Asia - Please critique my itinery for 4 weeks on the road!

Clearly, travelling solo, I would get bored in one place for a long time, so I am keeping myself on the move with the intention of visiting as many places as I can in the 29 days I am travelling. Not everybody's style, true, but I prefer it to 4 weeks on the same beach!

London - Singapore
Singapore (3 nights)
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by overnight train
Kuala Lumpur (3 nights)
Bali (4 nights)
Bali to Yogyakarta by ferry, bus and train (via Mt Bromo) (1 night at Probolinggo)
Yogyakarta (3 nights)
Yogyakarta to Singapore (transit hotel at Changi Airport)
Singapore to Tokyo
Tokyo (4 nights)
Tokyo to Osaka on the Shinkansen Bullet Train
Osaka (3 nights)
Osaka to Hong Kong (via Seoul)
Hong Kong to Shenzhen by ferry
Shenzhen (2 nights)
Shenzhen to Guangzhou by train
Guangzhou (2 nights)
Guangzhou to Beijing
Beijing (3 nights)
Beijing - Singapore - London (Home! Woooo!)

Most of it is provisionally planned, but I am still flexible. It kinda works out as 1 week SIN/KUL, 1 week Indonesia, 1 week Japan, 1 week China. :cool:

I don't think you'll remember a single country with that itinerary

Seems like a lot of similar big Asian metropolises with some time in Bali tossed in.

Is there a reason for the ferry ride to Shenzhen rather than just taking the train?

Like you said, not a trip for everyone that's for sure. I prefer to spend a bit longer in one place to get a better feel for it. I wouldn't consider 2 days in a place to be a long time by the time you consider your travel between places. Surely there's a happy medium between "4 weeks on the same beach" and 4 weeks running between airports in big cities. But it's your trip not mine. :-)

Looking through that list, I have so many questions running through my head at the moment:

- Why does one need three whole nights in Singapore?

- Why KL as well as Singapore? KL is just Singapore with more grime (okay, to be fair it also has better street food and nightlife, but you get the general point)

- Why not Malacca or Penang? Fascinating historical towns that need to be visited now before they get overly gentrified

- Why not Bangkok?

- Why not Angkor Wat / Angkor Thom? Majestic and yet humbling ancient sites

- Why not Chiang Mai and the surrounding countryside? An interesting side of Thailand that the Bangkok / islands visitors don't see

- Why Singapore rather than Hong Kong? If you like cities (which judging from your itinerary you do) there is nowhere anywhere else in the world that comes remotely close to the urban buzz of Hong Kong... perhaps Manhattan at times but that's a lot way off

- Why Guangzhou? Why Shenzhen for anything more than a day trip from Hong Kong? Are you trying to atone for previous sins?

- Why not Shanghai?

- Why not Xi'an?

- And ultimately, just... why?

Well in the past 12 months, I have already visited Bangkok, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, and Hong Kong, so this time I want to experience some new cities. I am running out of megacities in Asia to explore.

I want to go back to Tokyo because I never did it justice last time, and I will always return to Singapore as that's my favourite country (and my landing point from LHR)!

I don't do beaches, otherwise I would go to Penang or Samui (or Hoi An), so it's really just cities and temples, with the odd theme park thrown in.

I would have thought the ferry between HK and SZX would be cheaper than a highspeed train, but nonetheless it seems like a good experience to me.

Well there's certainly more to Hoi An than the beach. the town itself is a World Heritage site.

Do you find there is enough of a difference between all of these megacities to really make it worthwhile? Or is it all about checking them off a list? I like cities too. But for me, part of the point of going to Asia is to see different culture. Typically the big cities feel a little too much like home, no? The medium size cities can be interesting and give you more of a feel for the place and culture. I like the question above a place like Chiang Mai. Or go see Laos. Or spend a week or 10 days exploring Vietnam.

Of course China is full of enormous cities that most people outside China have never heard of. So it's not like you will run out of them. :-)

Skip Shenzhen and Guangzhou completely. I happen to like both cities, but that's because I friends in the former and friends and family in the latter. As tourist cities go, there's not much there. Give yourself at least two full days in Hong Kong and take the rest of the time in China in Beijing. You could spend weeks in Beijing without exhausting it -- one of my favorite cities in the world (except for the traffic and the smog).

Clearly, travelling solo, I would get bored in one place for a long time, so I am keeping myself on the move with the intention of visiting as many places as I can in the 29 days I am travelling. Not everybody's style, true, but I prefer it to 4 weeks on the same beach!

London - Singapore
Singapore (3 nights)
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by overnight train
Kuala Lumpur (3 nights)
Bali (4 nights)
Bali to Yogyakarta by ferry, bus and train (via Mt Bromo) (1 night at Probolinggo)
Yogyakarta (3 nights)
Yogyakarta to Singapore (transit hotel at Changi Airport)
Singapore to Tokyo
Tokyo (4 nights)
Tokyo to Osaka on the Shinkansen Bullet Train
Osaka (3 nights)
Osaka to Hong Kong (via Seoul)
Hong Kong to Shenzhen by ferry
Shenzhen (2 nights)
Shenzhen to Guangzhou by train
Guangzhou (2 nights)
Guangzhou to Beijing
Beijing (3 nights)
Beijing - Singapore - London (Home! Woooo!)

Most of it is provisionally planned, but I am still flexible. It kinda works out as 1 week SIN/KUL, 1 week Indonesia, 1 week Japan, 1 week China. :cool:

What stands out the most to me is Probolinggo. May i ask why? I can't seem to recall any historical or touristy stuff there.
edit: never mind, so it's pretty close to Mt. Bromo? I really need to brush up on my geography :)

I didn't realize there's airline flying "Yogyakarta to Singapore". Which airline is this?

Very interesting trip indeed. Looking forward to the TR :)

I didn't realize there's airline flying "Yogyakarta to Singapore". Which airline is this?

As with just about any short secondary route in Southeast Asia which doesn't have a full-service airline, there's usually only one safe and generally reliable option.

To paraphrase the Mastercard ad: "there are some trips worth spending money on - HKG to JFK on CX in F, SIN to LHR on SQ in J. For everything else under two hours, there's AirAsia"

I would suggest you to reduce nights in Osaka, and spend at least 2 full days in Kyoto.
Moving with Shinkansen is a breeze, and you won't miss a true Japan's gem.

You may recover a night reducing Singapore (2).

Ambitious and thrilling. Is this your first trip to Asia?

Well in the past 12 months, I have already visited Bangkok, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, and Hong Kong, so this time I want to experience some new cities. I am running out of megacities in Asia to explore.

I would suggest you to reduce nights in Osaka, and spend at least 2 full days in Kyoto.
Moving with Shinkansen is a breeze, and you won't miss a true Japan's gem.

You may recover a night reducing Singapore (2).

I'll second this. In fact, if you have been to Tokyo skip it entirely. Get a 1 week rail pass and go by Shinkansen to Kyoto and Nara. Visit Himeji Castle, and check out Kurashiki. These 4 cities could occupy a week in Japan easily. Fly in and out of Osaka to save time on the train.