I'm looking for recommendations for companies who provide highlights tours (packaged or independent with guides) of Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Angkor, and possibly Luang Prabang.
We have limited time (7-10 days) before cruising north from Bangkok in Feb, 2011, so our dates are fixed. We are mainly interested in art, architecture, history, and natural beauty, and less so in shopping, cooking, and trekking.

My goodness - you have 7 - 10 days and you expect to visit four cities in three countries??? Clearly, you are new to Asia travel. Choose two locations. You do not need any kind of tour company. If you want a guide somewhere (most likely Angkor) you can hire one.

Travel in Asia can be slow. If you figure the time from checking out of a hotel in one location to checking in to the hotel in the next location, you've used up most of a day. If it was me (and it is not) I'd opt for Bangkok and Angkor. It takes a full three days just to see the major temples at Angkor. If you are really interested in art, architecture and history, you might want to spend all of your time at Angkor. But since you'll be going in and out of Bangkok, it makes sense to spend some time there. It has some amazing arts, architecture and history.

You'll want to prepare for Angkor. Get a copy of Dawn Rooney's book, Angkor: Cambodia's Wonderous Temples

You are welcome to take a look at our Angkor photos: www.marlandc.com (click on Angkor Wat) There are also zillions of Bangkok photos for you to get a flavor of the possibilities. Since you are interested in art, take a look at the photos of the Prasart Museum. Click on Bangkok 2005.

You are cruising north from Bangkok? To where?

From Bangkok to Ayudhaya?

Hanuman, that was the only thing I could think of, but I expect they are really headed on an ocean cruise.

North/South - irrelevant. Once they're on board, the only issue will be 'Where's the buffet?' lol lol

I think we should cut the O.P. some slack. On my last cruise it took me a week before I worked out which was the front of the boat and which was the back. I spent days lost in the corridors - and that, I discovered, was about all of the world my fellow cruisers were interested in.

So if zorgle wants to discover a bit about the world before their cruise, the least we can do is encourage them. The key word here is 'packaged'.

Yes, they don't NEED a package - but, then again, maybe they DO.

I'm wondering whether Abercrombie and Kent might be the right kind of company.

http://www.abercrombiekent.com/search.cfm?tdgf=7

Here's one trip, for example. Drop off the travel days and it kinda fits.

http://www.abercrombiekent.com/trave...erary&tid=4456

click around. Without any information about you, zorg, that's best I can do.

[Sorry everybody - I've had an unexpected attack of niceness. I'll be over it soon.]

way too much in this limited time... i could easily spend 7 days in bkk alone... angkor requires a min. of 3 full days

For the vast majority of package tourists, or independent tourists with a guide, Angkor Wat occupies a whole two nights and a day and a half of site-seeing. Often they knock it off in an afternoon, a night, a full day on site then a late afternoon flight out to BKK.

Whether that's good or bad, that's what they DO. That is all, I suspect, most of them want. Then they knock off BKK, then Chiang Mai in a similar time frame. Some people only have a week. In ten days they'll add in Hanoi or Luang Prabang.

That's what some people want. They want the convenience of an arranged tour: a lot of the attendant stress and transport hassles are removed and there is a nice guide at the airport to pick them up at the gate and deliver them. For this they pay a lot extra - sometimes they pay a lot less. O.K.

So, what advice should we give? Don't do it? See one thing impeccably and ignore the rest? Some people won't be back. So what is better - a glimpse of Angkor Wat or nothing at all?

The O.P. asked for suggestions for a packaged or independent [just as packaged] tour, not our group-think on how they SHOULD do it. Maybe they have never traveled and are fearful. As I was, once.

On my first 'proper' trip to S.E. Asia, I used Abercrombie and Kent, paid thru the nose and in 12 days covered Hanoi, Hue, Danang, Hoi An, Saigon, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Bangkok. I don't recall dying from exhaustion at the end of it - in fact, I came home filled with amazement.

I'd had my taster and kept coming back, and back and back for more.

So why can't we let the O.P. do that, if that's what they want, instead of imposing our attitudes? It can be seen as another form of political correctness; an Angkor-philia, a Bangkokracy, a Snobaluang Prabang.

What wonderful words. I'll have to lie down, lost in the thrill of them.

Can we attribute dogster's benevolence to the upcoming nuptials?

It's because merkxxx called me a bombastic narcissist.

And a couple of bottles of Singha beer.

One of the wonderful things about Fodors is that it's big enough for many approaches to travel, many destinations. When people ask for information and advice on Fodors, I expect they want the points of view of the travelers here. I gave the zorgles my take on this question and told them what I would do in their circumstances, noting that it is their trip, not mine.

My approach is to give info (info does always has a point of view) and let them make their own decision. I don't assume they will - or won't- want to travel the way I do. I don't assume they will die of exhaustion if they take a tour nor do I assume they only want a day and a half at Angkor. After all, they are interested in art and architecture.

So, dogster, while you are saying that you are being nice, if I were the zorgles, I would be insulted by the assumptions you make and that you were talking down to me rather than making your best recommendation (which would very likely be different than mine). If you best recommendation is Abercrombie & Kent that's fine. No need to defend your recommendation.

Marija, I think dogster's benevolence makes him grouchy... or maybe it is the upcoming nuptials.

Ah, dogster, let me respectfully suggest you lay off the Singha and go back to the Pouilly Fume.

Oh, well, I'll just return to my normal personality then. lol lol lol.

But you just know who will be bridesmaids...? I always think Thai popular fashion leads the day so I've arranged a couple of pink satin dresses with more frills and frou-frou than you both have ever seen in your life. I bought the tiaras just today. Well, I bought one for me, too, in case my wife is a man. You can never tell on the internet.

Or, as the clasic New Yorker cartoon says, "on the internet, no one can tell you're a dog." ;-)

Yes, it is a nearly month-long ocean cruise that visits Ko Samui, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, then off to China, Taiwan, Korea, Russia, and Japan. So you can see why I wanted to cram a lot into the pre-cruise land portion... it's a very long trip, and I still expect to tack on a bit of southern Japan at the end. So this is our "Grand Asia" tour and it's not clear that we will be back in the area for a long time. Since we've already done a tour to China and Tokyo, we wanted to concentrate on S E Asia, and it's a shame we might miss Hanoi/Halong Bay.

I did see the A&K tours and am not sure the dates would fit or whether I want to do Chiang Rai in my limited time.

So the basic question is whether we need a packaged tour at all. We always do all our own research and booking and get around on our own when we travel to western countries, but I was not sure if the asian scripts would make this more of a problem in Thailand and Indochina. All then I'd need would be some insights on what the good airlines are and where to book them, and how to find a good guide in each location.

What's an "O. P." and how pejorative is that?

Old Prune

OP = Original Poster

In this part of SE Asia, most people you have contact with will speak English.

If you can travel independently in Europe, you can travel independently in SE Asia.

As you decide which locations to include, get back to us and we can give you info on airlines and guides. Bangkok Air has an airline pass (Discovery Pass) that can save you a significant amount of money. It flies several sectors you are considering, most importantly, the expensive Bangkok-Siem Reap-Bangkok flights.

Does an Old Prune never sleep?!

Oh thank goodness! I was so afraid it might have meant "Old Phart"! I guess this being my F.O.P. (first O P), I'm learning something about how serious these chats are.