What this trip is really like
Three nights in each place is the pace we like: time on Phuket for Phi Phi and Old Town, a slower Gulf chapter in Hua Hin with a waterfall trek, and Bangkok's canals and Chinatown to finish.
Phuket comes first, three nights that include the Phuket Fantasea night show and a full day on the water around the Phi Phi Islands. A domestic flight then carries you to Bangkok, from where the road leads on to Hua Hin, and three nights there are built around a trek to Pa-La-U Waterfall. Bangkok closes the trip with three final nights: temples, a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya and a day out at Safari World.
Rather than travelling overland the whole way, one Phuket–Bangkok flight gets you to the Andaman coast quickly, which suits a trip built specifically around Phuket’s islands and beaches rather than nightlife. Three even three-night stays keep the pace settled, with a single travel day between each base.
Trip highlights
- An evening at Phuket Fantasea, with dinner
- A full day by big boat around the Phi Phi Islands, including Maya Beach and Viking Cave, with lunch
- A half-day loop through Phuket, along the Patong, Karon and Kata beach roads and on to Wat Chalong
- A half-day around Hua Hin and Cha-am, stopping at Maruekhathaiyawan Palace and Khao Takiab
- A full day of trekking to Pa-La-U Waterfall inside Kaeng Krachan National Park
- An evening dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya, paired with a full day at Bangkok's Safari World and Marine Park
The trip, day by day
Day 1 — Land in Phuket, evening show at Fantasea
Once you land at Phuket International Airport and reach your hotel, the evening belongs to Phuket Fantasea, a sprawling theme park built around scenes from Thai folklore. Beyond the stage show, with its mix of theatrical effects and elephants, the site holds a carnival village and a buffet hall that seats close to four thousand people, so the trip opens on a lively note.
Day 2 — Phi Phi by boat, lunch on the water
From Rassada Pier, the boat crosses to Phi Phi Don, the bigger of the two islands, before circling Phi Phi Lay to take in Loh Samah Bay, Pileh Bay and Viking Cave. On Phi Phi Lay sits Maya Beach, made famous by the film The Beach, still one of the archipelago's most photographed corners.
Lunch, a buffet served either on the boat or on the islands themselves, comes before free time on the sand, with the group heading back to Phuket as afternoon turns to evening. Snorkellers should note that national park entry fees are charged on top of the tour price.
Day 3 — Phuket's beaches and Wat Chalong, Old Town at dusk
From the beach roads of Patong, Karon and Kata to the old shophouse streets of Phuket Town, this tour works through the island's most familiar sights, its Sino-Portuguese architecture a legacy of the trading-port era. Karon Viewpoint, overlooking three beaches at once, and Wat Chalong temple both feature, along with a stop at a cashew nut factory for a taste of the local snack.
Day 4 — Fly to Bangkok, drive down to Hua Hin
Checkout is followed by a flight from Phuket to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, then roughly three hours on the road to reach Hua Hin. It is the trip's one internal flight, marking the switch from Andaman beaches to the calmer Gulf coast, and the remaining hours of the day are left open.
Day 5 — Hua Hin and Cha-am at an easy pace
First stop heading north is Maruekhathaiyawan Palace, a teakwood residence known as the 'Palace of Love and Hope', raised for King Rama VI in 1924 and open for a walk through its restored rooms. On the way back into town, the route pauses at Khao Takiab, or Monkey Mountain, where a hillside monastery shares its slopes with troops of wild macaques, before ending at the ornate old pavilion of Hua Hin Railway Station.
Day 6 — Pa-La-U waterfall trek in Kaeng Krachan
West of Hua Hin by around 60 km, Kaeng Krachan National Park climbs toward the hills on the Myanmar border, and within it Pa-La-U Waterfall falls across sixteen tiers of forest believed to be more than a thousand years old. Climbing through the rainforest to the fourth cascade, walkers reach a pool where wild carp gather, monkey calls and birdsong drifting through the trees, before lunch at a nearby restaurant and the return drive to Hua Hin.
Day 7 — Up to Bangkok, dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya
Checkout brings a road transfer from Hua Hin into Bangkok, with enough time to settle in before the Chao Phraya Dinner Cruise begins that evening. Boarding near River City Pier around six in the evening, the boat drifts past the illuminated skyline and glimpses of riverside life while a buffet of Thai and international dishes is served, an easy way to arrive in the capital after a day on the road.
Day 8 — Safari World and Marine Park
An eight o'clock pickup starts the day at Safari World, an open-air zoo and leisure park spread across roughly 170 acres in two parts. Vehicles carry visitors through the Safari Park section, past zebra, giraffe, lions, tigers and bears roaming in open, savannah-like enclosures, while the Marine Park side stages dolphin and sea lion shows — a programme that tends to work well with children along. Expect to be back at the hotel by around five in the afternoon.
Day 9 — To Suvarnabhumi for your flight
A transfer from your Bangkok hotel to Suvarnabhumi Airport brings the Phuket, Hua Hin and Bangkok route to a close, timed to leave plenty of margin before your flight out. Tell us when you enquire if you would rather add nights in Bangkok or extend the trip elsewhere in Thailand.
What's included
- Your rooms, twin or double with breakfast, in the hotel grade you pick with us — family-run guesthouses where they exist, small hotels elsewhere
- Every meal the day-by-day marks as included; we lean towards places locals eat rather than hotel restaurants
- A guide from the region who speaks English and grew up with the places on the route
- Your own air-conditioned car or minivan with driver for every transfer and touring day
- Entrance fees to every site named in the itinerary
- The boats, cruises and activities written into the plan
- Government taxes and service charges — the quote we send is the amount you pay
Not included
- Flights and trains, international or domestic — we quote these separately so you can see the real cost
- Visa fees and visa arrangements
- Travel insurance, which we ask every guest to carry
- Drinks, laundry, phone calls and anything else personal
- Early check-in, late check-out and room upgrades
- Tips for your guide and driver — customary here, at your discretion
- Extra sightseeing or vehicle use beyond the written plan
- Costs caused by weather, road closures or other events outside anyone's control, settled on the spot
- Bank transfer charges
Book this trip
- Days
- 10 days / 9 nights
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