Spend a Week in India, Vietnam, or Italy?
 

**If I placed this in the incorrect spot, please more to correct forum. Thanks!**

I was fortunate enough to get in on the Etihad mistake fare to AUH back on Christmas Day and am thinking of skipping the return leg and spending another week somewhere else. Based on some searching, the cheapest options (less than $300) would be for me to go to India, Vietnam, Istanbul, or Italy (and use points to return to US). I am going to be traveling for leisure and either alone or with my cousin. I want to be able to experience the country's culture/history and not sit on a beach somewhere.

I have never been to any of these countries so wanted to see is anyone has recommendations on which of these is his/her favorite? This is going to be in late May/early June if that needs to be factored in.

I am looking to depart AUH/DXB on May 26 and must be back to DCA/IAD by June 3/4.

Thanks for the advice!

For cultureS, diversity, history, etc I recommend India. You can fly into DBX DEL under 4 hors. Etihad can take you there and many more airlines.

Do the Golden Triangle. Look up. IncredibleIndia.com for starters. Then ask questions.

also you can return India USA for less than 40000 points in Y. United has a non stop DEL EWR.

Might get semi-flamed for this, but I enjoy seeing other areas of the world completely different that the US-or our Euro routes. I did visit Italy and loved it. My mother wanted to see where here mother was from. I was fortunate enough to do that with her in 2009.

If I had the choice to make that you do, it would be Viet Nam or India. Everything is different. Religion, culture, food. I love being exposed to that.

Can you give a little more information about your interests? And how much are you looking to spend while you're there? Food and hotels in Italy might be more expensive than in Vietnam, for example. Really, though, those all sound like amazing destinations!

if it matters, vietnam requires a visa for us nationals

You will have to be more specific as to what you're looking for as each country is a bit like marmite in how people experience them. There's also a huge amount of diversity within each country (particularly India, but also the other two) and so you'll have many options for your time in each.

India is the most un-American English-speaking (largely) country on earth.
(Not "un-American" in the Cold War sense, but in the "most unlike America" sense).

It's an assault on your senses, your common sense, your sensibilities and your generally accepted understanding on how a society functions. In five trips there, I've yet to figure out how a single person gets through their day alive, fed, hydrated, sheltered and employed; yet every day, a billion+ do just that.

If you want to turn your understanding of the world on its head: India.

Go to India...it would be a lifetime experience. Either you would like it or hate it but would be a experience to remember.

I'd take advantage of your position and go to India.

Depending on your native passport, you may need a visa for India - one for which you may need to pre-apply via an embassy or consulate. But I wouldn't let that stop me if I was that close and had an opportunity to spend a week there.

Golden Triangle would fit nicely in a week. We did it in 5 nights with a private driver (yes, that's actually quite affordable)...maybe could have used 1 additional night to see more of Delhi, but otherwise did not feel rushed.

Some may not want to go to North Vietnam (now Vietnam) because it is an enemy country. Up to you.

It all depends on what interests you.

How about Chile, The Gambia, or Jordan? All of these have a tourist trade and people who were happy they visited.

For me, I've visited Italy and India. Given a choice, I'd go to Italy because I've never been to Rome.

Enemy of who? :confused: The only country with which they have the occasional territorial dispute is China, but even that is rather mild.

We don't know for sure what passport the OP holds, but if it's U.S. he'd likely have no issues obtaining a visa: the U.S. and Vietnam have had normal relations since the mid-1990's.

Thanks for all of those that have responded. A couple of clarifying points:

1. My international travel experience is pretty limites at the point -- Australia for 6 months and short trips to Ecuador, London, Paris, and neighboring NA countries. However, I am traveling to Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines in March as well as my week in UAE in May.

2. Having not experienced non-Western cultures (outside of Ecuador?), this is something that is really intriguing to me. Based on airmotive's comments, India would be the perfect place to push my limits. I guess here the question is, am I ready to experience this?

3. Looking to keep this trip fairly reasonable -- less than $1,000 for the week including positioning flight from AUH/DXB (maybe a little more if I go to Italy). I'm looking for middle market hotels/ground transportation (US standards), is this budget sufficient?

4. Thanks to deniah for bringing up the visa requirement for Vietnam. Something I had not considered.

5. For India, I discussed with a colleague and he suggested Delhi->Leh->Srinagar OR Delhi->Jaipur->Jaisalmer->Jodhpur (are one of these the triangle?) since it will be cooler this time of year compared to having my base in Mumbai.

6. For Vietnam, the only information I really have is what I've found online with suggested routes/schedules -- starting in Ho Chi Minh City and moving north.

7. For Italy, the big draw here is the history of the country and the ability to visit Vatican City. Not to mention it might be a little more comfortable surroundings if I'm traveling by myself.

Maybe I'll have a better feeling for what I'm looking for after I spend 2 weeks in Southeast Asia next month.... And I am a US citizen.

The most common Golden Triangle tour is Delhi-Jaipur-Agra.

Offhand I'd suggest that $1,000 per person should cover it. However, we redeemed Starpoints the entire time so I can't speak to the local hotel markets. All three cities had a wide mix of Western and local brands so I would guess that finding accommodation at any price point would be possible. Our Starwoods were midcategory for points...I'm sure I did a basic confirmation that using points was of reasonable value (e.g., wasn't spending 7,000 points on a $70 room), but I don't recall the details. The hotels themselves were of very high quality for their categories.

I also didn't compare/contrast using a driver vs. internal flights and trains. The research I did suggested that a driver would be (by far) the most efficient way to travel, given that we wanted to visit a few off-the-beaten-path sites. Obviously if the cousin comes along this becomes an easier choice.

Food was inexpensive. Only thing I was a bit surprised at was that I didn't have one meal there that I thought was truly fantastic. I love Indian food as it's prepared and served by Indians in Europe and the U.S., but locally it didn't do as much for me. We had just come from a week in Nepal, where I thought the food was much better. But maybe that's just me...maybe we had bad luck. In any case, Italy would be the foodie tour, not India. :)

I've been to Italy, Istanbul, and India.

India would certainly be a different experience, and would be fine if you're looking to see how much of the poorer world lives. I've been there three times and would never, ever think about going there on a vacation. Driving around the slums, seeing poverty, suffering, etc., isn't an enjoyable week for me. YMMV.

If it's just Rome vs. Istanbul, it's a bit of a toss-up. Both are fantastic cities. If it's more than a few days and you have the ability to travel around a bit, I'd strongly recommend Italy, heading down the Amalfi coast and over to Capri for a day. Though you can't go wrong with Venice, Florence, or numerous others.

Personally, I'd skip Vietnam, as I suspect it will be like India, but that's solely based on reputation and external observation.

If you are already going to Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, you'll have a taste of the climate, economy/style of life, and delicious food of SE Asia (in no way implying those are a substitute for vietnam)

in which case, go for India, as it offers a distinction and another end-point to your travel sampling.

and its cheap.

just try to hook up with a fellow traveler, book a tour guide, or the like. because it is a lot to take in as a solo traveler.