What are the top 5 destinations in Asia for first-time visitors that would appeal most to senior travellers? It’s advisable to start with destinations that provide a ‘soft landing’, and not ones like India that can be quite overwhelming for less experienced travellers. Here are our recommendations for the best places to visit for those new to Asia.
After more than 60 years, Graham Greene’s classic novel about Vietnam, The Quiet American, continues to captivate readers. Visitors to Ho Chi Minh City can retrace the author’s footsteps and visit some of the places mentioned in the book – a particular pleasure for senior travellers with a feel for history.
Tibet is a destination that is on the bucket list of many senior travellers, but often they are discouraged from making the trip because of the fear of suffering altitude sickness. Is it possible to travel to Tibet without being afflicted by altitude sickness?
An overnight cruise on a houseboat through the lush tropical backwaters of Kerala should be one of the highlights of any senior traveller’s trip to India. It’s the ultimate experience in relaxation - eat, sleep, eat and watch the world go slowly by.
How safe is Asia for travel by senior citizens? The answer may surprise you! Here is a comprehensive guide to staying safe in Asia for older travellers. Follow our advice and you will be assured of a safe and trouble-free trip.
Revisiting places that you first saw when you were young is one of the joys of senior travel. It’s fun to see how places have changed and how they haven’t. At the same time, you yourself have changed and are seeing them through different eyes.
The hill stations in the Himalayan foothills in northern India may be more famous, but those in India’s southern states have a lot to offer senior travellers. Most of them are in the more easily accessible Western Ghats, a biologically diverse mountain range that runs through five states.
Cheonggyecheon is a stream that runs for 11 km through the heart of South Korea’s capital, Seoul. Since being redeveloped in 2005 it has become a popular tourist destination, featuring a linear park and many attractions. But it wasn’t always as clean or popular as it is today. The stream has a turbulent history.
Kampong Ayer is a series of interlinked stilt-house villages built along the Brunei River, which runs through the capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The villages are home to an estimated 30,000 people and are thought to be the largest stilt settlement in the world.
Malaysia has much to offer the senior traveller. From relaxing beach breaks to rainforest adventures, it provides a relatively safe environment for the holiday of one’s choice. English is widely spoken. The country often ranks high on lists of best places to retire to, an indication of its generally welcoming approach to older foreign visitors.
Beach hawkers can be annoying and many will not take no for an answer. So how do you get them to go away and stay away? Here are some tips on how to deal with beach hawkers in Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.
These days Vietnam is high on the list of recommendations for first or second-time visitors to Asia because it is a country with many natural attractions, UNESCO heritage sites, colonial shopping precincts, and value-for-money beach resorts.
Often billed as Asia's most spectacular pageant, the Esala Perahera is held in the Sri Lankan hill town of Kandy. The Esala Perahera festival runs for 10 days, and there are parades during the day and at night featuring dancers, drummers, acrobats, fire-eaters and brightly decorated elephants.
Japan’s wisteria flowering season is from about mid-April to mid-May, immediately following the sakura (cherry blossom) season, so if you’ve not been able to make it to Japan to see the cherry blossoms, then the wisteria flowering season provides an excellent substitute.
For first-time senior travellers to Asia, there is no better place to start than the island state of Singapore. It’s quieter and more orderly than Hong Kong, and provides an introduction to Asian culture whilst still being very ‘western’ in terms of the number of people who speak English, the amount of English signage around the island, and the availability of familiar western food.
When seniors travel off the beaten track, the risk of being struck down by a life-threatening illness or other serious medical issue is much greater than it is for younger travellers. The biggest risk, of course, is that over-exertion could result in a stroke or heart attack that can’t be quickly treated because of the distance from a hospital.
