Flexi Tour — Departs Any Day

Thailand — Bangkok & Chiang Mai

Three nights in the loudest city in Southeast Asia, then two in the quietest old town in the north. Gilded temples on the river, then teak, mountains and elephants. Two cities, one short hop between them, and some of the best value in Asia.
From US$300 per person, twin share — three nights in Bangkok and two in Chiang Mai with breakfast, plus a guided day in Bangkok and a guided morning with elephants. Budget separately for flights, the Bangkok–Chiang Mai hop, temple admissions and most meals. Compare the three hotel tiers
Travel DatesAny day you choose · year-round

Duration6 Days / 5 Nights
DestinationsBangkok · Chiang Mai
Arrival
Fly into Suvarnabhumi (BKK) or Don Mueang (DMK) — one of the best-connected airports on earth, and cheap to reach from almost anywhere in Asia or Australia. Depart from Chiang Mai (CNX), which usually connects back through Bangkok. Tell us your departure city and we will price the flights with the tour.
Confirmation
Departs any day. For the Sunday Walking Street in Chiang Mai, start on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, and you are in the north when it runs. How the booking works is under Hotels & price. Before we confirm we check your dates against anything the itinerary is built round — museums, markets and monuments keep weekly closing days, and we would rather move a day than spend one at a locked gate.

The trip at a glance

Bangkok

Days 1–3 · the river city
01
Arrival
Pin this route

Arrive Bangkok AT LEISURE

  • Into Bangkok. From Suvarnabhumi the Airport Rail Link runs to Phaya Thai in 26 minutes for 45 baht, which beats sitting in traffic for an hour.
  • Get onto the Chao Phraya in the late afternoon — the orange-flag express boat costs about 16 baht and is the best value in the city.
  • Eat from a street cart. Bangkok is one of the few cities where the cheapest food is also the best.
  • Overnight in Bangkok.
02
Temples
Pin this route

Guided Bangkok — palace and temples GUIDED

  • The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, the royal compound since 1782, holding the Emerald Buddha carved from a single jade block.
  • Dress code is enforced at the gate, not politely: shoulders and knees covered, for men and women both. Sarongs can be hired outside, but bring your own and save the queue.
  • Wat Pho next — the 46-metre gold-leafed Reclining Buddha, with mother-of-pearl inlaid into the soles of its feet.
  • Across the water to Wat Arun, its 70-metre spire covered in broken Chinese porcelain that was once ships' ballast.
  • This tour is a meet-up, not a hotel pick-up — unusual for us, and worth saying plainly. The meeting point is on the BTS or the river boat line and we send directions with your voucher.
  • Temple admissions are extra, and the Grand Palace is 500 baht — the single largest ticket of the trip.
  • Overnight in Bangkok.

In your price today — with your guide

  • Bangkok landmarks day — Grand Palace and Wat Pho
03
Free day
Pin this route

Bangkok — free day AT LEISURE

  • Nothing is scheduled. Three good options, in rough order of effort:
  • Damnoen Saduak floating market, 100km west — go at seven or not at all, because by ten it is only tour boats photographing each other.
  • Ayutthaya, the capital the Burmese destroyed in 1767, ninety minutes north by train for almost nothing. The Buddha head grown into a fig tree is here.
  • Chatuchak if it is a weekend — fifteen thousand stalls, and you will not see them all.
  • Or a massage, a mall and an afternoon out of the heat, which is a perfectly good use of Bangkok.
  • Overnight in Bangkok.

Add to this day — approximate gate prices

  • Damnoen Saduak floating marketFree to enter · boat ฿400 ppThe market itself costs nothing — you pay for the boat. A shared boat is about ฿400 a head; a whole one is around ฿2,000 and takes six.
  • Ayutthaya by train฿15–165 each wayGenuinely that cheap: ฿15 in third class on an ordinary train, ฿45 on a rapid, ฿165 for an air-conditioned express, about ninety minutes each way.
  • Chatuchak weekend marketFree to enterWeekends only. Go early and take water.

Or let us book it — per person, in US dollars

Evening

Bangkok after dark, by tuk-tuk

The flower market, Chinatown and temples lit for the night, with dinner on the way.

About 4 hours · evening · meet-up in the city

Dinner and tastings included

From US$39 per person

Ask us to add this
On the water

Dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya

An evening on the river past Wat Arun and the Grand Palace lit up, with a buffet dinner on board.

About 2 hours · evening · from the riverside

Buffet dinner included

From US$49 per person

Ask us to add this
Day trip

Floating market and the railway market, with a guide

A minibus out, the local train into Maeklong, a long-tail boat to Damnoen Saduak, lunch, and back by mid-afternoon.

Most of a day · morning start · pickup offered

Lunch included

From US$25 per person

Ask us to add this
Day trip

Ayutthaya in a small group

A full day to the old capital in a small group, lunch included, pickup from central hotels.

Full day · small group · hotel pickup

Lunch included

From US$31 per person

Ask us to add this

Tell us which you want when you confirm. Gate tickets travel with your documents; anything we book goes into your price at the figure shown, and the voucher comes from us. Prices as at 10 September 2026.

Chiang Mai

Days 4–6 · the Lanna north
04
By air
Pin this route

Bangkok → Chiang Mai AT LEISURE

  • The hop north takes about 70 minutes. This flight is not included — from roughly US$30 one way booked ahead, and we can book it for you.
  • Into Chiang Mai, capital of the Lanna kingdom since 1296 and still sitting inside its square moat.
  • The Old City on foot — more than thirty temples in a single square kilometre, and Wat Chedi Luang's brick stupa, which lost its top to a 1545 earthquake and was left that way.
  • Late afternoon, a red songthaew up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep: 306 steps flanked by naga serpents, a gold stupa at the top, and the whole city below.
  • Overnight in Chiang Mai.
05
Elephants
Pin this route

Elephant sanctuary at Mae Taeng GUIDED

  • Collected from your hotel and driven up to Mae Taeng, about 90 minutes north through the hills.
  • No riding. The sanctuary we use is independently assessed for elephant welfare — you feed them, walk with them, and let them do what they were going to do anyway. If a place offers rides or painting shows, it is not a sanctuary.
  • Lunch is included, then back to Chiang Mai by mid-afternoon.
  • Evening at the Night Bazaar on Chang Klan Road, which runs every night rather than only at weekends.
  • Overnight in Chiang Mai.

In your price today — with your guide

  • Elephant sanctuary, half day
06
Departure
Pin this route

Chiang Mai → onward AT LEISURE

  • If it is a Sunday, the Sunday Walking Street takes over Ratchadamnoen Road from the afternoon — makers rather than importers, and the best market in the north.
  • Otherwise a slow breakfast, a last wat, and coffee. Chiang Mai roasts its own, up in the hills, and takes it seriously.
  • Chiang Mai airport is fifteen minutes from the Old City — the easiest departure in Thailand.

Add to this day — approximate gate prices

  • Sunday Walking StreetFreeOnly if your last day is a Sunday; it takes over Ratchadamnoen Road from mid-afternoon.

We can book any of these with your tour. Tell us which you want when you confirm and the tickets travel with your documents.

Restaurants worth trying

Breakfast is in the price. Every other meal is yours to choose, so here is where we would eat. We do not arrange any of these and you would pay for them yourself. They are simply places we rate, near where the trip goes. Tick any you like and they appear on the map.

    Suggested, not included. Opening hours and prices are theirs, not ours — and a place that is busy at eight will be busy whether or not you booked through us.

    Hotels & price

    Three nights in Bangkok and two in Chiang Mai, all with breakfast. Every property is independently rated 8.0 or better by recent guests.

    Comfort · 3★

    3-star hotel in each city

    from US$300 per person · single supplement +US$165

    You will know exactly where you are staying before you pay a balance. We name the property in your confirmation, in writing, as soon as the room is held — and if it is ever unavailable for your dates we substitute at the same tier or better, never below it.

    All prices are per person, twin share, in US dollars — the figure below is what you pay us. The tiers differ by hotel only; the touring is identical on all three. These are website estimates — your written quote is confirmed against live availability for your actual dates.

    Hotel tierPer person, twin shareSingle supplement
    Comfort — 3★, twin sharefrom US$300+US$165
    Deluxe — 4★, twin sharefrom US$510+US$320
    Luxury — 4–5★, twin sharefrom US$640+US$420
    Seasonal pricing. September is green season and these rates come from it — warm, wet in the afternoon, and the cheapest hotel rates of the year. November to February is the high season in both cities and rates rise sharply; Chiang Mai is at its best then, cool and clear. Avoid Songkran in mid-April unless you actively want the water fight, and avoid February and March in Chiang Mai, when agricultural burning makes the air genuinely bad.
    Included
    3 nights in Bangkok with breakfast · 2 nights in Chiang Mai with breakfast · the guided Bangkok landmarks day — Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun with a licensed guide · the half-day ethical elephant sanctuary at Mae Taeng, with round-trip hotel pick-up, food for the elephants and lunch
    Not included
    International flights · the Bangkok–Chiang Mai flight, which we exclude deliberately — from about US$30 one way, and we can book it for you · airport transfers at both ends · temple admissions, the Grand Palace at 500 baht being the largest · most meals, though street food runs 50–100 baht a dish · travel insurance · tips · anything you choose on the free day
    How the flexi tour works. Choose any departure date and a hotel tier → we confirm availability and the exact price within 24 hours → pay a deposit to hold it → your final documents and vouchers arrive by email a week before you fly. There is no group to join and no fixed departure day.

    Start your booking

    Tell us who you are and when you want to go. We’ll reply within 24 hours with the price and what’s available. A deposit holds it, and comes back in full if we can’t get your dates.

    Prices are per person, twin share. One person to a room costs the single supplement shown above. Under 2s normally travel free — tell us in the box below.

    How should we reply?

    •
    Rate
    Rated
    Nearby
    Room
    Click to open the listing →