5 days: Bangkok & Chiang Mai
 

Hello! My family and I will be visiting Thailand for the first time this coming January. We are so excited. We will only be staying for five days.

5 days is definitely not enough time but I'd like to make the most of our trip as much as possible. Our itinerary for our short trip looks somewhat like this

02 Jan: Bangkok
03 Jan: Bangkok
04 Jan: Chiang Mai
05 Jan: Chiang Mai
06 Jan: Bangkok

We're hoping to take an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on the evening of January 3rd and arrive in Chiang Mai early morning January 4th. We'd leave Chiang Mai on January 6th in the morning and arrive late evening in Bangkok for our 11pm flight.

We're really interested in seeing more of the cultural sites (temples, floating market, etc) and elephants and tigers. We're not that into shopping but would probably want to see the city at night.

Is this itinerary doable?
Are there overnight trains to and from Chiang Mai?


Would appreciate any insight and suggestions!!!

Thanks,
Elisa

Wow, you don't say where you are coming from, but five days is very little time. I would personally either stick to one city, or cut out the night train and fly if you absolutely want to see both cities.
Elephant Nature Park and another refuge near Chiang Mai that Kathie on this forum frequently suggests, would both be good choices to see elephants that are not exploited or mis-treated. I don't know of any spots to see tigers where they are treated humanely.

I would choose one city. Bangkok has enough cultural sites to keep you busy and interested for weeks. As Cattail says, if you must see both cities fly between them - you are wasting a large proportion of your time on the train. Flights are very inexpensive, especially on Air Asia.

If interacting with elephants is a must, then plan for either the Elephant Nature Park or the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, both outside of Chiang Mai. Forget seeing tigers. WHile there are a couple of places where you can see tigers, the poor tigers are not well-treated.

Thailand is magical - I expect you will return.

its doable for sure, but imo i would stick to bkk only, esp. if you intend to visit the floating market which can take a whole day in itself.

bag the train and fly if you must go to CM..

If you are flying in from North America you will be jet lagged that first day and possibly the 2nd. Just do Bangkok.
Stay at one of the river hotels.

Hi
Chiang Mai for 2 days it's very short also you go by train ,
yes it can doable but you will not have much time for sightseeing around town.
If you would love to visit Chiang Mai , I would advice you to leave Bangkok from the first day,Otherwise you will need to fly it's better way.
Visiting Chiang Mai: Maesa Elephant Camp,Phra Sing Temple,Chedi Luang Temple,Chedi Chet Yot Temple, Chiang Mai Zoo and Night safari, Doi Suthep,Night plaza,these places it in around town.
In Bangkok you can stay near Siam center , it would be easy for you to take BTS(skytrain),to Chao phraya river and to the Airport.

Do note that the train is never on time, and usually hours late arriving at its final destination. Looking at the current train schedule, I would bet that you'll miss your 11 pm flight if you take the train back from Chiang Mai on the day. The earliest scheduled arrival from Chiang Mai is 8:30, and I believe that train rarely arrives before 10:00. Even if the train arrives on time, you're cutting it very close.

As others have said, you're not really giving yourself enough time to see either city.

I love train travel and have travelled the route between BKK and CM and vv several times. The overnight route to CM is the best option seeing dawn rise as you arrive in the northern hills is a great way to start the day and, you do save on one nights accommodation ! However, michaelbkk's comment re punctuality is spot on. We arrive some 3 hours late into Bkk last December (but, to be fair, that was just after the terrible flooding).

As other have said, you don't really have enough time, to do justice to both cities and, much as I love Chiang Mai, I have to agree that your time would be better spent iin Bangkok where 5 days is food amount of time to see the major sights and enjoy the vibe of the place. You could maybe include a side day trip to Kanchanaburi or Ayuthayya for a bit of variety. The latter can easily be done by train or even by boat.

Thank you all so much for the input! We've decided to just stay in Bangkok for the five days.

@MichaelBKK, @crellston: thanks for pointing that out. I didn't consider that at all and it's quite important. We'll check out Kanchanaburi and Auythayya.

Thanks everyone! Now Bangkok planning starts :)

neither of the places you mention above are woth taking from the short time you are in bkk, imo

Echo rhkkmk, question doing the day trips given your short time in BKK. If you must, pick just one.