A perennial Stubborn Mule favourite (always in the top 3 destinations), Sri Lanka has been welcoming family travellers for years, and oh, what a welcome! Far easier to travel in and less populated than its much larger Indian neighbour, Sri Lanka is culturally rich and a place where English is widely spoken, making for engaging and informative interactions everywhere you go!

There are beautiful beaches (learn to surf in the south), temples, ancient sites – six of which are UNESCO heritage listed, jungle safaris (sloth bears, leopards, elephants and more) and delicious food. Accommodation here is also first class, from high-end hotels to barefoot beach luxury. And, because it’s relatively compact, travel days are short. An excellent Asian family holiday all-rounder we know you’ll love. See our Sri Lanka with Kids Top 10 feature for more inspiration.

Like a jewelled necklace, the Indonesian archipelago comprises some 17,000 islands stretched across more than 5,000 kilometres and oh, what delights it has for the adventurous family in between! Soaring volcanoes, rice paddy terraces, tropical jungle, and paradise islands are all here in bucketfuls. Most familiar and most visited is Bali, which is really Indonesia in microcosm, but there’s just so much choice on offer, including Java, where over half of Indonesians live. It’s home to the lively capital Jakarta, as well as the tourist draws of Borobudur (the largest Buddhist temple complex in the world) and still active Mt Bromo.

Other islands, Sumatra, Komodo (yes, there are dragons), Lombok and more, also have so much to entice and engage, from uber-luxury boat trips to coral reef snorkelling. See our Bali with Kids Top 10 feature for more.

It may be a longer flight than most of our Asian destinations, but we’ve yet to meet a family where every member wasn’t wowed by Japan. From the second you arrive in Tokyo, you’ll be awed by the neon-lit, futuristic city, a place where you can drink coffee with your face imprinted in foam, navigate the busiest crossing in the world or meet Mickey Mouse in Disneyland. Outside of Tokyo, though, it is like travelling to a different, more ancient world.

Most families take the bullet train to Kyoto, where you’ll learn about Samurai, Ninja and Geisha. Staying in a traditional ryokan and relaxing in an onsen (hot tub) is also top of the list. Explore further, though, and there’s much more to discover. Fascinating. See our Japan with Kids Top 10 for photos and more.

If ever there was a more deserving destination for the marketing cliché than, ‘there’s something for everyone,’ Vietnam is it. Packed with culture (Khmer, Buddhist and French), history (some more palatable than others), phenomenal landscapes of soaring karst scenery against emerald waters as well as gaping caves, central highlands, and an entire eastern coastal flank of tropical beaches. Vietnam’s appeal as a family Asian all-rounder is huge.

Another part of its appeal is that given the country is so long (narrow, too), there’s somewhere you can visit at any time of year where the weather will play ball. A country where the contrasts between ancient and modern are marked, a place of bustling, colourful markets and thronging city streets or quiet countryside or coast, it’s all here! Find out more in our Vietnam with Kids Top 10 feature.

Comparatively compact, Cambodia offers a much more laid-back Southeast Asian experience than its far larger, and much more visited neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam. No visit here would be complete without a day or three spent exploring the largest Buddhist complex in the world – the truly stunning temple complex of Angkor Wat. And we thoroughly recommend doing so by bike. Despite its comparatively diminutive size, Cambodia has a diverse landscape typical of Asian countries. You’ll find tropical jungle in the north, idyllic, palm-fringed beaches in the south, and a gentle, rolling landscape in between.

Top activities include searching for dolphins in the Mekong, watching millions of bats fly out of caves at sunset, and visiting the floating stilt villages in the region’s largest freshwater lake, Tonlé Sap. Check out our Cambodia with Kids Top 10 feature for more.

Exotic and enchanting, crazy and chaotic, the most populous country on the planet is like nowhere else you’ll have ever been – even if you’ve travelled to Asia previously. Given India’s huge size, most families focus on one area, either the north or the south, both hugely different.

Travel the deserts and colourful cities of Rajasthan, visit the Taj Mahal, quite surreal to see in real life, and take in the country’s most holy city, Varanasi for a cultural experience you’ll never forget. For the first-time visitor or those with younger children, cruising the timeless backwaters of Kerala by rice barge, or relaxing on the palm-fringed beaches of Goa can be a gentler introduction to this fascinating giant of the subcontinent. If your interest is piqued, see our Customer Photos of India and our India with Kids Top 10 feature.

For many people, the Philippines is shorthand for ‘tropical island paradise’ and it’s not hard to see why. Comprising more than 7,000 islands, only 2,000 of which are inhabited, this stunning archipelago is lapped by warm, Pacific Ocean waters, which teem with brightly coloured fish making it a world-famous snorkelling and diving spot. Whilst Boracay was for many years touted as one of the world’s most beautiful beaches, we head for the far less visited and still pristine islands of Cebu, Bohol and Palawan.

Other than beaches, there’s much on offer, including the one-time Spanish colonial outpost of Manila, ‘The Pearl of the Orient’, and the Chocolate Hills on Bohol Island. Caves, kayaking and artisan crafts complete the immersive, off-the-beaten-track Asian experience.

Come for the mountains, stay for everything else! Boasting the highest mountain (Mt Everest) and mountain chain (the Himalayas) in the world, are obviously Nepal’s greatest draw, and we can’t emphasise how staggering seeing them in real life is. What’s surprising about Nepal is that even though you can enjoy world-class trekking (Annapurna is a favourite), and white-water rafting (especially for older kids) in this outdoor playground, there’s so much more to do for every family member. Get an overview of this fun destination in our Nepal with Kids Top 10 feature.

Relatively small and compact means some shorter travel days, and with some of the most welcoming people on the planet (Nepali’s LOVE children!), visiting here is as easy as it is fascinating, from wandering Kathmandu’s medieval streets under fluttering prayer flags to spotting tigers and more in Chitwan National Park. Go!

Firmly in the ‘Central Asia’ region, Uzbekistan is known as the jewel of the Silk Road, the ancient, 2,000-year-old trading route that linked Europe to China and the Far East. Of all of the countries that make up the Silk Road, it’s the landlocked country of Uzbekistan, which boasts the most magnificent, and most recognisable sites, the most famous being the blue-capped mosque of the Registan in Samarkand.

The blue-mosaic tiled mosques and minarets of Bukhara and Khiva are also unmissable in their beauty and splendour, but if your children tire of temple-touring, then they’ll be amazed by staying in a desert camp gazing at the easily visible Milky Way. It’s also well worth exploring the capital, Tashkent, where the Soviet past is much in evidence.

Best known as the home of the orangutan, the tropical paradise of Borneo may be one of the most distant destinations we offer, but we’ve yet to find a family who wasn’t utterly enchanted by it. Here, in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, you’ll not just encounter ‘the wild man of the forest’, but see wild elephants, proboscis monkeys, turtles, and far more when exploring the pristine rainforest and jungle. Every day is different here, and you’ll discover it by long-tail boat, canopy walks, guided jungle treks, sea-snorkelling and more – see our Borneo with Kids Top 10 feature for inspiration.

We also offer fabulous family holidays to mainland Malaysia (a shorter flight time), where you can visit tea plantations, wander colonial Malacca, or enjoy the cultural melting pot (and foodie hotspot) of Penang.

Mongolia’s reputation probably precedes it as Genghis Khan country: a landlocked swathe of vast steppe grasslands, a place where nomadic people still graze their herds and where time has seemingly stood still for centuries. For the family who want to completely escape from the hectic pace of modern life, look no further than this genuine wilderness.

Whilst (very) little visited by western travellers, Mongolia’s isolation makes it fascinating – and safe – for families, as you traverse from rolling grasslands to striking desert landscapes with steep dunes and rocky outcrops, even frozen glaciers in the Gobi Desert. No visit here would be complete without staying in a traditional ger (yurt) with a local family or a desert camel safari. The ultimate in Asia family travel escapes!

Laos may not immediately spring to mind when planning a family holiday to Southeast Asia, but maybe it should, particularly if you’ve smaller children. Laid back, culturally similar to neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam (albeit 20 years previous), yet with no large cities to navigate (even the capital, Vientiane feels provincial). It’s Laos’ relaxing and welcoming quality that makes it such a big hit with families. Here you’ll be able to experience authentic hill tribe trekking, overnight in a treehouse, or take a slow boat down the Mekong River which runs through the country. Find out more in our Laos with Kids Top 10 feature.

No visit here should be complete without spending time in the timeless cultural capital, Luang Prabang, famous for its saffron-robed monks and golden Buddhist temples. We think you’ll love it!

The largest country in Asia and second most populous in the world may have been off the travel map for a few years but is now welcoming back family travellers with open arms. Think China, and the obvious sites of The Great Wall, the mesmerising Terracotta Warrior Army in Xi’an and the Forbidden Kingdom in Beijing immediately spring to mind – and for good reason – and also iconic Pandas. They’re all mind-blowing and absolutely deserving of being world wonders.

But what surprises most visitors here is just how fascinating and enjoyable the lesser-known places and experiences are. Cycling the paddy fields in Yangshuo! Being wowed by Tiger Leaping Gorge. Taking a kung fu class in the Shaolin monastery. See our China with Kids Top 10 overview for both world-famous and off-the-beaten-track things to see and do. Come and experience family-friendly China with us!