THAILAND · SOUTHEAST ASIA
Gold temples, green hills, island water.
The temples and markets of Bangkok, the elephants and mountains of the north, and the islands down both coasts. One country, three very different trips.
Only in Thailand
Three days you can only have here.
Beaches and night markets you will find all over Southeast Asia. A morning with rescued elephants, a market the train runs straight through, and the limestone islands of the Andaman are Thailand’s own.
In the northern hills
A Morning With Rescued Elephants
Thailand led the move away from riding, and the sanctuaries in the hills around Chiang Mai are where you feel it. You feed, walk and wash rescued elephants in the jungle. No chairs, no hooks, just the herd and a muddy river. Nowhere else does this at the same scale, or this well.
- 1 Chiang Mai: Elephant Sanctuary, Waterfall & Bamboo Rafting
- 2 Chiang Mai: Elephant Sanctuary & Waterfall Group Tour
- 3 Chiang Mai: Elephant Sanctuary Feeding Program Half-Day Tour
Around Bangkok
Floating & Railway Markets
West of Bangkok the vendors still sell from boats along the canals at Damnoen Saduak. An hour on at Maeklong, the whole market folds its awnings flat as a train rolls through the stalls, then reopens behind it minutes later. Neither one happens anywhere but here.
- 1 Bangkok: Damnoen Saduak Market and Maeklong Railway Market
- 2 Bangkok: Train Market & Floating Market with Boat Ride
- 3 From Bangkok: Ayutthaya & Ayothaya Floating Market Day Trip
Out on the Andaman
Maya Bay & the Phi Phi Islands
Sheer limestone rises straight out of clear green water, Maya Bay sitting under its ring of cliffs with the flooded lagoon at Pileh just around the headland. Take an early speedboat from Phuket or Krabi and you get the first quiet hour before the fleet arrives.
- 1 Phuket: Maya, Phi Phi, and Bamboo Island with Buffet Lunch
- 2 Phuket: Phi Phi Islands and Maya Bay Day Trip with Lunch
- 3 Krabi: Phi Phi & 4 Islands Sunset Tour by Speedboat
The Andaman coast
Down south, the mountains stand in the sea.
Thailand’s west coast is a run of limestone islands in clear green water, from Phang Nga Bay and Phuket down through Krabi, Railay and the Phi Phis. Many of the best beaches have no road in. You arrive by longtail or speedboat, early, before the day boats turn up.
The island boat trips →Start here
If you only book one, book this.
The single most-booked experience on the whole site. A safe first thing to lock in, wherever the rest of your trip ends up taking you.
The classics
Thailand's Most Popular Tours
Elephant camps, island day-boats, the Grand Palace, floating markets. The experiences first-timers come to Thailand for.
By region
Pick where to go.
Bangkok for the temples and the food. Chiang Mai for elephants and mountains. Phuket and Krabi for the Andaman beaches. Koh Samui for the Gulf, Phi Phi for the postcard.
By experience
Or pick what you want to do.
Elephants and mountains up north. Boats and snorkelling on the coasts. Cooking classes, market crawls, temple days, and the slow trains in between.
Thailand in three trips
Where should you go?
The country splits into three very different trips, and most first-timers stitch two of them together. Here is how it divides, and what each one is for.
Bangkok
Most of Thailand starts here.
Almost every trip lands in the capital first. The reclining Buddha at Wat Pho and the spires of Wat Arun, longtail boats on the Chao Phraya, the floating and railway markets out west, street food after dark, and Ayutthaya a day trip north. Give it more than one day.
- 1 Bangkok: Longtail Boat Canal Cruise
- 2 Bangkok: City Highlights Temple and Market Walking Tour
- 3 Bangkok: Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun Guided Tour
On the water
Thailand by boat.
Longtails through the limestone, dinner cruises on the Chao Phraya, snorkelling runs off both coasts. The three boat days we’d book first.
Hands-on
In the kitchen and the ring.
A market-to-table cooking class and a round of Muay Thai are the two most hands-on afternoons in Thailand. The three worth booking ahead.
The classic route
How a first trip usually goes.
Never been? Most first trips string these three together, north to south, over ten days to a fortnight.
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