Southern Thailand Adventure
The south of Thailand is home to some of country’s most picturesque landscapes with an endless sea of emerald paddy fields, dense jungle, spiky limestone peaks and idyllic beaches. If you want to keep the travelling down to a minimum then you can happily spend two weeks combining this area with central Thailand around Bangkok. The itinerary allows for a wonderful mixture of activity and beach.
A wide range of different accommodation types are available and we can adapt any aspect of this itinerary to suit your family and travel dates.
Highlights
Bike ride through Bangkok
Help to care for rescued elephants
Swim in a waterfall
Overnight in a treehouse
Relax on a gorgeous beach
15 days from £1,875 pp
Plus international flights from £900 (direct)
A two-week holiday in the South of Thailand usually costs from £7,500 plus flights for a family of four.
Southern Thailand Adventure day-to-day itinerary
Day 1 Bangkok
Arrive in Bangkok where you will be met by a Stubborn Mule Travel representative and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to relax by the pool and recover from your jetlag.
Arrive in Bangkok where you will be met by a Stubborn Mule Travel representative and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to relax by the pool and recover from your jetlag.
Day 2 Bangkok
After breakfast, take a tuk tuk to the Grand Palace for a guided tour around this beautiful building and the temple of Wat Phra Kaew. The palace walls are covered with intricate and rather gruesome depictions of battle scenes from Buddhist mythology, which are fascinating. If the children need fuel there is also an excellent ice-cream shop.
Later visit Wat Pho, one of Thailand’s most important temples. The temple is home to a thriving massage school so we can arrange a family Thai massage. This is not a relaxing experience as your body is moved into awkward positions and pummeled with great force, but you do feel invigorated afterwards!
After a break for a typical Thai lunch, board a longtail boat to explore the ‘klongs’, Bangkok’s maze of canals and waterways. You’ll see parts of Thai traditional life which have disappeared from most of Bangkok, ending the day with a visit to Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn.
Day 3 Bangkok
This morning you will see a side of Bangkok that few visitors see, on a bike ride through the backstreets of Bangkok. Follow your guide along the narrow sois (residential alleyways) and canal-side trails, stopping at local markets and small temples along the way. We can arrange tagalong bikes or bike seats for younger children but if this does not appeal, we can replace this activity with a different activity.
The afternoon is free to relax or further explore by yourselves.
Day 4 Bangkok – Kanchanaburi
Rise early this morning to visit Samut Songkram, well known for its railway market. The station is in the middle of a huge local market and the vendors use the space between the rails for their trays of vegetables, fruit, and fish – it’s remarkable to watch the vendors quickly pack up their goods as the (very slow moving) local train arrives.
You will then continue northwest through endless rice paddies, until you reach Kanchanaburi town. In the afternoon board the train to Nam Tok over the infamous Burma Railway, constructed during the Second World War by prisoners of war. Later you will visit the War Cemetery, containing the graves of some of the POWs who perished during the construction of the bridge. There is also an excellent (very child-friendly) museum nearby which older children will find fascinating.
Day 5 Kanchanaburi
Today spend the day with elephants at Elephant’s World, a caring rescue centre where staff work for the good of the elephants, not vice versa! This is a sanctuary for sick, old, disabled, abused and rescued elephants, and is a place where they can live out the rest of their lives in comfort. The day programme includes the chance to prepare food for the elephants and feed them, as well as taking them down to the river where you can observe their behaviour in the water. This is a wonderful activity that is a real highlight for families.
Read More Day 6 Kanchanaburi This afternoon continue to Hellfire Pass, one of the most famous sections of the Thai-Burma Railway. Walk along the ‘Bamboo Path’, following the same route that the POWs took to work. This evening you will stay in a floating raft house, in a beautiful location on the river outside Kanchanaburi. Day 7 Kanchanaburi – Overnight train In the afternoon, return to Bangkok in time to board the overnight train to Surat Thani. You can either travel first class in private 2-person cabins or second class, in an open carriage with individual sleeper berths. If you prefer, you can also fly. Day 8 Surat Thani – Khao Sok National Park Overnight in a treehouse. Day 9 Khao Sok National Park In the afternoon take a short boat ride to a trailhead and trek through the jungle. This wilderness is home to 5% of the world’s species and boasts langur monkeys, gibbons, macaques, rare birds, butterflies and more. The trek can be tailored to the children, depending on how energetic you are all feeling. Day 10 Khao Sok – Beach Days 11-14, Beach Day 15 Beach
In the morning head to Erawan National Park, a picturesque series of falls that cascade down the mountainside. There is a path that climbs up beside the falls and you can stop off along the way to swim (though be aware that there are lots of small fish in the pools that will come and nibble at your feet!).
This morning you will enjoy a Thai cookery class so that you can learn to create some of your favourite dishes. The course starts with a visit to a local market where you will learn about the many ingredients used in Thai cuisine. You will then head to the kitchen and will learn how to cook three different dishes that have been handed down over generations, and are typical of the Kanchanaburi region. Next, take a seat in a riverside restaurant to enjoy the fruits of your hard work!
When you arrive in Surat Thani your guide will meet you off the train and will accompany you to Khao Sok National Park. The park is home to some of Southern Thailand’s loveliest scenery. Much of this area was flooded with the building of the Ratchaprapha Dam. This created a spectacular landscape of sheer limestone karst cliffs that soar out of the deep blue water of the lake and jungle clad hills which are home to a great variety of wildlife.
Today you have a full day excursion into the national park. You will take a longtail boat on the Ratchaprapha Lake to see the breath-taking limestone formations that fringe the lake. Stop for lunch at a floating bungalow and feast on freshly caught fish and southern Thai curries.
After breakfast it’s time to head to the beach. Depending on the time of year we will either suggest an east coast or a west coast beach. There are a wide variety of different hotels to suit every budget and we will advise accordingly.
Four full days to relax and enjoy the beach. Perhaps take a snorkelling trip and marvel at the colourful fish or hire bikes and meander along a quiet coastal trail before stopping in a local restaurant for a seafood barbeque. Or if that sounds a bit much like hard work, find a hammock and a palm tree and read a book!
Transfer to the local airport for your flight home (usually via Bangkok).
Call us and we will be happy to provide you with a free-of-charge no obligation itinerary and quotation designed for you.
01728 752751
Thailand in pictures
Why choose us?
- Unparalleled family travel experience
- Specialist knowledge across three continents
- Hand-picked local partners
- Every holiday is tailor-made for you
- 100% financial protection
- 24hr emergency contact number
100% Financial
Protection
We are members of the Travel Trust Association, a trade association of Travel Agents, Tour Operators and Travel Organisers that operate trust accounts in order to provide financial protection for the consumer. Membership number Q0176.
Our ATOL number is T7608.
