Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the Krabi Islands for three generations

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Bangkok

   Suvarnabhumi Airport to your hotel by the Chao Phraya River, then a river boat at sunset

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

   We meet you at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) and drive you to your hotel near the Chao Phraya River, home for the next three nights. Depending on traffic the drive takes from 45 minutes to well over an hour, so we bring water and the children's seats you asked for. Rest, sleep off the flight or try the pool until the group gathers at about 5 pm. Then we board a river boat from the hotel pier and watch Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, turn gold in the last light; its central prang is covered in pieces of Chinese porcelain that catch the sun, and the children can count the boats going by. The ride is about an hour, seated and shaded. Welcome dinner is at about 6:30 near the river, half an hour later than the other group dinners because the sunset boat comes first, where your trip leader meets every family, explains the days ahead and answers questions, and you are back at the hotel early.

   Compris

   • Private pick-up at Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK)
   • Chao Phraya river boat to see Wat Arun at sunset
   • Welcome dinner at about 6:30 pm

   Option plus facile : Skip the boat and rest at the hotel; your trip leader meets you at dinner.

   Temps libre : Free until about 5 pm

   Activité : Flights that land after about 3 pm may miss the boat; the welcome dinner waits for you.

   

2. Jour 2 : Grand Palace, Wat Pho and the canals

   The Grand Palace at opening, Wat Pho, a rest, then a longtail through Thonburi and an early Chinatown dinner

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

   Breakfast early, because we are at the gates of the Grand Palace when they open at 8:30, ahead of the tour coaches and the worst of the heat. The palace has been the ceremonial seat of Thai kings since 1782, and inside its walls Wat Phra Kaew holds the Emerald Buddha, a small figure carved from green stone. A few minutes away by vehicle, at Wat Pho, the Reclining Buddha stretches 46 metres; children like dropping coins into the 108 bronze bowls along the wall. Lunch is on your own near the river, with your trip leader pointing out family-friendly places, and by about 1 pm you are back at the hotel for the pool and a rest. At about 3:30 a longtail boat takes us into the canals of Thonburi, past wooden stilt houses, small temples and monitor lizards on the banks. Dinner is at about 6 in Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, at a sit-down shophouse restaurant, with a short walk past the street food stalls for anyone who wants to try more.

   Compris

   • Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew at the 8:30 opening
   • Wat Pho and the Reclining Buddha
   • Longtail boat through the Thonburi canals
   • Dinner in Yaowarat (Chinatown)

   Option plus facile : Sit out the second half of the palace in the shade of the courtyard cafe; the vehicle waits close to each gate.

   Option plus active : Walk the Chinatown street food lanes with your trip leader after dinner.

   Temps libre : Pool and rest at the hotel from about 1 pm to 3:30

   Activité : About 3 km on foot in the morning, on flat paving with some steps; the palace is in full sun. Strict dress code for everyone, children included: shoulders and knees covered.

3. Jour 3 : Ayutthaya by road and by river

   Bangkok to Ayutthaya, the temples in the morning, a boat round the island, then back to Bangkok

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Bangkok
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave at 8:30 for Ayutthaya, about 80 km up the Chao Phraya, a drive of around an hour and a half. From 1351 until a Burmese army burned it in 1767, this island city was the capital of Siam, and its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We start at Wat Mahathat, where a sandstone Buddha head sits wrapped in the roots of a fig tree (crouch so your head stays lower than the Buddha's when you photograph it), then the three tall chedis of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, before the midday sun. Lunch is at a riverside restaurant. In the early afternoon a longtail boat chartered for the group takes us round the island on the rivers that once made it a trading port, seated and shaded, with a stop at Wat Chaiwatthanaram, built in 1630 in a Khmer style. We drive back to Bangkok by about 5 pm, in time for a swim before an evening on your own.

   Compris

   • Ayutthaya Historical Park entries
   • Wat Mahathat and the Buddha head in the tree roots
   • Wat Phra Si Sanphet
   • Longtail boat round Ayutthaya island with a stop at Wat Chaiwatthanaram
   • Lunch in Ayutthaya

   Option plus facile : Stay in the vehicle or a shaded cafe at Wat Phra Si Sanphet; the boat afternoon is seated.

   Option plus active : Walk the full circuit of Wat Chaiwatthanaram's galleries while the boat waits.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : About 2 to 3 km on foot on open ground with little shade; hats and water for everyone. Two drives of about 1.5 hours. We do not visit elephant camps that offer rides.

   

4. Jour 4 : Fly north to Chiang Mai

   Bangkok to Chiang Mai by air, khao soi and a rest, then Doi Suthep in the late afternoon

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 4

   After a relaxed breakfast our vehicle takes you to the airport for the flight north to Chiang Mai, about an hour and ten minutes. King Mangrai founded Chiang Mai in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna kingdom, and its old city is still a square ringed by a moat and stretches of brick wall. Lunch is khao soi, the curry noodle soup of the north, with milder dishes for anyone who does not like chilli. Then the hotel, four nights in one place, and time for the pool. At about 4 pm we drive 15 km up the mountain to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Grandparents and anyone who wants it ride the funicular; the children usually race up the naga staircase of more than 300 steps, with its dragon-scaled balustrades. At the top the golden chedi glows in the softening light, and the city and its moat are spread out below. We are back at the hotel by about 6:30 for an evening on your own.

   Compris

   • Domestic flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai
   • Khao soi lunch
   • Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in the late afternoon, with the funicular

   Option plus facile : Ride the funicular up to Doi Suthep instead of the staircase.

   Option plus active : Climb the naga staircase of more than 300 steps.

   Temps libre : Pool after lunch; evening free

   Activité : About 1 km on foot at Doi Suthep, more on the staircase. Temple dress code applies.

   

5. Jour 5 : A day on Doi Inthanon

   Chiang Mai to Thailand's highest mountain, with waterfalls and the Royal Pagodas, and back

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 5

   No dawn start today: we leave after breakfast at about 7:30 for Doi Inthanon, at 2,565 metres the highest mountain in Thailand, about 105 km to the southwest. The drive is broken after an hour and a half at Wachirathan waterfall, where the spray reaches the viewing platform. Near the top it is cool, and in December and January it can be cold, so bring a fleece for everyone. We walk the short boardwalk through the mossy cloud forest at the summit, then visit the twin Royal Pagodas, built for the 60th birthdays of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit, with their flower gardens and views over the ridges. While grandparents and younger children enjoy the gardens, anyone who wants a walk sets out on the Kew Mae Pan trail, a loop of about 3 km along an open grassy ridge, with the local guide the park requires. Lunch is on the way down, and we are back in Chiang Mai by about 4 pm for a swim.

   Compris

   • Doi Inthanon National Park entry
   • Wachirathan waterfall
   • The summit boardwalk
   • The twin Royal Pagodas and their gardens
   • Kew Mae Pan trail with a local guide, for those who choose it
   • Lunch on the mountain

   Option plus facile : Stay at the pagoda gardens and viewpoints while others walk the trail; the summit boardwalk is short and flat.

   Option plus active : The Kew Mae Pan trail, about 3 km at over 2,000 metres, with uneven ground and steps.

   Temps libre : Back by about 4 pm; evening free

   Activité : The road day is about 4 hours in all, in legs of no more than about 2 hours. The Kew Mae Pan trail opens from about November to May; outside those months everyone stays on the summit boardwalk and the pagoda gardens.

   

6. Jour 6 : Elephants, with no riding

   A morning at an elephant sanctuary in the hills outside Chiang Mai, then a free afternoon

   • Environ 2.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 6

   Today is spent with elephants on their terms. We drive about an hour into the hills outside Chiang Mai to a sanctuary chosen against a written welfare standard: no riding, no bathing with the elephants, no shows or tricks, no hooks or chains used to control them, and a limit on how many visitors are with the herd at once. From a safe distance and along easy paths, you watch the elephants feed, wander and wallow in the river at their own pace, help the keepers chop and prepare bananas and sugar cane, and hear how each one came to the sanctuary, many from logging or trekking camps. Children are often fascinated by how much an elephant eats in a day. There are shaded benches throughout. Lunch is at the sanctuary, and we are back at the hotel by about 2 pm. The evening is free for the Night Bazaar or, on a Sunday, the Walking Street market in the old city.

   Compris

   • Half day at an elephant sanctuary with no riding and no bathing
   • Preparing the elephants' food with the keepers
   • Lunch at the sanctuary

   Option plus facile : Watch from the shaded viewing deck instead of walking out to the river.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 1 to 2 km on foot on dirt paths that can be muddy; closed shoes for everyone.

7. Jour 7 : Market and cooking class

   A morning at a fresh market and a cooking school, then a free afternoon

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Chiang Mai
   Détail du jour 7

   A morning in the kitchen, for every age. We start at a fresh market with a teacher from the cooking school, learning to pick out lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves and holy basil, and to tell the many kinds of rice and chilli apart; children usually get a basket and a shopping list. Then, at a cooking school with a garden outside the city, each family cooks at its own stations: a curry paste pounded by hand in a stone mortar, a mild curry, a stir-fry, a soup such as tom kha and mango sticky rice to finish. Chairs are there for anyone who would rather sit, and the chilli goes in at the end, to taste. Lunch is what you cook, and you take the recipes home. The afternoon is free: the hotel pool, a Thai foot massage for the grandparents, or the cafes of the Nimmanhaemin neighbourhood. Your trip leader can book a table for an early family dinner.

   Compris

   • Fresh market visit with the cooking school
   • Thai cooking class with lunch, for adults and children

   Activités en option

   • Thai foot or full-body massage in the afternoon

   Option plus facile : Skip the market walk and join the class at the school; cook seated.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

8. Jour 8 : Fly south to the Krabi coast

   Chiang Mai hotel to the airport by our vehicle, the flight to Krabi, then Ao Nang and the pool

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Ao Nang
   Détail du jour 8

   A slow morning, then our vehicle takes you to Chiang Mai airport for the flight south to Krabi. When a direct flight is scheduled it takes about two hours; when it is not, we route you through Bangkok, which makes it most of the day, and we choose the connection with the shortest wait. From Krabi International Airport (KBV) it is a drive of 30 to 40 minutes to Ao Nang and your beach-side hotel, home for the last five nights, so the suitcases come out and stay out. The rest of the day is for the pool and the beach. Ao Nang faces west across the Andaman Sea to a scatter of limestone islands, and the sun goes down straight over them, a good first evening for everyone. Dinner is on your own; your trip leader has a list of family-friendly places along the front where you can eat at 6 and be back in your room by 8.

   Compris

   • Domestic flight from Chiang Mai to Krabi
   • Transfer from Krabi International Airport (KBV) to your hotel in Ao Nang

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free at the pool and the beach

   Activité : If the flight connects through Bangkok, expect most of the day in airports; lunch is on the way, at your own cost. Road distance today is about 50 km in all: about 15 km to Chiang Mai airport and about 30 km from Krabi airport to Ao Nang.

9. Jour 9 : Phi Phi on our own boat

   Ao Nang to Ko Phi Phi Leh, Pileh Lagoon and Ko Phi Phi Don by chartered speedboat, and back

   • En bateau
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Ao Nang
   Détail du jour 9

   The islands are calmest and quietest early, so a speedboat chartered for our group alone leaves Ao Nang at about 7:30, with life jackets in children's sizes. The crossing takes about an hour. Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh, made famous by the film The Beach, was closed from 2018 to 2022 to let its reef recover; boats now land at a jetty on the far side, a level boardwalk leads to the sand, and swimming in the bay is not allowed. Next is Pileh Lagoon, a near-enclosed bay of green water under sheer cliffs, where the boat idles and, conditions permitting, the children can swim off the back in life jackets with the crew watching; there are no lifeguards. We snorkel at a shallow, sheltered reef your skipper picks for the day, have lunch at a beach restaurant on Ko Phi Phi Don, and are back in Ao Nang by about 3 pm, before the afternoon wind lifts the sea. The rest of the day is for the pool.

   Compris

   • Speedboat chartered for the group to the Phi Phi islands
   • Maya Bay by the jetty and boardwalk
   • Pileh Lagoon
   • Snorkelling, with masks, fins and children's life jackets
   • Lunch on Ko Phi Phi Don
   • Phi Phi national park fee

   Option plus facile : Stay on deck during the snorkel stop, or spend the whole day at the hotel pool and beach; the boat can be bumpy in open water, and anyone with a bad back is better ashore.

   Option plus active : A longer snorkel at the second reef while others stay on deck.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free from about 3 pm

   Activité : About 2 hours on the speedboat in all, which can be bumpy. Boarding from the beach can mean wading to the knee; the crew give a hand. The park closes Maya Bay for part of each year, usually August and September; this trip runs from November to February.

   

10. Jour 10 : A free day by the sea

    Ao Nang: the hotel pool, the beach and a sunset together

    • Petit-déjeuner
    • Nuit : Ao Nang
    Détail du jour 10

    A day with nothing planned, because after nine days of temples, mountains and boats every generation needs one. Sleep in, have a long breakfast, and spend the day between the pool and the beach. Ao Nang's beach is a long curve of sand with gentle water in the dry season, and Nopparat Thara beach, a few minutes north, is quieter and good for shell hunting at low tide. If you want to do something, your trip leader is at the hotel in the morning to help: a kayak through the Ao Thalane mangroves, where the channels run between limestone towers, a Thai massage on the beach, or the steps of Tiger Cave Temple for teenagers with energy to burn. Lunch and dinner are on your own. In the early evening we meet on the beach to watch the sun go down over the islands, and the children can paddle while the grown-ups sit with a drink.

    Compris

    • Sunset gathering on Ao Nang beach with your trip leader

    Activités en option

    • Sea kayaking in the Ao Thalane mangroves
    • Thai massage
    • Tiger Cave Temple (Wat Tham Suea) hilltop climb

    Option plus facile : Stay by the pool all day.

    Option plus active : Kayak the Ao Thalane mangroves, or climb the more than 1,200 steps at Tiger Cave Temple in the cool of the morning.

    Temps libre : The whole day is free

    Activité : If the tide on day 11 does not suit the Ko Tup sandbar, we swap days 10 and 11.

11. Jour 11 : Railay and the Krabi islands

    Phra Nang Cave Beach, Ko Poda and the Ko Tup sandbar by private longtail, then a free afternoon

    • En bateau
    • Petit-déjeuner
    • Nuit : Ao Nang
    Détail du jour 11

    A short, calm morning on the water, ahead of the day trips. A longtail boat for our group takes us at about 8:30 to Phra Nang Cave Beach on the Railay peninsula, ten to fifteen minutes from Ao Nang: a curve of white sand under limestone cliffs, reached only by boat or on foot, with a small cave shrine at one end where fishermen leave offerings. Swim, build sandcastles, or sit in the shade of the cliff. Then we cross to Ko Poda, with its clear shallow water, and to Ko Tup, where at low tide a sandbar joins it to Ko Kai, Chicken Island, and you can walk between the islands through ankle-deep water, which children and grandparents both seem to love. Longtails are slower and steadier than speedboats, and the hops between islands are short. We are back in Ao Nang by lunch, and the afternoon is free at the pool.

    Compris

    • Private longtail boat to Phra Nang Cave Beach, Ko Poda and Ko Tup
    • The Ko Tup sandbar walk at low tide
    • National park fees

    Option plus facile : Stay on Phra Nang beach in the shade while the boat makes the short hop to the sandbar and back.

    Option plus active : Snorkel off Ko Poda.

    Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

    Activité : Boarding longtails from the beach means wading to the knee, with the crew's help.

    

12. Jour 12 : The Emerald Pool and the hot springs

    Ao Nang to the Emerald Pool and the hot spring waterfall at Khlong Thom, and back, then a farewell dinner

    • Environ 2.5 h de route
    • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
    • Nuit : Ao Nang
    Détail du jour 12

    We leave at about 8 for the forest at Khlong Thom, about an hour and a quarter southeast of Ao Nang, arriving at the Emerald Pool, Sa Morakot, mid-morning while the forest is still cool. A flat boardwalk and trail lead through lowland rainforest to a spring-fed pool of startlingly clear green-blue water, warm enough to swim in, with a sandy edge where small children can paddle. Listen for birds; hornbills live in this forest. After lunch at a local restaurant we stop at the hot spring waterfall nearby, where warm water from the ground runs over smooth rock into shallow pools, and the grandparents usually settle in while the children explore. We are back in Ao Nang by about 3 pm for a last swim. At about 6 we sit down to a farewell dinner together, early enough for the youngest to stay awake for it.

    Compris

    • Emerald Pool (Sa Morakot) with park entry
    • Hot spring waterfall at Khlong Thom
    • Lunch in Khlong Thom
    • Farewell dinner

    Option plus facile : Rest at the forest cafe near the entrance, or skip the day at the hotel pool and join the farewell dinner.

    Option plus active : Walk on from the Emerald Pool to the Blue Pool along the forest trail.

    Temps libre : Late afternoon free

    Activité : About 3 km on foot in all on a flat boardwalk and trail, about 1.25 hours by road each way. Bring swimwear and a towel.

13. Jour 13 : Depart from Krabi

    Ao Nang to Krabi International Airport

    • Environ 30 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 13

    Breakfast, and a last swim if your flight allows. We drive you to Krabi International Airport (KBV), 30 to 40 minutes from Ao Nang, at a time that suits your flight, with the suitcases in our vehicle. Most flights home from Krabi connect through Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur, so if you are booking your own, leave a comfortable gap between connections and allow for check-in queues at Krabi in the busy winter months; a flight after about 11 am is easiest with children. If your flight leaves late in the day, ask us when you book about keeping your rooms longer or a place to leave your bags. Some families stay on: Ko Lanta and Railay are close by, and we can book extra nights for you on the coast or back in Bangkok before you fly.

    Compris

    • Private drop-off at Krabi International Airport (KBV)

Faune et météo : November to February is the season for this route: dry and sunny, with mornings and evenings that are pleasantly cool in Chiang Mai and cold at the top of Doi Inthanon in December and January. The Andaman coast around Krabi and Phi Phi is calm from about November to April and rough from May to October, when many boat trips stop. From about February to April smoke from crop burning hangs over Chiang Mai, so we do not run the north in March and April. Late December and early January are the busiest and most expensive weeks. Chiang Mai's Yi Peng lantern festival falls in November, on dates set by the lunar calendar.

• Bangkok3 nuits
• Chiang Mai4 nuits
• Ao Nang5 nuits