Our top Thailand tours and excursions

Combine luxurious, safari-style tents with a world-class, animal-friendly elephant sanctuary — all set against the backdrop of the magical Thai rainforest — and you get one of our favourite wildlife experiences in Southeast Asia. 

Deep in the Khao Sok National Park, surrounded by towering limestone mountains and virgin jungle, is Elephant Hills: part nature park, part wildlife sanctuary, and part luxury eco-lodge. After you’ve settled into your tent on Thailand’s most beautiful lake, there’s a whole menu of amazing experiences to get stuck into. Head out canoeing on the Sok River as hornbills fly overhead, drink cocktails in the club bar as you watch traditional Thai dance, and — of course — meet the elephants who call this paradise home. Elephant Hills is committed to the welfare of these gentle giants, so you’ll be able to meet, touch, feed and interact with them, but not ride them.

Learn about one of the darkest periods in Thai history: the construction of the “Death Railway” and the Bridge on the River Kwai. 

To wander the sleepy streets of riverside Kanchanaburi, it’s hard to imagine that this was the setting for one of the most horrific events in Thailand’s history. During WWII, thousands of local people and Allied prisoners of war were forced to build the infamous “Death Railway”, including the famous Bridge on the River Kwai. The bridge still stands today, and monuments commemorating those who died constructing it are found throughout Kanchanaburi. Visiting these memorials and reading first-hand accounts of their suffering at the Railway Museum is a sobering experience, but it’s unmissable if you want to understand the trauma of this important piece of Thailand’s history. 

Discover Thailand’s cosmopolitan roots on a tour of the Ayutthaya ruins, accompanied by art history expert Professor Chedha Tingsanchali. 

For four centuries, Ayutthaya was the centre of a great kingdom that sprawled over much of Southeast Asia, with a culture and architecture influenced by nations as far-flung as Britain, Persia and Japan. Then, in 1767, it was sacked by the Burmese, and its monuments were left to rack and ruin. With Professor Tingsanchali on hand to demystify the city’s multicultural origins, you’ll hunt down crumbling chedi spires hidden along wood-panelled lanes, and Buddha images in temples sandwiched between modern businesses and cafés. For history lovers, this is one of our favourite tours in all of Thailand. 

Rolling countryside threaded through with rivers, mountains speckled with crumbling ruins and minority villages surrounded by rice paddies: northern Thailand is a walker’s paradise. 

Whether you’re after a gentle half-day hike or a challenging, multi-day trek to remote villages deep in the countryside, northern Thailand really does have something for everyone. This region is mountainous, rural, and home to a patchwork of ethnic minorities, each with their own rich culture and customs. Opportunities abound to get to know the local way of life, as you visit traditional villages, eat home-cooked food, and spend the night in tiny guesthouses and homestays. In between, there’s miles and miles of countryside to be explored — criss-crossing trails through farmland and forest, crumbling jungle temples, secluded valleys, rural markets and even a “lost civilisation”. 

Discover the secrets of growing, harvesting and roasting top-quality tea against the backdrop of the evergreen hills of Mae Tang. 

An hour’s drive outside of Chiang Mai, tucked away in the hills, is one of Thailand’s oldest tea plantations. At over 70 years old (and counting), Araksa’s tea plants haven’t seen a single chemical in over two decades, and consequently produce some of the finest organic white, green, black and herbal teas around. On a morning visit, you’ll get to participate in the tea production process from start to finish — harvesting the leaves, kneading and roasting the tea, and brewing and tasting it yourself — concluding with a beautiful set lunch in the garden.