Family Holiday Destinations Podcast

7 Amazing experiences in Asia with kids

• Jessica Palmer • Season 1 • Episode 2

Share episode

Send us a text

Imagine stepping into the past with your kids at Cambodia's Angkor Wat, where ancient ruins become the perfect playground for little explorers. Picture a monkey making off with someone's lunch on Pulau Ubin Island in Singapore, or navigating the rugged terrains of northern Thailand on a thrilling four-wheel drive adventure. These stories aren't just travel tales—they're the kind of experiences that turn family trips into lifelong memories. Join me, Jessica Palmer, as I share 7 amazing experiences in Asia with kids.


Thanks for tuning in to the Family Holiday Destinations podcast! For more travel tips, destination guides, and family-friendly inspiration, visit our website at familyholidaydestinations.com. Until next time, happy travels and safe adventures!

Welcome to the Family Holiday Destinations podcast, where we inspire your next family adventure. I'm Jessica Palmer, mother of two and founder of Family Holiday Destinations, and today, we're chatting about one of the most fascinating regions in the world ... Asia. 

If you've ever wanted to combine travel and meaningful learning experiences for your kids, this episode is for you. We're exploring seven amazing experiences in Asia with kids that will engage and inspire young travellers. The inspiration for this episode is actually from an article I wrote for the New Zealand Herald a little while ago on learning opportunities in Southeast Asia with kids. When I was reading back over the article I wrote for the New Zealand Herald, it became really clear that the experiences I wrote about were not just great learning opportunities but actually some of our favourite experiences as a family in Asia. So today, I'm going to walk you through some of these favourite experiences, including two additional ones that we just recently experienced that weren't originally included in the article. 

Okay, let's kick things off with Cambodia. Of course, I'm going to talk about the iconic Angkor Wat. This ancient temple complex is more than just a beautiful backdrop for photos. It's a place where history comes to life. My kids were aged four and six when we visited and they just loved pretending to be explorers as we wandered through the moss-covered ruins and the intricate carvings. Visiting Ta Prohm, the famous Tomb Raider temple, with its tree roots growing through the stones and all up the walls, it felt like stepping into a storybook. 

If you're planning to visit, though, here's my top tip: start early to avoid the midday heat, and don't forget to bring plenty of water and snacks for the kids. It's actually a lot of walking, and it's really hot, so it can get a little bit uncomfortable. But, it's worth every step. If you arrive via tuk-tuk, most drivers will drop you at the entrance and pick you up on the other side of the temple to save tired legs from walking back through the temple. 

Number two - Push biking around Palau Ubin Island in Singapore. 

Pulau Ubin is described by Lonely Planet as Singapore's very own rustic island getaway, and honestly, I can't think of a better way to describe it. It's a small island, just 10 minutes from mainland Singapore, and it's a real opportunity to experience a kampong or village atmosphere that has long left the mainland of Singapore. One of my favourite memories here is of my son, who at the time was six, yelling excitedly, "oh, mom, look, that monkey has a bag". Sure enough, a cute little long tail macaques monkey was sitting in the middle of a dirt road in front of us, up to his shoulder in someone's lunch bag. I'm guessing earlier that day, someone had put that bag down, fully expecting their lunch to be waiting for them upon return. He didn't look in the slightest bit guilty that he had just been caught red-handed stealing, and for some reason, I just found the whole scene so funny. 

Getting to the island is as simple as a 10-minute trip across the water from Changi Point Ferry Terminal on a bum boat. I'm not really sure why it's called a bum boat, and when you do arrive, you'll find plenty of push bikes available to hire, including options for families, such as adult bikes with kiddie seats or simply just smaller bikes for the kids. Once you get your bike, you can pedal your way around the island, where you'll learn via signage about the importance of the Chek Jawa wetlands, a protected site in which six distinct habitats merge. There's a really cool boardwalk built over a mangrove swamp, and you'll get to see wildlife that is not usually seen back at home in Australia. Top tip for this destination is: don't put your bag down...the monkeys are thieves. 

Number three - a four-wheel drive tour through northern Thailand. 

Last year, when the kids were 8 and 11 years old, we embarked on a tagalong four-wheel drive tour in northern Thailand, departing from Chiang Mai. We spent three days self-driving in a convoy with a tour guide who drove their own vehicle. They showed us some really amazing spots that we would never have found on our own in the mountains and hill tribe villages surrounding Chiang Mai. The whole experience was so amazing. We stayed at the local kind of boutique accommodation along the way. We had rivers to swim in, waterfalls to swim under, and we even got squirted by an elephant while rafting leisurely down a river on a bamboo pole raft. It was just beautiful, and I really enjoyed getting to know our Thai guides, who were able to give us more of an insight into their culture and, of course, introduced us to some amazing Thai dishes. My tip for this experience? Be prepared for extended driving times with snacks and drinks for the kids in the back of the car. 

Experience number four - making our own tea blend in Chiang Rai in Thailand. 

This experience is also in northern Thailand. So, after our four-wheel drive tour, we took a bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. It was a first-class bus, so it was totally comfortable and nothing like the public transport at home. My husband and I visited Chiang Rai way back in 2008, long before kids, so this place is really kind of special to us. 

Popular with the locals, Singa Park in Chiang Rai was originally known as Boon Raw Farm, and it was used to produce barley for the famous pale lager singer beer. Now, the park features a giant golden Singa statue, and it's open to the public as an agricultural tourism business, with beautifully curated gardens, lakes and fruit tea plantations. So we jumped on board the hop-on-hop-off tram at Singa Park and soon found ourselves at a tea plantation where we learned what goes into making a good brew. 

Here, the staff have an undercover area where you can create your own blend of tea and once you've made it, they seal up your tea bag on the spot so you can try it out. Both the kids and I really enjoyed this hands-on experience. My tip for this experience? If you're stuck for inspiration when making your tea, you can't go wrong with a lemongrass and lavender combination. It smells amazing, and it tastes pretty good as well. 

Number five - the My Son Sanctuary in Vietnam. My Son are a series of Unesco listed ruins that, would you believe, actually predate Cambodia's Angkor Wat, Myanmar's Bagan and Indonesia's Borobudur. Now, I always pronounce that wrong, but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

 Built during the 4th to 13th centuries, there are several ancient Cham temples spread over a 2km wide valley here at My Son. Sadly, much of My Son was destroyed by the US carpet bombing of the region during the Vietnam War, but what is left standing is definitely worth a visit. My top tip for this experience? The easiest way to visit is as a day trip from either Hoi An or Da Nang, which your hotel will be able to help you out with a private driver. 

Number six - the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in China. 

So, we visited the Harbin Ice Festival for the first time back in 2011, a year before our son was born. We've only just come back from taking the kids there again, who are now nine and 12 years old, and I can honestly say that it's one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had with the kids. Held every year in January. it's not for the faint-hearted, though, as the temperatures here do get down to minus 25-ish at times. The warmest it was when we were there was minus 10 degrees.

Here, you'll find house-sized snow sculptures, castle-sized ice sculptures that you're actually allowed to walk through, and even an ice slide that this year was up to 500 meters long. The Songhua River that runs through the city of Harbin, which, given its location in the north, has some beautiful Russian styled architecture. Well, this river, it completely freezes over, and there are heaps of fun things for the whole family to do on the ice. You'll find slides, zorb balls, quad bikes, horse rides and more. It's just fun, and the whole landscape is so beautiful. It's really just a great city to experience the culture of northern China. 

Number seven and our most recent - Japan. 

We recently spent a week in Tokyo, in Japan. Now, Japan seems to be on everyone's mind at the moment, and I just loved it. We've only been back one week. 

Some countries are a large culture shock, and it can be a little bit hard to manage with kids because they're just really out of their comfort zone, and you know, they really live in the moment. It's hard for them to see past their comfort zone sometimes. But the thing about Japan is that the cultural differences aren't really unpleasant. So it's just fascinating for us to visit, and one example of this is the toilets. So when you go to China, you know, kids may be a little bit put off by the squat toilets. You know, they might find them a bit unpleasant. When you go to Japan, you'll find toilets that need a university degree to flush, they sing, they wash your bottom for you and you know it's more fascinating than unpleasant. Um, you know it's really quite hard to explain, but it it's just a very easy introduction to Asia... and the food, oh my god, amazing. 

However, one of my most memorable things to do in Tokyo was to visit the TeamLab Planets and TeamLab Borderless. They're both immersive digital art museums. So TeamLab Planets features interactive water and plants and it encourages barefoot exploration. TeamLab Borderless is much bigger, and it offers a fluid, ever-changing digital landscape. At one point at TeamLab Planets, you'll find yourself walking through water while digital fish swim around you and under your legs. It's just simply amazing. 

So that wraps up our seven favourite amazing experiences in Asia with kids. I'm sure there are many other great experiences out there to be had, and we would love to hear some of yours. Thanks for joining me on this journey through some of Asia's most memorable family travel experiences. I hope this chat has inspired you to explore this incredible region with your family. 

For more tips and detailed guides, head on over to the Family Holiday Destinations website at familyholidaydestinationscom. And until next time, happy travels and enjoy making those family memories.