'I just took my toddler and baby to Hong Kong. Here's why I'm recommending it to every parent.'

When it comes to holidays with kids, trying something new is always going to be a risk. If you're anything like our family, you only really get one chance to go away together a year, and the prospect of wasting a trip on a destination that isn't right for your family is, well frankly, it's terrifying.

Which is why as a recent convert to Hong Kong as a family travel destination, I simply can't shut up about why I think every family with young kids should plan their next trip there, too.

Watch: Horoscopes at the airport. Post continues below. 

Here is every reason it's worth booking your next trip there.

It's easy to get around.

This is such a big one for parents of young kids and was one of the major items on my checklist when planning the trip. I'd already decided I didn't want the kind of holiday where we parked in one place for a week, but a commitment to exploring a new city and actually getting an 11-month-old and a three-year-old out and about are two very different things.

To make sure we could take in as many sights and sounds as possible, we stayed in three different hotels across six nights, which isn't as crazy as it sounds: Hong Kong is such a manageable size, the furthest we travelled between hotels was a 35-minute taxi ride.

For exploring beyond the neighbourhoods where we stayed, the MTR train system connects the whole city and outer regions, while the Star Ferry is a beautiful family-friendly way to see Hong Kong from the water. In our experience, all of Hong Kong's transport was accessible for our two travel prams, which was useful because we did want to keep the kids strapped into their strollers at peak times when things got busy.

Zoe's kids during their Hong Kong family trip. Image: Supplied.

We hit a couple of snags with lifts being out of order at some major MTR stations but generally found that prams were an easy option for getting around. As a bonus, if you have a toddler who likes trains, boats and cars, "transport" is an activity in itself, while the tram up to The Peak (or "the train up the mountain", as it was enthusiastically renamed) was an absolute trip highlight.

It's also worth noting that taxis can generally seat four people including kids, with kids able to travel in their own seat or on a parent's lap. Taxis are cash only but if you're out of cash or have a big family, we found ordering Uber XLs to be a dream — they were all meticulously clean, cool and luxurious, and never more than three minutes away.

It's child-friendly from start to finish.

In our experience, Hong Kong was kid-friendly at every turn. All three of our hotels went out of their way to cater to our boys, from providing activity packs with colouring books and mini-chopsticks on arrival to sending in kid-size slippers, robes and non-stick bath mats for bathtime.

On our first night, exhausted from the flight, we even ordered the most adorable kids' bento boxes from room service.

Image: Supplied. 

My criteria for hotels, in addition to location, was a pool and a buffet breakfast, both of which are in my humble opinion critical to a relaxing holiday with kids: big breakfasts with lots of options mean everyone — including picky eaters in foreign countries — start the day off full, and there is very little, including jet lag, which can't be reset with a midday swim. We brought some sneaky snack boxes to breakfast every morning to fill up with fruit, pastries and boiled eggs for morning tea, so we didn't have to stop again until lunchtime.

The hospitality shown to our kids went way beyond the hotels we stayed in. Every time I looked away from my baby on the train, I turned back to discover he'd made a new friend (or two or three) — lovely old women and charming young men all pulling down their face masks to play peekaboo. We were welcomed into restaurants and onto public transport, and never made to feel like our kids were anything but a pleasure to accommodate.

Theme parks. Need I say more?

One of the biggest drawcards for me on this trip was a chance to take the kids to Disneyland. I had heard great things about Hong Kong Disneyland as a smaller, more manageable option in comparison to its California sister, and it turns out the rumours are true: our experience at Disneyland, and in the Disneyland Hotel, was fantastic from start to finish.

The crowds were manageable, the queues weren't obscene, and hearing Mickey Mouse speak Cantonese was a real cultural experience.

For younger kids, we found the chance to get up close with Disney characters in the hotel was just as (if not more) exciting than the park itself. Of course, it's Disneyland, so things are expensive and the food options aren't great (I ate an "Iron Man" burger with a bright red bun that will haunt my dreams), but hey, it's all part of the fun.

Image: Supplied. 

What a lot of people might not know is that Disneyland isn't even Hong Kong's biggest theme park: that title belongs to Ocean Park, at three times the size.

When planning our trip, I worried Ocean Park might be a disappointment after two days at Disneyland, but if anything, it was a more overwhelming experience. The Grand Aquarium alone is worth visiting, and it's only a tiny percentage of the whole park.

For little kids, the big hits were seeing sharks, penguins, walruses, meerkats and a giant octopus, as well as the dolphin and seal show, taking the cable car and riding the Ferris Wheel. Unlike in Disneyland, the food options are ample, varied and reasonably priced, with options inside the park ranging from satay sticks and fruit salads to dumplings and an entire mini McDonalds. We only planned for one day at Ocean Park but could happily have done two.

The travel time is manageable (just).

The flight time from Sydney to Hong Kong is nine-and-a-half hours. With two adults and two kids, it was perfectly doable, although there were certainly some sticky moments. I'm glad we weren't on the plane any longer, as it certainly felt like a slog, but arriving made it all worthwhile.

Listen to This Glorious Mess where Leigh Campbell shares what it's like to travel overseas with a toddler. Post continues after audio.

The time difference can be a bit of a killer if you already have early risers — during Australian daylight savings, Hong Kong is three hours behind, meaning we were up at the sociable hour of 3am on our first morning.

We were literally first in line for breakfast every morning, and passing out corn thins for at least an hour beforehand to tide the kids over. (My 11-month-old learned how to say "cracker" on this holiday, so that's something). The plus side? We saw incredible sunrises every morning, and everyone was so exhausted come bedtime that we had no issues with falling asleep in unfamiliar beds.

It feels like a proper, international holiday.

Image: Supplied.

It dawned on me when we decided to book this trip that, between lockdowns and pregnancies, I hadn't been out of Australia for a whopping five years. I desperately wanted to do something that made me feel like I'd seen a bit more of the world, rather than sitting in a resort (no shade to resorts: I love them, but they aren't what I needed this time around).

I came away from our trip with my cup so full and my world feeling a little bit bigger, which is exactly the thing I loved most about travel before my kids were born.

I was so inspired, that I started planning our next international trip on the plane ride home — on which, you'll be pleased to know, everyone got at least a few hours of sleep.

Want more tips when travelling with kids? Read these next:

Feature image: Supplied.