This tour is designed for first time Asia goers, but more specifically for a family traveling to Asia for the first time. Through experience we’ve determined how people imagine Asia and the kind of trip they enjoy on their first visit. As a group of family travelers, we’ve also determined a great daily pace for families traveling with children, and tours that are family friendly. By minimizing flights, maximizing day tours, and planning in time for naps or time to let the kids run around and get their wiggles out, you’ll see this tour may be just the right fit for your family’s first Asia adventure.
Fly into Bangkok and spend some time getting to know this amazing city before heading for the hills. Chiang Mai is the epitome of Thailand, a bustling city surrounded by beautiful countryside and interesting hill tribes. From Chiang Mai you’ll head to Cambodia, a poor, but fascinating country full of culture and amazing temples. See the famous Angkor Wat and other surrounding temples. After seeing the temples and enjoying Cambodian culture head back to Thailand and the island of Phuket. Enjoy seafood on the beach, relax in the pool, and go snorkeling, diving or canoeing in the beautiful Andaman Sea.
Day 1 Bangkok – Arrival
Arrive in Bangkok where you will be met by your guide and transferred to your hotel.
Meals Included: None
Overnight at Centre Point, Silom Hotel – 2Bedroom Apartment
Day 2 Bangkok – Public Transport Tour with Klong trip
You will be met by your guide at your hotel at 9am and set off on the Skytrain. Enjoy the elevated view of central Bangkok as you speed across town to the river where you will board a river express boat to the Flower Market. Take in the sights and smells as you wander past stalls piled with flowers and then head off on an exciting tuk tuk ride to Wat Pho to see the famous Reclining Buddha.
Enjoy a thirty minute massage at the temple’s traditional Thai massage school followed by lunch at a local restaurant, and then head to the pride of Thailand, the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew housing the Emerald Buddha. Take a stroll down the street to a local Buddhist amulet market before heading off along the klongs (canals) finally boarding a river express boat to the Skytrain station and returning to your hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Centre Point, Silom Hotel – 2Bedroom Apartment
Day 3 Bangkok – Jim Thompson’s House and Bangkok Aquarium
Your guide will meet you and take you to Jim Thompson’s House. Now a museum this traditional teakwood house is just as Jim Thompson left it before he mysteriously disappeared in the Cameron Highlands of Western Malaysia. After your tour enjoy lunch at the Jim Thompson’s House restaurant.
After lunch head to Siam Square and visit the amazing Paragon Shopping Complex. In the basement is a wonderful aquarium highlighting fish from Thailand and Southeast Asia, but featuring fish from around the world. Enjoy a quiet walk through the aquarium with your guide, enjoying the fish, as well as the air conditioning and calm. After the aquarium head back to your hotel by skytrain and relax.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Centre Point, Silom Hotel – 2Bedroom Apartment
Day 4 Chiang Mai – Doi Suthep and Home Industries Tour
You will be transferred to Bangkok Airport for your flight – (flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai included). You will be met at Chiang Mai Airport and transferred to your hotel. This morning visit Doi Suthep, the most important Wat in Chiang Mai. Perched high above the city, it offers wonderful views of the city and countryside below.
Enjoy lunch with your guide a local restaurant. After lunch visit the Chiang Mai home industries. See the process of creating lacquer-ware, silk and traditional Thai umbrellas; look through the stores filled with the beautiful finished products.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Yaang Come Village Hotel – Family Room
Day 5 Chiang Mai – Patara Mahout Training at Patara Elephant Farm
You will be met in the lobby of your hotel at 7:30am and transferred to the Patara Elephant Farm outside of Chiang Mai. At the farm you will be given your training outfit and a brief talk on working with elephants before heading into the bush to find them. As the day goes on you will hear all about elephant farm management and the breeding program taking place here. You will meet the elephants and learn to approach them and work with them from the ground and to take them to the river for their morning bath.
After a short ride to a local temple you can learn about elephants in Buddhism and the Thai’s ancient relationship with these traditional beasts of burden. Around mid-day you will set off for a ride through the jungle to some waterfalls where you will enjoy a picnic lunch and a swim with your elephant in the falls. Return to the camp in the afternoon and say goodbye to your new friends before being transferred back to your hotel.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Yaang Come Village Hotel – Family Room
Day 6 Chaing Mai – Boat Ride to Farmer’s House and Rickshaw
Wake up early and your guide will escort you into Chiang Mai. Taking a rickshaw ride visit the Tapae and Chiang Mai Gates en route to the market where you will participate in the traditional Buddhist food offering to monks. Enjoy watching the Chiang Mai people going about their daily lives. Stop at Wat Srisoda to see the local monks in Morning Prayer before returning to your hotel in time for breakfast.
After breakfast, your guide will meet you at your hotel and take you to the boat pier where you will board a small river boat and cruise for about two hours upstream through Chiang Mai town and into a rural area. Here you will stop at a local farmer’s house and see for yourself the cultivation of jasmine rice and a variety of herbs used in medicines and for cooking. Enjoy tasting the various fruits and some of their herbal juices. After enjoying the farm return by boat, stopping just out of town at a local market pier. Here you can wander through the market before catching a rickshaw back to Chiang Mai City in the early afternoon.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at Yaang Come Village Hotel – Family Room
Day 7 Siem Reap – Arrival
Transfer to Chiang Mai Airport for your onward flight – (flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok included)
Catch your connecting flight (flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap included). You will be met by a Journeys Within representative and taken to the Unique Boutique Hotel. Spend the afternoon relaxing in the garden, cool off in the swimming pool or if you have the energy, take a trip down town and walk around the local market. In the evening, head into town to enjoy a traditional buffet dinner and dance show.
Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner
Overnight at Unique Boutique Hotel – Family Bungalow
Day 8 Siem Reap – Angkor Wat
After breakfast head to Angkor Wat in an air-conditioned car with your guide. Explore this majestic temple throughout the morning while it is still cool and has fewer tourists. Spend the afternoon at your leisure.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Unique Boutique Hotel – Family Bungalow
Day 9 Siem Reap – Banteay Srei, Other Temples and JWOC Art Class
This morning set off with your guide to Banteay Srei, the intricately carved temple just 30 km beyond Angkor Wat. Stop at Banteay Srey Butterfly Center which opened its net in October allowing visitors to interact with hundreds of free-flying native butterflies. Located 25km north of Siem Reap, on the road to Banteay Srei temple, BBC is set within a netted tropical garden and will feature some of the world’s largest butterflies. Interacting with more then 30 of Cambodia’s 400 species of butterflies, visitors can discover the miracle of insect life. Witnessing first-hand the complete lifecycle of the butterfly, from the tiny eggs to shocking caterpillars, mysterious pupae and finally the delicate adult butterfly. As you head towards your hotel you can stop at Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm, two of the prettiest temples in the complex. Enjoy climbing through these smaller unique before returning to your hotel for lunch.
Sunday afternoons are special at Journeys Within Our Community a non profit started by Journeys Within owners Andrea and Brandon Ross, not only are our scholarship students there, returning from well scouting and loan collecting, but we also hold our art class for local students at 2pm. This class is a no-pressure class where anyone is invited to come, play games, sing songs and do a simple and rewarding art project. Volunteers are great for this class, we break the students into groups of 8 and as a volunteer you can join a group and help the little ones with scissors and other tricky tasks and give the older students encouragement and attention. The class runs to a little after 4pm. Please arrive 10 minutes before it starts so the teacher can explain the project and you can get oriented.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Overnight at Unique Boutique Hotel – Family Bungalow
Day 10 Siem Reap – Quad Bike Adventure Tour
You will be met at your hotel at 11:30am and taken to the quad bike base. Here you will be given a short safety course before heading out for about four hours through the back roads of Siem Reap. Enjoy strikingly beautiful views of the rice fields and villages as you make your way through the countryside. Stop along the way at a number of interesting sites such as a local monastery, an everyday market, as well as a temple rarely visited by other visitors. Return to the base late afternoon, from where you will be then be transferred back to your hotel by tuk-tuk.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at Unique Boutique Hotel – Family Bungalow
Day 11 Phuket – Arrival
Transfer to the airport in time to catch your flight (flight from Siem Reap to Phuket included). You will be met at Phuket Airport and transferred to your hotel. Once you have checked in relax and enjoy your resort. There are restauraunts in the hotel and in the surrounding area, pools to enjoy and of course the beach!
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at Mom Tri’s Boat House Hotel – 1Double with 2 extra beds Suite Room
Day 12 Phuket – Day at Leisure
Have a free day to explore on your own.
Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight at Mom Tri’s Boat House Hotel – 1Double with 2 extra beds Suite Room
Day 14 Phuket – Hongs by Starlight
You will be met at your hotel between 12:30 and 1pm and driven with the rest of the group to the Ao Po Pier to board your boat. Cruise towards the National Park while you enjoy a light Thai lunch and listen to a briefing on the wildlife and your schedule. In the afternoon you will be taken by kayak into various hongs and caves, enjoying some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. In the evening enjoy a Thai Seafood dinner and then make your own krathong to float for luck that evening. Enjoy the sunset on board before returning in the dusk to a hong where you will launch your kratong, experiencing a magical moment!
At around 8pm you will start your return to the island. Relax on the Starlight Deck and enjoy the amazing boat ride back your way lit by the stars . You will return to your hotel around 10pm.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Overnight at Mom Tri’s Boat House Hotel – 1Double with 2 extra beds Suite Room
Day 15 Phuket – Departure
Transfer to the airport in time to catch your flight – (flight from Phuket to Bangkok included).
Meals included: Breakfast
Tour Rate Starting at: $13,300 for a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children ages 10 and 5)
Price includes:
- Air tickets Bangkok – Chiang Mai – Bangkok – Siem Reap – Phuket – Bangkok
- Boat tickets as specified above
- Accommodation as specified above
- Air-conditioned car/van with driver
- Licensed English speaking guides
- Tours and admission fees as mentioned above
- Meals as specified in itinerary, including water
Price excludes:
- Personal expenses
- Visa fees
- Airport tax
- Drinks (except water) and meals not mentioned in itinerary
- Tips
