Travel Asia

Change up your holiday destinations and travel to Asia! It seems to offer it all. From the ancient ginkgo forests of China’s Zhejiang province to the brazen streetscapes of Japan’s Osaka, Asia’s diversity can be both exhilarating and confounding.

Asia can boast cities evolving at breakneck speed, but also vast, untouched natural landscapes. You’ll find some of the best food on the planet (in some of the most unexpected places), as well as rich strands of history and an underlying sense of spirituality wherever you go.

Prayagraj (Allahabad) – India

Go for: the greatest human gathering on Earth

Every 12 years in the city of Allahabad (now Prayagraj), in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, more than 100 million people gather on a strip of sand at the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati. The Kumbh Mela – among the most important Hindu pilgrimages – is touted as the largest human gathering in the world.

Completing its 12-year cycle, the Kumbh will take place in Prayagraj from 13 January to 26 February, bringing millions of devotees and curious-minded travellers from across the world to witness the power of faith. Believer or not, there is no denying the palpable spiritual energy that pervades the Kumbh: offerings of flowers and incense sticks drift across the water; the days are filled with chants and drumming; and smoke from earthen lamps curls through the air. For pilgrims, the pinnacle of the festival is a dip in the sacred waters on auspicious days – an act believed to cleanse the faithful of their sins.

To accommodate this throng of humanity, a temporary city of impossible proportions springs up on the sandbanks, featuring tented accommodations, roadways, power supplies and medical facilities. Holy men hand out blessings, gurus dispense sermons to their disciples, and pilgrims have the chance to be in the presence of normally reclusive ascetics.

Alongside old hands such as The Ultimate Travelling Camp Sangam Nivas, a luxury tented campsite called Shivir will debut at the Kumbh in 2025. Guests can check in to chic tented suites with attached bathrooms and heating. On site, there will be multiple restaurants and meals catering to various dietary requirements (Sattvic, Jain, vegetarian), as well as activities such as guided yoga and meditation, boat cruises along the sacred rivers, walking tours of the akharas and audiences with seers and ash-smeared holy men. Malavika Bhattacharya

Hangzhou, China

Go for: ancient forests and brand-new hotels

You know a city is having a moment when Chanel decides to host a runway show there. In December, the French fashion house will unveil its Métiers d’Art 2025 collection in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province. This is already one of the country’s most-visited cities, with its snow-dusted Broken Bridge, picturesque West Lake, spring willows along Su Causeway and Leifeng Pagoda silhouetted against dramatic sunsets.

In 2025, the city will highlight some of these natural attractions as host of UNESCO’s fifth World Conference on Biosphere Reserves, which will address global concerns about environmental issues, sustainable development and biodiversity conservation. The Tianmu Mountain Nature Reserve in Lin’an – one of the first sites in China to achieve UNESCO’s Biosphere Reserve status – possesses the world’s largest ancient Cryptomeria forest community, as well as the oldest natural ginkgo forest.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Go for: celebrations commemorating the country’s national reunification

This southern Vietnamese metropolis has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing tourism powerhouses, shattering pre-pandemic records by a healthy margin, and there’s no better time to visit than in 2025. Exactly 50 years since the Fall of Saigon ended the Vietnam War in 1975, Ho Chi Minh City – still referred to locally as Saigon – is set to unveil a number of grand events, exhibitions and celebrations commemorating half a century of national reunification.

Those travelling domestically will be able to take advantage of Tan Son Nhat Airport’s Terminal 3, opening in 2025; then there’s the HCMC Metro, which, despite numerous delays, is rumoured to launch its inaugural rides sometime next year.

Beyond urban and tourism infrastructure, Ho Chi Minh City shines brightest as one of Southeast Asia’s cultural epicentres – a regional hub of commerce, dining and fashion. On the shopping front, local brands such as Fancì Club and Latui Atelier have in recent years earned the patronage of K-pop stars and Hollywood A-listers alike. And in 2023, the first Michelin Guide to Vietnam awarded the city’s first star to the new-school Vietnamese restaurant Anan Saigon, whose chef, Peter Cuong Franklin, also recently opened a noodle soup-focused concept, Pot Au Pho. Yet, for all the new and novel, the city, known during the French colonial era as the “Pearl of the Orient”, retains much of its old-world charm, from bustling markets to rustic street vendors hawking hu tieu noodle soup and banh mi sandwiches. Dan Q. Dao

Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

Go for: outdoor adventure, and cultural and culinary diversity

Anyone who has braved seven hours in a cramped “marshrutka” (the shared taxis common in Eastern Europe and ex-Soviet republics) to journey from Bishkek to Karakol will tell you that the bumpy ride is a small price to pay. Not only is this Kyrgyz city famed for its cultural diversity, it’s also the adventure capital of Central Asia.

Karakol is undeniably remote – about 150 kilometres from the Kyrgyzstan-China border – but the imminent reopening of Karakol International Airport is set to make it more accessible than ever. The area has traditionally been a draw for intrepid adventurists. From the rugged Tien Shan mountains to the expansive Issyk-Kul lake, hiking, horse riding, kayaking and paragliding are just some of the activities on offer here. In addition, Karakol Ski Base is the highest ski resort in Central Asia, at an altitude of 3,040 metres.

But adventure is only part of Karakol’s appeal. The city is home to Uyghur, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Kalmak, Dungan and Russian communities, translating to unsung cultural treasures like wooden “gingerbread” houses, cold ashlan-fu soup and the architecturally wondrous Dungan Mosque, which reflects the Buddhist roots of the Chinese artisans who built it in 1907, with a pagoda in place of a minaret. Samia Qaiyum

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Go for: new cultural festivals

Malaysia is often overshadowed by its glitzier neighbour, Singapore. But as the former assumes chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, for 2025, there’s a new sense of optimism and excitement across the country.

In the capital, Kuala Lumpur, all eyes are on Independence Square, the massive downtown plaza known locally as Dataran Merdeka, where Malaysia first declared itself an independent nation in 1957. This precinct is the focal point for several cultural rejuvenation programmes, including Kreatif KL, an annual event with exhibitions, workshops and themed walkabouts in and around the city centre. Expect more commissioned street art, along with public music and dance performances, to build on the recently introduced Car Free Sundays programme. There’s also a larger cultural pageant on the cards, this one embracing the entire region and masterminded by Joe Sidek, the erstwhile curator of the popular George Town Festival in Penang. The Festival of Asia is poised for its grand launch in 2025 and hopes to shine a spotlight on Kuala Lumpur as a creative hub.

This follows a sprucing up of KL’s Chinatown neighbourhood, home to several new bars and speakeasies. Else, an art-deco hotel built on the site of a 1930s rubber warehouse, and Kwai Chai Hong, an alley brimming with interactive wall murals and street art. Charukesi Ramadurai

Muscat, Oman

Go for: dramatic landscapes and new luxury hotels

For centuries, Muscat was known to Indian Ocean mariners as a gateway to Oman’s raw, rugged beauty, limestone massifs, formidable castles and wind-sculpted deserts – but tourists have long overlooked this charming city tucked into the wrinkles of the Hajar Mountains.

This is set to change, with a crop of new resorts arriving in the sultanate’s laid-back capital. Two of the most anticipated are in hidden coves just south of the city.

If you can drag yourself away from the beachside pampering, wander the historic Mutrah Corniche, get lost in the frankincense haze of its 200-year-old covered souq. Or catch Verdi operas, subtitled in Arabic and English, and Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama in the 2025 spring season of the resplendent Royal Opera House Muscat. Anna Zacharias

Pererenan, Bali

Go for: an up-and-coming culinary scene away from Bali’s crowds

Sandwiched between the volcanic black sand beaches of Bali’s achingly hip surf spot Canggu and the lower-key Seseh, the rice-paddy-surrounded locale of Pererenan is fast becoming the island’s most interesting corner.

Where established Canggu boasts a number of hotels, as well as cafés, boutiques and bars, Pererenan is slowly starting to give its neighbours a run for their money on the dining front, with a number of new restaurants and visiting chefs from across the globe. Mexican business partners Alvaro Rosales Machado, Cassandra Escamilla Frutos and chef Alejandro Urbina Andrade have launched Origens, a Mexican restaurant celebrating generations-old recipes and offering the largest range of Mezcal varieties in Bali; co-founders of hospitality group Kilo Collective, Joshua Adjodha and Javier Perez, have opened Kilo Kitchen Pererenan, a sophisticated sister to its popular Seminyak venue. Australian chef Benjamin Cross’s Bar Vera serves up tonka bean cocktails and sambal-sprinkled steak tartares; and celebrated chef Stephen Moore’s Shelter Pererenan regularly invites world-famous chefs to take part in culinary collaborations as part of Shelter Sessions. Names like Jake Kellie and British chef Tom Brown travelling to the island to host exclusive dinners.

Away from the food, an interesting edit of artisanal fragrance and skincare concept stores like Our Projects and Oaken Lab, carefully curated fashion boutiques and contemporary art galleries such as Seventeen and Sun Contemporary are helping Pererenan build its reputation as Bali’s one to watch. Natascha Hawke

Osaka, Japan

Go for: luxury hotel openings, new eco-urban spaces and the forward-looking World Expo

Once travellers visiting Japan get a taste of cosmopolitan Tokyo, they often cast their gaze west towards the poised and sagely Kyoto. But make time – nay, dedicate a trip – to energetic and in-your-face Osaka, the thrumming heart of the Kansai region, easily accessible from Kyoto via a 30-minute train ride (grab a JR Kansai Mini Pass, which lets you move freely between Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe). Emerge at JR Osaka Station, the largest train terminal in western Japan, to discover new urban developments and luxury hotels that have cut their ribbons in 2024, with more opening in 2025.

Two urban openings are connected to Osaka Station: Food haven KITTE Osaka opened in July 2024 within the JP Tower Osaka, featuring 50-plus new dining spots, embodying the essence of “Japan’s kitchen”. There’s also Grand Green Osaka, a greenspace project that opened in September 2024. Among its residential and commercial spaces (offices, culinary outposts, shops from local brands), there’s Umekita Park, with public recreation areas, event and exhibition spaces, and verdant lawns with trees that offer colour beyond cherry blossom season.

From April to October 2025, Osaka will play host to the World Expo, themed around the creation of sustainable societies. For the occasion, Osaka created an island in Osaka Bay called Yumeshima, where a new metro station is being built, improving accessibility to the fair. With Japan’s famously efficient public transport system, it’ll be easy to see, do and eat as much as you can in Osaka. Matt Ortile

For an island-hopping experience in Asia head to The Philippines. Read more here.