China or Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia with kids?

OffToDWD

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
We are considering doing our first ABD next year and debating between China and Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia. Both sound fabulous. Any suggestions or pros/cons? We have 2 kids - they will be 7 and 12. They have traveled throughout other Asian countries & Europe and travel well. Any thoughts greatly appreciated! Thanks
 
I haven’t gone on either yet, but don’t think you can really go wrong either way. We are planning to do the SE Asia next July 2020 with our kids who will be 12 and 11. Our main concern has been the heat/humidity, but we don’t really travel over the winter holidays.

Number of flights was also a concern with us - that may be an advantage for China if you have direct flights has an option.

It did take our kids some time to get adjusted back to the time difference when we came back from Australia. My thought is that these big trips will only get harder when they reach high school and have more commitments, so my philosophy is to do them now when summer is less stressful all around.
 
We are headed to Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos with ABD this summer with my 14 and 15-year-olds. When last I called the kid make-up of our trip is mostly teens. The pace of ABDs are very intense and I would hold off on the longer trips until the younger one is older. On our longer trips the young kids tend to have breakdowns late in the tour. The South/Central American trips might be a nice option for younger kids, or even the domestic trips. My kids loved Wyoming, Arizona, and Alaska.
 


I have been on both and for your ages, I would suggest Vietnam. China has lots of internal flights at huge airports, (think JFK plus, DFW, sized) So just getting on and off the flights is a huge trek. China also has lots more history, and it felt like more sit-down meals. Don't get me wrong China was amazing, and the hotels are ultra deluxe. Vietnam is a bit slower paced and although there are several flights they are at smaller airports and the transfers are just a lot less exhausting. In addition, there is some beach relaxing time in Vietnam. Angkor Watt is absolutely incredible, and they have a super fun scavenger hunt there. You also get to ride elephants, go on boats, make crafts, just a lot more activity oriented stuff versus actual sightseeing.
 
I have been on both and for your ages, I would suggest Vietnam. China has lots of internal flights at huge airports, (think JFK plus, DFW, sized) So just getting on and off the flights is a huge trek. China also has lots more history, and it felt like more sit-down meals. Don't get me wrong China was amazing, and the hotels are ultra deluxe. Vietnam is a bit slower paced and although there are several flights they are at smaller airports and the transfers are just a lot less exhausting. In addition, there is some beach relaxing time in Vietnam. Angkor Watt is absolutely incredible, and they have a super fun scavenger hunt there. You also get to ride elephants, go on boats, make crafts, just a lot more activity oriented stuff versus actual sightseeing.
Thank you!!! This is super helpful information. Ride elephants? Wow - the kids (and us!) would love that!
 
I'd agree that China is a more intense trip than Southeast Asia. I took my 8yo son on SE Asia. There was also a 7yo on the same trip. They did great. I did take my 9yo son the next year on China. He did fine on that trip also. So, really I don't think you'll have a problem with either.
 


Thank you! I see some mention of elephant rides but don't see it in the itinerary. Do you know if that was taken off or only done if possible?
 
I went on the Vietnam trip earlier this year. It's amazing. The elephant rides can be done during on your own time. It's not part of the official tour. I think your kids would love this trip.
 
We are currently booked for the SE Asia trip July 6th-17th, 2020. Our kids will be 11 and 12yo by then. We just finished our 7th ABD and they have enjoyed them all. Honestly, at this point, I want a break to try something new, but my husband and kids want to stick with ABD. :) Our boys like the novelty of meeting new people and other kids. The guides are well versed in trying to keep them interested. Most of our other trips (Italy/Switzerland, Alaska, Costa Rica, Italy, Ecuador and Galapagos, Canadian Rockies) were closer to home. The farthest one was actually Australia (they were 8 and 9yo back then). They were tired the first night when we had the group dinner, as was the other little girl their age, and even many of the adults. We had done 2 prenights, so that helped a bit, but once things got going they were ok. On that trip, there were only 3 kids under the age of 10, the rest were all teens. But everyone was great, they interacted well, and it wasn't a big deal that our kids were younger. I think that was one of our favorite trips. Part of it is expectations, I know our kids get more bored in the museum parts of the Europe vacations, and they really enjoy the more active vacations where they are out and interacting and they are sold on the ABD guides. You can take it at your own pace, if something is too much for part of the family, you can always skip it or only part of the family go. I would recommend a pre-night or two... that always seems to help us.
 
I have been on both and for your ages, I would suggest Vietnam. China has lots of internal flights at huge airports, (think JFK plus, DFW, sized) So just getting on and off the flights is a huge trek. China also has lots more history, and it felt like more sit-down meals. Don't get me wrong China was amazing, and the hotels are ultra deluxe. Vietnam is a bit slower paced and although there are several flights they are at smaller airports and the transfers are just a lot less exhausting. In addition, there is some beach relaxing time in Vietnam. Angkor Watt is absolutely incredible, and they have a super fun scavenger hunt there. You also get to ride elephants, go on boats, make crafts, just a lot more activity oriented stuff versus actual sightseeing.
Just did the Vietnam trip - there was no scavenger hunt in Angkor - not sure if that was just our trip or if it's been removed.

They stopped riding elephants a few years ago - we were told that an elephant died a few years ago while carrying people (not ABD people, but it was the final straw for most tour operators to drop that from their itineraries). You can do it on your own, as a previous poster suggested, if you have late flights out of Siem Reap. I'd encourage you to look into the ethical issues around that activity and make an informed choice for you and your family.
 
Any thoughts on Halong Bay? Has anyone tried to go there during the “on your own time” in Hanoi?
It's a 3 hour drive between Hanoi and Halong Bay - and that's only if you pay the ~$10 toll (each way). If you don't use the toll road, it's 4 hours. The shortest cruises I saw were 4-5 hours.

You'd either have to skip a day of the ABD or do this pre- or post-trip.

We did pre-trip days in Halong and Ninh Binh and really enjoyed both. See my quick summary on this post.
 
It's a 3 hour drive between Hanoi and Halong Bay - and that's only if you pay the ~$10 toll (each way). If you don't use the toll road, it's 4 hours. The shortest cruises I saw were 4-5 hours.

You'd either have to skip a day of the ABD or do this pre- or post-trip.

We did pre-trip days in Halong and Ninh Binh and really enjoyed both. See my quick summary on this post.

Thanks for the info - it seems popular enough, I wonder why ABD doesn’t include it.
 
Thanks for the info - it seems popular enough, I wonder why ABD doesn’t include it.
One of the guides said he's been trying to get them to add it for years. Seems like a timing issue - it adds a full day for a relatively short cruise. The 3 hour drive is twice as long as the longest flight on the trip. lol They'd have to add a day to the itinerary or trim a day from something else.

We felt like it was a 'must do' if we were going to Vietnam, so we added the extra time. We looked at other tour operators that went to Halong, but we liked the rest of the ABD itinerary more. Halong seemed like something easy to do on our own (and it was!), so we chose ABD + Halong and Ninh Binh.

Halong might be good as a post-trip thing, too. Flights out of Siem Reap were pretty limited. If you can get back to Hanoi, do Halong Bay, then fly home from there, it could be easier. You would need to make sure you got the multiple-entry Vietnam Visa to do that, though.
 
We have done both - DD was 5 in China and 8 in SE Asia. For us, China was the ‘easier’ trip. Not really sure why....one aspect we found was that (at least 6 years ago) western food and snacks were harder to find in SE Asia. Not that we always want it, but sometimes something a bit more familiar can get us through a rough patch...
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top