Asia Family Holidays

Asia travel guide · By Frank Adam Burns · Updated 5 September 2026

Asia is the best continent for a family holiday from Australia and the one where the choice of country matters most. This guide ranks the destinations by how well they work at different ages and seasons, then answers the practical questions: flights, health, heat, food, rooms that actually sleep four, and which school holiday fits which place.

Asia is the best continent for a family holiday from Australia and the one where the choice of country matters most. Bali is six hours away and built for children; Japan is safe, clean, punctual and full of things a ten-year-old will remember for life; Thailand and Vietnam have the resorts, the elephants and the food; Singapore is the easiest city in the world with a pram. And some of the continent’s best places — India, Cambodia’s temples, the Himalaya — are better left until the children are older. This guide ranks the destinations by how well they work with children of different ages, then goes through the practical questions every parent asks: flights, health, food, heat, hotel rooms, what to book ahead and what the school holidays allow.

The destinations, ranked for families

Bali

The Australian family default, and rightly. · Best ages: all ages

Six hours, one time zone, and an island that has been hosting Australian families for fifty years. The villa with a private pool is the Bali family formula: a three- or four-bedroom house with a cook, a driver on call and a garden, in Seminyak, Canggu, Sanur or the Ubud hills, for AUD 300–800 a night — often less than two hotel rooms. The resorts of Nusa Dua and Sanur have kids’ clubs and calm, reef-protected water; the west-coast surf beaches do not and are where the drownings happen. Days: Waterbom (the best water park in Asia), the Bali Safari and Marine Park, the Monkey Forest and rice-terrace walks at Ubud, the Bali Zoo, a Nusa Penida boat day for older children, the Bali Bird Park, a cooking class, a surf lesson at Kuta or Canggu, a sunset at Uluwatu with the kecak dance.

• Villa in Seminyak or Sanur; resort in Nusa Dua for the club
• Waterbom for a full day; the Safari Park for a half
• Swim on the east and south coasts only, with the children
• Book July and September holidays six months out

Dengue is present year-round and repellent is not optional; tap water is not for drinking or tooth-brushing; motorbikes are not for hire with children. See the Bali things to do page.

Japan

The trip they will talk about at forty. · Best ages: 5 and up

Japan is the safest country a family can visit and the one where the ordinary — the trains, the vending machines, the convenience stores, the toilets — is itself the attraction for a child. Tokyo has Disneyland and DisneySea, teamLab Planets, the Ghibli Museum (tickets sell out the day they are released), the Pokemon Centres, Ueno Zoo and the Skytree; Osaka has Universal Studios and Super Nintendo World; Kyoto has the deer of Nara a train ride away, kimono rental and Fushimi Inari’s tunnels of gates; Hakone has the ropeway, the pirate ship and an onsen with a private bath. Hokkaido in winter is snow, sledding, the Sapporo Snow Festival and ski schools in English. Under-sixes ride trains free and under-twelves half price; most hotels sleep a child in an existing bed at no charge. The constraint is room size: Japanese city hotels are built for two, and apartment hotels (Mimaru, Oakwood), connecting rooms or a Kyoto machiya rental are the answer.

• Apartment hotel or machiya; forward the suitcases between cities
• Disney or Universal on a weekday; teamLab and Ghibli booked on release
• A ryokan with a private bath and Western beds for the onsen night
• Late-September school holidays are the best-timed of the year

Japan is not cheap for families in peak season and the theme-park days are the budget spike (AUD 700–900 for four with express passes). The first-time Japan guide has the route.

Singapore

The easiest city on earth with a pram. · Best ages: all ages

Clean, safe, air-conditioned, English-speaking, and designed for families: Sentosa’s Universal Studios, S.E.A. Aquarium and beaches; the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and River Wonders; Gardens by the Bay’s domes and the Supertree light show; the Science Centre; the Jewel waterfall at the airport; hawker-centre meals that suit every child; and a public-transport system with lifts at every station. Three nights is plenty and it is the ideal stopover on the way to anywhere, or the soft landing for a family’s first Asian trip.

• Three nights, one Sentosa day, one zoo-and-gardens day
• Hawker centres for lunch; the children choose from thirty stalls
• The Jewel on the way out
• Any month; the equatorial rain is an afternoon hour

The cost is the drawback: hotels are AUD 300–500 for a family room. The hawker food (AUD 5–8 a meal) is the equaliser.

Thailand

Resorts, elephants and the coast of your season. · Best ages: all ages

Thailand is the region’s most complete family destination once the coast is chosen correctly: the Andaman (Phuket’s Kata and Karon, Khao Lak, Koh Lanta) from November to April, the Gulf (Koh Samui, Hua Hin) from June to September. The resorts have kids’ clubs, pools and calm water; the food is mild on request and the fruit is the best in the world. Chiang Mai adds an ethical elephant sanctuary (no riding, no shows — Elephant Nature Park set the standard), a cooking class, the night markets and the cool season; Bangkok is two days of tuk-tuks, the Skytrain, a river boat and the Grand Palace at 8.30 before the heat. Older children manage Ayutthaya by bicycle and the River Kwai. Thailand is easy, familiar and forgiving, and the hospitals in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai are excellent.

• Andaman in the summer holidays; Samui or Hua Hin in the winter ones
• Elephant Nature Park booked weeks ahead
• Two Bangkok days at most, mornings only
• Reef shoes, rash vests and repellent

Motorbikes, jet-skis and unregulated boat operators are the specific hazards; use the hotel’s. See things to do in Thailand.

Vietnam

Hoi An, the beach, and the best value on the continent. · Best ages: 7 and up

Vietnam works for families who want more than a resort. Hoi An is the base: a lantern-lit old town where children can wander, An Bang and Da Nang beaches 20 minutes away, cooking classes, a basket-boat ride in the coconut palms, tailors who will make a child a costume in a day, and the Ba Na Hills theme park with the Golden Bridge. Hanoi is the old quarter, a water-puppet show and the overnight junk on Halong Bay (choose a mid-range boat with a family cabin); Saigon is the Cu Chi tunnels for older children and the Mekong Delta by boat. The food is fresh, mild and cheap, and a family eats well for AUD 30. Distances are long — fly between Hanoi, Da Nang and Saigon rather than drive or train with young children.

• Hoi An five nights, Hanoi and Halong three, Saigon two
• Fly between regions; the Reunification Express is for teenagers
• February to April for the centre
• Vaccinations and a travel doctor six weeks out

Traffic is the hazard: crossing a Hanoi street with a child needs a hand and a steady pace. See the Vietnam guide.

Malaysia and Borneo

Orangutans, and value. · Best ages: 6 and up

Kuala Lumpur has the Petronas Towers, the Batu Caves and Sunway Lagoon; Penang has the food, the street art and the funicular up Penang Hill; Langkawi has the cable car, the mangrove boats and calm resort beaches. But the family reason for Malaysia is Borneo: orangutans at the Sepilok rehabilitation centre and in the wild along the Kinabatangan River, proboscis monkeys, the sun-bear centre, the Tunku Abdul Rahman islands off Kota Kinabalu, and the Mulu caves in Sarawak. English is widely spoken, prices are among the region’s lowest, and the wildlife is the kind that changes what a child wants to be.

• Sepilok and a Kinabatangan river lodge for three nights
• Kota Kinabalu as the base; the islands for the beach days
• March to October for Borneo
• Malaria prophylaxis advice for the Kinabatangan

Long transfers on Borneo roads; build in the rest days. Halal food is the default and mild.

South Korea and Taiwan

For teenagers, and for the second Asian trip. · Best ages: 8 and up

Korea is the destination teenagers ask for: Seoul’s K-pop culture (dance classes, the HYBE museum, the Gangnam scene), Everland and Lotte World theme parks, the palaces in hanbok, Busan’s beaches and Jeju’s volcanic coast. Safe, clean, direct flights, and cheaper than Japan. Taiwan is the gentle one: Taipei’s night markets and the Maokong gondola, the Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, hot springs at Beitou, Sun Moon Lake by bicycle, Taroko Gorge for older children, and a level of safety and friendliness that makes it the easiest independent family trip in East Asia. Both suit spring and autumn.

• Seoul four nights, Busan or Jeju three
• Everland on a weekday
• Taipei and Sun Moon Lake in a week
• Korean spice is real; the barbecue is mild

See the South Korea guide and Taiwan things to do.

Sri Lanka and the Philippines

Wildlife and beaches, a little further. · Best ages: 8 and up

Sri Lanka is safaris (leopards at Yala, elephants at Minneriya and Udawalawe), the Kandy–Ella train through the tea, Sigiriya for older children, turtle hatcheries, whale-watching at Mirissa and the south-coast beaches, all within a twelve-day loop with a driver and short daily distances. The Philippines is the best sand and water in Asia — Palawan’s El Nido, Bohol’s Panglao and the Chocolate Hills, whale sharks at Donsol (the ethical site) — with English spoken everywhere; the domestic flights and boat transfers are the effort.

• Sri Lanka December to April with a driver throughout
• Philippines December to May; Cebu as the arrival for the Visayas
• Yala at dawn; the train booked ahead
• Reef-safe sunscreen and rash vests

Both need a travel doctor visit and both reward families who have done Bali and Thailand first.

Leave for later: India, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, China

When they are old enough to remember it. · Best ages: 12 and up

The Golden Triangle and a tiger safari, Angkor at dawn, the Mekong in Laos, the Himalaya and the Great Wall are among the finest things a teenager can see, and among the hardest for a six-year-old: heat, distance, food safety, the intensity of the streets, and monuments that need attention to be more than piles of stone. Cambodia is the most achievable of these with children of ten or more (three days at Angkor with a guide who tells stories, then Koh Rong’s beach); India and Nepal with a private driver and a slow itinerary from twelve; China escorted at any age but rewarding from ten.

• Angkor with a guide and an early start
• India with a driver, palace hotels and a pool
• China escorted
• Nepal for active teenagers

Not because they are unsafe — they are not — but because the trip is better when the children can carry it.

The practical questions

Flights

Bali (6 h) and Singapore (8 h) are the easy ones; Bangkok, KL and Manila (8–9 h) are a long day; Japan, Korea and Vietnam (9–11 h) are overnight flights north, which with children is either a blessing (they sleep) or the opposite. Book seats together at the time of booking, not at check-in. Infants under two fly on a lap for 10 per cent of the fare; a bassinet is requested at booking and not guaranteed. Most airlines serve child meals if ordered 24 hours ahead. Direct beats one-stop with children every time, even at AUD 200 a seat more.

Health

See a travel doctor six weeks out for the whole family: hepatitis A and typhoid for South-East and South Asia, routine vaccinations current, and advice on malaria for Borneo, rural Cambodia and Laos. Dengue is the disease that actually affects Australian children in Asia and repellent (20–30 per cent DEET or picaridin, applied morning and dusk) is the defence. Rabies is present across the region and the rule is no patting dogs, cats or monkeys. Bottled water outside Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Hand sanitiser. A kit with rehydration salts, paracetamol, antihistamine, a thermometer and the child’s regular medicines in original packaging. Travel insurance that covers every child by name and includes medical evacuation. The hospitals in Bangkok, Singapore, KL, Bali (BIMC and Siloam), Tokyo and Seoul are excellent; in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, evacuation to them is the plan.

Heat

Tropical Asia is hot and humid every month and the trip that works with children is built around it: one thing before ten, pool or air-conditioning through the middle of the day, the second thing after four. Two temples a day, not five. Hats, long sleeves, electrolyte drinks from every convenience store, and a hotel with a pool, which in April is not a luxury. Japan and Korea in summer are the same problem with fewer pools.

Food

Every Asian cuisine has a mild, child-friendly core: plain rice, noodle soups without chilli, grilled chicken and fish, fried rice, dumplings, satay, sushi, fruit. Thai and Vietnamese restaurants will serve chilli on the side on request (mai phet, khong cay); Korean barbecue and Japanese food are mild by default; Indian restaurants have dal and naan. Convenience stores in Japan, Korea and Taiwan and supermarkets everywhere solve the fussy days. Street food is fine where turnover is high; peel the fruit; and a child who eats what the family eats from day one usually keeps eating it.

Hotel rooms

The single most common family-holiday failure in Asia is the room that sleeps two. Japanese and Korean city hotels are built for couples; ask for apartment hotels, connecting rooms or a machiya or hanok rental. South-East Asian resorts have family rooms and villas and are generous with extra beds. A Bali or Phuket villa sleeps a family for the price of two rooms and comes with a kitchen and a pool. Always confirm the sleeping arrangement in writing before paying: “family room” means different things in different countries.

What to book ahead

Theme-park tickets and express passes (Disney, Universal, Everland, Universal Singapore), teamLab and the Ghibli Museum, Elephant Nature Park and the other ethical sanctuaries, Halong Bay boats with family cabins, safari lodges at Yala and the Kinabatangan, Waterbom in the holidays, Sigiriya’s timed entry, and every hotel for the December–January and July peaks. The flights, six months out for the holidays.

Prams, car seats and toddlers

Singapore, Japan, Korea and Taiwan are pram-friendly with lifts at every station; South-East Asian cities are not, and a carrier is more useful than a pram anywhere with broken pavements, which is everywhere outside the resorts. Car seats are not standard in taxis or with private drivers across the region; bring a travel seat or a booster if it matters to you, and specify one when a private car is booked through us. Nappies, formula and baby food are available in every city and expensive in resorts; bring the first few days’ supply.

Which school holiday, which destination

Easter and April: Japan for blossom (booked a year out) and Korea; Vietnam’s centre; Singapore; Sri Lanka. Thailand is at its hottest and Bali still drying. June–July: Bali above all, then Koh Samui and Hua Hin, Malaysia’s east coast, Borneo, Hokkaido for a cool summer, Singapore. Not the Andaman, not Korea. September–October: Japan (the best-timed break of the year), Korea, Taiwan, Bali’s last dry weeks, Singapore. December–January: Thailand’s Andaman, Vietnam’s south, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia’s west, Singapore, and Japan or Korea for snow. Bali is wet and full. Everything is peak-priced; book by August.

What it costs

A family of four, ten days, mid-range, including flights from the east coast: Bali AUD 7,000–11,000; Thailand AUD 8,000–13,000; Vietnam AUD 8,000–12,000; Malaysia AUD 8,000–12,000; Singapore (five nights) AUD 8,000–12,000; Japan AUD 14,000–22,000 with a theme-park day; Korea AUD 12,000–18,000. Children under twelve fly at 75 per cent of the adult fare on most full-service carriers and under two on a lap; villas and family rooms bring the accommodation cost per head down sharply; and eating locally rather than at the resort halves the food bill. The where to stay in Asia page covers the accommodation types and the Asia tours page shows how a family itinerary is built.

Three family itineraries that work

Bali, ten days, June–July holidays

Ubud 3 (rice terraces, Monkey Forest, cooking class), Sanur or Nusa Dua 4 (reef beach, Waterbom day, Bali Safari), Seminyak 3 (villa, beach clubs, Uluwatu sunset). Fly Brisbane–Denpasar direct.

Japan, twelve days, September holidays

Tokyo 4 (Disney day, teamLab, Asakusa, Harajuku), Hakone 1 (ropeway, pirate ship, private-bath ryokan), Kyoto 4 (Fushimi Inari, kimono morning, Nara deer day, Arashiyama), Osaka 2 (Universal, Dotonbori), fly home from Kansai. Apartment hotels throughout; luggage forwarded.

Thailand, twelve days, Christmas holidays

Bangkok 2 (Grand Palace at 8.30, river boat, Chinatown dinner), Chiang Mai 3 (elephant sanctuary, cooking class, Sunday market), Khao Lak or Koh Lanta 6 (resort, kids’ club, a boat day), fly home from Phuket. Book by August.

Frequently asked questions