Dubai, Singapore, KL or other stop off onto Asia

[BookwormButNoTime]

We are looking at travelling to a beach destination in Asia for Christmas next year (Phuket, Langkawi etc) and will invariably need to stop off somewhere due to no direct flights.

We have been to Bangkok recently so not looking to return there, and the main purpose of the holiday is to relax on the beach so we’re only looking at a night or two stopover.

Dubai or any of the other UAE have never appealed but we’ve never been and a quick stopover means we can tick it off the list?

We were booked to go to Singapore and Bali in 2020 which obviously never happened, but would two / three nights in Singapore actually be enough bearing in mind the kids (14 and 11) want to go to Sentosa Island for a day?

Don’t really know much about KL to be honest.

Or should we just have a short connection and hang around an airport for a couple of hours?

Kuala Lumpar always had a reputation for being a bit of a dump 20 years ago, it may have changed though…

We had 3 nights in Singapore and used a tourist pass from Singapore airlines. Kids decided against sentosa as they heard the queues were massive. Had a very busy 3 days but saw a lot.

I lived in Dubai for a while and from there, went on holiday to the southern area of Sri Lanka, in the Galle region, a couple of times, and loved it. Separately, I've been to the Thai island of Koh Samui and I would always choose Sri Lanka above Thailand for a holiday.
Assuming you have children, there are a couple of water parks in and around Dubai where it might be fun to visit, also a Legoland. There are lots of beach restort style places in the UAE, as well. There are various things to see as a tourist in Dubai but though I very much enjoyed living there, I would only go back to visit to see friends, not for the sights.
Sorry if this isn't sounding very helpful!

I've also lived in Dubai and know the other 2 places well. Singapore would be my pick. KL isn't a dump at all, it's an awful lot cheaper than Singapore but doesn't have the big ticket tourist attractions. Unless your kids are really into street food they probably wouldn't get as much out of it.

1 day in Sentosa with another around the Marina Bay area (including the cloud dome and a bumboat cruise) then into Chinatown for dinner/markets would be great.

We all loved Singapore for a stopover destination. Would love to return one day.

Thanks for all your comments so far. It’s actually bizarrely cheaper to have a few nights somewhere than do a “straight through” connection (I guess the airlines do deals with the hotels) so it makes sense.

I thought of Dubai just because we have done pretty much all the Indian Ocean islands so we would probably never really need to connect through there again and I certainly don’t want to go to Dubai on a main holiday. We like nice hotels but we’re not at all flash cash and blingy and I think that’s what is putting me off. The whole bottomless brunch and beach club / ex pat enclaves just don’t appeal either. I guess I’d just like to see it. We have friends who go every year and rave about it though.

I just don’t want to short change ourselves on limited time in Singapore if you see what I mean.

KL sounds like two nights max as not a lot going on. The kids are well travelled and like seeing more local things - street food would go down well, although dressing modestly in the heat maybe not.

Have I missed any other connecting destinations out?

Airlines seem to be a BA / Qatar combo, Emirates, Singapore Air, Turkish / Thai combo (never going to Istanbul again!!!)

Muscat as a stopover? I think Oman Air flies to Phuket. I’ve lived in the ME and really loved Oman. I kind of agree with the comments above - though 16 hour flight to Singapore is a killer for me. Dubai for 3 days might be more fun for your children (water parks etc)?

Muscat could definitely be an option - thank you!!!

Been to all three - Singapore much nicer than KL or Dubai.

Muscat sounds like a genuinely interesting option, as far as other options go would definitely go for Singapore over KL especially with kids in tow.

For info UK -> Singapore non-stop should be more like 13 hours (gate to gate), maybe at worse 14 ish, it can vary a fair bit.

Tui are flying direct Gatwick to Phuket this winter so there may be an option for you to avoid a stopover?

@ILovePigsInBlankets I did see that but we had a bad experience with Tui long haul a few years back. Ended up basically stuck abroad for 48 hours.

Have used them for European holidays since (as there are more options for getting home if something does go wrong!!) and they’ve been fine.

Definitely Singapore! We have spent many weekends / stopovers in Singapore as a family. It’s an amazing city, travelling around is so easy, it’s clean, safe and plenty to do. Every time we went we could go somewhere / do something new. Your kids are a great age for it. Ours would enjoy the hop on hop off busses, the hawker centres, a wander round china town, the zoo is amazing as is an evening at Gardens by the bay. They enjoyed universal once every so often (we would go early and get fast passes) and also the luge on Sentosa was a big hit. Plenty of great museums, aquarium, water park, science centre, amazing malls etc etc to get you out of the heat too. We would stay somewhere near orchard road, an easy walk to restaurants, MRT etc. No need to worry about dressing modestly in either Singapore or KL.

Ha - I was just doing research on a KL/Langkawi trip!

We did Singapore and KL a few years ago with a two-night Doha stopover on the way back which was...fine. Not much to see after the first day and it got old real quick with the dressing modestly and still being stared at. But the souk was good enough fun, and the museum of islamic art and the Corniche were entertaining. Pretty ok food too, for more local, basic items.

We actually preferred KL to Singapore more due to the food style, but we enjoyed both cities. The airport in KL felt like it was 10 thousand miles away via taxi, though. Frankly I think with kids the Singapore stopover would be better (easy, fast city access on the train) or I love the Muscat idea - had a friend who did Oman last year and loved it. Oman have a direct down to Phuket, but its a small airline so the prices may not be great.

Airline wise - depends if you are chasing status on an alliance or not. We were very happy with Qatar and our stopover was bundled into the cost of the ticket.

Is Hong Kong an option? I loved it and you can pack quite a bit into 2 days. I wasn't there for long but saw loads. It's a fascinating mix of modern and traditional.

KL very underwhelming, imo. I've never been to Singapore but would love to go. Not keen on spending any money at all in Dubai.

@gawditswindy We would love to go to Hong Kong but you need two PCR tests (one before you get on the plane and one when you arrive) plus daily rapid tests for 5 days. You can’t enter restaurants etc without a QR code issued after your PCR on arrival and if you’re positive there’s a chance you’ll be put up in a “government facility”.

We’re a year away so things might change, but it’s not something I would like to risk over Christmas.

@BookwormButNoTime

^

Agree with your thinking...

Having heard about some of the goings on with regard to HKG and Covid I'd need to see a year or two of normality both there and in the neighbouring PRC before putting it on a list of somewhere to go.

...Sorry, to avoid possible offence I should have written"the neighbouring mainland"

We did Singapore for 2 nights with a day in Sentosa and it wasn't nearly enough. This was cut short as we decided to do KL for a night whilst that way on. It took over an hour for transfer to KL city from the airport so bare this in mind.

Singapore is definitely worth the visit though and I would go back in a heartbeat.

Singapore is by far the cleanest and is a nice first 'ease into' Asia place for Asia virgins.

KL is I would say the middle ground. Its much cleaner than it used to be and hadn't quite been corrupted by tourism

Bangkok used to be really nice and cultured but has turned dirty and sleepy, but is still a lot of fun.

HK is the Asia equivalent of New York. Dirty, crowded but lots to do.

Then you get into the more slummy areas like Jakarta and Manila...

I've never had much interest in going to Dubai.

I’ve been to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. I think they are both fantastic destinations. Kuala Lumpur is much cheaper than Singapore. I wouldn’t return to Dubai personally.

Out of the gulf, Muscat feels like it has more character/landscape.

Singapore is clean, easy, safe. Always felt totally man made and lacking in character to me, I’d take Hong Kong any day, but it’s still practical and easy. Worth a visit.

I love Singapore and your kids are good ages for it. It is expensive though when you need two rooms.

For our honeymoon we went to KL for two or three nights and it was good. Then we went to Penang for three days then we had a week in Langkawi and it was awesome. We got a speedboat from Penang to Langkawi which was a bit hairy but fun!
We stayed in the Westin resort for the week then the sr Regis for our final night complete with drinks trolley and butler service lol. Both those hotels were lovely.

Muscat is a brilliant option.