Top Destinations
Bangkok
Daylight
Grand Palace (1-4 hours)
No trip to Bangkok would be complete without getting a chance to see the elaborate Wat’s or temples throughout the city. The most popular being the Grand Palace.
The Palace is a labyrinth of courtyards, large temples, gardens, and active government buildings. There are guided tours available if you are interested in learning about the history of each building and spending half a day minimum.
See the Tips Page for advice on how to dress and best way to get here.
For a lot of the Bangkok sites, we took more video footage than photos. To help give you more background you can check out this video here. This video also captures footage of every activity we discuss in this post!
Wat Pho/Temple of the Reclining Buddha (1 hr)
The 46-meter long gold plated Buddha statue is a popular destination for all tourists. This is the major site within the Wat Pho temples.
There are 108 bronze bowls throughout the inside of the temple that represent the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha. Placing money in these is a sign of good fortune and helps maintain the temple.
Jim Thompson House (1-2 hours)
This is a popular tourist attraction for those who enjoy Art, Architecture, and Silk. The house has become a museum storing the large art collection of Jim Thompson, an American Business-man and architect, who acquired these goods over the years across South East Asia. The house itself was built in the late 1950’s and is a beautiful display of the Thai-themed wooden homes. There are guided tours daily of the house that last about an hour. There is also a gift shop that sells a variety of quality silk goods since Jim was the founder of the Thai Silk Company.
Shopping Malls (2-4 hours)
This one surprised us too! Apparently, Bangkok has the most extravagant shopping malls nobody is talking about. If you are looking for a way to kill a few hours or half a day, you could do a lot worse than exploring the massive and unique mall scene. A list of the top malls include Siam Paragon, The Emporium, Siam Discovery, and MBK. We won’t spoil any surprises and let you see for yourselves.
Wat Saket (Phukhao Thong) or The Golden Mount (1-2 hrs)
Another popular tourist attraction, and commonly known as a symbol of the city, the Golden Mount is perfect for Sunset. After a short hike on well-defined steps, you reach an open terrace that houses the shrine. The whole terrace provides an amazing view of the city from all directions and is a nice way to relax and end the day.
Songkran
We spent another day celebrating Songkran in Bangkok. This is the Thai New Year celebration, and what a fun and unique celebration it was. See a full write up on our experience here.
Evenings
China Town
If you are looking for a unique dining experience, try wondering into China town for the evening. Down the main stretch of road, you will be blown away by the crowds and long lines from a variety of street vendors. There are some small restaurants along the way which provide a place to sit down while avoiding the long lines of people You can also hope to get a table to people watch and be in awe of the energy and chaos up and down the road.
Gaggan
We celebrated Grant’s 28th Birthday in August 2019, and were lucky enough to get added to the Chef’s Table. This was a table with 14 seats in a U shape facing a small kitchen where the chefs prepared and finalized each dish.
Our dinner was 10 days before he closed this restaurant in Bangkok, and moved to his new Restaurant by a very similar name, Gaggan Anand, also in Bangkok. Based on the descriptions we have seen, it appears the new restaurant is very similar to the experience we had at Gaggan. With 25 courses, each listed on the menu as only an emoji, this 4-hour meal with wine pairing was a complete experience. We got to hear Gaggan describe most of the dishes, and listened to him blast his favorite music (American Rock) while we ate. This whole experience can be best described by Gaggan himself…”to retain a sense of fun while losing the pretension associated with fine dining”. Not only was the food incredible, but we were told to lick our plates, wear blindfolds, and have fun. There will never be another “meal” like this one.
Chang Mai
Daylight
Doi Inthanon National Park, the highest point in Thailand (Full Day)
You can sign up for an all-day guided tour to visit the national park for a day of outdoor activities. The tour we joined took us to a variety of excursions throughout the park, and we imagine it’s the same for every tour. Amongst these activities were visiting a local hill village called White Karen, shopping for dried fruit at a market, taking a short nature hike, hiking through the woods and viewing popular waterfalls, and the highlight of Visiting the King and Queen structures of Doi Inthanon near the Summit. Any nature lover will want to make time for this!
Elephant Sanctuary (1/2 Day or Full Day)
One of the most unique and popular activities in Thailand is spending a half or full day at an Elephant Sanctuary. These sanctuaries get you up close and personal to some of the largest and most intelligent animals on the planet. The mission statement is very similar across all of options of sanctuaries with the main goal of rehabilitating and protecting Elephants from extinction. We ended up choosing Patara Elephant Farms based on location, price, and timing (we chose the afternoon session). We started by changing into our bathing suits and getting assigned our elephant. We chose to both share one elephant because it was cheaper and manageable, but there is an option to have your own elephant. We were assigned Panalow, the largest elephant at their facility, to counteract my height. We first fed Panalow bananas and sugar cane and became comfortable standing so close to a massive Elephant. It also took a little getting used to the feeling of his tongue wrapping around the food and engulfing our hands. After the snacking session, we walked with Panalow down to the local watering hole. This was where we bathed with the elephants. We jumped in this pond with Panalow and started scrubbing his down with brushes using the water from the pond. At the end they have a fun activity where your elephant is trained to spray you with water and you get some funny photos.
After the bath, we re-grouped and learned how to ride Panalow. We went on a hike while a trainer was keeping Panalow on course and watching out for our safety (and grabbing our sandals as they fell off our feet).
After the 30 min hike, we arrived at the end of the excursion and were given time to shower and change. This is essential! Take all the time to shower given the bath water is filled with Elephant dung.
Cooking Class (1/2 Day or Full Day)
Almost every tourist enjoys time in South East Asia doing some sort of cooking class. Given Allison’s love for cooking, this was never an option. We were recommended Siam Rice in Chang Mai, and we were not disappointed. The day starts with a visit to a local market where the instructor starts buying the ingredients and takes time to explain what will be used in our dishes. Upon making to the location of the class, everyone was given a private cooking bench and we began cooking away. Throughout the course, the young and energetic female instructor made the day a ton of fun.
Evening
Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center (2 hours)
If you are looking for a unique Thai dining experience the Cultural Center is perfect. You will get an all you can eat classic Thai meal with a variety of dishes all while eating on a mat in a seated position on the ground. Throughout the evening there are ongoing performances like knife manipulation, dancing, music, etc. to keep you entertained during your meal. To cap the night, there is a dance performance outside with mini fireworks.
Thai Boxing (2 hours)
Almost every night there is some venue hosting Thai Boxing fights. If you are interested in Mixed Martial Arts and want to see a potentially new style of fighting, this is an entertaining option. They run through many fights in one night, so you will get to see plenty of action. We bought our tickets at our hostel.
Krabi/Phang Nga (Islands)
Daylight
Tiger Cave Temple (2-3 hrs)
A 1,260 stair climb gets you to the peak where you will find a large gold Buddha shrine. At the Summit, you will get a great panoramic view of the surrounding area along with monkeys who are not shy. We knocked this out first thing in the morning to beat the crowd and the heat. The climb up still took around an hour so plan your time accordingly.
Railay Beach (1/2 day or Full Day)
A very popular beach for tourists that lived up to the hype. We took a public long tail boat from Krabi to reach the Beach which worked out well. Once at the Beach, we ate a late brunch at a resort with a nice breakfast buffet. You can rent Kayaks and even paddle to an adjacent beach, Phra Nang. Both beaches are surrounded by Steep Limestone cliffs that make for a beautiful setting. There was even Rock climbing near some caves at Phra Nang beach. Whether you want to relax or be active, these beaches will have you covered.
Koh Phi Phi Island (1 Day min.)
Another very popular island for food, drinks, and sightseeing, Koh Phi Phi (Pronounced pee pee), will keep you busy for days. You can spend time wandering around the small island looking for places to shop, eat, or drink. You can enjoy a quick hike to an amazing viewpoint for sunset, or you can make new friends and party. There are multiple party hostels on the water that will party until the early morning almost every night. If you want to avoid the younger crowd partying, we recommend staying more inland where it is quieter and less chaotic.
The island is also the starting point for half-day or full-day trips to surrounding activities. We did a half-day morning trip that included some of the best snorkeling we have ever done. We went to Malay Bay along with other open water areas where we saw small sharks, pencil fish, rainbow fish, sea urchins, and other gorgeous fish.
Phang Gna (1 Day min.)
We spent a few days in an area that is not as well known but provided us access to a variety of action packed activities.
Sunrise…Allison woke up at 4:45am to catch the sunrise at Samet Nangshe Viewpoint, about 50 min from Phang Gna. Reference the beautiful photo above.
We also booked a half-day excursion through the National Marine Park. They provided a private longtail boat and drove us around a serious of more Limestone cliffs that protrude out of the water like little islands. The most popular one being Khao Phing Kan (James Bond Island), which was clearly a fan favorite. This excursion also included a kayak trip around more caves and rivers. On the way back, we stopped for lunch at a unique town built on stilts (Koh Panyi) over the water. When we ordered the fish, they walked us over to nets in the ocean to choose the fish we wanted. This ended up being the freshest fish we have ever eaten and it was flavored with Thai spiced and herbs to give it a unique taste.
Evening
Krabi Night Food Stalls (1-2 hrs)
This is a large market where a lot of locals eat dinner. There are a variety of different stalls serving food and they provide lawn chairs and tables for people to eat. This proved to be an affordable and delicious meal while living a local for the night.
Ko Phi Phi Sunset (1-2 hrs)
If you find yourselves on Ko Phi Phi Island, the Sunset is a must. There is a nice hike up to a perfect viewpoint that houses at least a hundred people all waiting for the same view. We would recommend getting there early to get a nice seat before the crowd arrives.
