The delta with young children

Vietnam's 2024 law on road traffic order and safety took effect for this rule on 1 January 2026. Its Article 10(3) says that a child under 10 years old, or shorter than 1.35 m, may not sit in the same row as the driver (except in vehicles with only one row) and must use a safety device suited to the child. The articles we checked do not spell out how the rule applies to every kind of hired vehicle, and in practice not every car company in the south keeps seats for every age.

Our approach is simple. We ask for each child's age and height, request the right seat for your date, and write in the confirmation which seats were secured. If a seat cannot be secured, you hear it before you pay, and you can bring your own; some travel seats can be fitted with a standard rear seat belt. We do not seat children in the front row.

Vietnamese rules for passenger boats crossing rivers require a life jacket or buoyancy aid for everyone on board, handed out before departure and worn from the pier until the boat docks. Can Tho's transport department also requires passengers at tourist piers to wear life jackets. The rules do not guarantee that every small boat carries a size that fits a three-year-old.

So we ask the boat operator in advance for child sizes. If a fitting jacket cannot be confirmed, that boat leg comes out of the plan for that child, and we say so before you travel. On every one of our trips, the boat can be dropped and the day still works.

Small sampans are low and rock as you step in. An adult steps in first and takes the child from the person on the landing; the rower holds the boat against the bank. There is no toilet on board, so go before you board.

Toilets are where we plan them: an expressway stop, the workshop or market, the orchard and the lunch house. Some rural toilets are basic, so carry tissues and hand gel. There are no toilets on small boats. For babies, the lunch house usually has a quiet corner and a hammock; changing tables are rare, so bring a mat.

Delta food suits most children. Rice, noodle soup and grilled fish are on most tables, and fruit is everywhere: rambutan, mango, longan and others, depending on the month. Tell us about allergies in the form; on the cooking day the menu is built around them.

• Babies: the Ben Tre day by road only, or the garden kitchen day with a long nap in a hammock.
• Toddlers, 1–4: the same two days; skip the market if crowds unsettle them.
• Children 5–10: any of the four. The cooking day and the coconut-candy workshop hold attention longest.
• Older children: the Can Tho trip, with the early market boat if they are morning people.

Places are described on the destination pages; the when to go page covers the months.