Our Favorite Places to Visit in Asia With Kids (Cities, Beaches & Nature)

We have travelled all over the world with our kids, but every time we travel to Asia with our kids, it always feels extra special. Everything in Asia is just so different from home that every day feels like a new adventure.

Asia offers so many exciting possibilities for family travel, from world-class cultural attractions, to delicious food, bustling cities and incredible beaches. Our list of favorite places to visit in Asia with kids offers a little bit of everything, no matter your family travel style.

Every family-friendly Asian destination on this list is a place our family has personally visited, explored, and loved. We believe the best family travel advice comes from those who have been there, and we’re excited to share our Asia travel experiences with you.

Our 14 Favorite Places to Visit in Asia With Kids

The following list of our favorite places to visit in Asia with kids is based on our real-world experiences. Each destination offers a blend of adventure, culture, and kid-friendly appeal that left a lasting impression on all of us. From the ancient temples of Cambodia to the energy of Tokyo and the stunning beaches of Thailand, these are the places we wholeheartedly recommend to fellow travelling families.

Here is our curated guide to some of the most engaging, accessible, and rewarding family destinations across Asia.

1. Khao Sok National Park, Thailand

The competition is fierce, but if I had to pick my absolute favorite place to visit in Asia with kids, it would be Khao Sok National Park in Thailand. We chose to travel here one year over Christmas, and it was so beautiful, special and fun, that we still talk about it to this day.

The experience which made Khao Sok National Park so special for our family was staying on a floating bungalow in the heart of Cheow Lan Lake. We stayed at the 500 Rai Floating Resort for 4 nights and really adopted their “Disconnect to Reconnect” philosophy.

Imagine your family starting the day by swimming and kayaking right from your floating villa’s private dock, then spotting monkeys and wild elephants from a boat on a wildlife safari before winding down with a fun Thai dessert-making class. It’s a unique family-friendly experience surrounded by breathtaking scenery.

And don’t get me started on the amazing Thai food here! While three of us enjoyed amazing, authentic Thai food three-meals a day, the resort took care of our picky 8-year old son who needed some kid-friendly Thai food (and some familiar favorites from back home too).

2. Chiang Mai, Thailand

If you are looking for a single family-friendly destination in Asia which offers it all, check out Chiang Mai, Thailand.

We rank Chiang Mai so high on our list of places to visit in Asia with kids as it ticks so many boxes… The city itself has an amazing historic district filled with many world-class temples, yet still has many fun kid-friendly things to do like playgrounds and quirky cat cafes.

If you follow our family travel blog at all, you’ll know that we love outdoor adventures and wildlife, and Chiang Mai delivers on both. One of our favorite memories from our family trips to Thailand is the day we spent ethically interacting with majestic giants at the Chiang Mai Elephant Nature Park.

We also enjoyed several active, outdoor family adventures in Chiang Mai. We loved our rewarding family hike up the Monk’s Trail to the famous Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. Hiking up is way more fun than a boring old drive to the top.

Our favorite outdoor activity was our guided family-friendly bike tour in Chiang Mai. This full day tour took us to surrounding towns and through the beautiful countryside.

The only thing Chiang Mai lacks is a beach, but don’t worry – we cover many beautiful beach destinations in Thailand and beyond below.

3. Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is the first non-Thailand destination on our list of favorite places to travel with kids in Asia. We love Kyoto for many of the same reasons that we love Chiang Mai. Kyoto is an excellent family destination, with a winning blend of world-renowned cultural sites and fun, kid-friendly outdoor activities.

Some of our most memorable family hikes of all time were in Kyoto. I’ll never forget our hike through thousands of vibrant orange torii gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine; it’s and experience like no other. We did a lot of family hiking, but Fushimi Inari Shrine was easily our favorite of the easy hikes in Kyoto.

Our kids’ favorite activities in Kyoto were a walk through the ethereal Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and feeding monkeys at the Monkey Park Iwatayama.

Even getting to Kyoto is fun, as the high-speed train from Tokyo is a thrilling experience that kids of all ages will enjoy!

4. Jeju Island, South Korea

We loved all of our destinations on our family trip to South Korea, but Jeju Island was our favorite. With a beautiful volcanic landscape, there were no shortage of fun things to do with kids on Jeju Island.

Three of our favorite things to do on Jeju Island with kids are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site dedicated to the island’s volcanic history. The Yeongsil Trail in Hallasan National Park is an enjoyable family hike through the upper reaches of a massive shield volcano, the highest peak in South Korea.

The next UNESCO site we loved was the long, fascinating walk through the Manjanggul Lava Tube Cave, considered by many as one of the best lava tubes in the world.

Finally, a short, but steep hike up the new Seongsan Ilchulbong volcanic formation provides sweeping views of the island and ocean (at least it should have, it was completely fogged in when we went!).

Also worth visiting on your family trip to Jeju Island is Aqua Planet Jeju, which is billed as the largest aquarium in Asia. I must admit, it was a pretty amazing aquarium.

We were there in spring, so it was a bit too early, but it’s also a very popular beach destination in South Korea. We visited many of the beaches for the scenery and could tell that Jeju Island would be a great place for a family beach holiday in warmer weather.

5. Ao Nang, Thailand

As a general rule, our family never goes to the same destination twice, but we broke that rule for Ao Nang, Thailand. It was one of our favorite stops on our first family trip to Thailand, and we couldn’t help but return on our second trip.

Due to its many incredible tropical beaches, Ao Nang ranks very high on our list of our favorite family-friendly beach destinations in the world. Railay Beach is the most famous beach in the area, but truthfully it was one of our least favorite beaches in the area.

We loved many of the beaches around Ao Nang, Thailand but our favorite was Pai Plong Beach. Getting there is half the fun as you enjoy a short hike on the “Monkey Trail”, where you can commonly see monkeys. Once at the beach, you’ll enjoy incredible scenery and soft white sand. This is what many dream of when they think of a beach in Thailand.

Another of our favorite beaches in Ao Nag is the Phra Nang Cave Beach. An easy, yet adventurous 20 minute walk from Railay Beach, Phra Nang Cave Beach is a serene, tropical paradise.

6. Seoul, South Korea

Of all the big cities we have visited in Asia with kids, we like Seoul the best. We spent a full week in Seoul with kids and loved every moment of it. Seoul has a little bit of everything that we love to do when we travel as a family. It has amazing cultural attractions coupled with some very enjoyable family-friendly hiking trails.

Our favorite cultural attraction in Seoul was the 300-year old Suwon Hwaseong Fortress. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this fully restored fortress was a joy to explore with kids.

Another of our favorite things to do in Seoul with kids was hiking the Dobongsan Trail in Bukhansan National Park. Just a short subway ride, this trail features amazing temples and spectacular city views.

One challenge we had as a family was the Korean food. Unlike more internationally known food like Thai or Japanese food, we knew next to nothing about Korean food. We solved this with taking a street food tour on our first day here. This was one of the most fun & useful family tours we’ve ever taken. It was especially helpful for our picky eater, who left the tour with some Korean food for kids that he felt comfortable eating.

7. Kanchanaburi, Thailand

A small Thai city just northwest of Bangkok, Kanchanaburi is famous for the being the home of the Bridge Over the River Kwai. Despite the world famous landmark, we came to Kanchanaburi with kids as it is an outdoor paradise. During our three days in Kanchanaburi, we went hiking, biking and kayaking with our kids.

Our favorite activity in Kanchanaburi was our day trip to Erawan National Park. Here we enjoyed one of the most beautiful family hikes I can remember. The hike visits seven different waterfalls, each with its own swimming area underneath. Hiring an inexpensive private driver made the trip easy, and is one of our top tips for visiting Thailand with kids.

Kayaking under the Bridge Over the River Kwai was a fun way for us to enjoy this landmark with our kids. And renting bikes to visit the Wat Ban Tham temple was a super fun family adventure.

Our kids were still pretty young when we visited Kanchanaburi, and I can still remember the amazing feeling of starting to share the active things we love to do with them.

8. Siem Reap, Cambodia

When we decided to take a second family trip to Thailand, we wanted to make a quick side trip to Cambodia to show them Angkor Wat, one of the most amazing temples we have ever seen.

Celine and I visited Angkor Wat before kids and were blown away by the sheer size and beauty of this temple complex. A finalist for the 7 Modern Wonders of the World, Angkor Wat is an incredible place to expose your kids to some culture.

Our kids especially loved the “Tomb Raider” temple (Ta Prohm), where the jungle has started to grow back over the stone walls. There’s an undeniable feeling of adventure walking through this unique Cambodian temple.

We have taken our kids on many food tours around Asia, but our all time favorite food tour was in Siem Reap.

9. Tokyo, Japan

The thought of visiting one of the world’s largest cities with kids might seem intimidating, Tokyo is a surprisingly easy and fascinating destination for families with young children.

We spent our 4 days in Tokyo with kids exploring the best temples, parks and kid-friendly attractions. One advantage of traveling with young, jet-lagged kids is it enabled us to visit the most popular attractions, like the ancient Sensō-ji Temple early in the morning and ahead of the crowds.

Our kids favorite attraction in Tokyo was the Tsukiji Outer Market. Despite their reputation for being reserved, Japanese people love children and the vendors at the fish market went out of their way to show our kids the fun & unusual fish on offer.

10. Ayutthaya, Thailand

A cultural stop on our first family trip to Thailand, we were drawn to Ayutthaya as it was the former capital of Siam, and at one time, one of the world’s most important cities. Much of the ancient city was destroyed by a Burmese attack, but thankfully there are many temples that survived for us to enjoy today.

Our Airbnb had complimentary bikes for us to enjoy, so we spent much of our three days in Ayutthaya with kids exploring all of the area ruins, both on and off the island. There are so many temples, that we were thankful to have the bikes to help us see as many as possible.

In addition to the Ayutthaya temple visits, we also took a day trip by train to the nearby Bang Pa-In Palace, which was the former summer palace of Thai kings. It was a fun family adventure, which was capped off by a surprise elephant parade on our way home!

11. Busan, South Korea

Despite being the lowest ranked South Korean city on our list of our favorite places to travel in Asia with kids, we really enjoyed our family trip to Busan. Blessed with a beautiful location on the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula, Busan has it all – beaches, mountains and more!

Given the natural beauty around Busan, we spent a lot of our time hiking. Our favorite hike was to the Beomeosa Temple, a magnificent Buddhist site with a dramatic mountain backdrop.

Another highlight was the day we spent exploring the colorful and quirky Gamcheon Culture Village. We had a ton of fun exploring the many streets and alleyways of the popular Busan neighborhood.

Busan is also well-known as a beach destination, but we visited in April; just a little too early for the beach. We still spent a lot of time near the water.

12. Bangkok, Thailand

Celine and I spent a lot of time in Bangkok before kids, so we haven’t spent a ton of time in Bangkok with kids. After skipping it entirely on our first trip, we decided to spend a day here to show the kids the highlights. To be fair to Bangkok, it’s busy, crowded and noisy, but it’s also a pretty amazing city with tons of fun things to do with kids.

We spent most of our day in Bangkok with kids exploring the highlights of Thai Buddhist culture. Highlights included the Emerald Buddha Temple, which is one of the very best temples in Thailand, and the Wat Phra Temple which has one of the largest reclined Buddhas in Thailand.

Truth be told, we also wanted to come back to Bangkok as one of our favorite hotels of all time is there. It was just as memorable the second time around, and was a lot of fun to visit again, this time with our kids.

13. Koh Lanta, Thailand

We spent 5 days in Koh Lanta over New Years on our second family trip to Thailand. You may think that given it’s low ranking on our list of favorite places to travel with kids in Asia, that we didn’t like it. But, we really did – the competition is just so fierce, Koh Lanta just happened to land close to the bottom. Trust me though, we still had an amazing time in Koh Lanta with kids.

A more relaxed island destination than its neighbor Phuket, Koh Lanta is a very relaxed beach destination in Thailand for families.

Koh Lanta offers a sigh of relief from Thailand’s busier beach hubs, creating a perfectly relaxed setting for families. We stayed at a resort right on Khlong Dao Beach, so we spent many days just having fun on the beach.

Our favorite activity in Koh Lanta was visiting the ethical, no-ride Lanta Elephant Sanctuary. Our kids were much older than the first time we did an elephant encounter in Chiang Mai, so this time we got a more exciting package.

During our day at the Lanta Elephant Sanctuary, we got to meet the elephants, feed them and bathe them. Our daughter especially loves elephants, so this is a day she won’t soon forget.

14. Phuket, Thailand

Last, but not least, on our list of favorite places to visit with kids in Asia is Phuket. We visited Phuket over Christmas on our first family trip to Thailand. It’s a popular beach destination for a reason – the beaches here are beautiful, albeit very busy.

Phuket landed on the bottom of our list, simply because it’s more one-dimensional than all of the other locations we visited with our kids. We spent a ton of time enjoying the many beautiful beaches in Phuket with our kids, but that’s really all we did. We didn’t get to enjoy the other things we enjoy doing, like hiking or visiting cultural attractions.

Final Thoughts – Family-Friendly Asia Destination Ideas

We hope you’ve enjoyed our top 14 family-friendly destinations in Asia. We have visited many amazing places in Asia, from the worlds’ biggest city, to the beaches of Phuket, to a very remote floating bungalow in a national park. Regardless of whether you prefer beaches, temples or outdoor adventures, you are sure to find the perfect place for your next family vacation in our list of our favorite places to visit in Asia with kids.