The world's most populous continent by a very long way, Asia contains countless towns and villages famed for their cultural heritage and areas of breathtaking wilderness. It's worth making the trip to these remarkable places for their extraordinary surroundings and the inspiring stories they have to tell about their people and their past.
You may not know much about Bhutan, but you've probably seen this image. This town in the forested Paro Valley, west of Bhutan's capital Thimphu, is renowned for its dazzling cliffside monastery – one of the country's biggest tourism draws. Known as Taktsang, or Tiger's Nest, the 'dzong' (fortified monastery) is one of the most venerated places in the Himalayas, and visitors must deposit all photographic equipment before heading inside. Hike a steep forest trail to reach this sacred settlement, and find out more about Bhutanese history at the National Museum.
Kete Kesu is a traditional village inhabited by the Torajan people in the mountains of South Sulawesi. The oldest village in the district, this unique highland community stands out for its unusual 'tongkonan' houses, distinguished by their giant boat-shaped roofs, decorative carvings and ornamental buffalo horns. The people are also famed for their elaborate funeral rites, often incorporating cliffside burial chambers, large wood-carved effigies and the sacrifice of livestock. The village can be reached from the nearby town of Rantepao.
Tucked away in a mountainous region of Ladakh, nicknamed Moon Land for its rocky, moon-like terrain, this small village between Kargil and Leh is famous for the Lamayuru Monastery, a Tibetan-Buddhist monastery that's one of the oldest and largest in the state. Tourists come on overnight stays or take day trips from Leh to see the 11th-century site, with its faded frescoes, ancient meditation cave and the surrounding lunar landscape.
This small town in the New Taipei region was once a thriving mining settlement, but these days most visitors come for one thing: lanterns. Alongside neighbouring Shifen, the town hosts the famous Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival in February, when literally thousands of lanterns light up the inky night sky. If lanterns aren't your bag, the town is also known for its distinctive Old Street, which is built into a hill with a train track through its centre, and shops that date back to the 1930s and 1940s.
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Huangling is one of 50 or so historic villages found across Wuyuan County – considered by some to house the most beautiful countryside in all of China – in the northeast of Jiangxi Province. Dating back to the Ming Dynasty, the village draws crowds with its Anhui-style farmhouses, which have been converted into shops, restaurants and hotels amid terraced fields of flowers. The town is arranged haphazardly down the side of a forested valley, and a sightseeing suspension bridge serves up sweeping views over the terraces, mountains and beyond.
A charming onsen town (a spa town set above natural hot springs) surrounded by mountains on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, Yufuin's art museums, cafés and boutiques are nearly as relaxing as the many bathhouses that line its streets. Stay in a ryokan – a traditional Japanese inn – and wander the surrounding farmhouses and rice terraces. The magnificent Mount Yufu provides a suitably dramatic backdrop.
In 2007 Damyang Changpyeong Samjinae Village was named South Korea's first 'Slow City' – settlements dedicated to traditional, health-focused, slow-paced living – and today provides real respite from the frantic feel of megacities like Seoul and Busan. Found in a corner of the Korean countryside known for its bamboo forests, visitors can switch off by sampling regional cuisine, attending tea ceremonies, learning how to make traditional sweets and cookies and wandering several carefully curated private gardens.
Also known as the City of Nine Hills, this historic mountain town found 47 miles (75km) west of Kathmandu takes its name from the nine hilltop forts in the surrounding district – and the nine sets of deities said to protect them. Check out the UNESCO-recognised Nuwakot Durbar, a seven-storey fortress and temple complex, and a smattering of other temples and pagodas. To experience the other eight hills, you can raft the Trishuli River or hike to Kakani viewpoint.
A gold mine for culture vultures, Kuala Kangsar is filled with historic architectural landmarks, from the gold-domed Ubudiah Mosque to the outrageously opulent Iskandariah Palace, and the wood-carved Sultan Azlan Shah Gallery, a museum on the local royal family. Found on the confluence of the Kangsar and Perak rivers, the town offers boat rides in several directions. Cross the historic Victoria Bridge, experiment with local handicrafts and sample culinary specialties like the town’s famous laksa.
Take a boat from Kapit to reach this village on the banks of the Rajang River in Borneo. The region's Indigenous Iban people have retained much of their traditional lifestyle, and will happily host tourists in their wood-thatched longhouses while putting on vibrant demonstrations of native costume and dance. The village is also a gateway to the Borneo jungle, and local guides will take you on rainforest hikes and boat trips to the nearby Kejavo Waterfall.
Located on Batan Island at the northernmost tip of the Philippine archipelago, Basco is tucked snugly between boulder-filled beaches, the verdant peak of Mount Iraya and the lush green Vayang Rolling Hills. The town itself is home to a number of attractions: the red and white Basco Lighthouse, the triangular whitewashed façade of Basco Cathedral and a network of underwater tunnels used by the Japanese when they occupied the island during the Second World War.
Found at the foot of UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mount Huangshan, in China’s mountainous Anhui Province, the historic village of Hongcun is distinguished by traditional whitewashed houses beneath pointy black-tiled roofs, reflected in the surfaces of the town's many canals. A capable stand-in for ancient China, Hongcun received global attention when it featured prominently in hit martial arts movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Today tourists spend time here sightseeing and dining on the herb-heavy local cuisine.
The tiny village of Zuluk sits nearly 10,000 feet (3,000m) up a rugged mountainside in the lower Himalayas of East Sikkim. Once a stop on the ancient Silk Route connecting India and Tibet, the village is now an offbeat destination for adventurous travellers looking for extraordinary Himalayan scenery – best experienced from the Thambi viewpoint nine miles (14km) away. The landscape alone provides eye-opening spectacle, but the region also houses bucket list animals like red pandas, Himalayan bears and snow pheasants.
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Located in the centre of Bali, around an hour's drive north of Ubud, Penglipuran is probably the best-preserved traditional village on the island. Residents welcome visitors via a community-driven tourism programme, showing them round the town and selling souvenirs, while channelling some of the funds back into the village's development. The temple complex, bamboo forest, rice terrace and traditional walled dwellings are all excellent at taking you back in time.
Perched on a hillside 4,170 feet (1,271m) above sea level, Hatton is a crucial cog in Sri Lanka’s tea industry and, thanks to its altitude, enjoys a cooler climate than the rest of the island. Visitors come here to tour tea factories and enjoy tastings, and take guided walks through the surrounding tea fields. Further from the village there's scenery to spare: check out the sprawling montane forest of the nearby Horton Plains National Park. You can reach Hatton by train from Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
Sheung Cheung Wai is one several walled villages in and around Hong Kong, and was built around 200 years ago with an enclosed wall, gatehouse and moat that has now been filled in. Today, it's a stop on the Ping Shan Heritage Trail, and visitors can see the narrow, time-capsule streets and visit a shrine by the site's entrance. Usually pretty quiet, it's an oasis of calm in the otherwise manic metropolis of Hong Kong.
The remote town of Sapa is found at the tip of a plunging valley on the edge of a high plateau, amid a spectacular landscape of terraced rice fields trickling down the valley's sides. Found amid the Hoang Lien Son mountain range in northwest Vietnam, the region is known for its cool climate and dramatic scenery, and you can enjoy both with a cable car to the top of nearby Fansipan Mountain, the highest peak in Vietnam. Foodies should sample the region's famous hot pots and browse the town's celebrated weekend market.
Singapore isn't just a city, and the small island of Pulau Ubin hosts the state's last remaining 'kampong' (traditional village). Tourists and locals come here on 15-minute ferries from the mainland to see the historic quarries that provided material for much of Singapore's early infrastructure, and hire bikes to follow cycle routes through the wildlife-rich Chek Jawa Wetlands. To visit the kampong is to step back into Singapore in the 1960s, with small temples and houses raised on stilts.
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A UNESCO World Heritage Site (alongside neighbouring Gokayama), the historic village of Shirakawa in Japan's Gifu Prefecture draws visitors with its enclave of traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses – large houses with steeply pitched triangular roofs that are found nowhere else in Japan. Found in a remote river valley that long had little contact with the rest of the country, you can stay overnight in these houses, and take in views of the village from the nearby Shiroyama Observation Deck.
Literally meaning 'city of diamonds', Phetchaburi is an easy journey south from Bangkok, and a worthwhile stopover for history buffs. The mustn't-miss monuments are Tham Khao Luang – an atmospheric cave temple full of stalagmites and stalactites, with a hole in the roof allowing sunlight to splash across Buddha statues below – and the Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park, a hilltop site containing a 19th-century palace, royal temple and prayer hall.
The capital of Bhutan until 1955, Punakha is tucked into the eastern Himalayan foothills around 5,000 feet (1,500m) above sea level. Top of the itinerary is Punakha Dzong (also called 'the palace of great happiness or bliss'), a massive, grandiose palace and monastery set at the confluence of two rivers, and an ornate setting for the Punakha Dromche, a festival of dance that (loosely) recreates a 17th-century battle with the army of Tibet. Cross the town’s panoramic suspension bridge to explore the nearby Chimi Lhakhang Temple too.
This riverside village in the unspoilt northern part of Laos is just a few hours' drive from Luang Prabang, a well-preserved historic town and UNESCO World Heritage Site that is a haven for backpackers. But those that do linger in Nong Khiaw can enjoy boat tours and kayak hire on the river, or follow footpaths through the jungle to sheer cliffside viewpoints and explorable limestone caves that were used as shelters during the Vietnam War. Tour operators in the town can take visitors rock climbing and on hikes to nearby waterfalls.
Well looked after by its residents, Taal is nationally recognised as a heritage landmark for its distinctive customs, cuisine and crafts. The flagship attraction is the Basilica of St Martin de Tours – said to be the biggest Catholic cathedral in the continent – and its white but weather-beaten façade towers over the palm trees in the main square. The historic centre is filled with well-preserved Spanish colonial architecture, mostly grand ancestral homes some of which have been converted into museums.
Located right in the centre of Sri Lanka, tourists primarily come to Dambulla to visit not one, but two of the country's six UNESCO World Heritage Sites. First, the Dambulla Cave Temple is among the largest and best-preserved cave temple complexes in the world, and is famed especially for the giant golden Budda statue at its entrance. Second, the Sigiriya rock fortress is a spectacular fort and monastery set atop a 590-foot-high (180m) column of rock, surrounded by a thick layer of forest.
Tanah Rata is one of a handful of small towns providing a base for travellers to explore Malaysia’s gorgeous Cameron Highlands, where lush green tea fields meet swathes of dense montane jungle. Best in show is the 6,667-foot (2,032m) peak of Mount Batu Brinchang, which boasts an easy-to-drive road leading all the way up to its summit. The town is within striking distance of several tea estates, jungle hikes leading to sparkling waterfalls and a smattering of strawberry and flower farms. There is also an easy bus from Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
Once an important seaport on the Taiwan Strait, Lukang is now a major tourist hub thanks to temples and heritage houses hidden down narrow alleyways and a thriving handcrafts industry. Visit Longshan Temple, a well-preserved Qing Dynasty-era temple dubbed 'the Forbidden City of Taiwan', visit the extravagant staterooms of the Imperial-era Heqi Mansion, now a free museum, and browse the 6,000 artefacts of the Lukang Folk Arts Museum.
Capital of the province of the same name, the historic town of Lamphun lures visitors with its cultural heritage. Wander temples, golden pagodas and local museums, or browse markets selling northern Thai street food and handicraft centres offering insights on local weaving. The mustn't-miss is the magnificent Wat Phra That Hariphunchai, a bright gold temple of such spiritual importance, it's featured on the reverse of the one-satang coin. The surrounding forests, valleys and mountains also house several national parks.
Said to be among the best viewpoints in the country – and in Nepal that's really saying something – the small village of Dhampus offers stunning panoramas of Machapuchare, an unclimbed peak considered sacred by locals, and out over the Annapurna range. A scenic stopover for intrepid hikers, the village is slowly waking up to its tourist potential, and the local Gurung people now maintain a smattering of guesthouses and campsites alongside their traditional rice terraces.
This isolated village on the island of Flores draws travellers from far and wide to see its cone-shaped Mbaru Niang houses, set on a small plateau at 3,600 feet (1,100m), surrounded by forested mountains. The distinctive houses were once common across the region, but today Wae Rebo's are the last of their kind, maintained by 18 generations of inhabitants. To reach the plateau, visitors must brave a four-hour trek from nearest village Denge after reaching there by car.
Rolling fields of brightly coloured flowers have long brought attention to this small town on Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands. The picturesque landscape is sometimes seen in Japanese commercials and television shows, and is best viewed from the aptly named Patchwork and Panorama Roads, northwest and south of the town respectively. We suggest hiring a bike and cycling up the nearby Shikisai and Zerubu hills to take in the lush scenery.
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