

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  HighAndDry on 04/10/2018 - 15:19

  +5

  Just in terms of fun - get family commitments and obligations out of the way first.

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  jackofspade on 04/10/2018 - 15:57

  Don't forget you can get 144-Hour China Transit Visa in Shanghai.

  • 

    HighAndDry on 04/10/2018 - 17:32

    Good tip but unless OP's fiancee has an abnormally small family, that won't be nearly enough time to even say hi to everyone. Much less fulfill all of OP's now filial obligations.

    • 

      jackofspade on 04/10/2018 - 17:41

      6 days is not enough?

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        HighAndDry on 04/10/2018 - 17:43

        If OP and his fiancee did absolutely nothing but meet family, extended family, and family friends from sun-up to sun-down…. then maybe. Chinese extended families can get big. Add on all the family friends, bosses, colleagues, etc that you have to also meet to 'give face' to those family members…. yeah. Difficult.

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          sinewaves7 on 04/10/2018 - 21:18

          @HighAndDry: Possibly not enough time but it would be close. Interesting anyway, I wasn't aware of the transit visa.

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  Fake News on 05/10/2018 - 08:13

  I just got back from Japan last night and I visited Shanghai and Beijing last year… my tip would be about a week for Shanghai and then 2 for Japan- get the obligations out of the way first and then you can relax. Flights to/from Korea are often quite expensive, and if you’ve never been overseas before and it’s your honeymoon you will want some time to relax rather than travelling every few days.

  You’ll do a lot of shopping in Japan so it’s easier if it is your last destination, and there are so many different experiences throughout the country. Have fun on your trip!

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  afah0447 on 05/10/2018 - 09:22

  1)First stop should be Singapore without a doubt. Its the cheapest Asian city to get to and offers the cheapest connections to all other Asian cities.
  2)Bangkok
  3)Phnom Penh (then back to Singapore, then to)
  3)Shanghai
  4)Seoul
  5)Tokyo

  This can be done very cheaply if you are organised and stick to your schedule!

  Cheers
  Andy

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  jackofspade on 05/10/2018 - 11:52

  Use skyscanner.com multi-stop search, play around with itinerary and dates. You may not find any cheap fares for sept right now, wait until next year.
  Cheapest return airfare is probably mel to tokyo/osaka via shanghai with one of the chinese airlines for around $700.