Wife and I are trying to plan another trip out of the country, likely next Spring. We last went to Italy in Spring of 2014. I have always wanted to go to some combination of Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam, however, she is reluctant due to the travel times. What is a reasonable itinerary for a this kind of trip? We don't have to see all three places but how many days would we really need, counting the travel? We live in the eastern time zone.

Thanks in advance for the help.

That's sort of an open-ended question that's really requires knowing something about your travel preferences, how much time you have available to travel and what your interests are. It would silly to recommend a week on beaches and doing some temple visits if you hate beaches and temples, wouldn't it?

So, why have you "always wanted to go to some combination of Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam"? What interests you about those places? What would appeal to your wife such that it could overcome the concern about travel time? How much potential time do you have for the vacation?

Answering those questions might help get you better answers.

Also, there's a ton of threads available if you search for "itinerary", like these ones:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thail...ake-sense.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thail...-feedback.html

As well as helpful threads in the Asia forum:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia/...ce-needed.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/asia/...sia-forum.html

Hopefully this information helps! Cheers!

Thank you for the links. I will check them out.

I would like to go for a lot of reasons. Kind of generic, but mainly for the people, the culture, food, history, sites, sounds -- the reasons I'd want to go to any country, really. And yes, a beach for a day or two wouldn't be bad at all. Other than the cost of travel, it seems like money goes a little farther there. We are young and don't have children yet, but that time is quickly approaching.

We would probably have at least 10-12 days. I thought if we ever went, we'd leave on a Tuesday and come back Saturday of the next week.

While you might not be "package tour" people, I think looking at this package could help clarify your ideas:

https://www.oattravel.com/trips/land...-cambodia/2016

There are videos, quite a few pictures, and the detailed itinerary.

I've traveled with the company, and they do a good job. The group is small - 10 to 16 travelers. Lots of close-up encounters like visiting a personal home, a small kid classroom, etc..

You might use the itinerary as a framework, shortening it to fit your time frame by only keeping the destinations you most prefer.

The flight is so long, and the cost is enough, that I'd urge you to have as many days there as possible.

Here are some thoughts about our trips to Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam that you might be able to glean some info from.

The way we kind of break things down for a trip to Thailand and Vietnam is North, Central, and South and 4-5 days in each area. For Thailand, that's like N=Chiang Mai, C=Bangkok, S=Phuket. I love the north because it's (for lack of a better word) more cultural. Chiang Mai is a large town but not super urban like Bangkok. You can do tours to temples, elephant sanctuaries, the golden triangle, etc. Bangkok has all the things associated with a big Asian city, good shopping, and the "big hitter" sightseeing places (palace, temples, etc). The south has a lot of the prototypical island/beach areas that Thailand is well known for.

In Vietnam, we broke it down like N=Hanoi, C=Hoi An, S=Ho Chi Minh City. I equate Hanoi kind of like Chiang Mai though it is more city-like with towers. Being in the north, it's a lot more "preserved" than HCMC so it's nice walking around town like in the old quarter. You can also do side trips to some really popular places Halong Bay or Sapa. Central Vietnam with Hoi An and Hue are quaint towns to visit. I really enjoyed my time in Hoi An. You can do a "side trip" to Nha Trang, a beach resort area. HCMC is the prototypical big Asian city like Bangkok is.

If you do the North, Central, South tour of Thailand or Vietnam, I'd recommend giving it 2.5 weeks (like Wed or Thu departure, Sun return) which gives about 4-5 days in each region. For a longer 3 week trip or a trip where we dropped an area, we've added a couple of days side trip Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat. We haven't made it to Phnom Penh yet but would like to eventually visit (and maybe even Sihanoukville). One kind of weird thing is that we really like Thai and Vietnamese food but the Cambodian meals we've had, haven't really wowed us.

Money does go a lot farther in SE Asia but you can easily lose that advantage if you stay at higher end hotels, eat at fast food restaurants, etc.

10-12 days is not a lot of time, frankly. I've been spending 3-5 weeks in SE Asia once a year every year for the last 9 or 10 years and have always found plenty to do.

From the east coast of the US it takes about a day each way (i.e. travel time is 20-24 hours or so). You lose a day on the way over but you get it back on the return. But the travel time is the travel time. Also "spring" time here will be hot season in SE Asia, so don't expect to do as much in a day as you might in a more temperate climate.

Unless your heart is set on the beach I would probably suggest doing other things instead.

I don't know what your budget is, but I typically do my own private guided tours in places I am visiting for the first time. It's fairly reasonable in cost in that part of the world. I like having my own guide who can tailor the trip to my interests if necessary as well as having private transport in some places.

Given your limited time I would say chose one or two countries max to cut down on travel. I love the chaos of Bangkok but I know some people hate it. Siem Reap probably makes sense if you have any interest in Angkor. Maybe spend 3 or 4 days there and the rest of the time in Bangkok. Or split your time in Thailand between Bangkok and one other destination like Chiang Mai. You can do some interesting day trips from Bangkok as well to places like Ayutthaya or Lopburi.

Yes to this. You could easily do 10-12 days in Vietnam or Thailand without Siem Reap.