Where to go on holiday from Qatar?

[HerMajestyQueenHillyzabethII]

we want to book something for after Christmas, where would you suggest? We are thinking probably Feb half term or maybe the tail-end of Christmas and New Year school holidays.

Ideally we would fly direct from Doha but I suppose a short hop to Dubai is not out of the question if it broadens our choices.

We will be going with one young teenager who likes culture and nature, and whilst a few by the pool days would be nice it's obviously not a huge priority as we have more pool days here than we know what to do with! So we want a reasonably active 'seeing and doing things' holiday, but nothing too labour intensive or 'out there' as I am a) lazy and b) a massive coward. We were thinking Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam or Thailand, possibly HK but we have never been to any of those places and don't know where to start! Any advice? TIA. x

We love Thailand, ds did his scuba course there one Christmas. Of course you get the tsunami anniversary if you go then, very moving. Plenty of markets, culture, nature, beaches, snorkeling, boat trips etc.

Cape Town it's a lovely time of year. Robben island, surfing at Muizenberg, fab cheap wine and food. Going back this Christmas.

Singapore, markets, chinatown, sentosa island, fab street food.

Kathmandu, awesome, loved it. Pollution horrific, the culture, history, white water rafting, elephants, trekking, national parks, flights over Everest.

Bangkok, street markets, shopping food culture, everything and traffic!

India, dehli and Agra, or train journey Jaipur, jodphur, plenty to chose from.

Sorry can't help you chose as we've loved them all. Oh and of course Cairo, Istanbul, Jordan .......

Sri Lanka gets my vote. We went from Thailand so not too far for us to travel. Also, consider Oman. We lived there for three years, lovely country lovely people. You could combine it with Dubai.
Obviously watch out for when Ramadhan falls.

When we lived in the ME we flew to the Maldives a few times and also Thailand. Lots of lovely places you can fly to via Dubai.
If going January/February you will avoid Ramadan for at least the next 5 or 6 years

Me again ;-) Weve just been having this conversation today. Dh is very anal organised and wants to book our outward, from the UK, flights to DXB. We always travel from the Uk onwards as its cheaper, also we add in our holiday (to somewhere, see previous list), return then to Dubai after 2 weeks and then in June/July return to the UK.

This year we are thinking of Bali for our onward leg, Dh wants Cape Town again but I fancy Vietnam, decision will be made by Monday . Cant believe GCSE's just finished and we are discussing what aiport to fly into next Easter to facilitate checking out Uni's!!!!!!!

I am heavily leaning towards Vietnam (can fly direct) but someone has told us Cambodia over Vietnam anyday. We are going to dinner with them tonight, and also a couple who swear by Thailand so we will see what wisdoms I return with in the morning!

I'd love to try Sri Lanka but I'm put off by people saying it takes about 5 hours to travel 50 miles. I have enough of that in Doha.

Been to Oman - loved it, but want somewhere different and non-Arabic/Gulfy now. I am definitely going to try to go to Lebanon soon but I could do that in a long weekend, maybe next May half term.

If you do go to Hanoi, I can recommend the Army hotel.

Cambodia over Vietnam.

Thailand and Sri Lanka bothe great but for luxury the Maldives or Seychelles are also easy flights

Travel is def a prob in Sri Lanka. We went for 10 days at Easter. Stayed 5 days in Hikkaduwa so ds could surf in the morning and revise in the afternoon. It took over an hour to get to Bentota. When we left Bentota at 5.30am to get to airport it took 1.30 and it's def not a great distance, just all single lane buses trucks, people standing in the road etc.
Didn't overly enjoy Sri Lanka to be honest. Having said that the Asian Jewel in Hikkaduwa was fab, highly recommended. Bentota beach hotel was very poor, ESP considering restaurant manager said he had worked at the ritz Carlton Dubai for 7 years. I expected much better in the way of service, esp as the Sri lankans here in Dubai are lovely people. But I digress, sorry.

Sri Lanka - it takes ages to travel around but the travel itself is quite interesting - lots of interesting things to look at. Plus very easy to combine beach and sights.

Kathmandu's a very good option as well.

Is QR not starting Cambodia? Did I invent that - I thought it was tagged to somewhere else.

Myanmar (dreams of not having two toddlers). Direct flights from October.

Cambodia is fantastic to see siem rep.

But ho chi minh and hanoi have so much morento offer than phnom pen.
Museums, historic walks, the tunnels, the night on a junk in halong bay.
And combined with hue/danang & hoi ann (royal cities/temples/ artist village and beaches) is a more rounded experience.

In malaysia, you can do KL & a couple of days in the cameron highlands (tea plantations) then its pretty much all beach and diving appart from the historical town of butterworth in penang and malacca for colonial flavor.

HK is fantastic for nature hiking trails, colonial history and Experiencing big brash capitalism with a chinese flavor.
The city sits on a breath taking natural site with lots to do but it will be cold.
Your dates are just prior to chinese new year so a very good time to see the city in all its finery.