Vietnam with children: 12 days that work for everyone
Vietnam is one of the easiest countries in Asia to travel with children and one of the easiest to get wrong. The problem is never the destinations. It is the drives, which are longer than the map suggests, and the density, which is what turns a good trip into a fortnight of getting in and out of a c
- Duration
- 12 days
- Pace
- Relaxed
- Hotel changes
- 3
- Best months
- Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun
- From
- $2,340 per person
This route has three hotel changes in twelve days, four nights in one place by the sea, and one long travel day that we tell you about in advance rather than hiding in the small print.
Who it suits: families with children roughly 4 to 16. We adjust the walking, the food and the guiding for younger, and we will tell you honestly if we think your dates or your children’s ages make a different route better.
Day by day
Day 1: Arrive in Hanoi. Private transfer, a hotel with a pool and a family room or two connecting rooms. Nothing scheduled. Everyone is going to wake at four in the morning and that is fine.
Day 2: Hanoi, gently. Out early to Hoan Kiem Lake while the city exercises. A cyclo ride through the Old Quarter, which children like considerably more than adults expect. Street food lunch, an afternoon swim, then the water puppet theatre: 50 minutes, music, dragons, water, and reliably the thing children remember.
Day 3: Hanoi. The Museum of Ethnology, which has full-size houses from around the country in its garden that children can climb into, and is much better than that description suggests. Afternoon free, or a family cooking session where everyone rolls their own summer rolls.
Day 4: Hanoi to Lan Ha Bay. Two and a half hours east after breakfast, then aboard a small vessel in the early afternoon. Swimming off the back of the boat, kayaks, squid fishing after dark. We use Lan Ha rather than central Halong because it has a fraction of the boat traffic, which matters more with children than it does with anyone else.
Day 5: Lan Ha Bay. A full day on the water. A cave you enter by kayak, an empty beach, a floating fish farm, and a lot of swimming. No schedule.
Day 6: The long day. Disembark mid-morning, three hours back to Hanoi, then the afternoon flight to Danang and 45 minutes by car to Hoi An. It is a full day of moving and it is the only one. We book the flight rather than the train, put snacks in the car and get you into a hotel with a pool by early evening.
Day 7: Hoi An. The Ancient Town at seven in the morning, before the heat and the crowds, for an hour and a half with a guide who knows how to talk to children. Then lanterns: a workshop where each child makes one to take home. Afternoon at the beach.
Day 8: Hoi An. Bicycles through the rice paddies to Tra Que herb village, where the day involves planting things and getting muddy, then a basket boat on the water coconut palms at Cam Thanh. Fishermen spin the round bamboo boats for tips, which is silly and which children love.
Day 9: Hoi An, free. The beach at An Bang, a pool, an afternoon nap, a tailor if anyone wants a shirt made. We schedule nothing.
Day 10: Hoi An, free. As above, or the Cham ruins at My Son at opening if your children are old enough to care about ruins. Ours is an honest answer: under about ten, they are not.
Day 11: Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City. Morning flight, an hour and a half. Afternoon at the war museum if your children are teenagers, or the city’s rooftops and markets if they are not. Both are in your document.
Day 12: Departure. A late room release where the flight allows, and a transfer to the airport.
What is included
Family rooms or connecting rooms throughout with breakfast, two nights full board on a Lan Ha Bay vessel chosen for having a swimming platform and a family cabin, both domestic flights with a real baggage allowance, a private car with English-speaking driver on all transfer days, guides on three half days, the lantern workshop, the herb village and the basket boats, all entrance fees on guided days, and a WhatsApp group with your consultant in Tel Aviv and our Hanoi office for the whole trip.
Honest notes
Traffic. Crossing a road in Hanoi with a small child is genuinely intimidating on the first day. Hold hands, walk out slowly, keep a constant speed and do not stop. It works. Your guide will do it with you the first few times.
Heat. From April onward the middle of the day in the centre and the south is above 90°F (32°C) and there is no version of this trip where a two-hour walk at noon is a good idea. Everything outdoors is scheduled before ten in the morning or after four.
Food. Easier than parents fear. Rice, noodle soup, grilled meat, spring rolls, fruit and very good bread are everywhere, and most Vietnamese food is not chilli-hot by default. Tell us about allergies early and our Hanoi office briefs restaurants in Vietnamese.
What we leave out. Sapa, Ha Giang and the Mekong Delta are all wonderful and none of them belong in a twelve-day family trip. The mountains are six hours of hairpins from Hanoi, and the delta adds two long drives at the end when everyone is tired.
Ages. Under about four, we would shorten this again: drop Lan Ha to one night and add a fourth day in Hoi An.
Built by Paz Prosianoy, our Southeast Asia specialist, and tested by families who travelled it before you.
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