If there’s one continent that is being flocked by digital nomads from all over the world, it’s Asia. The cost of living is cheap, people are extremely welcoming and of course, food is great! In my opinion, Asia is the best pick if you are a first-time digital nomad venturer. It will be easier for you to adjust and it can open new opportunities – everyone is here!

Travel blogging as a full-time job requires the constant moving around and endless search for steady Internet connection that will sustain our work on the road. In this post, travel bloggers have suggested the best Asian cities for digital nomads but don’t be confused with the numbers. Each city has a metric based on factors such as:

Which cities are in this post?

(Click on the items below to jump to content)

I love walking around and exploring my neighborhood in #chiangmai — there are so many cool little shops and restaurants that I still need to try. . . . . . . #travel #travelgram #wanderlust #travelblogger #instatravel #solotravel #gaytravel #holiday #vacation #digitalnomad #rtw #travelphotography #igtravel #ilovetravel #traveltheworld #travelpic #coffee #coffeetime #coffeeshop #cafe #coffeebreak

A post shared by Foodie Flashpacker (@foodieflashpacker) on Dec 23, 2016 at 3:51am PST

Nathan Aguilera, Foodie Flashpacker

Chiang Mai, Thailand is a famous hub for digital nomads for good reason. A low cost of living, high quality of life, and super-fast internet at some of the best prices anywhere in the world make it many peoples go to choice for starting out as a digital nomad. It is one of the best places to work remotely because there are also tons of coworking spaces or cafes to work from, weekly nomad meetups and someone is always organising some type of day trip or weekend event. It makes for great networking.

Also, as a foodie- Thailand has some of the best food in the world at incredible prices. You can have a delicious meal for less than $1 USD or treat yourself to a designer brunch for about $6. For anyone interested in an amazing city with a great support network at incredibly affordable prices Chiang Mai should be at the top of your list!

Simply impossible not to love #bangkok

A post shared by Claudia Tavani (@myadventuresacrosstheworld) on Feb 28, 2016 at 6:18am PST

Claudia Tavani,  My Adventures Across the World

I didn’t spend too long in Bangkok, but I found it to be a great place to hang out. There are a lot of things to do in Bangkok, and it may well be one of the best cities in Asia to live as a digital nomad. Internet is easily available in a lot of places, and it works better than in most places in Asia. The cost of living is incredibly cheap – rent for under $300 per month for a really good place; food for more than reasonable prices. Transportation works well, with a state of the art metro system and lots of tuc tuc and taxis (and uber as well). There’s plenty of gyms to work out (and lots of condo buildings have their own pool and gym anyways) and there’s lots of good co-working places. And if one is really stuck for inspiration and needs a break, the cat cafés around town always help relax.

I couldn’t choose better place to live abroad! Ho Chi Minh City, a city that never sleeps! I can’t wait to discover cool spots and cafes here, and enjoy every moment. Have you ever been to HCMC? What do you think about it? —– #vietnam #saigon #ig_vietnam #hochiminh #hcmc #ig_asia #instatravel #igtravel #travelbug #travelblog #wanderer #dreamtrip #dreamdestination #femaletraveler #mytravelgram #wanderlust #passionpassport #livecolorfully #livelifetothefullest #livefree #livingthedream #greatday #girlsvsglobe #sheexplores #funthingstodo #sheisnotlost #adventuregirls

A post shared by Hanna Sobczuk (@hanna_travel) on May 31, 2017 at 2:38am PDT

Hanna Sobczuk, Hanna Travels

When I arrived in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) the first time, I’ve heard a lot of opinions from backpackers that there’s nothing interesting here. How good I didn’t listen to them! It turned out that HCMC is a perfect place for digital nomads.

The city has a great coffee culture (hello, we’re in Vietnam!) and one can find here plenty of interesting coffee shops, restaurants and places to go out. Wi-Fi is stable and quite fast. And it’s really cheap to live here, what is the most important for all digital nomads.

However, there are some challenges, too. First of all, the language is very difficult and not many people speak English but society really wants to improve. (That’s why you can easily find a job as an English teacher and earn some extra money!) Another challenge is driving a scooter in the city. Saigon’s traffic is a hustle and bustle but driving your own bike gives you freedom!

Kisty Mea, Let’s Go Wander

Jeju Island is a volcanic island located 130 km off the coast of the Korean Peninsula. The island is dubbed as the ‘Hawaii of Asia ‘for its volcanic formation and lava tubes. Jeju Island is a terrific place for digital nomads mainly for three things: Superb internet speed (I once downloaded a bunch of series for less than 10 minutes!), beautiful views (three are UNESCO Heritage Sites and a field of canola flowers!), and strong coffee culture. Not to mention, Korean beauty skin care is cheap and there are a lot of places to eat kimchi and other delicacies. Although English is not a common language in Jeju City, the capital of this province, a lot of restaurants offer English menus and the people are very accommodating.

More exploring in Thailand – today we’re off to Phuket’s national park for some hiking 👍🏼 – – – – – #girlslovetravel #wearetravelgirls #passionpassport #gltlove #Girlsborntotravel #womenwhoexplore #traveladdict #neverstopexploring #wanderlust #thailand #thailandtravel #visitthailand #phuket #amazingview #beautifulplaces #poser #mountain #travelblogger #travelphoto #travelphotography #instatravel #igtravel #travelgram #travelingram #oceanview #fernweh #wandering #island #blogger

A post shared by Not Another Travel Blog (@natravelblog) on Apr 21, 2017 at 6:43pm PDT

Sarah-Jane Edwards, Not Another Travel Blog

It took a bit of searching for us to find the perfect place to base ourselves in Thailand but when we finally decided on Phuket it turned out to be a great decision. Rent is super cheap and we were able to get a modern, well equipped one bed apartment for just GBP400 including fast wifi and all bills. The wifi was a particular bonus, boasting speeds of over 10MB, which made it easy for me (as a writer) and my partner (a web developer) to stay productive. The cheap cost of living in Phuket also stretches to transportation, food and entertainment.

Costs aside, we loved that Phuket had plenty to do. Unlike Chiang Mai, our second choice, it has beautiful beaches to explore. Most have plenty of cafes and bars as well so if you want to work in a more scenic location it’s easy to do so. There are also a couple of good sized towns if you’re looking to meet people and work in a more social environment. Phuket Town in particular, is full of gorgeous architecture with old streets lined with colourful houses, many of which have been transformed into digital nomad friendly restaurants and cafes.

Festival season has arrived in South Korea and it is such a wonderful way to celebrate the beautiful weather! This guy was BEGGING to have his photo taken haha! #travel #nofilter #travelphotography #worlderlust #wanderlust #travelstoke #neverstopexploring #travelphotographer #traveladdict #igworldclub #magicpict #photooftheday #travellushes #ig_asia #outbounderlife #ig_excellence #southkorea #photogsinkorea #epikphotocontest

A post shared by TheNeverendingWanderlust (@theneverendingwanderlust) on Jul 19, 2015 at 5:30pm PDT

Lindsay Mickles, The Never Ending Wanderlust 

Daegu is a fantastic choice for digital nomads. I lived there for 2.5 years and highly recommend it. The internet is fast, cost of living is cheap, and the city has plenty of options to keep you entertained. Daegu has a local airport, access to high-speed and local trains, and the inter-city bus system is fantastic. Within the city, there are 2 subway lines, a monorail line, and very thorough bus network. One of the things I like best about Daegu is that the city does its very best to share their culture with visitors and expats alike. I was fortunate enough to take part in several Korean cooking and traditional art classes at the local YMCA. The only negatives are that it is the hottest city in the country (a bit brutal in summer) and some of the elderly population aren’t too excited to have foreigners in their city. Other than those small things, Daegu is a great choice and a wonderful home base to explore the country and neighboring cities!

Back at my favorite place in Kuala Lumpur.

A post shared by Jones Around the World (@jonesaroundtheworld) on Jul 11, 2015 at 12:02am PDT

Dave Jones, Jones Around the World

When it comes to digital nomad hotspots, there are tons of good options to be found around South-East Asia. When I based myself in Kuala Lumpur on/ off for about a year, and it slowly became one of my favorite cities in Asia! The food is absolutely amazing, the rent was extremely cheap (even for a luxury condo rental), and you can find just about anything else you’re looking for. That’s why it’s one of the best countries for expats to work! There is a large expat community, surprisingly great nightlife, and excellent travel options from KLIA Airport. Traveling Malaysia is one of my best memories while in South-East Asia, and I’m definitely planning on moving back to Kuala Lumpur again sometime in the future.

Barbara Riedel, Barbalicious

I spent one month in the beautiful and vibrant Balinese surfer town of Canggu this year. It’s one of Asia’s hotspots for digital nomads. It’s a perfect place to begin as either a nomad or anyone searching for a strong community, great places to work, such as coworking spaces and cafés and the possibility to live with like-minded people or online-entrepreneurs in a coliving space or villa. Wi-Fi was mostly strong and great for work. But in the worst case, I could use my hotspot: In a country where you pay 10 USD for a sim card with 35 GB – you don’t need to worry about that! But my favorites were being able to go to the beach whenever I want and the sunsets! That’s what’s giving me the perfect work-life-balance.

It took me 20 minutes to find the entrance to the garden section of the Yu gardens area. There was a sign, but it led to the garden’s exit. Classic China 😂😂

A post shared by Steven + Lexi: They Get Around (@theygetaround) on Apr 25, 2017 at 5:37am PDT

Alexandrea Here, They Get Around

Shanghai is a great place to live as a digital nomad – there’s a thriving expat scene, tons of western food choices and impressive nightlife. Shanghai is a massive city and you’ll find heaps of other expats here who are either working as teachers or are digital nomads. Internet connections are pretty good and there are heaps of co-working spaces such as Naked Hub, Link Place and Regus Jinmao (all open 24 hours).

Unfortunately, costs are much more expensive than living in one of the smaller, neighboring cities. However, with the price tag you do get to live with a lot of western comforts that you will struggle to find (with as much choice) elsewhere in China. There are also a ton of day trips from Shanghai that you can take when you need a break, such as the nearby water towns or scenic cities such as Hangzhou.

If you want to spoil yourself in the New Year, we highly recommend getting a drone. It’s so much fun and the results are epic! #dronelife #dronesg #singapore #newyear #giftideas #treatyourself

A post shared by Singapore n Beyond (@singaporenbeyond) on Dec 28, 2016 at 12:00am PST

Callan Wienburg, Singapore N Beyond

While there’s a lot do to in Singapore, especially for foodies, digital nomads may find it a bit stressful. It is expensive, the wifi is limited and you may get looks of disapproval when spending over 2 hours in a café. It’s surprising that some coffee shops in this amazing first world connected city still lack internet. That being said, there are some great little hotspots that have both free (and fairly fast) wifi and power sockets like Kith, the Daily Coffee, and Working Title. My favorite digital nomad spot is the Book Café near Robertson Quay as they cater for our kind of lifestyle. There have various power sockets, both inside and outside, the ambience is great, wifi fast and the staff are super accommodating. There are also numerous workspaces, but again, they are quite pricey, such as S$250 for five days. Yet, if you do some free activities, travel on the super-efficient and convenient public transportation and eat Hawker Centre food (around S$3-6 per meal) you’ll have an awesome time.

Helen Anglin, Bristolian Backpacker

Hangzhou isn’t a hot spot for digital nomads due to the Great Firewall of China. However, once you get past the Great Firewall of China (buy a good VPN, I recommend Express), being a digital nomad in Hangzhou is excellent. Internet speed can vary but in our flat it was excellent.

The cost of living is low, especially if you stick to a Chinese diet, though there are a few good (and pricier) spots for Western food too. There is a plethora of Starbucks which is great for working, but my favourite work spot is Tous Les Jours, a “French” café (which is actually part of a South Korean chain) serving some great sweet treats and providing good wifi.

If you’re traveling to Hangzhou, there are lots to see and do there. Be sure to learn some Mandarin as English isn’t spoken as widely here as Shanghai or Beijing.

My Korean princess moment at the Imperial palace in #seoulkorea #southkorean

A post shared by Travel Blogger • Barbara (@jetsettera) on Jun 25, 2017 at 5:19am PDT

Barbara Wagner, Jet-Settera

Seoul is the perfect place for digital nomads, because it is modern and fast Internet is accessible everywhere. Incheon Airport of Seoul has one of the best wifi out of all the airports I have visited lately. On the streets of Seoul good wi-fi connection is also accessible. The Internet pretty fast. (99 MBPS). Monthy living expenses are around $1600. A great thing about Seoul is that, it is one of the best places to live in Asia for expats because it’s perfectly safe, people speak English. Locals are friendly and welcoming and public transportation is great! There are plenty of good cafes to get work done. There are plenty of co-working spaces, such as the Hive Arena Coworking Space and the Imagebakery Coworking space. Cafes like Tom N Tom Coffee, Paul Bassett in GangNam or Bread & Co are great places to work. You can also find themed cafes such as Hello Kitty Cafe or Cat Cafe as well as Lego Cafe.

A gay night out in #PhnomPenh at the Space Hair Bar and Salon #khmer #choillmoai #cambodia #travel #IGTravelThursday #gay #travelstoke #igtravel #instago #lgbtqtravelers #travelworld #travelphotography #rtwchat #rtw #igers #gaytravel #igboys #instahomo #lgbtqtravelers #gaystagram #lgbt #gaylife #guyswhotravel #gaycouple #bootsnall

A post shared by Nomadic Boys (@nomadicboys) on Apr 12, 2015 at 2:37am PDT

Stefan and Sebastien, Nomadic Boys

During our travels in Asia, we always sought out a home “base” somewhere. This was usually Bangkok, but we found Phnom Penh to be a better alternative. It’s even more affordable than Bangkok with excellent internet connection and for us, a really cool gay scene.

We didn’t find co-working space as such in Phnom Penh because we usually find an apartment on Airbnb, which is our home/work base. The most important factor, however, we always look for is internet speed and we always ensure this high before booking a place to stay so our tip is to contact the owner beforehand and ask them to confirm how many megabytes per second.

The cost of living in Phnom Penh is extremely affordable and you can easily get by spending $20-30 per person per day.

I spent another day cycling around Kaohsiung and visited the Lotus Pond. In the picture you can see the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas, you enter them through the mouth of the dragon and tiger!

A post shared by Lotte | Phenomenal Globe | 🇳🇱 (@phenomenalglobe) on May 6, 2017 at 3:22am PDT

Lotte Eschbach, Phenomenal Globe

Chances are you have never heard of Kaohsiung. I for sure had not before I traveled to Taiwan. But I soon discovered Kaohsiung is pretty awesome! Kaohsiung is located in the Southwest of Taiwan and is the second largest city on the island. Almost 3 million people live in Kaohsiung and its port is the largest harbor in Taiwan.

Why Kaohsiung makes an excellent base for digital nomads? Multiple reasons!

• The city also has an international airport (and cheap flights!) making it very easy to take a trip to other countries in the region.
  There is a big train and bus station in Kaohsiung, enabling you to explore other areas of Taiwan during short (weekend) trips.
• Getting around in the city itself is also very easy and cheap, you can either take the MRT or hop on a C-bike (Kaohsiungs public bicycle system).
• Food is cheap and delicious, you can find traditional Taiwanese cuisine, Chinese food, Japanese dishes, Vietnamese restaurants and even Canadian sandwiches.
• Accommodation is also not expensive, you can rent a room via Airbnb for only €250 a month!
• Internet in Kaohsiung (or Taiwan in general) is the fastest I’ve ever seen. I bought a 30 day tourist SIM card (1000NT) which gave me unlimited 4G internet for the entire month. I used this SIM to create a personal hotspot and connected up to 5 devices simultaneously, without any problems!

Besides all these benefits there are also plenty things to see and do in Kaohsiung, you can read more in this Kaohsiung itinerary.

Ready to watch Legong Trance & Paradise Dance in #Ubud Palace #Bali #Indonesia

A post shared by Ivana & Gianni (@nomadisbeautiful) on Jun 5, 2014 at 4:02am PDT

Gianni Bianchini, Nomad Is Beautiful 

Ubud might be well-known as a detox & yoga paradise, but everyone who wishes to spend quality time in a digital nomad community in a beautiful environment and get fantastic food, should draw his attention to this cozy village in Bali.

Here you can easily rent a spacious double bedroom with a private bathroom for $300USD with Wi-Fi. If you wish a private two bedrooms house with a pool, triple the price.

Regarding the internet, you’ll be on a safe side if you work in cafes or co-working spaces like HUBUD – a fantastic place for creative. A day pass costs $20, a monthly pass with umlimited hours is for $275.

Moreover, there are oodles of organic vegetarian restaurants in Ubud where you can work with your laptop. Meals are for very reasonable prices here: lunch in a local warung for 3$, or $10 for a fabulous Italian pizza.

Writing about my former hometown of Gwangju, South Korea has me feeling a little homesick. This photo, snapped at the Tibetan Buddhist temple of Daewonsa, is one of my favourite non drunk photos from my two years there.

A post shared by Aussie on the Road (@aussieontheroad) on Jul 15, 2017 at 10:40pm PDT

Chris Walker-Bush, Aussie on the Road

Gwangju in South Korea’s Jeollanamdo province probably doesn’t leap out at you as a go to digital nomad destination. It doesn’t have the cosmopolitan status of Seoul or Busan, and the entire province tends to be looked down upon by Koreans as a bit of a rural backwater.

My two and a half years living and working in Gwangju painted an entirely different picture. The fast internet, inclusive expat scene, and Gwangju’s status as a transportation hub within South Korea made it a perfect base from which to work and explore.

By far the biggest selling point of Gwangju is its status as one of Korea’s most connected cities. The high-speed KTX train might be the most glamorous way of getting about, but it’s Gwangju’s massive bus terminal (once the largest in the world) that makes it a perfect base. You can get anywhere from Gwangju in just a few hours and for $10 – $30 US. Here are some of the coolest things to do in Gwangju if you want to check it out!