kywood1955

We're heading to Thailand in the fall. Will spend a few days in Bangkok. But are wanting your input about another city. Chiang Mai? Chaing Rai? Others? We're not interested in beaches. Interested in culture, some quiet after Bangkok, wats, good food (not necessarily expensive), nature, some hiking or good walks thru the forests, perhaps markets, perhaps elephant rides, perhaps hilltribe ventures. Thanks for any/all information and tips.

rhkkmk

you have listed your interests but you do not say whether you wish to stay in thailand or not for the second leg of your trip??? if not i would suggest two alternatives: siem reap, cambodia otherwise called angkor wat or myanmar formerly known as burma....both are a one hour plane ride from bkk.

within the country chiang mai might meet the bill for several of the items you have listed....i personally do not find it all that interesting, but most people find the difference from bkk striking and the weather is a bit cooler....it is very reasonable as bkk can be if you choose carefully...

you do not say how long you will be in bkk but i can find more than enough to do there for 2 weeks....there is no walking in forests however...

the food in bkk is about as good as it gets in asia or the world for that matter...it is exceptional as is the shopping...there are tons of wats to visit, some private museums like jim thompson and prasart as well as grand palaces like suan packard and V-mark teak palace...

Kathie

Options that would be a good contrast to Bangkok:

The Golden Triangle area of Thailand in the far north (the Anantara there is fabulous!)

Siem Reap (the temples at Angkor) an unforgttable trip

Luang Prabang, Laos, a lovely, slow moving town filled with French colonidal architecture and working wats.

There are plenty of reports to read on all of these if you do a search on this board.

glorialf

Di northern Thailand. Three days in Chiang Mai with another 3 days in the Chaing Rai area.

JamesA

Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Roi Et, Khon Kaen for North and Northeast areas, Sukothai in Central. Kanchanaburi near Bangkok. Sam Roi Yot National Park south of Bangkok.

LanaB

You didn't say how long you have but we spent 8 nights in the north this January and loved it. We flew from Bangkok to Chiang Rai (Air Asia) and toured the Golden Triangle area and even stayed in a hilltribe village one night. Our guide there was Nin @ [email protected]. He was so great we spent three days with him. Next we travelled to Pai and enjoyed a laid back place with great food and stayed "Belle VIlla". We had the best massages of our three weeks at Mr. Jan's. Then we went to Chiang Mai for 3 nights at the Tamarind Village. We would have loved to travel to Mae Hong Son as we heard great things about the area. Oh well next time. So enjoy there's so much to see and do. We loved the food in the north and it's very cheap especially in the markets.