marcast

Hello everyone!

Itinerary help needed for my first quick trip to Singapore and Thailand. I am traveling towards the end of November thru beginning of December with my husband and 17 year old son. We are flying into Singapore and flying out of Bangkok. I am not on a tight budget but not planning on breaking the bank either. This is a very general itinerary so far.

We love cultural and nature experiences, food, arquitecture and a good thai massage a few evenings. A must- elephant sanctuary, 1 muay thai lesson, and limestone rock formations at the beach. We must be in Chiang Mai for the latern festival on day 10, would love to go to Ayuttaya, but not sure if possible.

This is what I have planned so far: (flexible with better suggestions)

1- Arrive Singapore at 5:15pm

2- Sightseeing around city, ending my evening with gardens by the bay

3- Flight to beach. I heard Koh Samui is the best, but I read that November is rainy season on that side. Alternative is Phuket? Railay Beach? Krabi? Phang Nga Bay?

4- Beach: relax this day at hotel

5- Beach: Would love to tour Phi Phi Islands, James Bond, Hong Islands.

6- Beach: Kayaking/Snorkeling tour

7- Beach- Fly to Chiang Rai.

8- Chiang Rai- Elephant Sanctuary

9- Chiang Rai- Visit White and Blue temple and drive to Chiang Mai

10- Chiang Mai- Lantern Festival. Pickup at 3:30pm

11- Chiang Mai- Sightseeing and Temples

12- Fly to Bangkok. Evening tuk tuk food tour. Tour Recommendation?

13- Bangkok. Full day tour of highlights of city. Are the floating markets worth it? I know this is not enough time, but I can’t move the date due to the lantern festival in CM.

14- Fly back home in the evening from Bangkok.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

Other questions:

Should I stay in CM and take a day trip to white temple in CR instead? I can arrive to Bangkok on day 11 instead.
Would the overnight train from CM to Bangkok be worth it as an experience? Also saves me a night of hotel and one less flight to take. Heard there’s a new train. Would only do first class.

Does Thailand offer luggage forwarding services? When visiting Japan, they offered everywhere and it was a great time saver!

crellston

A few random observations;

1. Your schedule is rushed. 5 locations in 13 days is a lot of moving around and a lot of time in transit.
2. November is the middle of the rainy season on the Gulf Coast so you wont see the best of weather in Koh Samui. I would head for somewhere on the Andaman Coast where the weather will be much better. Exactly where depends on what you are looking for in terms of resort etc. Personally, I would check out booking.com to find a hotel that suits in terms of price and facilities and work from there.
3. The Yi Peng festival is a great time to be in Chiang Mai. There are some nice places to stay in the Old Town but for greater luxury, the 5* places are out in the. countryside.
4. Chiang Rai is only a two hour drive from CM and so could be done as a day trip. I actual prefer Chiang Rai thous there is more to do in CM. Try to make it to CR on a Saturday night when the walking market is on. Way more interesting than the markets in CM which are frankly a bit tacky. The White Temple and Black House are very close so easily visited together.
5. The Elephant Sanctuary at the Anantara nr Chiang Rai is fine, ethical and well run; I would check out any others VERY carefully as many treat the elephants very badly and should be avoided. Do not visit any that allow tourists to ride the elephants, a very cruel practice.
6. Any hotel in Bangkok will organise a food or city tour. Which, with the amount of time you have is definitely the best option. It is easy to DIY but unless you know the city it can be a bit daunting. Make sure that any tour fully utilises the Chau Praya river as that is where many of the major sites are located. The Grand Palace , Wat Po (THE best place for massages in the city is at the massage school there), Wat Arun, Chinatown etc. Easy and fun to get to all of those places by river bus or river taxi. I doubt you will have time for May Thai but again, ask the hotel.
7. The floating markets you can reach from Bangkok in a reasonable time are not Wirth it IMO. Instead ask your guide to incorporate a boat ride around the klongs (canals) of Thonburi across the river from the Grand Palace.. No markets as such but a great glimpse into life on the other side of Bangkok.
8. We have taken the train from Bangkok to CM a couple of times. A nice experience but if going from the south it is not really a viable proposition.
9. For massages, the best place is Wat Po, mentioned above. I think they also have a school in Chiang Mai. Many will come to your hotel. Hotel massages tend to be the "Thai Massage Lite" rather than the real dea which is very strongl. I always opt for the two, rather than one hour massage.

Hope this helps.

marcast

Much appreciated crellston! I'll take your advice and skip the overnight in CR and take a day trip from CM. Less moving around.
Thank you for confirming the rainy season on the Gulf side. Scratch that unfortunately.
Will note the massage school.

From what I understood, Bangkok to CM is fine, but not the other way around?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

crellston

You are welcome mar cast.

"From what I understood, Bangkok to CM is fine, but not the other way around?" If you mean by train then, yes I agree. It is nice arriving through the hills to CM at dawn but coming into Bangkok at dawn or any other time for that matter is just like any other big city. If you like the idea of a train ride in Thailand (and it is quite good fun) then you could do a short ride from Huamlampong station to Ayuthaya . It is a quite short rise an the ruins there are worth seeing. Though you do have a lot to pack into your time in Bangkok as it is.

marcast

are there lockers or storage at the stations where we could leave our baggage?

I wonder if it would be best to just head north (SING-PHUKET-BKK-CM-BKK) vrs. what I prev. wrote. This way I can visit Attayaha from BKK, then take the train towards CM. Fly from CM to BKK a night before I leave. One less day in Phuket to add it to BKK?

wtm003

I have a similar itinerary starting in Singapore-CM-BKK-Phuket for early November. I've been debating a daytrip to Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai and now I'm convinced to go, so just need to research how to get there and back. Thank you for asking the questions marcast as I feel I'm already behind in my planning and another thank you to crellston for the advice which I'll also use.

marcast

Thanks wtm003! Hard decisions on such a quick trip. I've traveled a lot, but for some reason, I am very stuck with Thailand. I guess so many moving parts with transportation.
Krabi or Phuket? Daytrip to CR or stay a night? Don't want to feel tooo rushed.
Hope we end up with an amazing, well balanced itinerary.

contentmusician

marcast, your list looks impressive. I'd just recommend to spend more time in Chiang Mai - there are lots of interesting places around the town - one of them is Doi Suthep mountain with wonderful views and awesome temples on the top.

marcast

Hopefully not impressively exhausting! lol.
Trying to do my final tweaks to the itinerary.

scrb11

Did the OP go on this trip?

I'm doing a similar trip, fly into Bangkok, out of Singapore, at the very end of January, 4 nights each in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Singapore.

Been to Singapore, never to Thailand.

It's only a 2-hour drive from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai? Because Google Maps indicates that it's 4.5 hours each way. I see a lot of day tours but they appear to be all-day. There are also long day tours to Doi Inthanon, which appears to be closer to CM. Any feedback on which is better?

Trying to decide where to stay on Phuket. Was interested in doing a Phi Phi day tour but it sounds as if its a busy, rushed tour, on speedboats, which may not be comfortable on rough waters. Also a lot of these tours seem to be oriented for people to swim in the lagoons. I will be carrying photo gear so I would likely not swim. That's another reason I question going on these speedboats. There are ferry services but they only seem to have two departures a day and they take longer to cross.

Did the OP visit Phi Phi?

marcast

Hello scrb11,
I have not left yet, but will be soon! And you are right, Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai seems to be up to 3.5 hrs. one way. I also see many day tours. Must be exhausting, but I won't be driving, so I'll sleep on my way back I guess. I will let you know how it goes and give you my recommendations.