Asia taught Waypost how to walk. Our first guided week was a temple loop in Kyoto; our hundredth was a rice-terrace circuit in Bali. Between them came dawn stairs climbed with monks, night markets navigated by smell, and post roads older than most countries.
This is not a ranking — Asia refuses to be ranked. It is a shortlist of the walks that changed how our guides think about distance: the Fushimi Inari stairways before the crowds, the Nakasendo inn-to-inn day, the Tegalalang terraces at first light, and the old-city lanes of Hoi An after the rain.
Walk early, eat often
Two rules cover nearly all of walking Asia. First: start at dawn. Temples open their doors to the morning air, the light is kind, and you finish before the heat negotiates. Our Kyoto weeks begin at six and nobody has ever regretted it.
Second: eat where the walk ends, not where the bus parks. Night markets, station ramen counters, farmhouse tables — the refuelling is part of the route card. We plan lunch the way others plan summits.
Start at dawn, eat where the walk ends — two rules that cover nearly all of walking Asia.
Where to start
First-timers should start with Kyoto on foot: waymarked, safe, endlessly rewarding, with a rail system that forgives every tired leg. Return walkers graduate to Bali’s terraces and village paths, where the walking is softer but the culture runs deeper.
Wherever you begin, bring curiosity and leave room in the daypack — for temple charms, market snacks and the inevitable book of walks you will buy in the old town. Asia walks back into your life long after you fly home.
