Where to travel in November 2026 from Singapore

Deepavali: three days free, nine for four days of leave

Deepavali is November’s only public holiday, and this year it’s on a Sunday, so you get Monday 9 November off in lieu and a three-day weekend, Sat 7 – Mon 9 Nov, without taking leave.

One day of leave makes it four. Take Friday 6 November to leave on the Thursday night, or Tuesday 10 November to come back a day later:

The bigger trade is the week after. Take Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 November and the long weekend runs into the next one: 9 days, Sat 7 – Sun 15 Nov 2026, for four days of leave.

It’s short notice. Our six-weeks-ahead reminder for Deepavali fell on Sat 19 Sept, so if you haven’t asked yet, ask now. One Friday or Tuesday is an easier ask than a whole week. The nine days do finish before Singapore’s school holidays begin on Saturday 21 November, so you won’t be competing with families for them.

November is a changeover month

In Singapore, October and November are the inter-monsoon months: light winds, and thunderstorms in the afternoon and early evening, before the northeast monsoon sets in. The trips you can make without flying are all starting their rainy season: Johor Bahru, Batam, Bintan and Melaka are wet in November. Johor Bahru, Batam and Bintan were at their best in October, and November is Melaka’s wettest month of the year. Kuala Lumpur, an hour away by air, is in the middle of its October-to-December rains.

Further north, the seasons are turning the other way. Langkawi, Penang, Phuket and Ho Chi Minh City were in their rainy season in October; in November they’re OK, and their best months start in December. Bali is heading into its rains instead: its dry season ends in October, November is OK, and its rains start in December.

That leaves fifteen places at their best:

November starts Bangkok’s cool, dry months, which run to February. The Thai Meteorological Department expects this year’s cool season to start about a week later than usual, with thundery showers over parts of Bangkok until mid-November and cooler weather from then on. Hong Kong is dry and mild from October to December, and Taipei is past its May to September plum rains and typhoons.

Across the border in mainland China, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen are dry from October to December, after their summer rains and typhoons. November is the end of the autumn season in Chongqing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Guilin & Yangshuo. There’s no nonstop flight to Guilin, for the Li River and Yangshuo’s karst peaks: fly via another Chinese city, or take the fast train from Shenzhen. Beijing, Chengdu and Xi’an are OK but past their best, which ends in October. Singapore passports get up to 30 days in China without a visa; you file a free arrival card, online before you fly or on paper at the border.

With five days or more, there’s further to go. November is autumn in Japan and Korea: Osaka, Seoul and Tokyo are cool and dry, six to seven hours away, and the leaves turn. Kyoto, a day trip from Osaka, is usually at its peak from 15 November to 5 December. Neither country needs a visa; Korea’s free e-Arrival card goes in within three days before you land. In Australia it’s spring: Perth is about five hours away, dry and warm, and on Singapore time, while Sydney, about eight hours away, is at its best from September to December. Australia needs an ETA, A$20 through its app.

Our weather ratings are general guidance for the month, not a forecast. These two strips show the swap: Bintan, an hour away by ferry, is at its best from March to October, and Penang’s best months begin in December.

1. JJanuary: Wet
2. FFebruary: Wet
3. MMarch: Best
4. AApril: Best
5. MMay: Best
6. JJune: Best
7. JJuly: Best
8. AAugust: Best
9. SSeptember: Best
10. OOctober: Best
11. NNovember: Wet
12. DDecember: Wet

1. JJanuary: Best
2. FFebruary: Best
3. MMarch: Best
4. AApril: OK
5. MMay: OK
6. JJune: OK
7. JJuly: OK
8. AAugust: OK
9. SSeptember: Wet
10. OOctober: Wet
11. NNovember: OK
12. DDecember: Best

Where to go for Deepavali

For the three free days, our ranking puts these three first:

• #1 pick · Sat 7 – Mon 9 NovBangkok3 days off · no leaveTrip plan
• #2 pick · Sat 7 – Mon 9 NovPhuket3 days off · no leaveTrip plan
• #3 pick · Sat 7 – Mon 9 NovHo Chi Minh City3 days off · no leaveTrip plan

• Bangkok is the clear pick: about two and a half hours away, at its best, and Deepavali isn’t a holiday in Thailand, so it’s an ordinary weekend there. File the free Thailand Digital Arrival Card in the three days before you land.
• Phuket and Ho Chi Minh City rank next because they fit three days with no leave, but November is their changeover month. Phuket is past its May-to-October monsoon, but November still averages about 178 mm of rain, against 24 to 82 mm a month from December to March, and the Thai Meteorological Department expects 1 to 2 m waves on the Andaman Sea this season. Ho Chi Minh City is just past its June-to-October rains. Both are surer bets from December.
• Hong Kong, Taipei, Perth or mainland China, with Friday 6 or Tuesday 10 November as leave. All are at their best in November, and we’d give each of them four days or more. Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen are the shortest flights of the China cities; Shanghai is about five and a half hours away.
• Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul or Sydney want five days at least, so they’re for the nine-day break.
• With all nine days, put two places together: Bangkok and Phuket are about an hour and a half apart by air, Hong Kong and Taipei are a short flight apart, and Hong Kong and Shenzhen are 15 minutes apart by high-speed train. All of those are at their best.

Penang and Langkawi are OK in November, and Deepavali is a public holiday in Malaysia too, so they’ll be busier that weekend. If they’re on your list, December is the better month for both.

Loy Krathong, Tuesday 24 November

Loy Krathong falls on the full moon of the twelfth Thai lunar month, which in 2026 is Tuesday 24 November. People float small baskets of flowers, incense and candles on rivers, canals and lakes; in Bangkok, the Chao Phraya riverside is one of the main places to see it. It isn’t a public holiday in Thailand, so the celebrations are on the Tuesday evening.

To be there, take Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 November as leave: that’s 4 days, Sat 21 – Tue 24 Nov, for 2 days of leave, with Bangkok at its best. It’s also the first weekend of Singapore’s school holidays, so expect busier flights.

Who else is on holiday

Deepavali is a public holiday in Malaysia, so expect everywhere we cover there, from Johor Bahru to Langkawi, to be busier over the long weekend. In Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand it’s an ordinary weekend.

If you’re crossing the Causeway, Johor’s schools are also off on Tuesday 10 November, and Malaysians working in Singapore head home for the festival. Our Causeway jam outlook has the heaviest days as Fri 6 Nov, Sat 7 Nov and Mon 9 Nov.

Singapore’s year-end school holidays run from Saturday 21 November to Thursday 31 December, so the last ten days of November are busier wherever families go. The jam outlook has Fri 20 Nov and Sat 21 Nov as heavy, and every day after that as busy.

November is for booking December

November is when to ask for your year-end leave. Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fall on a Friday, so four days of leave give you 10 days off (where to travel in December has the details), and our six-weeks-ahead date to ask by is Tue 10 Nov. That’s in the middle of the nine-day Deepavali break, so if you’re taking it, ask before you go. The date to ask by for Chinese New Year falls in December:

Questions

Sources

• Singapore’s inter-monsoon and northeast monsoon seasons: Meteorological Service Singapore, Climate of Singapore.
• Bangkok’s 2026–27 cool season, showers to mid-November and Andaman Sea waves: the Thai Meteorological Department’s outlook, reported by The Nation via The Star, 15 October 2026.
• Loy Krathong on 24 November 2026, and that it isn’t a public holiday: Sanook (in Thai). Bangkok’s riverside celebrations: Tourism Authority of Thailand.
• Deepavali and the Monday in lieu: Ministry of Manpower, public holidays. School holidays: MOE school terms and holidays for 2026. Johor’s Deepavali school break: Malaysian Ministry of Education, Kalendar Akademik 2026.
• Thailand Digital Arrival Card: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore, Thailand travel page.
• China’s 30-day visa exemption: Consulate-General of Singapore in Chengdu. China’s arrival card: Chinese Embassy in the US, on the National Immigration Administration’s online filing.
• Japan and Korea entry: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Korea e-Arrival card. Australia’s ETA: Department of Home Affairs. Kyoto’s usual autumn-leaf dates: Metropolis Japan.
• Weather ratings and rainfall figures: 1991–2020 monthly climate normals (WMO for Bangkok and Phuket, the Hong Kong Observatory, Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau, the Malaysian Meteorological Department, the China Meteorological Administration, the Japan Meteorological Agency, the Korea Meteorological Administration, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology and NIWA), as listed for each place on its destination page.