Hello all!
I've been a long time lurker and reader. Living vicariously through everyone's trip and now taking the plunge!
We're planning to visit SE Asia from Dec 15 this year. We fly from Auckland. I've asked for a few quotes and they mostly have come back with a variant of the itinerary below. Any advice? We have have 3 children under 4 too. I feel it's a bit too full on...

DAY 1: ARRIVAL – HO CHI MINH
DAY 2: CU CHI TUNNELS & CITY SIGHTS
DAY 3: HO CHI MINH CITY –MEKONG DELTA – CAN THO
DAY 4: CAN THO – HO CHI MINH CITY
DAY 5: HO CHI MINH – HALF DAY KID PARK
DAY 6: HO CHI MINH CITY – SIEM REAP
DAY 7: SIEM REAP – ANGKOR THOM & ANGKOR WAT DAY
8: VISIT KBAL SPEAN & BANTAY SREI
DAY 9: LAKE PEAREANG – THE BIRD SANCTUARY & FIELDS
DAY 10: SIEM REAP – LUANG PHRABANG DAY
11: LUANG PHRABANG – CITY TOUR
DAY 12: LUANG PHRABANG – ELEPHANT VILLAGE
DAY 13: LUANG PHRABANG – TEXTILE VILLAGE HANOI
DAY 14: HANOI CITY VISITS – NIGHT TRAIN TO LAO CAI
DAY 15: SAPA – MA TRA & TA PHIN VILLAGES
DAY 16: SAPA – SOFT TREK TO VILLAGE– BAC HA
DAY 17: HILL TRIBE MARKET– TRAIN BACK HANOI
DAY 18: HANOI – HA LONG BAY – THE WORLD HERITAGE
DAY 19: HALONG BAY – HANOI DAY 20: HANOI– FREE DAY
DAY 21: HANOI - HUE
DAY 22: HUE CITY DAY
23: HUE – DANANG – HOI AN
DAY 24: AS A FARMER TO VEGETABLE VILLAGE
DAY 25: HOI AN – COOKING CLASS
DAY 26: HOIAN - HO CHI MINH CONNECT TO YOUR FLIGHT

Thank you for all your help!

"A bit too full on" a major understatement!

You don’t mention which travel agent you are using but change them. They clearly have no comprehension of the time it takes to travel around in SE Asia. This would be too much for most people let alone a family with 3 kids under 4.!

There arppears to be no real logic to the order of places and there are just way to many of them. I would always think in terms of allowing half a day for travel from A to B and you have an awful lot of half days doing little but travel in there.

I would cut at least a couple of destinations from your itinerary, possibly more. This would allow you and your family to at least catch breath in a few places. Which places to omit largely depends on you personal like and dislikes. With a little restructuring you could have an amazing trip without rushing around all the time.

If this is your first time to SE Asia then I would think about concentrating on Vietnam with maybe a side trip to Laos OR Cambodia. Happy to suggest places if you can provide a little more info on what type of experience you want. Maybe include some beachtime for the kids?

I couldn’t agree more with Crellston. This itinerary has the makings for a disaster. IMO you will see little as it is very rushed and your 3 children will be miserable. We spent 4 weeks just in Vietnam and here was plenty to see.

Imo you’ve shortchanged my favorite city - Hanoi. The old city with its 36 streets is charming. The puppet show and a stroll around the lake would be fun for the children.

Your current itinerary has a lot a travel time. The drives to the tunnels and Halong Bay are long and boring, but perhaps the kids are good car travelers?

A cooking class is great fun, but what will the children do?

Siem reap is amazing but requires a minimum of 3 full days. IMO it will be difficult to enjoy yourselves with 3 small children. The heat is exhausting and there will be a tremendous amount of walking and climbing. The children would love a trip here once they are a bit older.

Consider the weather as well. Sapa in December may be cold, rainy and foggy.

Sorry...wasn’t quite finished, but having problems with site.

If you get lucky, the weather in Sapa can be perfect, but it can rapidly change. Likewise, beware that December is monsoon season for the Hoi An and Hue regions. You can have perfectly wonderful weather, but you also risk major flooding during December. Will your itinerary allow for flexibility? In ideal conditions, Hoi An would be perfect for the children if you found a nice hotel with a pool and beach.

I hate being so pessimistic as Vietnam was one of our favorite destinations. I would also find a new agent that is more knowledgeable and who can develop a more suitable itinerary for your family.

I agree with the posters above. The is an itinerary only a travel agent could love. There is no logic to the order of destinations - you are criss-crossing the countries you are visiting, spending more time in transit than in see/doing/experiencing.

Tell us what you want to get out of this trip. Are there two or three must-do things for you?

Thank you all! I did say to him that it seemed quite full on and this is a cut down on what he originally proposed!
It is our first time in SE Asia hence wanting to spend a month there. Our only must see really is Siem Reap. I did say to him that the cooking class is no good to me!

I wanted to get some feedback so I can go back to him with a revised plan. Ideally we would like to visit the 3 countries. We've deliberately excluded any beaches as we live right by one and spend most of our time at the beach at the moment.

The children do travel very well. We take a road trip every other month and have done since they were tiny. We toured Europe by road last year.

I appreciate every advice!

To prepare for your time in Siem Reap, Pick up a copy of Dawn Rooney's book, Angkor: A Guide to Cambodia's Wondrous Temples. Since that is your priority, let's start with that part. Dawn Rooney says that it takes three full days just. to visit the "major" temples. If you are really interested in the temples, you will want more time. We spent a week there and would have enjoyed even more time there. Spending some time with this book will help you decide how much time you need there.

To be honest with you, I'm not quite sure what to do about your time in Laos. We loved our time in Luang Prabang (a week) but that was a lot of years ago when it was a sleepy little town.

VN is a big country and it takes more time to visit. Indeed, I'd suggest a week in Siem Reap and the rest of your time in VN. There are plenty of things on the travel agent's itinerary that you will want to skip.The ChuChi tunnels are replicas for the benefit of tourists. Weather can be a real issue at that time of the year - you can even get snow in Sapa, and Halong Bay may be miserable, cold and wet. On the other hand, you might be lucky and get lovely weather. As mentioned above, central VN often has flooding at this time of the year. You will want time in HCMC and in Hanoi. There is much to see and do in both cities. You might plan this as a week in each with day trips outside the cities to give yourselves more flexibility in terms of scheduling due to the weather.

Have you been using a local agent (in VN) or one where you live? A local agent can be helpful, and the mark-up won't be as steep. But agents everywhere are prone to stuffing too much into your time. They seem to think that you will feel that more destinations will make you feel like you have gotten more for your money.

Things specifically for the kids - consider a day of volunteering at a school in Cambodia. The Ponheary Ly Foundation can arrange it for you.

SE Asia is my favorite pert of the world. I hope your trip will make it your favorite!

Just to confirm: you will be doing this trip with three kids, all under four yrs old. So a bit older in nine months

You write that your kids travel well on road trips (I assume within NZ?) and on a road trip to Europe. That's great!
However...you likely already realize this, and while not what you asked, I'll say it anyway: this trip is going to have challenges that are absolutely nothing like doing brief in-country road trips every two months, or even a road trip in Europe.

About a year ago there was a great thread on this very topic. Iirc, that family was traveling to SEA with young kids (but older than 4 yrs old) but had help---grandparents, maybe other relatives, etc. I recall JulieS for one gave detailed and realistic replies on that thread, if it helps you search for it.

As Dgunbug said, you should have more time in Hanoi--at least one more full day there. I see lots of nights, but they are all broken up with comings and goings.

The overnight cruise in Halong Bay will give you some quiet time to breathe time.

Reviewing your itinerary, the way your presented it makes it look even more complicated than it is, because you have put the entire activities itinerary, vs just the number of nights. For example there are a total of 4 nights in HCMC (with, in the middle, a night in Can Tho--maybe eliminate that, and you'll have 5 nights) then 4 nights in Siem Reap, 3 nights Luang Prabang. Of your destinations, I've been only to Hanoi and HaLong/BaiTu Long Bay, so I don't know from person; experienceif those are adequate numbers of nights/days (although they are pretty standard). It will be easier to review and think thorough if you first simply put the actual number of nights, then with advice from others, you can change it.

Day 14-26 looks really hectic, lots of movement.

Any way you can fly back home from Hanoi instead of Saigon?

Yes they will be older. My eldest will be almost 5 and the twins will be 3 years 3 months. We'll also be travelling with my sister so 3 adults.
I'm reviewing the itinerary now and will post an updated one. I'm very appreciative for all the advice and tips! I will also find the post from last year. Thank you all

I know that you said that Siem Reap is a must, but be aware that the main temples are VERY crowded and require a fair amount of climbing around, somtimes up and down ruins, or up steep stairs. Angkor Wat was hugely crowded when we visited 4 years ago, and to be honest, it was not an especially satisfying experience. Remember that there are multiple temples, in varying stages of ruin and that there are a lot of smaller temples that require driving through the region to visit. Not a bad thing necessarily, but with 3 small children, it might be very intense. I couldn't imagine them visiting some of the temples sites as they are not always the easiest to navigate. Even though your children are used to travel, it's a very exhausting type of trip you are planning and may not be optimal for children.

I agree with the posters above. But i think Hanoi-Sapa-Halong Bay why Hanoi-sapa-hanoi-halongbay?