Thailand is very popular for good reasons. The nature and landscape is beautiful, ranging from mountains and jungle to turquoise water and tropical islands, the history and culture are rich and interesting, and the food is delicious. Infrastructure, tourism, and health care make the country a comparably convenient and safe option. Here, we share our favorite destinations together with our recommendations for accommodation, activities, and restaurants to build your Thailand travel itinerary.

We traveled through Thailand for almost two months. For visiting Thailand, we recommend at least 2-3 weeks. This gives you enough time to visit Bangkok for a few days when your arrive, then head up north to Chiang Mai for 4-5 days, and finally finish your travels by relaxing on one or multiple of the beautiful Thai islands.

We were traveling with our baby and preferred destinations that are easily reachable by plane or boat. Nonetheless, we believe that they are amazing destinations for anyone visiting Thailand. If you visit Thailand with a baby or child, also refer to our general travel tips for visiting Thailand with a baby or child.

Bangkok

We were warned that Bangkok is too noisy, dirty, and chaotic. Indeed, it is loud and chaotic, but we still loved it. It feels vibrant and authentic. We believe it should be part of any Thailand travel itinerary.

Accommodation

We stayed at Le Tada Residence and can recommend it. It was crucial for us to explore Bangkok by public transport (metro or sky train) as traffic can be quite crazy and jammed. The hotel is in a nice and comparably quiet neighborhood right next to a park and is walking distance from two metro stations (Ratchaprarop and Victory Monument). The train line at Ratchaprarop connects directly to BKK airport and the the sky train at Victory Monument connects to the city.

Activities

Our highlight was visiting the Grand Palace. The golden temples and Buddhas are truly impressive and it is easy to spend multiple hours there. Among the many beautiful buildings, the Emerald Buddha is historically particularly relevant for Thailand and should be checked out. Across the street of the Grand Palace is the huge, golden Reclining Buddha and the Wat Phra, which should not be missed.
Note that, covering knees and shoulders is mandatory.

You can reach the Grand Palace via the river by boat getting off at Tha Chang and entering the palace from the north. You can walk across the area and exit at the south, visit the Reclining Buddha and take another boat home from Tah Tian. Around there is also a nice viewpoint onto the impressive Wat Arun temple on the other side of the river. There are many other nice temples in Bangkok that we did not manage to visit, e.g., Wat Suthat Thep and Wat Saket Ratchawora.

Other than that, Chinatown and the nearby Talat Noi neighborhood are worth visiting. The latter has lots of local steel processing shops right on the street, mixed with restaurants and cafés. Walking around this neighborhood feels quite authentic and down to earth. The Chinatown night market is more touristic but still less of a hot spot than the famous Khao San Road, which we skipped. You will notice that Bangkok is full of night markets and we recommend searching for markets close to your hotel, e.g., on Google Maps.

If you like shopping malls, ICONSIAM is one of the larger, more popular and more glamorous ones with a nice view onto the river. There are more malls at Siam, e.g., Siam Center. We also liked visiting Lumphini Park, where we saw large water monitors (huge lizards) and many people working out and dancing together.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand and the largest city up north. It is known for its beautiful, square-shaped old town, which is filled with hundreds of temples (at least that is what it feels like). It is a convenient destination because it is easily reachable by plane or train and everything within the old town is walking distance. There is lots of pretty nature and other cities and villages around (e.g., Chiang Rai and Pai).

Note that burning season typically occurs from February to April in the north of Thailand. During this season, farmers burn their fields, leading to significantly worse air quality. Accordingly, you might want to adjust your Thailand travel itinerary and visit to Chiang Mai before or after the burning season. We visited in the end of April/beginning of May and the air quality seemed fine.

Accommodation

We stayed at “To The Moon“, which is conveniently located in Chiang Mai Old Town and has its own pool and restaurant. The owner is very friendly and there are three puppies (nowadays probably full-grown dogs).

Activities

• Our top three temples in Chiang Mai: Watchediluang Varaviharn (the large, old temple complex in the middle of old town with the crystal buddha), Wat Phra (with large golden “stupas”), Wat Chiang Man (old, peaceful temple with elephant sculptures)
• The Monk Chat at the Watchediluang Varaviharn temple complex was a highlight for us. There, you can freely talk to young monks that are trying to practice their English and are happy to answer questions about their lives, Buddhism, or anything else. Super interesting!
• Walk around Old Town and discover more temples
• Kalm Village in the south of Chiang Mai Old Town is a beautiful and peaceful art and culture complex. The architecture of the buildings and courtyard are amazing and the view from the top onto the old temple is amazing. There is no entrance fee and you can freely wander around, study, visit the café and library, or buy something at the stores.
• Visit an ethical elephant sanctuary. We opted for Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, which has some elephants only 30min away from Chiang Mai by car (we took a Grab). Most other elephant sanctuaries are much further out and require half-/full-day trips with 2 hours of driving per direction, including off-road segments.
• Visit some night markets for good, local food

Restaurants

• Aoyjai Kitchen: Tiny restaurant with great, authentic food. Right next to Kalm Village.
• Masala Magic Indian Restaurant: Some of the best Indian food we had in Thailand. Right next to the recommended hotel “To the moon”
• 58 singharat: Small secluded restaurant in a private garden. Very authentic and cheap.
• ARUNPAJ: Our favorite smoothies in Chiang Mai. Also has good food.

The Andaman Sea (Southwest)

The Andaman Sea in the southwest of Thailand has some amazing islands with warm and turquoise water. We started our island hopping from Krabi Town and visited several different islands. We stayed on four islands for multiple nights and visited others just shortly during day trips via speedboat. While each island had its own vibe, we liked all of them – see details and tips below. We deliberately avoided major tourist hot spots like Phuket, Koh Phi Phi or Ao Nang.

Krabi Town

Krabi is easily reachable by flight, e.g., from Bangkok, and has good boat connections to the islands in the Andaman Sea. As such, it is a good starting and ending point for exploring the islands in the southwest. While most tourists stay at the beach in Ao Nang or Railay, we opted for Krabi Town. While Krabi Town has no beach and not many sights, we still loved it because it felt more authentic and a bit less touristy.

Accommodation

We stayed at Chanchalay Hip Hostel and can definitely recommend it. The hostel is cheap and simple yet calm and beautiful. The staff is wonderful and there is good breakfast in the morning. The location is great – walking distance to anything in Krabi Town. We had a private room with double bed and private outdoor bathroom, which almost felt like home after a month of traveling and repeatedly returning to Chanchalay Hostel between visiting different islands.

Activities

• Visit the night market. We loved the night market and went there everyday. When we visited, there was a booth selling amazing Pad Thai for 50 Bhat (1.34 Euro). The booth is on the right side when entering from the crab statue, usually with a queue of mostly locals waiting for food.
• Visit the impressive white temple in Krabi Town.
• Trip to the Tiger Cave Temple. You can take a Grab from Krabi and arrive at the starting point in around 30min. From there, stairs go up 1237 steps to the temple and viewpoint at the top. Going up was a challenge – but what a sweet feeling of victory when we made it up top! The view is amazing from up there. Going up does require good fitness and proper shoes as the stairs are very tall and crooked sometimes. At the bottom, there are small shops and more temples, oftentimes with many monkeys around. Watch out for your food as they might try to grab it.
• Krabi Urban Forest is a mangrove forest with a nice walkway and viewpoint. We were looking for monkeys but did not see any. It is nice but not a “must do”.
• Boat trip to Railay Beach if you are curious and do not mind many tourists. The beach itself is beautiful and only reachable by boat. However, there were so many tourists that we were happy to only spend one day there. There is a schedule of long-tail boats going from Krabi Town harbor (which is the closest option staying at Chanchalay Hostel) to Railay East, which is a short walking distance from the main beach in the west. To book a boat ride, simply approach the men at the harbor. The boat ride takes roughly 30min. Arriving early means fewer tourists 🙂

Restaurants

• Lan Lek Lek: Booth with seating at the market with great, cheap, and authentic food
• Signature Thai Café & Tea House: Lovely restaurant and cafe with very friendly owner and delicious food and smoothies. Note that smoothies are usually made with extra sugar/sirup in Thailand unless you explicitly ask for a smoothie without extra sugar.
• Fruit a day: Our go-to place for smoothies.

Koh Lanta

Koh Lanta seems to be the family island in the Andaman Sea. We met many other families traveling with their babies or children, many of them for multiple months. Koh Lanta is larger than most other islands, has several nice and flat beaches, some tourism but not too much, just one main road without too much traffic, and is easily reachable by ferry or by car/bus from Krabi. There are plenty of doctors and even some hospitals on the island.

Accommodation

We can recommend Lanta Nature Beach Resort, where we stayed for almost a week. The resort is not glamorous but is located at the beach front with its own restaurant that has amazing views, good food, and friendly staff. The beach is pretty, flat and quite suitable for children. There is also a pool. The rooms are not special but were fine for us. Prices are also affordable.

We almost always ate at the resort restaurant and spent most time at the resort. In addition, we made some day trips to other islands by speedboat (see below).

Koh Ngai

Koh Ngai (sometimes called Koh Hai) is a small island south of Koh Lanta. From all islands we visited, we found Koh Ngai the most beautiful. There are no streets and no cars. Note, there is no hospital or doctor on the island either. Most hotels are located on the main beach in east of the island. The sand is fine, the water crystal clear and turquoise, there is jungle and other islands in the background. It does feel a bit like paradise there.

Accommodation

We stayed at Koh Hai Fantasy Resort, which is located at the south of the eastern beach. We had a room just one minute away from the beach, which was amazing. Getting up early to watch the sunrise is definitely worth it. The room was nice, too. Breakfast and food was ok but not special. However, we did love the Thai pancakes (called Roti) at the small shop next to the resort – they were our favorite ones in Thailand. The neighboring Koh Ngai Thanya Resort also looked very nice but a bit more expensive (and did not have any rooms at the time).

We had a transfer from Koh Lanta by speedboat directly to our hotel beach. Since there is no real pier, you have to get off the boat into the water and walk to the hotel on the beach. The hotel staff and staff from the boat company (Bundhaya Speed Boat) help carrying luggage.

Koh Jum

Koh Jum (the northern part of the island is called Koh Pu) was another one of our top 3 favorite islands in Thailand, together with Koh Ngai and Koh Tao (in the Gulf of Thailand). To us, it was the most authentic and “real” Thai island that we visited. Immediately upon arrival the vibe on the island was so different and so much calmer and simple than in Koh Lanta. Instead of dozens of drivers shouting at you to take their taxi, there was a single old (and very friendly and humble) man with his daughter offering to take us with his pickup truck.

During the ride, we saw our first wild monkeys passing the street. Rather than being fed by tourists at temples, the monkeys on Koh Jum were wild and free, running between trees and across roofs. Note that there are no ATMs on the island, so you will have to bring enough cash. Oftentimes, you can also pay cashless for a 2-4% fee.

Accommodation

We stayed at Jungle Hill Bungalows inside a wooden bungalow between trees on a hill right next to the beach. The stay was a highlight for us because it felt so “real” but we were also happy to have more comfortable rooms afterwards. Due to cracks below the door, we had cockroaches and toads inside the room. There was often very little water pressure, sometimes no water at all. The steps down to the restaurant and onto the beach may be challenging for some. If you are up to it, you will enjoy the rough nature feeling, the amazing view and food at the restaurant, where they serve breakfast everyday, the sunset view, the nice beach at the hotel. The beach starts with some rocks, if you keep walking a bit, there are fewer and fewer rocks and more sand, making it more pleasant to swim.

Staying at Jungle Hill Bungalows, we mostly ate at the restaurant there. Additionally, we can recommend Sunrise Bistro and Tiangrai, which are both walking distance from the accommodation. The closest mini market is this one; this one is a bit farther but also walking distance and very nice.

Koh Yao

Koh Yao are, in fact, two islands. The northern island is Koh Yao Noi and the southern one is Koh Yao Yai, which is where we stayed. Koh Yao Yai is a bit smaller than Koh Lanta but much larger than Koh Jum and Koh Ngai. For us, Koh Yao Yai was the last of many visited islands and we spent most time at the resort pool and beach – both were amazing.

Accommodation

We stayed at Blue Bay Resort, which is a large resort on the west of Koh Yao Yai. What is special about it are its insane pools that connect all rooms in one group (dozens of rooms each). In fact, they are so large that there was a transparent kayak inside the pool that could be used to go from one end to the other. Definitely a first for us to kayak inside a pool! All rooms have direct pool access. The beach is also right at the hotel with nice, fine sand and great views. There is also a small playroom for kids with AC. The resort itself is quite large and supposedly has 5 stars but is not super fancy otherwise. It was a bit more expensive than our average stays but we got a good offer because it was already end of the main tourist season.

Because the resort’s restaurant was rather pricy and nothing special food-wise, we mostly ate at Happy Sure Restaurant. They have good and affordable food. Most other restaurants were already closed since the main season was over. Laundry was more expensive on Koh Yao Yai than usually (around 80 Bhat instead of 40 Bhat per kilo). We just washed what was absolutely necessary and went for the laundry service at the nearby mini market.

Day Trips by Boat

There are dozens of boat companies offering many different trips to small islands or snorkeling spots in the Andaman Sea. We always compared different agencies (particularly their Google ratings), talked to other tourists and ultimately did three different day trips by speedboat, which we can all recommend. When booking the tours, it is good to call or message via WhatsApp and to negotiate a good price. Upon request the companies organized transfer with a minivan instead of an open pick up truck.

We took two full day boat trips from Koh Lanta both with Tin Adventure Sea Tour:

• Trip to Koh Haa and Koh Rok: This was our favorite trip in terms of snorkeling
• 4 island tour to Koh Mook, Koh Kradan, Koh Chuak, and Koh Ngai: During this trip, we discovered Koh Ngai and decided to return for multiple nights. Koh Kradan also has beautiful beaches but was more overcrowded. At Koh Mook, you can swim through an 80m (very dark) tunnel into the Emerald Cave. Snorkeling at Koh Chuak was spectacular. Note that there are different 4 islands tours, e.g., starting from Krabi and going to other islands.

We booked another full day speedboat trip starting from Krabi with Sea Eagle Tour Krabi:

• Trip to Hong Islands: Hong Islands are a group of beautiful, small and uninhabitated islands. The beaches and water there are wonderful and there is a nice viewpoint that is worth checking out. The stairs up to the viewpoint are well maintained and easy to climb with flip flops.

The Gulf of Thailand (Southeast)

We also visited the Gulf of Thailand for two weeks, staying on Koh Samui and Koh Tao. Due to limited time, we decided to skip Koh Pha Ngan, which is mostly famous for its full moon parties. We arrived by plane at Koh Samui airport and only stayed a few days on Koh Samui before and after visiting Koh Tao. While Koh Samui was nice and convenient thanks to its large size, airport, and Grab, we liked Koh Tao a lot more.

Koh Samui

Koh Samui is the largest island in the Gulf of Thailand. It has its own airport and Grab, which was very convenient. There is a no-Grab-zone around the airport and ferry terminal, but it is small enough to simply walk out of the zone and still take a Grab. Koh Samui has a lot to offer but due to its large size did not feel like a “real island”, compared to the other islands we visited. It also felt more touristy than most islands. To us, it was a good stop over for visiting Koh Tao.

Accommodation

We stayed at two different hotels, one before and one after visiting Koh Tao. We can recommend both.

• 4U Resort at Lamai Beach: Small resort at a very nice beach. Our first room was horrible (smelly, broken AC, …), but they changed it to a much nicer and larger room without fee. There is a pool and a restaurant at the beach. There is even a playroom for kids with AC. Close to the hotel is a small but nice viewpoint and, a bit farther but still walking distance, a red temple.
• Pico Samui is a lovely small resort, conveniently located at Bo Phut beach between the ferry terminal (Pralarn Pier) and the airport. The hotel has nice rooms, a small pool, a restaurant overlooking the beach, and nice beach access. There are lots of toys for kids, too.
  From Pico Samui, Fisherman’s village is a nice destination in walking distance (around 30min along the beach). If you take a Grab, you can also quickly reach a large, golden Buddha statute.

Koh Tao

Koh Tao is known for its sea life and is ideal for snorkeling or diving. Indeed, we saw sea turtles and reef sharks there. These sharks are supposedly not dangerous for adults. Koh Tao is one of our top 3 favorite islands in Thailand, together with Koh Ngai and Koh Jum (in the Andaman Sea). From all islands we visited, it is also the most expensive one (hotels, taxis, food).

Accommodation

We stayed at Jamahkiri Resort, which is ideal for snorkeling because it has direct access to Shark Bay, where we spotted sea turtles almost daily. We also spotted two sharks, but they were much harder to find. Sharks are best spotted early in the morning (around 7am) and turtles in the afternoon.

The resort was our most expensive but also most luxurious stay in Thailand. The view from the room and the restaurants are breathtaking, the breakfast is amazing, the pool is great, too. Since the hotel is on a hill, it has many stairs and requires some basic fitness to walk between the reception at the top to the rooms towards the bottom.

The only real downside of the hotel is that there is no mini market and barely any restaurants around. Buying water from the hotel restaurant was ridiculously expensive. Luckily, we found the Eagle view restaurant, which is right next to the resort and has great and affordable food and bottled water with an amazing rooftop terrace. There are also free transfers between the hotel and the pier with more restaurants and shops there.

Activities

• Snorkeling at Shark Bay from the Jamahkiri Resort (if you stay there)
• Find and watch baby sharks at Ao Leuk beach. There is a small entry fee for the beach, but the beach is nice and shallow. There are lots of small, baby sharks (maybe half a meter long and apparently not dangerous). They are much easier to spot there than in Shark Bay (despite its name).
• Take a drink and watch the sunset at the Secret Bar. It is crowded but spectacular.
• Climb the John-Suwan viewpoint. The final climb is challenging, but the view over the islands and the different bays is amazing.
• Long-tail boat trip to Nang Yuan Island: The small, neighboring island is known for its picturesque beach connecting two hills. It is quite crowded with tourists, but the view from the viewpoint is great. Note that you cannot bring any plastic bottles or flippers onto the island as a means to protect the sea life. They sell water in glass bottles on the island for a fair price (even up at the viewpoint).

For getting around, we either used the free hotel shuttle or Mr. Bear Taxi (contact via WhatsApp).

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We hope you found some inspiration from our Thailand travel itinerary and can use it to prepare your own visit to Thailand. Also check out our blog post on general travel tips for visiting Thailand with a baby or child. Even if you are traveling without children, many of the tips may be useful.