Our globetrotting adventures in Ho Chi Minh City & Hanoi with 2 tots
What more perfect destination to test out your family travelling skills than on a city that thrives on organised chaos anyway?
From the moment you land in Vietnam, where disorganisation seems to reign supreme, an orderly calm actually ensues. Bikes, cars and people seem to have an unwritten rule on the right of way and horns are rarely used in anger though the city is full of their constant hum.
One of our early Globetrotting adventures with kids (and still to this day one of our favourites!) was a week-long getaway to Vietnam with a then 3-year-old Miss Z, one-year-old Master L and pregnant with Master J.
Here we give you a rundown of our experiences in the two largest cities, plus top tips for visiting Vietnam with young kids.
This post is part of our Discover Asia series
Ho Chi Minh City with kids
We start our short break adventure in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC – but still Saigon to many). The Visa queue on arrival is painful, so be prepared that after a long flight there will be some waiting around, even if your paperwork has been submitted in advance
Visa rules for Vietnam vary significantly by country of citizenship; do check if you need a letter of approval BEFORE flying to collect a Visa on arrival.
People were kind and generous to us though with the children clearly getting overtired, we wereskipped ahead in the queue – thank you, kind citizens, of the world!!.
This was our first attempt using a serviced apartment rather than a hotel for a city trip, and what a great choice! We stayed at the Sherwood Residence in District 3, and we were spoilt to a room upgrade, meaning we each had a bedroom.
We tried not to adjust the children’s body clocks for jet lag so with some good blackout curtains, we could get somewhat of a lie-in before tackling the day. We could also stay up slightly later into the evenings enjoying the bustling atmosphere around the Ben Thanh Night Markets.
The other bonus of the apartment, it came with a kids playroom and indoor/outdoor swimming pool which was perfect for post-exploring relaxation in humid climate.
Relaxed parenting in Vietnam
What amazed me most about Vietnam is how relaxed the parents seem to be about their children’s safety. I feel so incredibly uptight, constantly reminding my children to hold hands, walking them on the far side to the traffic when the local parents are letting their youngsters play in the traffic, literally!
Although we did bring one car seat with us on this occasion for Master L, I put aside some of my objections to travelling without both kids safely buckled in and go with the Vietnam flow.
We soon discover that the traffic really doesn’t move fast enough for this to be an issue. Road rage seems non-existent, there are no rude gestures or raised voices, just an underlying understanding that things will sort themselves out. The same rules seem to apply for moving around in the supermarket as well!
For more on parenting in Vietnam, check out our interview with expat mum Terri living in HCMC
Easy eating
Undoubtedly for us, the food was always going to be a highlight of this trip. What you get in a street stall will always taste different from what you get in a takeaway container at home. Fresh spring rolls and crispy won tons were our favourites!
Most exciting for me was seeing our often food-fussy children eating new foods and enjoying it, I will certainly have some new ideas to try at home! (for the record this experimentation was very short-lived on our return!)
Too much attention in Vietnam?
An unexpected aspect of the trip was the local obsession with fair-skinned children. Our children have nearly hit movie star status by the time we leave; we did not plan on becoming the tourist attraction ourselves.
The locals didn’t just want to admire and photograph them but touch, pinch, be photographed with them, and pick them up. This could be a bit overwhelming at times, but with some careful handling, you can let them have their fun then politely move on without seeming rude or offensive.
Hanoi with kids
Next up on our agenda is a few days in Hanoi. Hanoi greets us late at night with the same organised chaos we’ve come to expect, except add container trucks and motorcycles on the wrong side of the freeway to the equation.
Through nothing short of a miracle, our taxi manages to magically weave its way through the traffic like a synchronised swimmer. (Remind me to never complain about the Abu Dhabi traffic again).
Although it’s dark and poorly lit, we see here a similar streetscape of narrow, tower-like houses that we saw in HCMC. They have a striking resemblance in my mind to those that adorn the canals of Amsterdam, except most stand proudly alone until someone else builds next door and juts up against them (this design is apparently to do with taxes being based on the width of your property).
There is a different feel to Hanoi, though, perhaps not quite as beautiful as its southern cousin but bustling and inviting all the same.
We again stayed in a hotel apartment with a pool and outdoor playground, though I must say at the time we visited in October, the water was freezing!! It was a great location and set up, though, we strongly recommend the Somerset Grand Hanoi in the Hoan Kiem District, with a small shopping plaza underneath, too for grabbing milk and other essentials. Another great option in a great location is the Pullman Hanoi.
More ideas what to do in Hanoi? Here are 17 great ideas to include in your itinerary.
Side trip to Ha Long Bay, or not?
In a moment of perhaps sheer madness, we decided that we would easily suffer through a 3-hour (read 4 hour) luxury bus (read cramped little 27-seater bus) journey to Ha Long Bay.
This is one of the new seven wonders of the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has long been on my bucket list. Unfortunately, a typhoon hit the Vietnamese coast the day before, making it too choppy to sail, as they informed us 3.5 hrs into our journey.
So after letting the tourists out to take pictures of our kids (no one seemed interested in anything to do with the boats and the bay by now), and having a below-average meal, we then headed back to Hanoi for another four hours, bumping up and down on the same road works with another handful of passengers added to our overcrowded minibus for good measure.
It was kind of like travelling 8 hours in economy class with both children on our laps but with less legroom, no trolley service and a hell of a lot more bumps. We felt brave for having tried this journey but I’m afraid this was one epic fail, and Ha Long bay remains on the bucket list, sigh…..
Looking at an overnight Ha Long Bay cruise? Here’s a great guide on how to choose the best cruise.
Another option we’d like to try in future is to go to Lan Ha Bay. Neighbouring Halong Bay, it offers a more peaceful and relaxing feeling.
A soggy finish to our Hanoi visit sees us seeking raincoats and last-minute purchases that occupy our last few hours racing through the sodden streets. There is a different sort of busyness in the rain, but the shop keepers still have a bustle about them and some amazing wood fire smells fill the senses from their early morning meals, lots of the food preparation is still taking place in the street with the vendors happily chatting and as usual pointing at our fair-skinned travelling circus.
Returning to Vietnam with kids
There are so many things we didn’t get the chance to see and do on this holiday, but I think it was more important that we enjoyed the things we did and we took some first brave steps to break away from the package holiday at the beach concept.
We started to try some new activities with the children and enrich them with some cultural differences. Maybe too early still for Master 1, but Miss 3 has certainly become the seasoned tourist, mastering the use of the ‘no thank you’ and has already learnt some basic bartering skills.
This trip has been the inspiration to finally publish my travel writing and helping others feel brave enough to keep exploring even in life after children!
5 Top Tips for Vietnam with young kids:
1. Watch out for the fair-hair touching – it might be innocent to them but can terrify the kids and really gets too much.
2. Don’t expect a corner shop to sell something as simple as a pint of fresh milk – shops were closed by 10pm so we had to walk for miles on arrival and ended up with a plastic cup of milk from a coffee shop. For the older babies there is plenty of UHT milk with straws available, but for younger babies on formula, you may want to bring your own as we couldn’t read the labels.
3. A sturdy workhorse stroller is your friend! Our Maclaren has never let us down and has well paid itself off when you and the kids are tired and you don’t want to carry two kids home along with all your shopping. (Of course, we had one kid in the Ergo too – another family travel must-have!)
4. Finding clean toilets in some places can be an issue. Be prepared for squatting, standing nappy changes and always take your own tissues.
5. Don’t miss the Water Puppets! A lovely local tradition that all the family can enjoy even the really little ones.
And a bonus travel with toddlers tip:
Always take a spare set of clothes for everyone on the plane. Despite Miss 3 being toilet trained she suddenly developed a mid-air phobia of the plane toilet and promptly peed her pants with 2 hours still to go. Thankfully, a skinny little thing she still fitted Master 1’s clothing and nappies for a dry arrival.
General Vietnam Advice & Resources
For more advice on travelling in Vietnam with slightly older children, head over to Our 3 Kids v the World who have a great catalogue of articles on what to do and where to stay with kids, including how they tackled the Cu Chi Tunnels and a Mekong Delta day trip.
We also love this guide on eco-friendly places to stay in Vietnam, if you are planning a longer trip around Vietnam this is an excellent resource.
Have you tackled Vietnam with kids? What were your favourite highlights? (PS – please don’t tell me Ha Long Bay, it will take me several years to recover from that ordeal and attempt it again!!)
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© Our Globetrotters
Hey Keri, just awesome! i get surprise that they let their kids playing on the roads.! last year i wanted to go there but some reason i cold not. hope this year making the Vietnam tour rocks. one thing made me confuse, is the place was attractive or your writing skills make it more special to me. tnxs for the sharing. hope it will works for me on the go of Vietnam.
Thanks for sharing these awesome tips as we have planned a trip to Vietnam your post is very helpful to me so that my kids can enjoy the trip. Keep posting such helpful tips with the readers.
Great post Keri, I really have itchy feet to get back to vietnam and do the north with the kids. We did it prior to kids but I really think its time to head back there again. It is by far one of my favourite countries and i just don’t feel like I have explored it enough.
How’s the food though, definitely one of the highlights of a trip to vietnam. Maybe next year hey! Thanks for including us, we really did enjoy Cu Chi Tunnels and the Mekong Delta as did the kids.
It’s one of those places we keep finding ourselves drawn back to time and again, yet still something new to explore every time. We’ve still only made this one less than fortunate trip north, definitely need to attempt that trip again – enough years have passed to almost forget the 8-hour bus ride from hell!!!
Great post. I came across your blog while looking for tips on travelling to Hanoi and Halong Bay with a baby and a kid. I’ve been searching for more than a week but still doubt whether to bring my 1yo son with us. I was concern about the water, weather and pollution. Could you advise me more about Hanoi? I will be travelling with my husband and 4yo daughter. HoaLu and Tam Coc are in my itinerary. TIA.
Hi Michelle
If you are used to travelling around Asia I think you will enjoy it. Our first trip there was with a 18mth old and 3 year old. It is a crowded, busy city but there’s a lot to enjoy too. Just take normal health precautions with food and water, sanitiser and you will be fine taking the kids (We used packaged cartons of milk instead of making up formula). If this is your first trip to Asia though, just the traffic alone with kids may feel overwhelming!
Great post! We travelled to Vietnam with our girls at 6mo and 2yrs and also loved it! The fair haired littles got a lot of attention but rolled with it pretty well. Everytime we sat down to eat someone would scoop up the baby and pass her around until we were done. I’m glad we didn’t waste space bringing a travel high chair!
We spent a couple days in Ninh Binh and it was one of the highlights of our trip. When you get back there for your visit to Halong Bay I would highly recommend also fitting in Ninh Binh.
Thanks so much for the tip on Ninh Binh! I will tick of Halong Bay one day, every time I see someone else’s pictures I get so insanely jealous! We will have our updated adventures from visiting Ho Chi Minh city with 3 kids in March up on the blog shortly
It sounds like this was such a great trip as well as being a bit of an eye-opener. I lived in Hong Kong for a couple of years when I was a toddler and my parents had the fair-hair child circus wherever they went. I think you get used to it but its good to know its coming! Good tips about milk and formula – the latter is bulky but it would be a nightmare to get caught short! #citytripping
We always expect to encounter the fair-hair circus when we travel in Asia but Vietnam was really something else! I don’t think they see as many tourists so we were a very big novelty in some places we went
What an amazing trip – Vietnam has been on my bucket list for a long time. I would still love to go although I had expected to have to wait until my 3yo was a lot older. It’s a good point about the blonde hair though, I have a blonde blue-eyed girl and suspect she’d get a lot of attention too but wouldn’t enjoy it. Still an experience I’d love to have. Thanks for joining up to #citytripping
I think 3 would still be perfect for Vietnam! though if she’s not a fan of the blonde haired attention I must say Vietnam was probably the worst we have experienced it – that being said as long as you step in and protect them when needed you should be ok, its all harmless – we are just so fascinating to them!
SUCH a shame about Ha Long Bay! I can’t believe you got so close only to turn back…perfect excuse to return though. Our trip to Vietnam earlier this year was all booked but we had to cancel due to my husband’s health. Reading this has made me sad we haven’t yet made it to Vietnam but all the more reason to rebook. Great insight into the county and what it’s like with children. Thanks for linking to #citytripping x
Make sure you get it back on the agenda! We have certainly put it back on our schedule for next year already we loved it so much and so much more to see then we could manage in a week
Great post Keri. My friends live in Danang and they also struggle with the hair touching and general child celeb status!
Nha Trang and Danang were the absolute highlights of a world cruise I worked on several years ago. I just loved the general hustle and bustle, very friendly locals and the food as you say is so different and much tastier than any Thai takeaway you can buy in the UK! #CityTripping
oooh thank you for the extra advice on Nha Trang & Danang – we are putting together an itinerary for a SE Asia trip in March and deciding which cities to add this time!
Vietnam is on my to-do list! I love how family friendly Asia is #citytripping
You will find Vietnam – like so much of Asia – very child friendly and easy to navigate
How sad that your trip to Ha Long Bay was such a disappointment. I’m always amazed to read that the journey still takes up to 4 hours from Hanoi as it’s not that far in mileage, it’s just that the road is bad and was 20 years ago when I lived there. With so much development in Vietnam overall I’d have thought that road could have been upgraded. I hope you do get back to Hanoi to explore some more as I think you’ll find it’s MUCH more beautiful than Saigon. Bad weather doesn’t help, but in good weather it’s an amazingly pretty place with all its lakes and trees and old colonial architecture.
Afraid to say I don’t think that road has changed in 20+ years! Halong Bay remains on that bucket list so we will be back one day. I’m surprised you thought Hanoi was prettier than Saigon – we thought the complete opposite!!