A 2 week Guide on where to go in Thailand, the Land of Smiles.
So you booked your ticket to Thailand, now what?
I'll cover our favorite cities we visited in Thailand and how to get there with links to a detailed itinerary of what to do in each city.
Transportation & Travel Tips are included at the end of this post.
1) Bangkok, Thailand - City of Angels
Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and represents almost 14% of the country's population, it's ceremonial name is
Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit
seriously...it holds the world record for the longest name with 168 letters. It means City of Angels, along with other things that's far past my knowledge.
Most people will fly into Bangkok, some will take a domestic flight to the North or South, but I'd suggest to stay a few days to really take in the history, eat delicious street food, take a tuk-tuk ride, visit a market, ride on a river ferry and most importantly admire the intricate temples like The Grand Palace, Wat Pho and more.
Suggested Stay: 2-3 Days
Suggested Itinerary: Visit our detailed post, 2 to 3 Days in Bangkok Itinerary, to find out what the best things to do in Bangkok are in 24 to 36 hours.
Where to Stay: We stayed in Chinatown to be in walking distance to the Chao Phraya River and easy transport from the airport, about 30-40 minutes.
I found this article, from the Nerd Nomads, the most helpful when narrowing down where to stay in Bangkok.
2) Chiang Mai, Thailand
Chiang Mai is the largest city in Northern Thailand, known for it's mountainous, natural beauty. It was formerly known as the capital of the Kingdom of Lanna, which means "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields." Why I love this fact? My cat is named Lana, so she got a new nickname when we got back "Rice Cake" and "Rice Paddy"...can you say cat lady?!
Anyways...
Chiang Mai is about an hour flight from Bangkok. The airport in Chiang Mai is only 10-15 mins away from Old City, which refers to the old walls that are still (somewhat) standing that surround the city, 1.5 km by 1.5 km square, however there is much outside the city walls to discover.
Chiang Mai is known for it's beautiful natural scenery, day trips to extraordinary temples and hilltop tribes, delicious street food, night markets, handicrafts and of course Elephant Sanctuaries!
Suggested Stay: 4-5 Days
Suggested Itinerary: Visit our detailed post, 4 Days in Chiang Mai Itinerary, to find out what the best things to do in Chiang Mai are in 4 to 5 days.
Where to Stay: Hands down, stay at Green Tiger House within the Old City. It was one of our favorite hotels we've ever stayed at. You can read more about our experience in the link to our itinerary above.
3) Ao Nang, Krabi, Thailand
Ao Nang is a small beach town in Southern Thailand, in the Province of Krabi. When I say, small, I'm referring to it's size, Krabi Province gets about 2 million visitors a year, which IS small compared to Phuket Province's 9 million a year, but definitely not undiscovered and pristine as it once was.
Krabi Province is about 2 hours with a non-stop or 4 hours with a connecting flight from Chiang Mai or 1 hour from Bangkok. Ao Nang is a 30 minute ride from Krabi Airport.
Ao Nang sits along the coast of the Andaman Sea, known for it's turquoise blue waters, limestone cliffs and an entry point to the Phi Phi Islands and Railay Beach. Not only is it a Mecca for beach dwellers, it's full of lush forestry and challenging hikes with the most picturesque views in all of Thailand!
Suggested Stay: 4-5 Days
Suggested Itinerary: Visit our detailed post, 4 Days in Ao Nang Krabi Itinerary, to find out what the best things to do in Krabi are in 4 to 5 days.
Where to Stay: Stay as close to the beach as possible. Ao Nang is basically 1 main street that wraps around the beach town, so the easiest access to the beach, long tail boats and food is the best because with our itinerary you'll be doing plenty of walking.
Note, if you'll looking to stay on the beach, you'll need to look further up the coast in a different town, these seem to be more upscale resorts and less crowded.
4) Koh Lanta, Krabi, Thailand
Koh Lanta, Koh Lanta, Koh Lanta. We loved Koh Lanta. And what I wish all Thailand beach towns were made of. Koh Lanta is an island South of Ao Nang, but still apart of the Krabi Province. It's made up of several islands, but we stay in Koh Lanta Yai, which is the largest island and the tourist side.
To get to Koh Lanta, we booked a van on 12Go, a transportation website for Asia. We reserved a hotel to hotel transfer service that took about 4 hours, including a short ferry ride to get to the island.
When researching Koh Lanta, I really didn't find a lot of information, but every blog I read stated that Koh Lanta was their favorite beach town in Thailand. So I went with it, really having no expectations since all the top 10 lists including going to an animal rescue, don't get me wrong, I love animals, but it's really not on my top 10 things I want to do on vacation. Jake actually laughed when I told him about the lists and questioned why we were even stopping there. Until we got there and immediately knew 2 days wasn't enough time.
Suggested Stay: 3-4 Days
Suggested Itinerary: Visit our detailed post, More Days in Koh Lanta Itinerary, to find out what the best things to do in Koh Lanta are and why you need more than 2 days in Koh Lanta.
Where to Stay: We are very adamant that you stay on Klong Nin Beach, where the beach stretches farther than the eye can see, lined with small resorts and beach front restaurants, true serenity. If you are looking for a private upscale resort, then stay on the Southern end of the island.
4) Patong, Phuket, Thailand
So what about the famous Phuket? Well, we did stay in Phuket for 2 days, the last 2 days of our trip and in a very nice hotel and did an amazing boat tour (that we would highly recommend), but our review would probably not do Phuket as a Province justice because we stayed in Patong...do not stay in Patong. You can read Why Not to Visit Patong, Phuket here and if you do, spend your time with Phuket Sail Tours.
Transportation & Travel tips:
Grab App
Grab App should be your best friend, if you're planning your trip to Thailand, install it now! It's basically Uber in Thailand, but you pay cash so no credit card information is needed.
We got ripped off once, on the first taxi we got from the airport in Bangkok to our hotel. We got in line, requested a normal taxi, was given a van, the meter was turned on and I just knew we were being ripped off, but it was too late to do anything because I'm sure he would have pulled over on the highway and dropped us and our luggage off. We paid 1600 Baht for a maximum 600 Baht ride. Do note, that in Bangkok, you have to shell out the cash to pay for the tolls, this is in addition to the fare.
Tuk - Tuks
Riding in a Tuk Tuk is just plain fun. We saw the most, pimped out Tuk Tuks in Bangkok. Note, some cities don't offer them, some only have Songthaews where you sit in the bed of a truck, don't worry there's seats and a step stool and are fun too.
Tip: Because Tuk Tuks are more expensive than a taxi and each driver can quote you a different price to the same destination, we used Grab App to figure out how much a taxi would be and how much we'd be willing to pay extra for a Tuk Tuk and then you barter. You might have to walk away, some drivers are more reasonable than others and if you feel like you got a good price or they got you to a remote location, there's always the extra tip to make a drivers day.
Renting a Motorbike
I read a ton of precautionary warnings and bad reviews about renting motorbikes. We rented a motorbike in Ao Nang and Koh Lanta and were pleasantly surprised that we could rent them from our hotel. Our hotel in Koh Lanta was from a local operator, but we did everything through the hotel. We still took pictures, but felt so much more comfortable and had a level of trust. Both locations only cost 250 Baht per day. We had to fill our Koh Lanta rental with gas and we did get into some road side trouble, which was quite the experience that we'll share on our itinerary. All in all, I would definitely recommend renting a motorbike because it's all apart of the adventure!
Domestic Flights
Flights are the best way to travel long distance. Our 1 hour flight to Chiang Mai from Bangkok, would have taken 9 hours in a car!
When you're choosing an airline, pay attention to the baggage allowance. Some airlines have a maximum weight limit or you can pay a little extra to add baggage weight to you ticket vs paying much more at the ticket counter, especially on budget airlines.
We flew Thai Airways & Thai Smile and got meals on each 1 hour flight, not good meals, but food.
Tip: If you select a special dietary meal with Thai Airways, they'll just give you fresh fruit!
Private Driver
This was an area that I kept hitting roadblocks. I knew I wanted to get a Private Driver in Chiang Mai for 2 days, but every email I sent wouldn't see a response. I was using this Trip Advisor forum for suggestions and noticed a lot of phone numbers, I kept thinking to my self, I'm not going to call them...but then it dawned on me WhatsApp! I Immediately got a response from the driver and we negotiated a price and we were all set! Also, many tour guides take pictures and like to share them through the app so another reason to download it.
Private Drivers are great when you're traveling to a more remote location and don't feel comfortable driving by yourself and the best thing about them is you learn so much about the culture, history, day to day life and they'll take you to things you didn't even know you wanted to go to, well if they like you. Check out our recommendation in our Chiang Mai Itinerary.
Cash
I typically get foreign currency in my home country before traveling, but I read a lot of blogs saying to wait and it didn't sound like you needed a ton of cash on hand. Well in our experience, cash was the way you paid, even on tours that cost over $100, there were some restaurants that took credit cards, but most of them had minimums. So we ended up going to the ATM 6 times = $30 in ATM fees and who know's what the bank fees were.
I wouldn't suggest carrying around a wad of cash, but make sure you have enough on hand, you don't want to wake up for a 6AM Phi Phi Islands tour to find out you don't have enough cash to pay for it, that didn't happen to us, but we did scramble to an ATM before our private driver picked us up for the day to have some extra spending money.
Pocket Wifi
It was very important for us to be connected since we were going to be doing a lot of walking from place to place and a few solo driving trips, the last thing we wanted was to get even more lost because that happens even when we have internet!
So we pre-ordered a Pocket Wifi from Smile Wifi that we picked up in the basement of Suvarnabhumi Airport after we cleared customs. We had to put down a 2000 Baht deposit, which we paid with credit card and they checked to see if everything was working and we were off. Very easy process, the wifi worked great, lasted most of the day before having to recharge it and we never turned it off, definitely worth the money!
Travel Time
Lots of people ask how our 27 hour flight was with 2 connections. And honestly, it wasn't too bad getting there. I had a sleep schedule so we wouldn't be jet lagged, it helped, but we weren't always tired when we were supposed to sleep. We arrived in Bangkok at midnight and we were exhausted from all the travel so it wasn't hard to get a full nights rest. I think it would have been different if we arrived during the day.
Flying back on the other hand, was more difficult. I couldn't sleep much, where Jake slept the entire time. My feet blew up like an elephant, I couldn't get my sandals back on and it was difficult to balance, so always bring compressions socks if you aren't sure. Walk around, stretch and drink tons of water.
When we finally got home, we were so exhausted for an entire week. I recommend reserving the weeknights and the first weekend for sleep!
I hope this helps plan your perfect Thailand vacation!
Here are all the links to the Itineraries by City, full of detail to help you plan your next adventure!
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