Asia multi centre with a 10 year old

[alwaysdressedinyellow]

We would love to plan a trip with our DD who will be 10 to celebrate a wedding anniversary. Looking at a multi centre - perhaps a week or so doing cultural sites and then a week relaxing. But I just don’t know where to start - have been looking at Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Does anyone have any ideas as how to where to start? Thanks

What's a multi centre?

You could do -
Hanoi or HCMC then combine with Hoi An (Beach at An Bang or stay in da Nang) or Phu Quoc for beach time.
Siem Reap with Sihanoukville
Singapore or KL and combine with Malaysian Borneo
there are many good value airlines eg VietJet, Air Asia that would enable you to easily hop from one country to another. Hanoi to Luang Prabang in Lao is a short flight as is Luang Prabang to Bangkok.
One year we did - Hoi An, travel by car to Hue, flight from Hue to Hanoi, flight from Hanoi to Luang Prabang, Luang Prabang to Bangkok and then on to Hong Kong. We had slightly longer than two weeks and had been to all of these places before so this may be too much to pack in if this is your first visit to the area. However, it was really easy to book and good value.

If I could afford it, I'd go to Hanoi with trips to healing bay and spa. Then over to Angkor wat in Cambodia and finish with a beachy place in Thailand. Koh Phi Phi or somewhere like that.

If that's too much, perhaps Saigon, Mekong Delta, then over to Cambodia to Angkor. Then beach.

At any rate, don't miss Angkor. I'd spent 3 days there with a ten year old.

Have fun! I'm quite jealous.

Halong bay. Grrr.

Sapa, not spa.

Thank you so much. There are just so many beautiful places I didn’t know where to start, but that is really helpful. I want to make this a special trip!

I really would not do three countries in 2 weeks. I would just do Vietnam. Culture, history, food and beaches. Some stunning hotels too. You would spend ages in airports and in the air if you fly to three locations. There really isn’t any need because you will just be dipping into the country and not savouring it!

It’s easy to research 2 weeks in Vietnam but make sure you are ok for weather in all areas you might want to visit. It’s a long country! There are companies such as www.familiesworldwide.co.uk that have itineraries for this part of Asia and you could get ideas from them. Better than reinventing the wheel and your DC would meet other DC which has to be an advantage!

I would choose one country and see it at leisure. Vietnam - fly to Hanoi for a few days, then Halong Bay cruise, overnight train to Hue for a couple of days and finish off by flying down to Hoi An to stay on a lovely beach.

Thanks again. It will be a trip of a lifetime so I want to make the most of it...tempting to push it to 3 weeks if I start saving hard! I watched Race across the World and it really inspired us to see some places we’ve never been able to.

I think if you go for 3 weeks, maybe add in Cambodia. I think Thailand deserves its own holiday.

However if you want a truly memorable holiday, I would recommend China. It has fantastic culture and a day at The Great Wall is something you will always remember. Plus the Forbidden City and other memorable sights in Beijing. There are cities such as Xian with the Terracotta Warriors and the city walls and Chengdu with the pandas. China also has areas with minority peoples and the rice terraces at Longji are memorable. The Chinese civilisations made amazing porcelain, art, sculptures and furniture. Shanghai has an amazing museum full of art and costumes. Personally, 3 weeks there would be incredible! It has modern transport links and iconic things to see. I would have added in Hong Kong but that’s a bit difficult to recommend at the moment but finishing a China holiday there is fantastic!

If you decide on China, you will need to factor in visa costs which are a hefty GBP 170 at the moment and you will need to be fingerprinted as part of the visa process which will involve a trip to one of the processing centres - one in London, Manchester, I think and Edinburgh?
Vietnam is, by contrast, visa free for British citizens for stays of up to 15 days.
China is an amazing country (I live there) but I don't think it ticks your boxes of culture and then a week of relaxation. Hainan island is advertised as the Chinese Hawaii, but it really isn't!

I’ve used a fantastic company a few times called escape world wide
They have multi Center packages but you can mix and match them with different amounts of nights and different hotels
I’ve used them 3 times and my friend twice
We did three weeks in Thailand and the Maldives and three weeks Dubai Thailand and Hong Kong
I don’t work for them but I’ve always found them to be very very good