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.
FromUS$300per person, twin share — three nights in Bangkok and two in Chiang Mai with breakfast, plus two guided days. Budget separately for flights, the Bangkok–Chiang Mai hop, temple admissions and most meals. Compare the three hotel tiers
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
Tell us your dates and a hotel tier → we confirm both hotels within 24 hours → a deposit holds them → vouchers by email before you fly. Departs any day, but a Saturday or Sunday start puts you in Chiang Mai for the walking street.
The trip at a glance
Bangkok
Days 1–3 · the river city
01
Bangkok
Show 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
Bangkok
Show 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
Bangkok
Show 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, an hour 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 pp100km west, and the 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. Go at seven or not at all — by ten it is only tour boats photographing each other.
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. Ninety minutes north. The Buddha head grown into a fig tree is here.
Chatuchak weekend marketFree to enterFifteen thousand stalls, weekends only. Go early and take water.
We can book any of these with your tour. Tell us which you want when you confirm and the tickets travel with your documents.
Chiang Mai
Days 4–6 · the Lanna north
04
Chiang Mai
Show 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 will book it at cost if you ask.
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
Chiang Mai
Show route
Kanta Elephant Sanctuary GUIDED
Collected from your hotel and driven up to Mae Taeng, about 90 minutes north through the hills.
No riding. Kanta 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
Show 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 — makers rather than importers, and the best market in the north.
We can book any of these with your tour. Tell us which you want when you confirm and the tickets travel with your documents.
Your Hotels
Three nights in Bangkok and two in Chiang Mai, all with breakfast. Bangkok rates below are for Sukhumvit at the Comfort tier — on the BTS, which matters more than any other feature of a Bangkok hotel — and for the riverside at Deluxe and Luxury. Chiang Mai is inside or beside the Old City throughout. Every property is independently rated 8.0 or better by recent guests.
Comfort · 3★ both cities
Sukhumvit on the BTS, and central Chiang MaiA 3-star on Sukhumvit within a short walk of a BTS station, and a central 3-star in Chiang Mai. Being on the BTS matters more than any other feature of a Bangkok hotel.
Deluxe · 5★ riverside / heritage
Riverside Bangkok, and a Lanna heritage boutiqueA 5-star on the Chao Phraya with a river view and a pool, then a Lanna heritage boutique inside the Chiang Mai moat — teak, courtyards and a salt-water pool. Rated 9.0 and above.
Luxury · landmark
The riverside names everyone knowsThe Bangkok riverside names everyone knows, and the best of the Chiang Mai Old Town heritage houses. This tier stretches further in the north than it does in Bangkok.
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.
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.
Tour Price
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 tier
Per person, twin share
Single supplement
Comfort — 3★ both cities, twin share
from US$300
+US$165
Deluxe — 5★ riverside & heritage, twin share
from US$510
+US$320
Luxury — landmark, twin share
from US$640
+US$420
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 — see the note · airport transfers · temple admissions, and the Grand Palace is the big one at 500 baht · most meals · travel insurance · tips · optional day trips on your 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.
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.
Budget separately for:the Bangkok–Chiang Mai flight, from about US$30 one way — excluded on purpose, and we will book it at cost · temple admissions, the Grand Palace at 500 baht being the largest · airport transfers at both ends · most meals, though street food runs 50–100 baht a dish · anything you choose on the free day · international flights and travel insurance.
Start your booking
Tell us who you are and when you want to go.
We’ll reply within a business day with the price and what’s available.
A deposit holds it, and comes back in full if we can’t get your dates.
✓
That is with us
If you do not hear from us, email
info@dltravel.net and we will pick it up.