Southeast Asia: Bangkok, Luang Prabang, Hanoi and Angkor

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Bangkok

   Suvarnabhumi Airport to your hotel

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Bangkok
   Détail du jour 1

   Your trip starts at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), east of the city, where we meet you and drive you to your hotel near the river. The drive takes about 45 minutes to an hour, longer in the evening rush. There is nothing planned until the evening, so sleep off the flight, use the pool or take a short walk around the neighbourhood. In the early evening you meet your See Sight Tours guide and the group for a short briefing on the trip, the four border crossings and what to wear in the temples, then walk to a welcome dinner of Thai dishes to share: green curry, a sour tom yum, som tam papaya salad and sticky rice with mango if it is in season. If your flight lands too late for dinner, we meet you at breakfast instead. Day 2 starts at the Grand Palace at 8:30; if you land after midnight, tell us and your guide can bring you to join the group at Wat Pho later in the morning.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
   • Evening briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Afternoon free to rest before the welcome dinner

   

2. Jour 2 : Bangkok: the Grand Palace and the river

   The Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun by ferry, then Wat Pariwat

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Bangkok
   Détail du jour 2

   We are at the Grand Palace as the gates open at 8:30, before the heat and the tour coaches. Your guide walks you through the royal temple of Wat Phra Kaew, home of the Emerald Buddha, and the courtyards of the palace built from 1782 when Bangkok became the capital. Next door is Wat Pho, with its 46-metre reclining Buddha covered in gold leaf and the school of Thai massage that still works in its grounds. Then a short cross-river ferry to Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, its tower set with broken porcelain. Lunch together by the water. The early afternoon is free at the hotel while the city is hottest. In the late afternoon we drive south to Wat Pariwat in Yan Nawa, a temple few visitors find, whose ubosot is covered in modern sculpture, from mythical creatures to a small figure of a footballer hidden among the guardians. Evening free.

   Compris

   • The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew at opening time
   • Wat Pho and the reclining Buddha
   • Cross-river ferry to Wat Arun
   • Wat Pariwat in the late afternoon

   Activités en option

   • A Thai massage at the Wat Pho school (paid on the day)

   Option plus facile : Skip Wat Pariwat and stay at the hotel for the afternoon.

   Temps libre : Early afternoon and evening free

   Activité : Shoulders and knees must be covered at the Grand Palace; sarongs can be borrowed at the gate.

3. Jour 3 : Fly to Chiang Mai

   Bangkok to Chiang Mai by air, then the old city on foot

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 3

   A morning flight north to Chiang Mai, about an hour and ten minutes, replaces the overnight train or the long road other trips use, and your guide flies with you. Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna kingdom, and the old city still sits inside its square moat and the remains of its brick walls. After check-in and lunch on your own near the hotel, we walk the old city in the softer afternoon light: Wat Chedi Luang, whose great brick chedi was partly brought down by an earthquake in the 16th century, and Wat Phra Singh, with its Lanna-style chapel and murals. Monks are often free to talk at Wat Chedi Luang's monk chat tables, and your guide can help you join one. Dinner together tonight on khao soi, the curry noodle soup of the north, and other northern dishes such as sai ua sausage and nam prik dips.

   Compris

   • Transfer to Bangkok airport and flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
   • Old city walk: Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phra Singh
   • Northern Thai dinner

   Temps libre : Late morning free after check-in

4. Jour 4 : Chiang Mai: Doi Suthep and a cooking morning

   Doi Suthep early, then a market and a cooking class

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 4

   We drive up the forested mountain west of the city early, to reach Wat Phra That Doi Suthep before the day groups arrive. A staircase of about 300 steps, flanked by long naga serpents, climbs to the golden chedi; a small funicular runs alongside if you would rather ride. On a clear morning the terrace looks out over the whole of Chiang Mai on the plain below. Back in town we walk a local market with a Thai cook, who shows you the herbs, curry pastes and vegetables used in the north, then cook four or five dishes in a hands-on class and eat them for lunch. The afternoon and evening are free: rest, walk the old city lanes, get a massage, or browse the night bazaar. If you would rather spend the morning with elephants, a half day at a vetted sanctuary where no one rides them can replace the cooking class.

   Compris

   • Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, early
   • Market walk with a Thai cook
   • Hands-on cooking class with lunch

   Activités en option

   • Half day at a vetted no-riding elephant sanctuary, in place of the cooking class (price shown at booking)

   Option plus facile : Take the funicular at Doi Suthep instead of the steps.

   Option plus active : Climb the full naga staircase at Doi Suthep.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 300 steps at Doi Suthep, or the funicular.

   

5. Jour 5 : Fly to Luang Prabang

   Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang by air, then the peninsula and Mount Phousi

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Luang Prabang
   Détail du jour 5

   A short flight east over the hills takes you to Laos and Luang Prabang, the old royal capital on a peninsula between the Mekong and the Nam Khan rivers. The town has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995 for its temples and its mix of Lao wooden houses and French colonial buildings, and it is quiet enough to walk everywhere. Your guide helps you through the Lao visa formalities at the airport and we drive the few minutes into town. In the afternoon we walk the length of the peninsula to Wat Xieng Thong, built in 1560, its low sweeping roofs and the glass mosaic tree of life on the back wall of the main hall. Before sunset we climb a little over 300 steps to the top of Mount Phousi for the view over the rivers and the rooftops. The night market opens on the main street below as you come down; the evening is free.

   Compris

   • Transfer to Chiang Mai airport and flight to Luang Prabang
   • Walk through the old town to Wat Xieng Thong
   • Mount Phousi at sunset

   Option plus facile : Skip the Phousi climb and watch the sunset from a terrace by the Mekong.

   Temps libre : Evening free at the night market

   Activité : A little over 300 steps up Mount Phousi.

6. Jour 6 : Luang Prabang: the alms round and Kuang Si Falls

   The dawn alms round, the morning market and the Royal Palace, then Kuang Si

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Luang Prabang
   Détail du jour 6

   Before dawn, around 5:30 to 6 am, lines of monks in saffron robes walk barefoot through the streets to receive sticky rice from kneeling townspeople, a daily ritual called tak bat. We watch quietly from across the street, at a distance and without flash. We do not take part and do not buy rice for offering; your guide explains why the ceremony is under strain from tourism. Then the morning market, breakfast, and the Royal Palace Museum, home of the Lao kings until 1975. In the early afternoon, after the morning groups have left, we drive about 30 km south-west to Kuang Si Falls, where the water drops over limestone terraces into turquoise pools. Swim where it is allowed, or walk the trail to the upper falls. At the entrance, a bear rescue centre cares for Asiatic black bears taken from the wildlife trade. Lao lunch near the falls, and dinner together in town tonight.

   Compris

   • The dawn alms round, watched respectfully with your guide
   • The morning market
   • Royal Palace Museum
   • Kuang Si Falls and the bear rescue centre
   • Lao dinner

   Option plus facile : Sleep in and skip the alms round; meet the group at breakfast.

   Option plus active : Walk the steep trail to the top of the upper falls at Kuang Si.

   Temps libre : Late morning free

   Activité : The Royal Palace Museum has a dress code and closes one day a week (widely reported as Tuesday; days and hours confirmed at booking). On that day we visit it on the free afternoon of day 7 instead.

7. Jour 7 : Up the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves

   Luang Prabang by boat to Pak Ou and back

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Luang Prabang
   Détail du jour 7

   This morning we board a long wooden river boat on the Mekong and head upstream, the only river boat day on this trip and the slowest way to see how people live along the river. The trip up to Pak Ou takes about two hours, with a stop at Ban Xang Hai, a village known for its rice whisky and weaving. The Pak Ou caves sit in a limestone cliff where the Nam Ou river meets the Mekong, and for centuries people have left Buddha images there; thousands of them, in wood and gilt, now fill the lower and upper caves. The upper cave is a climb of a couple of hundred steps and is dark, so a torch helps. Lunch is at a riverside place on the way back, with the current carrying you downstream faster than you came. The afternoon is free: a nap, a massage, the small Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, or coffee by the Nam Khan.

   Compris

   • Mekong river boat to Pak Ou and back
   • Ban Xang Hai village
   • The Pak Ou caves
   • Riverside lunch

   Activités en option

   • Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (small museum of Lao ethnic groups; opening days confirmed at booking)

   Option plus facile : Visit the lower cave only and wait by the river.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : A couple of hundred steps to the upper cave.

   

8. Jour 8 : Fly to Hanoi

   Luang Prabang to Hanoi by air, then the Old Quarter

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Hanoi
   Détail du jour 8

   A slow last morning in Luang Prabang, then the flight to Hanoi, a little over an hour. Your guide flies with you and helps with the Vietnam entry at Noi Bai International Airport, and we drive about 45 minutes into the city. Hanoi has been Vietnam's capital for most of the last thousand years, and the Old Quarter keeps its grid of narrow tube houses, with streets named after the goods once sold on them. We check in near the Old Quarter and walk to Hoan Kiem Lake and the red Huc Bridge to Ngoc Son Temple as the light goes. In the evening we go out for a street food dinner on foot: pho or bun cha on low plastic stools, crisp banh mi and, for anyone who wants it, an egg coffee. Your guide shows you how to order and how to cross a street full of scooters calmly, which you will need for the next two days.

   Compris

   • Flight from Luang Prabang to Hanoi, with transfers
   • Evening walk at Hoan Kiem Lake and Ngoc Son Temple
   • Street food dinner in the Old Quarter

   Temps libre : Morning free in Luang Prabang

9. Jour 9 : Hanoi

   The Temple of Literature, Ba Dinh and Hoa Lo Prison

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Hanoi
   Détail du jour 9

   Start at first light if you like: Hoan Kiem Lake fills with people doing tai chi, dancing and stretching before work, and your guide walks the shore with anyone who wants to see it. After breakfast we visit the Temple of Literature, founded in 1070 to honour Confucius and home from 1076 to the Imperial Academy, often called Vietnam's first university. Its stone stelae, carried on the backs of stone turtles, list the scholars who passed the royal exams. At Ba Dinh Square you see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the One Pillar Pagoda nearby; the mausoleum closes on some days and for annual maintenance, and then we see it from the square. Lunch together, then Hoa Lo Prison, built by the French in the 1890s and later called the Hanoi Hilton by American prisoners of war. The late afternoon and evening are free, perhaps for the water puppet theatre by the lake.

   Compris

   • Dawn walk at Hoan Kiem Lake with your guide (optional, early)
   • Temple of Literature
   • Ba Dinh Square, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the One Pillar Pagoda
   • Hoa Lo Prison

   Activités en option

   • Thang Long water puppet show (price shown at booking)

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free

10. Jour 10 : A night on Lan Ha Bay

    Hanoi to the Lan Ha Bay pier, then a night on the water

    • Environ 2.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Lan Ha Bay
    Détail du jour 10

    After breakfast we drive east on the expressway to Hai Phong and over to the pier on Cat Hai island, about two and a half hours, and board an overnight boat around midday. Lan Ha Bay lies south of Ha Long Bay, off Cat Ba island, and since 2023 it has been part of the same UNESCO World Heritage Site: hundreds of forested limestone karsts rising straight out of green water, with fewer boats than the main Ha Long routes. Lunch is served on board as we cruise. In the afternoon there is time to kayak between the islands and into sheltered lagoons, or to swim from the boat or a small beach when the weather is warm. Stay on deck for sunset, when the karsts fade into dark outlines one behind another. Dinner on board, and you sleep on the water in a private cabin with its own bathroom.

    Compris

    • Transport from Hanoi to the Lan Ha Bay pier with your guide
    • Overnight boat in Lan Ha Bay in a private cabin with its own bathroom
    • Kayaking among the islands, weather permitting

    Option plus facile : Stay on deck while the others kayak.

    Option plus active : Kayak into the lagoons and swim, weather permitting.

    Activité : Kayaking and swimming depend on the weather and sea state.

    

11. Jour 11 : Sunrise on the bay, fly to Hoi An

    Lan Ha Bay to Cat Bi airport, the flight to Da Nang and on to Hoi An

    • Environ 1.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    • Nuit : Hoi An
    Détail du jour 11

    Set an alarm for sunrise: the first hour of the day is the quietest on the bay, often still and misty in the cooler months. After coffee on deck and a last cruise through the karsts, brunch is served before the boat returns to the pier in the late morning. Instead of driving back to Hanoi, we drive about an hour to Cat Bi airport in Hai Phong and fly south to Da Nang, about an hour and twenty minutes, then drive 45 minutes to Hoi An. Hoi An Ancient Town was a busy trading port from the 15th to the 19th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a grid of yellow merchant houses, assembly halls and temples on the Thu Bon River. We arrive in the late afternoon. In the evening your guide walks you across to the An Hoi side of the river to watch the lanterns come on along the water. Dinner is free tonight.

    Compris

    • Sunrise on the boat
    • Brunch on board
    • Flight from Hai Phong (Cat Bi) to Da Nang, with transfers to Hoi An
    • Evening lantern walk on the An Hoi side of the river

    Temps libre : Evening free for dinner on your own

    Activité : A long travel day. The flight from Cat Bi is booked with a margin after the boat's scheduled return; if the boat comes back late or the flight is delayed, the lantern walk moves to the evening of day 12.

12. Jour 12 : Hoi An: dawn walk and Tra Que

    The Old Town at dawn, then Tra Que village

    • Environ 30 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
    • Nuit : Hoi An
    Détail du jour 12

    This is the morning to be up early. At about 6 am the Japanese Covered Bridge, built by Hoi An's Japanese merchants at the end of the 16th century and reopened in 2024 after a long restoration, is often empty, and the yellow houses of the Old Town take the early light. Your guide walks the quiet lanes with you before the shops open, with time for photographs and a look inside an old merchant house and an assembly hall with your Old Town ticket. After breakfast we cycle out on flat lanes to Tra Que, a vegetable village known for its herbs, for a cooking class: you help in the gardens, then cook and eat dishes such as cao lau noodles and banh xeo pancakes for lunch. The afternoon and evening are free to have clothes made by a tailor, swim at the hotel, or sit with a glass of cold bia hoi at a street corner as the lanterns come on.

    Compris

    • Dawn photo walk in Hoi An Old Town and at the Japanese Covered Bridge
    • Hoi An Old Town entry
    • Bicycle ride to Tra Que vegetable village
    • Cooking class with lunch

    Option plus facile : Ride to Tra Que in the vehicle instead of by bicycle.

    Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

    Activité : The bicycle ride is about 4 km each way on flat lanes.

    

13. Jour 13 : Fly to Siem Reap

    Da Nang to Siem Reap by air, then the Phare circus

    • Environ 1.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Siem Reap
    Détail du jour 13

    A free morning in Hoi An, then we drive to Da Nang International Airport and fly to Siem Reap in Cambodia, direct when the season's schedule runs it or with a change in Ho Chi Minh City. Your guide flies with you and helps with Cambodian entry at Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, which opened in 2023 about 50 km from town, an hour's drive. Siem Reap is the base for Angkor, the capital of the Khmer empire from the 9th to the 15th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992. We check in and rest, and your guide buys the three-day Angkor Pass in the late afternoon so we can go straight in at dawn. Dinner together, then Phare, the Cambodian circus: an hour of acrobatics, theatre and live music by performers trained at the Phare Ponleu Selpak arts school in Battambang, a social enterprise. Early night; the alarm is set for before five.

    Compris

    • Transfer to Da Nang airport and flight to Siem Reap, with transfer to your hotel
    • Three-day Angkor Pass
    • Dinner and Phare, the Cambodian circus

    Temps libre : Morning free in Hoi An; afternoon free to rest

    Activité : If there is no direct Da Nang to Siem Reap flight on your dates, the change in Ho Chi Minh City adds about 2 to 4 hours to this day; we then arrive in the late afternoon and keep the evening to dinner and Phare.

14. Jour 14 : Angkor Wat at sunrise

    Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, then a free afternoon

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
    • Nuit : Siem Reap
    Détail du jour 14

    We leave the hotel at about 5 am to be at Angkor Wat for sunrise, when its five towers stand in silhouette against the sky and reflect in the pools in front of the west gate. Hundreds of people come for this, so your guide takes you to a quieter spot and then straight into the temple while most of the crowd goes back for breakfast. Built in the early 12th century under King Suryavarman II and dedicated to Vishnu, it is the largest religious monument in the world by area. We walk the galleries of bas-reliefs, including the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, and climb to the upper level if it is open. Breakfast is a packed one at the temple. Then Ta Prohm, the temple left to the jungle, where silk-cotton and strangler fig roots grip the walls. We are back for lunch and the hottest hours are yours.

    Compris

    • Angkor Wat at sunrise with your guide and a local site guide
    • Ta Prohm
    • Lunch in Siem Reap

    Activités en option

    • Tonle Sap lake and a floating village in the late afternoon (price shown at booking)

    Option plus facile : Stay on the lower galleries of Angkor Wat instead of climbing to the upper level.

    Option plus active : Climb the steep stairs to the upper level of Angkor Wat, when open.

    Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

    Activité : Steep stone stairs and uneven paving; covered shoulders and knees for the upper level.

15. Jour 15 : Angkor Thom and the Bayon

    The South Gate, the Bayon, the Baphuon and the royal terraces

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
    • Nuit : Siem Reap
    Détail du jour 15

    A second morning at Angkor, not as early, and timed for the opening at 7:30. We cross the moat to Angkor Thom through the South Gate, flanked by rows of gods and demons holding the body of a naga, and go first to the Bayon, built around 1200 under Jayavarman VII, where more than two hundred carved stone faces look out from its towers. In the early light, before the coaches, the faces are at their best and the galleries of carvings, showing markets, fishing and battles on the Tonle Sap, are easy to see. Then the Baphuon, the Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King, with a stop at a smaller temple where your guide judges the crowd lightest. We are back in Siem Reap for lunch together. The afternoon and evening are free: a swim, a massage, the Angkor National Museum, or Pub Street after dark.

    Compris

    • Angkor Thom: the South Gate, the Bayon and the Baphuon
    • The Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper King
    • Lunch in Siem Reap

    Activités en option

    • Banteay Srei, the pink sandstone temple about 35 km north, in place of the free afternoon (price shown at booking)

    Option plus facile : Stay at ground level at the Bayon and the Baphuon.

    Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

16. Jour 16 : Fly to Phnom Penh

    Siem Reap to Phnom Penh by air, then the Royal Palace and the riverside

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    • Nuit : Phnom Penh
    Détail du jour 16

    A slower morning, then a short flight south to Phnom Penh, about 45 minutes in the air, which replaces the five to six hour road between the two cities. Your guide flies with you, and we drive from the airport to the hotel near the riverside. Phnom Penh sits where the Tonle Sap river meets the Mekong, and its wide boulevards, villas and markets were laid out under the French. In the afternoon, when it reopens after the midday break, we visit the Royal Palace, still the home of the King of Cambodia, and the Silver Pagoda beside it, named for the silver tiles of its floor, with an emerald crystal Buddha and a life-size gold Buddha set with diamonds. Then a walk along Sisowath Quay as the evening comes, when families come out to the riverfront to exercise, eat and talk. The evening is free; your guide can suggest where to eat.

    Compris

    • Flight from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, with transfers
    • The Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda
    • Evening walk on Sisowath Quay

    Temps libre : Evening free

    Activité : Shoulders and knees must be covered at the Royal Palace.

17. Jour 17 : Phnom Penh: Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek

    Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Choeung Ek, then the markets

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Phnom Penh
    Détail du jour 17

    This morning is hard, and it matters for understanding Cambodia. Tuol Sleng was a high school until the Khmer Rouge turned it into the S-21 prison in 1975; thousands of people were held and tortured there before being killed. The rooms, the cells and the photographs the prison took of its prisoners are kept as they were found. We then drive about 15 km south to Choeung Ek, the best-known of the killing fields, where an audio guide leads you around the site and the memorial stupa holds the skulls of victims. Your guide is there to talk it through, and you can sit either visit out without explanation. Lunch together after a quiet hour. In the afternoon the Central Market, under its Art Deco dome, and the Russian Market are good for silk, kramas and coffee. Farewell dinner together tonight, the last evening of the trip.

    Compris

    • Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21)
    • Choeung Ek Genocidal Center, with audio guide
    • Central Market
    • Farewell dinner

    Option plus facile : Skip one or both memorial sites and spend the morning at the National Museum of Cambodia instead.

    Temps libre : Late afternoon free

    Activité : Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek are not suitable for young children.

18. Jour 18 : Depart from Phnom Penh

    A free morning, then Techo International Airport

    • Environ 1 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 18

    The last day is yours, with no early start. Breakfast at the hotel, then the morning is free until your airport transfer. If your flight leaves in the afternoon or evening, there is time for the National Museum of Cambodia, a red building near the palace holding the finest Khmer sculpture outside Angkor, or for one more walk along the river and an iced coffee with condensed milk. If you would rather keep it quiet, pack slowly and have a last bowl of kuy teav noodle soup near the hotel. We drive you to Techo International Airport (KTI), which replaced the old city airport in 2025 and lies about 25 km south of the centre; allow 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on traffic. We plan the transfer to leave you at the airport three hours before an international flight. Flights home leaving after about midday work best; if yours leaves early, ask us about an extra night.

    Compris

    • Drop-off at Techo International Airport, Phnom Penh

    Activités en option

    • National Museum of Cambodia (entry paid on the day)

    Temps libre : Morning free

Faune et météo : November to February is the dry and cooler season across the whole route and the best time to go. Hanoi and Lan Ha Bay are cool, around the mid teens Celsius, and often grey or misty from December to February, which softens the views from the boat. Bangkok, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh stay hot year round and are hottest from March to May, when smoke from field burning can also haze northern Thailand and Laos. Kuang Si Falls run strongest and muddiest in the rainy season, and turn turquoise in the dry months.

• Bangkok2 nuits
• Chiang Mai2 nuits
• Luang Prabang3 nuits
• Hanoi2 nuits
• Lan Ha Bay1 nuit
• Hoi An2 nuits
• Siem Reap3 nuits
• Phnom Penh2 nuits