Bali or South America with kids?

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DH and I have both wangled two months off next summer (July and August) and we are planning to take our DCs (6.5 & 3.5 by then) either to South America or possibly Bali / Indonesia.

Weather wise both look pretty good. We’ve don’t a long haul month long road trip before so they’re good travellers but budget wise I think we would like to do it all under about 10-12k

Anyone done anything similar? Things that concern me are safety, health and also having enough ‘to do’. I think we’d like some relaxation / beach / chill out but also we are pretty active and would enjoy cycling / site seeing and possibly a bit of trekking although this will be hard with a 3.5yr old, although she is a good walker! South America wise we would not be attempting the whole place (!) maybe just one or two countries but I have no idea which are most child friendly / safe / interesting for a family?

Anyone have any ideas / tips of what we could go and see / do?

Thanks

i would hold off on bali at the moment until you see how the volcano pans out. I would go to western Canada, Oregon or tour around florida with kids of that age.

Bali is a little too far with kids. Go somewhere closer. I think with kids, they're going to enjoy any place so long as it's a new place other than home. :)

I'm not sure you'd have enough to do for two months on Bali, you could look at Lombok as well and the Gili islands, nice beaches and temples. Check safety records of the ferry companies though as some are pretty shady.

Next summer is winter in the southern part of South America. You could consider Brazil, Peru or Ecuador. Personally I think your childrenare way too young to get anything out of it at all so I guest it is really all about you two with the children coming along because you must take them.

I would rent a series of houses in somewhere like South Africa and base yourself in different areas - say 4. This is far more fun than trekking with very young children in Peru! We have always felt safe in South America and indeed South Africa if you take precautions. I am not sure I would cycle with young children anywhere in South America. Driving is usually poor.

Do 3 year olds really enjoy site seeing? I have been with other people's 5/6/7/8/9/10 year olds in South America and they were a pain in the backside! Most would rather have been on a beach or playing football. We held off doing exciting holidays until our children were 8 plus when far more opportunities opened up and they actually understood the importance of where they were going, such as the Galapagos Islands. In the meantime, France was brilliant for them as younger children. Your budget indicates hostel/low quality accommodation for 4 of you too. We spent that for two weeks for four of us!

Argentina and Uraguay would be my choices. Safer than Brazil and very child friendly. Good mix of culture/beaches/nature.

Thanks for tips. We’ve done the US so don’t want to do that again at the moment (mainly as costly and would prefer to do over 3 weeks and do Disney etc when it’s worth the spend.

Definitely ruling Bali out for now until we know how the volcano situation progresses.

Good tips on South America but after speaking to some well travelled friends most have said the long distances to travel (once there) aren’t ideal with young children and as people have said here it’s also quite expensive so now leaning towards SE Asia (despite it being monsoon time there) I’ve been there before during monsoon and think it is quite safe, loads of beaches but enough sightseeing / interesting stuff to do if we want to.

Interesting what people say about not bothering with a 3.5yr old! Of course I agree the kids won’t really get that much out of it however they will see another country, experience different food, language, way of life etc so I beg to differ. We have this opportunity now (sadly not every year) and thought it worth taking. Also long flights don’t put us off. We’ve done US, Oz etc all with very young children and it was fine other than a couple of days of jet lag.

We’ve not considered South Africa but would do, am just worried our budget wouldn’t go far there...?

I would really recommend looking into going to a Hotel Fazenda if you are still thinking about South America. There's loads to do with kids, most hotel fazendas have horse riding, bikes, pools and waterfalls etc. They are great fun and many people go for the camping, although July and August in South America is mostly cold. Brazilian beaches are best in small towns and you don't have the dangers of large cities, they are usually easily accessible too. We live in Brazil and have taken the kids to both Argentina and Uruguay during the winter months but only for skiing, which is probably not what you're looking for. There's a lot to do in Rio too and if you have street sense it's mostly a positive experience. There's the beaches and the botanical gardens and sugarloaf, which my children enjoyed.

We went to Belize for 2 weeks and could have stayed longer. you could do belize and mexico or another nearby country. easily spend a month in Belize even though I have been already!

Not everywhere in se Asia is wet in the summer. Hoi an in Vietnam is dry then and have also been to Hanoi in the summer and only had one wet day. Malaysian Borneo is dry (and great for kids )as is Brunei, Java and Singapore has pretty much the same weather all year round - hot, humid and some wet days.

I lived in Buenos Aires for 3 years. When my children were small (we moved there when DS1 was 5 and DS2 was 1.5) we travelled all around South America with them and had a fabulous time. Buenos Aires does have problems with crime, I had a lot of friends that were robbed but had no issues personally. You just have to be aware and use your common sense (don’t carry an expensive bag, or use your phone in the street. Use a money belt etc). There are lots of great places in Argentina to visit and they’re safer. Iguazzu Falks, Glaciers at Calafate, skiing in the Andes in August, wine in Mendoza. Salts is amazing. Uruguay is lovely and much more chilled. Chile is beautiful. Peru was great although you can’t go right up Machu Pichu now. I’d highly recommend South America!