Travel advice on indonesia with kids...

Hi,

I have done this with no kids and now after having kids and a well travelled one at that I would not do this journey with them to be honest! It's ok Bali, Lombok but then each ferry distance gets longer more unreliable through Sumbawa with bad scary travel sick roads to Bima then next ferry to Flores via Komodo unless you have months I would not go through the stress. You could instead travel Bali then to Java to Solo, Yogyakarta etc... Or you could take internal flight from Bali to Flores and then sail to Komodo that way. the dragons are very impressive and also give you the chance to travel over to the volcano lakes at Kelimutu. Or of course internal flight Bali to Medan, Sumatra and travel to Lake Toba and further to Aceh, Palau Weh if you have the time.....tons of low cost airlines to move you around Indonesia and train also lovely through Java... Have a great time

Hi,

Thanks. We are indeed considering java as a good alternative. There is so much to see and do!

Don't worry about traveling with kids in Indonesia -- we did many many Asian trips with our kids starting when the youngest was 4, back in the day when there was no such thing as mid range accommodation (or maybe we were just too cheap to use it as we had traveled super budget before kids). Our three girls are now grown up and remember those trips with fondness, especially the really gruelling parts. They were 6, 9, and 12 when we made our first 6 week trip to Indonesia, traveling to Bali, Java, Lombok, the Gillis, and Sumatra, an ambitious trip which was a total success. Indonesia is very very kid friendly and I would not hesitate for a minute to go there again with kids. We just returned from a three month trip there to some of the more far flung regions as we have been there many times over the years (we are Canadian and now past the stage of traveling with kids, but still..) The flights in Indonesia are really cheap by Canadian standards, accommodation is SOOO much better than it was when we traveled with our kids, I would just go where you like, use flights (cheap and easy) rather than long boat rides for sure, and have a great time. People are so much more tolerant of kids and their needs in Asia, you will find it quite a relief, and we found with our kids that things that are tedious to adults are quite interesting to kids. That said, ours carried at least most of their stuff in tiny backpacks, and they were readers, or at least enjoyed being read to. so we carried very few toys -- never did get into the electronic dependence thing. There is so much for kids to just experience in Indonesia, or in Asia in general, you will have a great time. Don't let anyone discourage you, that was our main hurdle for the first trip. You should realize you are breeding a life long traveller -- but that is your kid's problem not yours!

indonesia is kids friendly country -- just go ..

Make the trip. Its wonderful. We went also to Sulawesi with our kids. It was fantastic. This summer we also have planned to go to Flores en Sumba.

Thanks everyone - and especially fivebs - for your enthusiasm. The ticket is booked, so we are definitely going. I am really looking forward of going back to Indonesia - I have travelled there alone - also very basic back then. But I'm sure it will be great fun with kids!

Hi there
I am just back from taking my 11yo to Java for 2 weeks. Believe it or not, her favourite places was Bandung (we also went to Jakarta and Yogyakarta). We did things like visit a local school (I had met the school principal on-line a few years ago and we had stayed in touch), visit a volcano crater, swam in some volcanic hot water pools, went strawberry pickining, went to a children's angklung performance etc etc. In Jakarta she loved the Museum and in Yogyakarta, her favourite things were cruising around town in a becak and going to the Ramayana ballet.

Even though things had changed a lot since the last time I had been to Java (1996!), people are still really friendly especially to kids and there is so much to see and do. We were often approached by students volunteering to be our guides (no charge, just wanting to practise their English) at some tourist destination or other so this was a good way for my daughter to meet local young people.

The lowlights of the trip were daughter getting a tummy upset (we were out with an Indonesian friend who ordered a fresh fruit juice for my daughter and think it has ice mixed in with the fruit) and being hassled a lot by touts in touristy areas in and around Yogyakarta (this is a lot worse than last time I was in Yogya and made me think that I would probably stay further away from JL Malioboro if I was to go there again).

Unfortunately my daughter is not a reader like fivebs kids are but did get quite into Indonesian tv especially the soap operas (which are so over-acted that you really don't need to understand the language to work out what is going on). We also forked out extra to stay in places with pools and I found that particularly good in places like Jakarta where you do appreciate being able to cool down after a day tromping around in the heat and pollution.

We had previously taken her to Bali when she was 3yo and that was great too.

If you do decide to go to Java and would like some more specific information, just let me know. (My Bali information would probably be too old for you).

Happy travels!

Edited by: empressnasigoreng