Ten days in Thailand, without the van
The route we give first-time visitors, ordered so you are not in a car for half of it. Two internal flights instead of four long drives, and two stops most itineraries include that we usually cut.
A good 10-day Thailand itinerary uses three nights in Bangkok, three in Chiang Mai and four on one beach, with two internal flights instead of four long drives. Trying to add a second beach is the most common mistake; each move costs most of a day.
- Split3 + 3 + 4 nights
- Internal flightsTwo
- Beach basesOne
- Best monthsNovember–February
Days 1–3 · Bangkok
Arrive, sleep, then one early temple morning: Grand Palace at 08:30, Wat Pho, longtail to Wat Arun. Day three is out of the city — Ayutthaya by bicycle or the floating market at dawn, not both. Evening in Chinatown on a food walk.
Days 4–6 · Chiang Mai
Morning flight, then Doi Suthep in the late afternoon. Day five is the elephant sanctuary. Day six is either Doi Inthanon at 04:30 or a cooking morning, and an afternoon in the old city.
Days 7–9 · one beach
Fly south. Pick one: Krabi for scenery, Phuket for convenience, Koh Samui if you are travelling May–September. One boat day, one free day. Do not try to see three islands in three days — that is the mistake this itinerary exists to prevent.
Day 10 · home
Transfer to the airport. If your flight is late, keep the room until 14:00 rather than sitting in a lobby.
What we cut, and why
Kanchanaburi. Lovely, but it is three hours each way and eats a full day that the north does better.
Pattaya. Two hours from Bangkok and a perfectly good beach, but if you are flying south anyway it adds a stop without adding anything.
The fourth temple. By day six, nobody remembers which wat was which. Replace it with a market or an afternoon off.
If you have fourteen days
Add two nights in Krabi after the beach and two in the north for Chiang Rai. That is the version on our Classic Thailand Journey, extended — or we can build the fourteen-day version.
Is this doable independently?
Yes — it is a normal route and everything is bookable separately. What you lose is the timing knowledge and someone to fix things when a flight moves.
Could we do it in seven days?
Cut one region. Bangkok plus one coast is a good week; three regions in seven days is a slideshow.
Why only one beach?
Because moving between islands costs a day each time. Two nights is the minimum for a beach to feel like a holiday.
What it costs
On this route, a private version with a guide and hotels runs about $2,480 per person for two sharing; the same route self-booked with mid-range hotels, internal flights and day tours bought locally lands around $1,400–1,600. The difference buys a guide who gets you in before the queue, a car that waits, and someone to fix the day a flight moves.
Two variants that work
With children. Cut the Chiang Mai leg and spend the seven remaining days split between Bangkok and one beach. Two internal flights with children is one too many, and the north's mountain roads are the part that goes wrong.
In the rainy season. Run it in reverse: Gulf coast first (January–August is its dry window), north second, Bangkok last. The Andaman version of this itinerary in September is a week of cancelled boat days.
What to book before you fly
Internal flights and the elephant sanctuary, both of which sell out in high season. Hotels in Chiang Mai over Yi Peng, and anything on the Andaman over Christmas. The rest — day tours, transfers, cooking classes — can be arranged two or three days ahead without pain.
Tell us the trip you have in mind.
Dates, people and the one thing that must happen — we come back with a route and a real cost.
Written and checked by the Travel Thailand Tour team, Bangkok · Last updated · Prices are per person and were correct at the time of writing.