Kids on the coast

…And cycle in Vietnam with the family.

by Wendy Buckley, Travel With Kidz, www.travelwithkidz.com.au

Family holidays in Vietnam are filled with natural beauty, varied history and beautiful people, combining to make an exciting and fun-filled family holiday. Highlights for family travel in Vietnam include:

Going it alone

Hanoi the capital of city of Vietnam is the gateway to Halong Bay where you can stay overnight on a junk with your kids, catch the Victoria Express from Hanoi to Sapa mountain area and experience the rich mountain culture. You can take a leisurely bicycle ride around Hanoi and visit the interesting museums.

Fly south to Danang and travel to China Beach and Hua Hin. The car-free cobblestone streets of Hua Hin make it easy for kids to bike ride like a local. The food is cheap and easy for kids to eat, and the shopping is endless. Then head south to Saigon where the streets are crazy with bikes and people. There is heaps of shopping, food and history on offer, all within easy access of your family-friendly hotel.

We recommend hotels which have a pool so that you and the kids can wind down at the end of a busy day discovering Vietnam. The kids will love being able to run through the Cui Chi tunnels an hour’s drive from Saigon, which is the home of the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. It is a special place filled with history of the Vietnam War with old relics of the war on site.

Getting some guidance

Various options are available for families wanting to travel around Vietnam. Private tours with your own driver, guide or car is a great option for busy families and helps tailor your travel around Vietnam. Private family touring in Vietnam is available all year round.

Another great option is an escorted bike riding tour, which is fabulous for blended families and busy teenagers, keeping everyone active and busy during the day while dedicated family departures on small group tours depart over the Australian school holiday dates.

A blended holiday

Blended families and stepfamilies now account for the fastest growing family type in Australia, having increased by 50 per cent over the past decade. One in five families is now included in this sector. Parents these days have to juggle work, friends, family, after school activities and rarely find time to think about planning a family holiday that will cater for all the varied ages and needs of their family.

This means a rise in demand for holidays suitable for blended families, over the conventional family holiday. Contemporary families are likely to include a mix of teenagers who didn’t grow up as siblings, a wide range of ages and conflicting interests, and adults who have come together as partners prepared to take on the children of their loved one. This all creates a unique challenge in planning a family holiday.

A Vietnam cycling tour caters well for children aged from 12 years and up, with varying degrees of fitness and interest in travel and Asian culture. It’s a good way to spend time together as a family (and the teens can still listen to their iPods).

Organised by World Expeditions, usually in groups of 16, you can quickly immerse yourself in the simple routines of a well-planned cycling holiday, equipped with easy-to-ride, 21-gear mountain bikes. The tours take routes which exclude obvious tourist traps. Instead, they allow you to explore stunning scenery and remote villages.

It’s not all hard work

Each tour is fully supported with a bus to take luggage and constant refreshments, along with anyone who elects to sit out the cycling, and a truck to convey the bicycles and mechanics. The group convenes every 15 kms, which means you can cycle at your own pace, in your own space (for teenagers, read: headspace), knowing that there’s someone to guide you along the way when your thoughts drift off and you don’t want the discipline of paying attention or organising the family. Now that’s the kind of holiday that appeals to parents and kids!

This trip has been a great success for many years, partly because the program gives everyone enough freedom to lose themselves a little and do their own thing, and partly because at the end of each day the family regroups and is immersed in a vibrant local culture which often involves feasting with locals and staying in some wonderful places.

Imagine a holiday in which you give every family member the freedom to do their own thing? It’s possible you’d never see each other again! Cycling in Vietnam is ideal for families. It provides the freedom for everyone to do their own thing, but the overall structure is to unite at the end of a day, over a great meal in fantastic local places, to collect your thoughts and laugh about your day.

Best of all, you will be blown away by the scenery, the culture and the people, (and the iPods and texting will only get an occasional look-in).

HOT TIPS FROM TRAVEL WITH KIDZ

Older kids can be a picky and tricky age to please, particularly if yours is a blended family. But some resorts that offer kids’ programs are making special efforts to keep the older kids happy. Here are a few international destinations that cater particularly for teens:

Cancun Palace Mexico - The Cancun Palace comes with a beautiful beach and perfect waters to play in! The Cancun Palace is close to shopping, dining, entertainment, marina, and all types of water activities and sports.

Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora - Exotic over-water suites and beachfront villas with pools immerse you in ultramodern comforts and the welcoming spirit of French Polynesia.

Novotel Nusa Dua - Novotel Bali Nusa Dua Hotel & Residences is located in Nusa Dua area and surrounded by an 18 hole golf course. The hotel offers five stars resort facilities including private beach club, pool lagoon, spa, sauna, massage, fitness centre, kids club, meeting and conference rooms.

The Rarotongan Beach Resort & Spa - The Rarotongan is also the ideal holiday destination for older families, because teens stay and play free!