ReallyNotFrequentFlyer

Thanks. Is it worth to have 6 nights in Tokyo and 2 in Kyoto? Or I should just focus on Tokyo?

Jaimito Cartero

What's your budget?

Personally, I prefer to concentrate on one large city for 5-7 days. If you do two cities in Japan, and it's your first stop, I'd do 6 days Tokyo, 3 in the other city. Then 6 days Beijing, 6 days Bangkok.

calbear2005

Yes, spend a few days in Kyoto/Osaka. Choose accommodations in Kyoto or Osaka as they are literally one train station apart (this is where having a JR Pass helps); just be sure you have your days planned (e.g. get all the train tickets you'll need once you redeem your JR Pass in Tokyo so you don't waste time). I've never been to Beijing, so I can't say anything about it, but if I were in your position, I would take a day or two out of my planned Bangkok stay and spend it in Japan instead (for instance, 5 days Tokyo, 3 days Osaka/Kyoto, 6 days Bangkok instead of 7 in each country).

IMO, Kyoto is awesome because it still has a lot of what you would picture as "traditional" Japan (Gion, Kiyomizu-dera, Arashiyama) and Osaka is great for food. Just have a good plan for Kyoto because from what I remember, the subway isn't really extensive there, so you'll need to walk/bus/taxi a lot.

TravelDream

OP - I think you've made three good choices. I'd be tempted to split it with 10 days in Japan (Tokyo and Kyoto) and then 5 or 6 each in Beijing and Bangkok.
Beijing's obvious daytrip is the Great Wall. From Bangkok you can go to the wonderful Ayutthaya - but it'd be a long daytrip. I've heard Lopburi is also nice.

I'm not sure if traveling form Osaka to Kyoto is good advice. You see that advice quite a bit on here, but if you are only spending a few days in Kyoto - don't waste time traveling between the two.
Shin-Osaka is in the north of the city. From a hotel in the centre to the platform at Shin-Osaka via the metro would take, say, 40 or 50 minutes. Then you've got to take the Shinkansen which takes 15 minutes - but you might have to wait 10 or 20 minutes for a train if using the JR Pass. That leaves you in the centre of Kyoto - Perhaps 90 minutes after leaving your hotel. You then have to get to the sites you want to visit...
Basically, if you go to Kyoto, get somewhere central.

bwiadca

From Bangkok you can do day trip to Singapore for $50 per person. I've done it with the back pack (so no wasted time waiting for bags at the end, and no baggage fees). Departed 7am and returned at 11pm. At Singapore airport you can sign up for free town tour which lasts about 3-4 hours.

glennaa11

I would also ask what your budget is or at least a ballpark. And also when you plan to go. For example if you're going to Japan when it's cold and then add in hot places in SE Asia you may need to take more stuff with you for the different climates.

I've not spent any time in China (other than HK). Another thing to keep in mind is visa requirements. I like Taiwan a lot. Maybe Japan, Taiwan, S. Korea? Those destinations would limit the amount of travel time between places.

bwiadca

Apparently OP's budget is huge. 10 days in Japan will cost you approximately $2000 just for hotels. In Thailand, for 10 days in 4 star hotel you would pay around $900.
I'm sure that OP knows that Japan is very expensive, but maybe that's why he wants to jiggle his budget by doing 7 7 and 7 in 3 different countries.

calbear2005

I stayed in Osaka awhile back a little south of Dotonbori and don't remember it being 40-50 minutes away from Shin-Osaka; I also had more time and just walked everywhere (never took the metro or a taxi in Osaka) so my sense of time may be off. However, if that's the case, I would stay in Kyoto and just take a quick day trip to Osaka to see Dotonbori and Osaka Castle.

txflyer77

Or maybe OP is young and staying in hostels.

Jaimito Cartero

I've never been able to take the free tour. Always full. $50 is a pretty cheap fare, mid 60's is what I usually see.

Ice Machine

Those look like three good choices but wanted to add a plug for Taiwan. I'm biased as I've made a dozen trips to Taiwan and have only been to Bangkok and Beijing once each for short trips and only made it out of Narita for one night. I did enjoy Bangkok and Beijing but prefer Taiwan. Great country for food, cultural sites and nature. It has great transportation, is very safe and relatively inexpensive.

CrazyInteg

What airline? I checked several and am not seeing anywhere near 2000 baht for a round trip flight.

memesweeper

Consider a sleeper train going somewhere else! Chiang Mai is a fab journey from BKK and a great place to stay for a few days.

There are a few international flights from Chiang Mai if you want to avoid backtracking to BKK e.g. Air Asia to Macau (easy connection to HKG by boat)

Sleeper based excursions in Vietnam are also possible.

bwiadca

I did two separate one ways. Going out was Tigerair and return Jetstar.

ReallyNotFrequentFlyer

Thank you all again! So many good suggestions but need to prioritize. So my plan for now is Tokyo for 6 nights and Kyoto for 2 nights. Then Beijin for 5 nights including a day trip to the Great Wall. Last will be Bangkok with a day trip to Ayutthaya which I just looked up and am sure my GF would love.

Regarding budget, as bwiadca guessed, part of the reason I just want to do 7-8 nights in Japan is because I realize it is the most expensive one and unfortunately I don’t have unlimited budget. I plan to pay for my flights with points. I will also have around 220K Marriott and 60K SPG points by the time I book to use on hotels. My budget for everything else (whatever hotels points don’t cover + spending) will probably be around $5K USD.

Thoughts on how tight that is? I can increase it a bit if required but I would rather not. I tend to spend a large portion of my budget on food as I always look to try some nice restaurants. I usually don’t care about pricey hotels (except when it’s an all-inclusive) as long as they are clean and in a convenience/safe location. I am looking at October for timing.

Taiwan looks beautiful but will need to be another trip unless I can't find enough things to fill up my Beijing part of the trip.