Angkor Wat at sunrise, Siem Reap, Cambodia · photo: Unsplash
Asia Family Travel Guide
“I lived in Asia for four years before I had kids. Then I took all three of them back. Everything on this page comes out of that.”
I did not come to Asia as a tourist. I moved there. Twice. The first time was Gwangju in 2009. I taught English, I did not speak the language, and I bought a bicycle because I could not work out the bus system. I rode that bike everywhere for a year. On long weekends I took ferries out to islands with almost nobody on them and camped by myself.
The second time was Busan in 2011. I was pregnant with Gavin in that city. I adopted my dog Eunee off the street there and flew her home to America, which is a whole story of its own. Somewhere in the middle of all that I also taught in Fujigaoka in Japan, and that is why I know both countries instead of one.
Then in 2018 I went back with all three kids. It is a completely different country when you are pushing a stroller through Seoul Station at rush hour. It is still the easiest place in the world I have ever traveled with children, and I say that having done a lot of Europe since.
Busan, South KoreaWhy Asia With Kids
Poppy marks the family parts. Wherever you see her, that section is written for traveling with children.The number one thing people say to me about Asia is that it sounds hard. It is the opposite. Of every asia family vacation destination I plan, East Asia is the easiest region I have ever taken children through, and I have taken them through a lot of Europe to compare it against. The flight is long. Everything after the flight is easier than home.
The reason is boring and structural. Both countries are extremely safe, extremely clean, and built around public transport that runs on time. Convenience stores sell real food at eleven at night. Bathrooms are everywhere and free. And nobody looks at you sideways when a nine year old melts down on a subway platform.
Tokyo opened March 19, 2026 and hit full bloom March 28, with Kyoto about four days behind. The 2027 forecast lands in December. Read the answer
The 2026 festival ran March 27 to April 5. Plan around late March to early April 2027. Read the answer
Early 2027, 7 nights between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap, from about $2,029. Read the answer
3 and 4 night cruises from Marina Bay, Disney's biggest ship. Read the answer
Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with FG Luxury Travel
Should we do Japan or Korea, or both?
Either one fills two weeks on its own without repeating a day. If you want both, the hop between them is short, a two hour flight or the ferry from Fukuoka to Busan, but I would not squeeze both into ten days with kids. Pick the country that pulls you harder and save the other for its own trip.
Should we rent a car?
No. In both countries the train is faster, cheaper and easier with kids than driving, and a car only makes sense if you are headed somewhere rural on purpose.
Do we need the Japan Rail Pass?
Usually not anymore. Since the 2023 price rise, buying individual Shinkansen tickets is often cheaper for a normal two week family trip. Do the math on your actual route before you buy one.
When is the best time to go?
Autumn, October and November, is the honest answer. Clear dry days, comfortable temperatures and far fewer people than cherry blossom season. Spring is beautiful but it is the most expensive and most crowded stretch of the year, and mid June through late July is rainy season in both countries.
Is Korea cheaper than Japan?
Yes, by about a third across food, hotels and transport. Both countries run cheaper day to day than western Europe right now, which surprises most first time families.
What about food allergies with kids?
This is the harder part. Nut, dairy and gluten labeling is inconsistent, kitchens are small and shared, and the language barrier does not help. Carry a translation card written properly in Japanese and Korean rather than relying on an app in the moment. It is a reason to prepare, not a reason to skip Asia.
The Transport Does the Work
Nobody sits in traffic. Subways are signed in English, trains leave to the minute, and kids can stand up and move. We did five days in Seoul in 2018 with three children and never once got in a car.
Kids Are Fed, Not Accommodated
Rice, noodles, dumplings, grilled meat, fried chicken, egg dishes. There is almost always something plain on the table. Korean restaurants bring out six free side dishes before you order, which buys you fifteen minutes of quiet.
Whole Industries Exist for Children
Korea has kid cafes, which are indoor playgrounds with coffee for the adults, and they are on almost every block. Japan has entire department store floors of them. It is a rainy day solved for about ten dollars.
Who should skip it. If your kids are under three and you cannot handle a fourteen hour flight, wait. If your family needs a pool and a beach and nothing else, this is not the trip. And if you want to see Japan and Korea and China and Thailand in two weeks, do not. That is four countries and a lot of airports and you will remember none of it.
“Everybody worries about the flight. Nobody warns you the hard part is going home afterward.”
Nicole DamianoGetting Around
Do not rent a car. That is the short version. In Japan and Korea the train is faster, cheaper, less stressful and better for children than driving, and the only reason to have a car is if you are going somewhere rural on purpose. Everything below is what I book for clients and what I did myself.
Shinkansen
Tokyo to Kyoto in a bit over two hours. Reserve seats if you have kids so you sit together, and book the row with the extra space behind it if you are traveling with a big case. Children under six ride free on a lap, and six to eleven is roughly half fare.
The Japan Rail Pass
It used to be the automatic answer. Since the 2023 price rise it usually is not. For a normal two week family trip with a few long legs, buying individual tickets is often cheaper. Do the math on your actual route before you buy. Most people do not, and they overpay.
KTX in Korea
Seoul to Busan in about two and a half hours for well under fifty dollars a seat. Korea is a small country pretending to be a big one. The Korea Rail Pass exists but Korea is cheap enough that you rarely need it.
Tap Cards
Suica or Pasmo in Japan, T-money in Korea. Buy one for every person including the kids on day one, load about twenty dollars, and stop thinking about tickets. They work on subways, buses and most convenience stores.
One thing I tell every family. Forward your luggage. In Japan the baggage services will move your suitcases hotel to hotel for fifteen to twenty dollars a bag, and moving between cities with only a day pack changes the whole trip when you have children. Korea has the same thing.
Yokohama at dusk. Twenty five minutes out of Tokyo on a normal commuter line, and worth an evening.
Money and Practical Basics
Asia is cheaper than people expect and Japan is cheaper than Korea in exactly one category, which is nothing. Korea runs roughly a third less across food, hotels and transport. Both of them are cheaper day to day than western Europe right now, and that surprises everybody.
Two currencies, both easy. Japanese yen and Korean won. Neither is pegged to anything you know, so put a converter on your phone and stop doing mental math. Round numbers are your friend.
Korea is nearly cashless. Japan is not. In Korea you can go a week without touching a banknote. In Japan you still need cash for small restaurants, shrines, markets and some train stations. Pull yen out of a 7-Eleven ATM or a Japan Post ATM. Those two take foreign cards. A lot of bank ATMs will not.
Do not tip. Anywhere. Not the taxi, not the restaurant, not the hotel. In Japan it can embarrass someone. This is the single hardest habit for American families to break and it is worth breaking before you land.
Get an eSIM before you fly. Ten to twenty dollars for two weeks of data on one phone. Both countries run on apps for maps and translation, and Google Maps is weak in Korea, so you want Naver Map or Kakao Map downloaded before you need them.
Check entry rules close to departure. Japan is visa free for most western passports for ninety days. Korea has an electronic travel authorisation called K-ETA that has been switched on, waived, and switched back on again for different nationalities more than once. Verify it four to six weeks out rather than trusting a blog post, including this one.
Rooms are small. Plan for it. A standard Tokyo hotel room does not fit five people and most will not let you try. Family rooms, connecting rooms and apartment style stays exist in both countries but they sell out first and they need booking early. This is most of what I actually do for clients on an Asia trip.
When to Go
Everybody wants cherry blossom. Almost nobody realizes autumn is the better trip. Here is the honest version of all four, and the one block of the year I tell families to route around entirely.
Spring
Late March into mid April. This is blossom season and it is beautiful. It is also the most expensive and most crowded fortnight of the year, and the bloom moves. It starts in southern Japan and works north, and Korea runs about a week behind. Book a window, not a date, and accept that you might get petals on the ground instead of on the tree. Late April is calmer, cheaper and still lovely.
Summer
This is the block to avoid. Mid June to late July is the rainy season in both countries and it is not gentle drizzle, it is days of it. August is hot, sticky, and typhoon season on top. If summer is your only window, go anyway and build the trip around indoor things, but do not expect the postcards.
Autumn
October and November. This is the answer. Clear dry days, comfortable temperatures, maple color that lasts weeks instead of days, and noticeably fewer people than spring. If you have flexibility and no school calendar tying you down, take autumn every time.
Winter
Cold, dry, bright and cheap. Seoul in January is properly cold and the wind makes it worse, so pack for it. But hotels drop, museums are empty, and if anybody in your family skis, Hokkaido and the Korean resorts are excellent value compared with the Alps.
Food With Kids
This is the thing parents worry about most and it is the thing that turns out to be easiest. My kids ate better in Korea than they eat at home. Almost nothing is spicy until you order the spicy thing, portions are enormous, and both countries are set up so that a family can eat a real meal for less than a fast food run in America.
Kimbap
Rice and vegetables rolled in seaweed, sliced, about two dollars. It is the single most useful food in Korea with children. Buy it, put it in a bag, and you have solved lunch for a day of walking.
Convenience Stores
Not a joke and not a compromise. Onigiri, egg sandwiches, hot noodles, fresh fruit, all of it good. A 7-Eleven or a GS25 breakfast for five people costs about twelve dollars and takes four minutes.
Noodles and Rice
Udon, ramen, jajangmyeon, bibimbap with the chili paste served on the side. Every one of these is a plain option if you ask, and every kid I have taken has found one they will eat by day two.
Korean Barbecue
You cook it yourself at the table, which means kids are busy and involved instead of waiting. Order the plain pork belly, not the marinated spicy one, the first time. The free side dishes keep coming.
The Sweet Stuff
Melon bread, hotteok off a street cart in winter, shaved ice with condensed milk in summer, and Japanese convenience store pudding that is better than most restaurant desserts. Budget for it. You will need it.
One warning. Allergies are hard here. Nut, dairy and gluten labeling is inconsistent, kitchens are small and shared, and the language barrier makes it worse. If you have a serious allergy in the family, carry translation cards written properly in Japanese and Korean and do not rely on an app in the moment. That is not a reason to skip Asia. It is a reason to prepare for it.
A normal Korean table. You order two things and eleven arrive. Nobody explains this to you the first time.
Culture and Etiquette
Nobody expects you to get this right. They expect you to try. I lived in both countries and I still got things wrong regularly, and the response was almost always kindness. Here is the short list that actually matters, and the shorter list of things people stress about that do not.
Shoes come off more than you think. Homes, temples, some restaurants, most guesthouses, a lot of school and clinic entrances. Put your kids in shoes they can get off alone, and pack socks without holes. I am not joking about the socks.
Trains are quiet. Quiet. Nobody takes phone calls, nobody plays videos out loud, and a loud American family is noticed immediately. Headphones for the kids, phones on silent, and you have already done ninety percent of blending in.
Two hands, always. Passing money, receiving a card, pouring a drink, taking a gift. Two hands, or one hand with the other touching your forearm. It takes a day to learn and it changes how people respond to you, especially in Korea.
Your kids will get attention. Strangers will touch their hair, hand them snacks, take photos. In Korea especially, older women will simply pick a toddler up. It is warmth, not intrusion, but it startles children who are not warned. Tell them before you land.
Learn six words. Hello, thank you, sorry, please, delicious, goodbye. That is it. Nobody is grading you and everybody notices. Korean is written in hangul, which is a logical alphabet you can learn to read on the flight over, and doing that with kids turns airport signage into a game.
What people worry about and should not. Chopsticks. Nobody cares if your seven year old uses a fork. Tattoos, which only matter at some Japanese hot springs. And English, which in Tokyo, Kyoto, Seoul and Busan is enough to get by on.
Fukuoka. A shrine sitting in the middle of an ordinary street, which is most of what daily life looks like here.
Family Logistics
The flight is the hard part. Ours into Incheon was eleven hours. Gavin was great. Jake slept almost the whole way. Avilene was a pain for most of it and I watched one film in five attempts. We landed, we were through immigration fast, and by the second day it did not matter.
Jet Lag Is Real Going East
Give it three days and do not fight it. Land in the afternoon, stay up until a normal bedtime, and get everybody outside in daylight the first full morning.
Carrier Beats Stroller
Subway stations have a lot of stairs and elevators are not always where you need them. For anyone under three, a carrier is faster and less miserable. Over three, they walk, and they will walk further than you expect because there is always something to look at.
Car Seats Are the Weak Spot
Taxis mostly will not have them and are not required to. If that is a hard line for your family, plan a trip that runs on trains and walking, which is most of what you should be doing anyway. Airport transfers with seats can be booked in advance.
Poppy Sat This One Out
Japan asks for a rabies blood test and about six months of lead time before a dog can enter, and most of Asia runs closer to that than to Europe’s open borders. Book the sitter when you book the flights.
A few more. Laundry is easy and cheap in both countries, so pack for six days and wash, which matters when rooms are small. Pharmacies are excellent and pharmacists are helpful, but bring your own supply of anything prescription because getting a refill abroad is slow. And book the family rooms early. That is the single logistics thing that goes wrong most often and it is entirely preventable.
What Surprises First-Timers
The things people message me about in the first forty eight hours, every time.
How clean it is, and how there are no bins. Both at once. Japan in particular has almost no public rubbish bins and yet no litter. You carry your trash until you find somewhere. Bring a bag.
The toilets. Heated, with buttons. My kids talked about the toilets more than the temples and I have the photos to prove it. You will also find a squat toilet eventually. Warn them.
How safe it feels. People leave laptops on cafe tables and walk away. Children ride the subway to school alone. It recalibrates how you move around, and that feeling is most of why families come back.
How big the cities are. Seoul and Tokyo are not city breaks. Crossing Tokyo can take an hour on a good day. Pick two or three areas and stay in them rather than trying to tick a map.
How much cheaper Korea is. People arrive expecting Japan prices and get a third off. It is the reason I push families toward Korea when the budget is tight, and it is the reason so many of them go back.
Not sure if your family wants Japan, Korea, or both
That is the question I answer most. I lived in both, I sell both, and I will tell you which one fits the ages you are traveling with.
Where I Would Actually Start
First family trip to Asia⁉ Start with the front doors. These three are the best places to visit in Asia with kids because everything about arriving is easy: the airports, the trains, the first jet lagged days.
Tokyo. Direct flights from most big US airports, and the train into the city is simple even with tired kids. The Shinkansen opens the whole country from there. Kyoto is a bit over two hours, and Hakone makes an easy first overnight away.
Seoul. I taught in Korea and it is still where I send first timers. Incheon is the calmest big airport I know, the palaces and markets fill three days easily, and the KTX puts Busan under three hours away.
Singapore. English everywhere, spotless, and the airport has a waterfall in it. It is the gentlest first step into Asia with young kids, and hawker centers solve dinner for picky eaters at a few dollars a plate.
Pick one, give it a week, and save the second country for its own trip.
Beyond the Bookshelf
Stories to carry you deeper into Asia. Books, films, music and a few cookbooks from across the continent. Read one before you go and the trip means more when you get there.
- The God of Small ThingsArundhati Roy
- PachinkoMin Jin Lee
- Memoirs of a GeishaArthur Golden
- The SympathizerViet Thanh Nguyen
- ShōgunJames Clavell
- Where the Mountain Meets the MoonGrace Lin
- Sadako and the Thousand Paper CranesEleanor Coerr
- Grandfather’s JourneyAllen Say
- All ThirteenChristina Soontornvat
- Every Grain of RiceFuchsia Dunlop
- Maangchi’s Real Korean CookingMaangchi
- Japan: The CookbookNancy Singleton Hachisu
Asia, Answered
The ones that come up in almost every planning call. If yours is not here, ask me.
Should we do Japan or Korea, or both?
Either one fills two weeks on its own without repeating a day. If you want both, the hop between them is short, a two hour flight or the ferry from Fukuoka to Busan, but I would not squeeze both into ten days with kids. Pick the country that pulls you harder and save the other for its own trip.
Should we rent a car?
No. In both countries the train is faster, cheaper and easier with kids than driving, and a car only makes sense if you are headed somewhere rural on purpose.
Do we need the Japan Rail Pass?
Usually not anymore. Since the 2023 price rise, buying individual Shinkansen tickets is often cheaper for a normal two week family trip. Do the math on your actual route before you buy one.
When is the best time to go?
Autumn, October and November, is the honest answer. Clear dry days, comfortable temperatures and far fewer people than cherry blossom season. Spring is beautiful but it is the most expensive and most crowded stretch of the year, and mid June through late July is rainy season in both countries.
Is Korea cheaper than Japan?
Yes, by about a third across food, hotels and transport. Both countries run cheaper day to day than western Europe right now, which surprises most first time families.
What about food allergies with kids?
This is the harder part. Nut, dairy and gluten labeling is inconsistent, kitchens are small and shared, and the language barrier does not help. Carry a translation card written properly in Japanese and Korean rather than relying on an app in the moment. It is a reason to prepare, not a reason to skip Asia.
Numbers Worth Knowing
Asia, by the numbers
Ways to travel
Asia is not one kind of trip
How you move through it changes the trip more than which countries you pick.
Road Trips
Self-driving is not the default here the way it is in Europe. Japan and South Korea make it easy with clear signage. Elsewhere, hire a driver instead and skip the stress entirely.
For example: a driver-guide through the Golden Triangle north of Bangkok, no rental car requiredOcean Cruising
A cruise out of Singapore or Hong Kong strings several countries together without repacking once, and puts a translator and a doctor on board the whole way.
For example: a week from Singapore touching Malaysia, Thailand, and VietnamWalking and Hiking
Kyoto’s backstreets, Hanoi’s old quarter, the rice terraces outside Ubud. Some of Asia’s best moments happen at walking pace, off whatever bus everyone else is on.
For example: the Philosopher’s Path through Kyoto at cherry blossom seasonGuided and Small Group
China’s language barrier, India’s traffic, Cambodia’s temple complexes without a map. A good local guide turns a hard day into an easy one.
For example: a guided sunrise at Angkor Wat with someone who knows which gate to use before the buses arriveExplore by interest
Or start from what your family actually likes
Sports
Sumo tournaments in Japan, a cricket obsession across India and Pakistan, and Muay Thai gyms in Bangkok where families can watch up close.
History
The Great Wall, Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal, and temples older than most European cities. Asia holds more of humanity’s ancient history per square mile than anywhere else on earth.
Food and Drink
Street food stalls in Bangkok, sushi counters in Tokyo, and family style tables in Seoul where nobody eats alone. Meals here are often the whole point of the day.
Nature
Rice terraces cut into hillsides in the Philippines and Bali, the Himalaya rising over Nepal, and jungle covering most of Borneo and Laos.
Arts and Culture
Kabuki theater, Balinese dance, Chinese calligraphy going back thousands of years, and the world’s biggest film industry outside Hollywood, based in Mumbai.
Something unexpected
Unique Things About Asia
Read before you go
One for the kids, one for you
For the kids. Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say. A quiet, beautifully illustrated true story about moving between Japan and America, and missing both places at once.
For you. Lonely Planet’s Southeast Asia on a Shoestring, the book backpackers have handed each other for thirty years, even in the age of phones.
Watch before you go
Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 film is not set anywhere real, but the bathhouse, the countryside, and the food are drawn straight from the Japan he grew up in. It is the gentlest way to hand a child a feel for the region before you go.
From here
Paper
Invented in China around 105 AD by a court official named Cai Lun, centuries before it reached Europe. Something this ordinary, from somewhere this old.
Only in Asia
Angkor
The temple complex outside Siem Reap is the largest religious monument in the world, and Ta Prohm, the one the jungle grew back into, roots and all, is unlike anywhere else we have sent a family.
Asia is not one trip, it is forty eight countries and more ways to see them than any other continent on earth. Send me the ages, the dates, and what this trip is supposed to feel like, and I will tell you what fits and what does not.
Start planning Asia Angkor Wat at sunrise, CambodiaEvery Asia guide, in one place
Country by country, city by city. Start anywhere.
Click any card to open that page
Countries in Asia
Cambodia
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
South Korea
Laos
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Taiwan
Thailand
Vietnam
Jeju
Seoul
Busan
Gwangju
Hokkaido
Okinawa
Fukuoka
Hakone & Fuji
Hiroshima & Miyajima
Osaka
Kyoto
Tokyo