Northern Thailand Tour from Bangkok – 6 Days / 5 Nights

After breakfast you meet your guide and driver at your hotel in Bangkok and set off on a journey towards the roots of Thai culture.

The first stop of the day is the old capital of Ayutthaya, a UNESCO site. You visit Wat Phra Si Sanphet, once the most sacred temple of the royal palace, recognisable by the three chedi in a row that held the ashes of three kings, and the nearby Wiharn Phra Mongkhon Bophit, home to one of the largest bronze Buddhas in Thailand. The visit ends at the famous Wat Mahathat, where a Buddha head sits held in the roots of an old bodhi tree, one of the most photographed images in the country.

Lunch is included at a local restaurant. You then continue north with an optional stop that is hard to forget, at Wat Chantaram, better known as Wat Tha Sung or the Crystal Temple. Its main hall, a hundred metres long, is entirely lined with mirrors and fragments of glass that throw light around in a way you will not see anywhere else. It also holds the body, miraculously intact, of the monk Luang Phor Ruesi Ling Dam, a place of pilgrimage for the devout from all over Thailand.

At the end of the visit you carry on by private vehicle to Sukhothai. Arrival in the evening, check-in and overnight.

After breakfast you meet your guide and driver to explore Sukhothai, the first capital of Siam, founded in 1238 and the cradle of Thai civilisation: tradition holds that King Ramkhamhaeng devised the Thai alphabet here.

You enter the Historical Park, a UNESCO site, where time seems to have stopped among tall temples and great seated Buddhas. At its heart is Wat Mahathat, with its distinctive lotus-bud chedi and the slender walking Buddhas held to be the summit of Thai sculpture. You can visit by bicycle, on the local tram or, for a supplement, by golf cart.

From there you carry on to Phayao. You stop for lunch at a local restaurant before spending some time at Kwan Phayao, the largest freshwater lake in the north: in 1941 an irrigation dam flooded its shores and swallowed Wat Tilok Aram, a fifteenth-century temple dedicated to King Tilokaraj. A short boat ride takes you to the islet that marks the spot today, to pay respects to the Buddha image Luang Pho Sila.

Before the day ends in Chiang Rai you visit the fairy-tale Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple, whose name recalls the tigers that once crossed this area. Built by the artist Phuttha Kabkaew, a pupil of the man behind the White Temple, it plays entirely on sapphire blue and gold detailing, with a great white Buddha standing out against walls painted in almost psychedelic murals.

Final transfer to your hotel in Chiang Rai and overnight.

After breakfast you meet your guide and private driver at the hotel and head for the Golden Triangle, the point where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.

The first stop is Mae Sai, the northernmost town in Thailand. The border with Myanmar is literally a street, and the frontier market is the heart of the town: jade stalls, Burmese handicrafts and a constant traffic between the two countries. You carry on to the Golden Triangle proper, where the Ruak river runs into the Mekong, and from the viewpoint you have all three countries in front of you at once. There is an optional boat trip on the Mekong, about 40 minutes (700 THB per person, payable locally), along the Lao and Burmese banks. You then visit the Opium Museum, which explains without varnish how the region came by its name: pipes, scales, period instruments and original documents lay out decades of history and trafficking.

Next comes the Union of Hill Tribe Village at Mae Chan, a cultural centre that brings together the mountain communities. Here you meet the Akha with their silver headdresses, the Yao, the H’mong and the Kayan, known for the brass coils they wear at the neck. Each group has its own language, dress and traditions. Lunch at a local restaurant with traditional Thai dishes.

In the afternoon you visit Wat Rong Khun, the famous White Temple. It is not an ancient building but a contemporary work of art, all white and covered in mirror glass. You cross a bridge over a sea of hands reaching upward, and inside the murals mix Buddhist iconography with pop culture. One of the most photographed places in Thailand.

You then drive on to Chiang Mai, arriving in the evening. Transfer to your hotel and overnight.

Pickup at your hotel reception. The day starts in the heart of the old city at Wat Chedi Luang, a fifteenth-century complex known for its huge partly restored pyramidal pagoda and its stone elephants. You carry on to Wat Suan Dok, the temple of the flower garden, where rows of white mausoleums hold the ashes of the Lanna royal family. Then you move outside the centre for Wat Umong, set in thick woodland: its distinctive feature is the network of underground tunnels where monks meditate in complete quiet, among old statues and untouched nature. You stop for a Thai lunch at a local restaurant. Finally you climb the mountain road to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the most sacred shrine in the north. You can take on the 306 steps of the Naga staircase or ride the funicular to the top, where the great golden chedi and the iconic five-tier golden umbrella are waiting. From the terrace the whole valley of Chiang Mai opens out below. At the end of the day, transfer to your hotel.

A free day to rest, explore Chiang Mai on your own or do whatever you feel like.

You can also add a small-group excursion in English to Doi Inthanon National Park, a day given over to nature and local culture. It includes a visit to an elephant sanctuary run by the Karen community, where you can watch and meet the animals in a natural setting, followed by a local lunch.

In the afternoon you reach the highest point in Thailand, with the King’s and Queen’s pagodas and their gardens. The day carries on with a jungle trek alongside a Karen guide, down to the Rak Jung waterfall and the village, where you can taste the coffee grown there. On the way back to Chiang Mai there is a stop at the striking Wachirathan waterfall.

Pickup at your hotel reception. The time is yours, for a rest or for whatever you feel like doing. At the agreed hour you meet your driver for the transfer to the airport and the flight on to your next destination.