Best Activities for Children in Vietnam

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Vietnam is full of great activities for children. Although it can be a bit of a ‘tricky’ country to wrangle your children in (think hot, chaotic, dirty, noisy) it’s worth it for the wonder and excitement that it brings and all the cool things available for them to do. Also the Vietnamese people are so friendly and love children so I highly recommend visiting with children.

Here are our top activities in Vietnam for children:

Water puppet show, Hanoi

This is a delightful and SHORT (60 minute) puppet show in water unlike anything you have ever seen before. Centrally located in the Old Town of Hanoi you will be able to walk there from your hotel even with young children. My 3 year old was transfixed the whole time despite me being convinced we would have to walk out halfway through. Even my 3 month old baby loved it. Tickets were very affordable too. Show times vary but generally take place 5 times a day at approx. 3 PM, 4:10 PM, 5:20 PM, 6:30 PM and 8:00 PM. You can buy a ticket on the day.

Old Quarter Night Market, Hanoi

The Hanoi Night Market is only on on the weekends but is a great experience for kids if you are in Hanoi at the right time. It gets dark early in Hanoi so kids get the excitement of being out and about when its dark without staying up too late past their bedtime. Plus the market has lots of fun things to look at and buy for cheap so you aren’t breaking the bank including lots of kids clothes and toys and junk that kids like to collect or ‘tat’ as we call it. There is also some food and drinks to purchase. My 3 year old acquired a purple crocheted turtle which has a measuring tape inside that you can pull out at this market and she LOVES it.

Ride a Cyclo around Hanoi

Hanoi is such a great place to watch all the hustle and bustle of a city and what better way to do that than the novelty of a Cyclo. The Cyclo is a bicycle taxi that you can find all over Hanoi. They are pretty pricy and more of a tourist attraction than an actual convenient way to get around but your children will love them and the slight breeze provides a welcome break from the heat of the city.

Try all the fresh fruit juices available

Kids love fruit and they looooove juice. Vietnam is a paradise as they can get a huge variety of fresh fruit juices on the street anywhere in the country. Made fresh in front of you its great to keep your kids hydrated and get in their 5 plus a day. We love watermelon, lime, passionfruit and mango juices!

Train Street, Hanoi

Train Street in Hanoi is the coolest experience for kids – nowhere else in the world are they going to see a train moving by at that speed up close. It’s also a great spot for pictures. Obviously caution is recommended and you need to be actively parenting your children while you are here. However, the trains are scheduled at set times of the day so you will have a lot of advance warning of the approaching train and the locals will let you know when you need to get out of the way. The Train Street is ‘officially’ closed but if you turn left when facing the main entrance to the street and then right down the next road someone will find you and lead you through a tunnel to come out into the open of the street.

Trang An Boat Ride, Ninh Binh

Kids love every form of transport – a little rowboat is definitely an exciting experience. Add to that a trip through gorgeous green landscapes with big limestone karsts, long caves where the adults need to duck so that they don’t hit their heads and lots of chances to get out and stretch their legs. The kids will decide that sightseeing is cool and be way more patient at the next stop. I highly recommend bringing your own children’s lifejackets on this boat ride as the ones provided were very ill-fitting.

Halong Bay Cruise

What could be better than enjoying some luxury along with your kids? Enjoying some luxury without them. But jokes aside if you have to take your kids along a Halong Bay Cruise is beautiful, entertaining, relaxing and kid-friendly. They can’t escape the boat easily so you can let your guard down a little and there are tons of activities, not to mention a buffet and a pool (depending on your cruise). Also the novelty of sleeping on a boat and buying things from the little market boats that float past does not wear off fast.

The Beach

The classic – if you are ever stuck for somewhere to take your kids in a hot climate, the beach is always a winner. An Bang Beach in Da Nang is perfect as its right in the city and close to lots of amenities + you can get a hotel right by the beach through booking.com. There are nice beaches all over Vietnam though so you can’t go wrong wherever you are going to be based!

Sunworld Amusement Park, Da Nang Hills

This place is CRAZY. It’s not a traditional amusement park so you don’t need to try to entertain the kids while you line up for rides all day. The first attraction that will interest the kids is that you need to take a cable car to get here as its waaay waaay up a mountain. I think you are on the cable car for about 20-30 minutes!!
Then once you get up the top there is a giant hand bridge, another cable car, food outlets, a french colonial village to wander through, a cool fountain and some interesting gardens, a full indoor arcade area, a kids play area and some indoor rides for smaller kids and some for big kids/adults. There are a couple of rollercoasters too but these close when the weather is bad as they are outdoors.

Visit somewhere rural

The Vietnamese people are so lovely and even more so when you get out of the cities. It’s a great idea for children to experience the realities of Vietnamese life and get an authentic experience of the country. That’s what travel is about after all! We travelled to Vinh Hy Bay which is very off the beaten track and only popular among local tourists. Our 3 year old had a great time wandering through an indigenous village and also playing at the local playground with some of the local children. Our baby made friends with a local grandmother. I definitely suggest enjoying some everyday activities with your children such as taking a walk and playing on a playground in a place like this.

Stay in a nice hotel

My last suggestion of what to do with children in Vietnam is to have a stay in a nice hotel. Your money goes a lot further here so you can get luxury for less. You can find a great hotel with child friendly amenities on booking.com. Just relax at the hotel and enjoy all the things you can’t normally afford or wouldn’t do at home. My suggestions are:

1. Hang out at the hotel swimming pool all day
2. Order room service
3. Let your children have anything they want at the buffet breakfast and be okay with them leaving piles of food on their plate because they selected too much
4. Go up and down all the floors in the lift as many times as your kids want
5. Take advantage of your hotel’s babysitting service (if they have one – many in Vietnam do) and go out for a nice meal while your children make a new friend.
6. Lie in bed and watch movies
7. Have a bubble bath
8. Get your kids special mocktails at the hotel bar
9. Jump on the bed (especially if they aren’t allowed to at home!)

I hope you have found this list helpful! I also think the Mekong Delta would be an amazing spot for children but we didn’t get down that far south this time around. Please do let me know of any other great activities for kids in Vietnam in the comments!

Erika xx