Southeast Asia for Families: Bangkok, Angkor, Hoi An and Hanoi

1. Day 1: Arrive in Bangkok

   Suvarnabhumi Airport to a hotel near the Chao Phraya River

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Dinner
   • Stay in Bangkok
   Day 1 details

   We meet you at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and drive you to a hotel close to the Chao Phraya River, about 45 minutes away when the traffic is kind. The afternoon is for sleeping off the flight or a swim in the hotel pool, which matters more with children after a long journey than any sight. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the families in the lobby for a short briefing: how the next two weeks work, what the children will need for temples (covered knees and shoulders), and how money and SIM cards work in three countries. Then we walk or take a short river boat to a welcome dinner at a Thai restaurant with dishes that suit cautious eaters as well as adventurous ones, from fried rice and satay to green curry. If your flight lands late, we meet you at breakfast instead and keep a plate warm for the morning.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
   • Family briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Afternoon free to rest or swim

2. Day 2: Bangkok's Grand Palace and Wat Arun

   The Grand Palace, then across the river to Wat Arun

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Bangkok
   Day 2 details

   We start early, because Bangkok is hottest after 11 am and the Grand Palace is calmest in its first hour. We walk in at opening, around 8:30 am, and your guide and a local guide take the children round Wat Phra Kaew, the temple of the Emerald Buddha, and the murals of the Ramakien that run along its cloister walls, with giant demon guardians at the gates to count. Shoulders and knees must be covered, children included. Lunch together near the river, then back to the hotel for the hottest hours and the pool. In the late afternoon we cross the Chao Phraya by the small public ferry, a few minutes on the water, to Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, whose tower is covered in pieces of broken porcelain that children like to spot as flowers. Stay for the light going gold over the river. The evening is free; your guide suggests a night market for anyone who wants one.

   Included

   • The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew at opening, with a local guide
   • Cross-river ferry to Wat Arun
   • Wat Arun in the late afternoon

   Easier option: Skip Wat Arun and stay at the pool; your guide walks you to the hotel.

   Free time: Midday and evening free

   Activity: About 3 km on foot in the morning, with shade breaks. Covered knees and shoulders are needed at both sites.

   

3. Day 3: Fly to Siem Reap

   Bangkok to Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, then Siem Reap

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Siem Reap
   Day 3 details

   A relaxed breakfast, then we drive to the airport for the flight to Siem Reap, a little over an hour in the air, with your guide on the plane. Cambodia's visa or e-visa is sorted before you fly, so arrival is short. Siem Reap's new airport opened in 2023 and lies about 50 km from town, so the drive in is about an hour through rice fields and villages, with water buffalo for the children to spot from the windows. We reach the hotel in time for lunch on your own and a swim. In the late afternoon your guide takes the families on a gentle orientation walk along the Siem Reap River to the Old Market, where the children can try a fresh coconut or a sugar cane juice, and points out the places to eat and the pharmacy. The evening is free. We fly rather than take the overland coach because the road and the land border take most of a day.

   Included

   • Flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap with your guide
   • Transfer from Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI)
   • Orientation walk along the river to the Old Market

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

4. Day 4: Angkor Wat, morning one

   Siem Reap to Angkor Wat and back

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Siem Reap
   Day 4 details

   Angkor is too big and too hot for one long day with children, so we split it into two short mornings on the three-day pass, which is included. Those who want sunrise leave at about 5 am to watch it come up behind the five towers of Angkor Wat, reflected in the pond in front; the rest of the family can sleep and join at 7:30 with a second driver we arrange. Breakfast is a picnic at the temple. Then a licensed Angkor guide walks you through the galleries, where the bas-reliefs show the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, gods and demons pulling a giant serpent, a story children follow easily once they know it. Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century and is the centre of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We are back at the hotel before 11, ahead of the heat. Lunch together, then the pool. At dusk your guide walks you to the Royal Independence Gardens to watch fruit bats leave the trees.

   Included

   • Three-day Angkor pass
   • Angkor Wat with a licensed Angkor guide
   • Sunrise at Angkor Wat (optional, early)
   • Picnic breakfast at the temple
   • Dusk walk to the Royal Independence Gardens

   Easier option: Skip sunrise and join the group at 7:30 am.

   More active option: Climb to Bakan, the upper level of Angkor Wat, if you are 12 or older; age and height rules are confirmed at booking.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 3 km on foot over uneven stone and steps. Children under 12 enter Angkor free with a passport but may not climb to Bakan, the upper level; a parent stays below with them while others climb. The age and height rule is confirmed at booking.

   

5. Day 5: Angkor Thom by tuk-tuk, and the circus

   Siem Reap to Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm, then Phare

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Siem Reap
   Day 5 details

   The second morning is by remork, the Cambodian tuk-tuk, which children usually rate the best part of the day. We leave at about 7:30 am for the South Gate of Angkor Thom, a causeway lined with stone gods and demons holding a serpent, and on to the Bayon, the temple of more than two hundred huge smiling stone faces: ask the children to count them, then give up. We walk the Terrace of the Elephants, then finish at Ta Prohm, where the roots of silk-cotton and fig trees grip the walls. Your guide times the order to stay a step ahead of the coach groups. Back by about noon for lunch on your own and a long rest. In the evening we have an early dinner together and go to Phare, The Cambodian Circus, a social enterprise whose performers trained at a free arts school; the show mixes acrobatics, music and theatre and lasts about an hour.

   Included

   • Remork (tuk-tuk) tour of Angkor Thom with a licensed Angkor guide
   • The South Gate, the Bayon and the Terrace of the Elephants
   • Ta Prohm
   • Dinner before the show
   • Phare, The Cambodian Circus

   Easier option: Stay in the remork between Bayon and Ta Prohm and see Ta Prohm from the main path only.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 4 km on foot over uneven ground and wooden walkways.

   

6. Day 6: Fly to Da Nang, on to Hoi An

   Siem Reap to Da Nang, then the beach near Hoi An

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Hoi An
   Day 6 details

   A slow breakfast, then the drive back to the airport and the flight to Da Nang in central Vietnam. Most schedules connect through Ho Chi Minh City, so plan on most of the day in transit; a direct flight is a bonus when the season has one, and we confirm the routing with your dates. Your guide flies with you, and the Vietnam e-visa is arranged before you leave home. From Da Nang it is about 45 minutes by road to Hoi An. For this part of the trip we stay at a beach hotel at An Bang or Cua Dai, 10 to 15 minutes from the Old Town, so the children get sand and sea between outings and the parents get a pool and space. Check in and, if there is light left, swim. In the evening we drive into Hoi An for a first look at the Thu Bon River as the silk lanterns come on along the water. If the connection lands late, this becomes a short evening walk instead. Dinner on your own; your guide points out family-friendly places near the river.

   Included

   • Flight from Siem Reap to Da Nang with your guide
   • Transfer to Hoi An
   • Evening first look at the Thu Bon River and the lanterns

   Free time: Late afternoon free at the beach hotel

   Activity: With the usual connection through Ho Chi Minh City you reach Hoi An in the late afternoon; on a direct flight, by early afternoon.

   

7. Day 7: Hoi An Old Town and lantern making

   The Old Town on foot, then a lantern workshop

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Hoi An
   Day 7 details

   We are in the Old Town at about 7:30 am, while the lanes are cool and the shops are still opening. Hoi An Ancient Town was a busy trading port from the 15th to the 19th century, and its merchant houses, Chinese assembly halls and the Japanese Covered Bridge, reopened in 2024 after restoration, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the Old Town ticket is included. Your guide keeps it short and visual, with a scavenger list for the children: a carp, a dragon, a pair of eyes painted on a boat. Then the hands-on part: a lantern-making workshop, where each child bends a bamboo frame, glues on silk and takes the lantern home flat-packed for the suitcase. Lunch together near the river. The afternoon is free on the beach or at the pool. Hoi An is known for its tailors, so if anyone wants clothes made, order today and collect on day 9.

   Included

   • Morning walk in Hoi An Old Town with your guide
   • Hoi An Old Town entry ticket
   • Lantern-making workshop
   • Lunch in the Old Town

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 2.5 km on foot on flat lanes.

   

8. Day 8: Basket boats in the coconut palms

   Hoi An to the Cam Thanh water coconut forest and back

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Hoi An
   Day 8 details

   A short drive takes us to Cam Thanh, a few kilometres from the Old Town, where the river spreads into channels lined with nipa palms, the water coconut. Here fishermen use the round woven bamboo basket boat, the thung chai, and a local boatman rows each family through the palms. Children get to try paddling, and the boatmen like to spin the boats on the water and make toys from palm leaves, a crab or a ring for the finger. We keep the morning unhurried and stop at a family's garden in the village for lunch together: fresh spring rolls the children can roll themselves, rice, and fish or chicken. We are back at the hotel by early afternoon, when the heat is strongest, for the beach and the pool. For a free evening, your guide can book a table at a riverside restaurant or point you to the night market on the An Hoi side for street snacks.

   Included

   • Basket boat ride in the Cam Thanh water coconut forest
   • Lunch in a village garden

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: Life jackets are provided for children on the basket boats.

9. Day 9: A free day on the beach

   Hoi An at your own pace

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Hoi An
   Day 9 details

   Today has no plan on purpose. After a week of airports and temples, a whole day on the beach, by the pool or wandering back into the Old Town is what most families say they wanted more of. The sea off An Bang and Cua Dai is usually calm in the dry months, with lifeguarded stretches and sunbeds behind the sand; your guide explains where swimming is safest that week, because currents change with the wind. If your family wants to do more, there are two optional half days your guide can arrange: a morning at My Son, the brick temples the Cham kings built in a jungle valley about an hour away, or a children's cooking class at Tra Que vegetable village, with a short bicycle ride through the herb gardens. Tailors who took orders on day 7 usually have fittings ready today. Dinner is on your own; your guide is on call at the hotel.

   Optional experiences

   • My Son sanctuary half day. Morning, with transport and a local guide.
   • Children's cooking class at Tra Que. Morning, with lunch.

   Free time: Whole day free

10. Day 10: Fly to Hanoi and the water puppets

    Hoi An to Da Nang airport, the flight to Hanoi and the Old Quarter

    • Drive about 1.5 h
    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Hanoi
    Day 10 details

    A late breakfast, then we drive to Da Nang airport for the flight north to Hanoi, about an hour and a quarter. Your guide flies with you. From Noi Bai airport it is about 45 minutes to a hotel near the Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake. After checking in we take an easy walk round the lake to the red The Huc Bridge and Ngoc Son Temple, where a large preserved turtle is on show and children hear the legend of the turtle that took back a king's magic sword. In the late afternoon we go to a water puppet show at a theatre beside the lake. Water puppetry began in the rice paddies of the Red River Delta: the puppeteers stand waist-deep behind a bamboo screen, and dragons, fishermen and ducks splash across the water to live music. The show lasts about 50 minutes. Dinner together afterwards, with noodle and rice dishes children recognise.

    Included

    • Flight from Da Nang to Hanoi with your guide
    • Transfer from Noi Bai International Airport
    • Walk round Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple
    • Water puppet show
    • Dinner in the Old Quarter

    

11. Day 11: Hanoi for families

    The Temple of Literature and the Museum of Ethnology

    • Drive about 30 min
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Hanoi
    Day 11 details

    Hanoi in the morning, then a free afternoon. We start at the Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 to honour Confucius, where stone turtles carry the names of scholars who passed the royal exams; students still rub the turtles' heads for luck before their own. Then we drive to the Museum of Ethnology, the best rainy-day and child-friendly museum in the city. Its garden holds full-size houses of Vietnam's ethnic groups that children can climb into, from a Bahnar communal house with a soaring roof to a Cham house and a stilt house, and inside there are costumes, tools and toys from across the country. The museum closes on Mondays, so small-group departures are set so this day never falls on a Monday; on a private trip that would, another family stop takes its place. Lunch together, then the afternoon is free. Your guide can suggest an egg coffee, or a ride round the Old Quarter by cyclo, the bicycle rickshaw.

    Included

    • Temple of Literature
    • Museum of Ethnology, with its garden of traditional houses
    • Lunch in Hanoi

    Optional experiences

    • Cyclo ride round the Old Quarter. One hour, two per cyclo.

    Free time: Afternoon and evening free

12. Day 12: A night on Lan Ha Bay

    Hanoi to the harbour, then a boat on Lan Ha Bay

    • Drive about 2.5 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Lan Ha Bay
    Day 12 details

    After breakfast we drive east to the coast, about two and a half hours with a break halfway, and board an overnight boat around midday. Lan Ha Bay is the quieter southern neighbour of Ha Long Bay, scattered with limestone islands and small beaches, and in 2023 the UNESCO listing for Ha Long Bay was extended to include it and the Cat Ba archipelago. Each family has a private cabin with its own bathroom. After lunch on board, the afternoon is for the water: kayaks between the karsts with your guide, a swim from a small beach in the warm months, or a visit to a cave or a floating fishing area, depending on the boat's licensed route. Children usually love the top deck. Watch the sunset as the islands turn to dark outlines, then dinner on board. Sleeping on the bay means you see it at its quietest, in the evening and again at dawn.

    Included

    • Transport from Hanoi to the harbour with your guide
    • Overnight boat on Lan Ha Bay with a private cabin and bathroom for each family
    • Kayaking among the islands, weather permitting
    • Beach, cave or floating village visit, depending on the route

    Easier option: Stay on deck while others kayak.

    More active option: Take a double kayak further out with your guide.

    Activity: Kayaking depends on the weather and sea; children kayak with a parent and wear life jackets.

13. Day 13: Sunrise on the bay, back to Hanoi

    Lan Ha Bay to the harbour and Hanoi

    • Drive about 2.5 h
    • Breakfast and dinner
    • Stay in Hanoi
    Day 13 details

    Anyone who wants to can be on deck for sunrise, the calmest hour of the day on the water. Some boats offer a short tai chi session on the top deck, which children enjoy copying. Brunch is served as the boat cruises slowly back through the islands to the harbour, and we drive back to Hanoi, arriving in the early to mid afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is free to rest, swim if the hotel has a pool, or pick up last presents in the Old Quarter, where whole streets still sell one kind of thing, from paper offerings to toys and silk. In the evening the families meet for a farewell dinner together at a Vietnamese restaurant, with a last chance to try bun cha, the grilled pork and noodle dish Hanoi is known for. Your guide gives each family a time and plan for tomorrow's airport transfer.

    Included

    • Sunrise on the boat
    • Brunch on board
    • Transport back to Hanoi
    • Farewell dinner

    Free time: Afternoon free

14. Day 14: Depart from Hanoi

    A free morning, then Noi Bai International Airport

    • Drive about 45 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 14 details

    The last morning is yours, with no early start. Have breakfast, pack the lanterns and the tailored clothes carefully, and take a final walk round Hoan Kiem Lake if your flight leaves later in the day. We drive each family to Noi Bai International Airport (HAN), about 45 minutes from the Old Quarter, at a time that suits your flight; a flight from about midday onwards keeps the morning unhurried; allow three hours before an international departure, more at weekends and holidays when the airport is busy. If you would like to stay longer in Vietnam, or add a few nights on a beach elsewhere in Asia, ask us when you book and we can add hotel nights and transfers.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Noi Bai International Airport (HAN)

    Free time: Morning free

Wildlife and weather: February to April is dry in all three countries. Hoi An's sea is calm and warming, and Hanoi and Lan Ha Bay are mild, sometimes misty in February and March. Cambodia and Bangkok are hot, above 35 C by April, which is why the temple visits are in the early morning. July and August suit school holidays, with short afternoon downpours in Bangkok and Siem Reap. September to December brings heavy rain and flood risk to Hoi An.

• Bangkok2 nights
• Siem Reap3 nights
• Hoi An4 nights
• Hanoi2 nights
• Lan Ha Bay1 night
• Hanoi1 night