One — how many days you actually have
Count the days on the ground, not the days off work. A flight from Europe or North America takes most of a day at each end, and the arrival day is rarely useful for anything but sleeping. Fourteen days of leave is usually eleven or twelve days of travelling.
That number decides how many countries are sensible. One country up to eight days, two up to twelve, and three only beyond thirteen — which is a different kind of trip and not one we build.
Two — which season you are in
There is no month that is good everywhere in the region. A short route can be aimed at whichever part is dry when you are free, which is an advantage a three-week itinerary does not have.
| Month | Works well | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| November to February | Everywhere, broadly — the region's best window | Nothing major; book early, it is peak |
| March to April | Coastal Vietnam, the Cambodian coast | Northern Laos and northern Thailand — burning season haze |
| May to August | Central Vietnam, northern Laos | Southern Vietnam and Cambodia get daily afternoon rain |
| September to October | Northern Vietnam, Laos as the rain eases | Central Vietnam — the flood window runs into November |
Three — how many times you move
Every base change costs half a day once you count packing, the transfer and checking in at the other end. A flight costs a whole one. We plan at most one internal flight per week of travel, and we would rather drop a destination than break that.
- Two bases in a week is relaxed. Three is normal. Four is a lot.
- An overnight boat or train counts as a base change, not a saved night.
- The last base should be the one with the best airport connections home.
Four — visas and entry
Requirements differ by country and by your passport, and they change often enough that anything written on a web page is out of date within months. We send the current position for your nationality with the draft itinerary, and we say plainly where we are not certain.
Start with your dates
Send the dates and the number of days. We answer with a draft route and the honest version of what the weather will be doing.