Our top Thailand tours and excursions

Thailand is overflowing with guided tours and excursions, but not all are created equal. That’s why we only ever recommend the best of the best: the experiences guaranteed to get you under the skin of Thai culture.

What makes a great experience? For us, it always starts with the people. A fantastic guide is your magic key to understanding Thailand, whether it’s getting to grips with war history or learning how to make a killer green curry. They’re not just there to make sure you don’t get lost; they’re there to take you inside their culture and show you what makes this country tick.

You might be exploring the Chiang Mai countryside on the back of a vintage Vespa, stopping off to admire the views and visit old-fashioned farmhouses. You might be island-hopping in the southern islands, visiting hidden coves to splash about in coral reefs. Or you might be in the heart of Bangkok, sampling street-food treats as you explore the city’s world-famous nightlife. Whatever the experience, expect full immersion, hands-on fun, and the company of some of our favorite people in all of Thailand.

Kings & khlongs: Half-day tour of the canals of old Bangkok

Before Bangkok became famous for its busy nightlife and glitzy malls, it was known as the “Venice of the East”: threaded through with hundreds of canals (or khlongs) and lined with teakwood homes and shrines.

A half-day tour of Thonburi will introduce you to a little slice of that old Bangkok, where transport is by longtail boat instead of skytrain, and where life still moves at a lazy pace in teakwood villages along the khlongs. After puttering past old shophouses and temples, whose eclectic architecture reflects the region’s centuries of trade, you’ll disembark to explore an icon of Bangkok: the sparkling, mosaic-encrusted temple of Wat Arun. From here, it’s a short walk to the Grand Palace, whose magnificent complex of over 100 buildings has been the seat of Thai royalty for over two centuries.

Tour of the ruins of Ayutthaya with an art history expert

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 center 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-paneled lanes, and Buddha images in temples sandwiched between modern businesses and cafés. For history lovers, this is one of our favorite tours in all of Thailand.

A morning at Araksa Tea Garden

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.

Bangkok after dark

Bangkok is the city that never stops eating, as you’ll discover on this late-night tuk-tuk tour of the city’s finest street-food spots and drinking holes.

From Michelin-starred crab omelets to fishball soup, and from drunken noodles to chive dumplings, Bangkok cuisine is much, much more than just pad thai (though there’s that, too). Zipping through the streets in the back of a tuk-tuk, your guide will take you beyond the usual tourist hotspots and deep into the after-hours food culture of the city, stopping in for cold drinks at hidden bars and street-food treats at thronging night markets. In between bites, you’ll also hop out to explore some Bangkok landmarks — including chedi temple spires glowing golden against the night sky.

Island-hopping in the beautiful south

Once you’ve seen one island, you’ve seen them all — or have you? Spend a day island-hopping in Thailand’s beautiful south and discover a treasure trove of hidden coves, pearl-white beaches and vivid coral reefs.

Whether it’s Phi-Phi, Phuket, or Krabi, Thailand’s southern reaches are world-famous for their palm-fringed sands and turquoise seas basking in the heat of the tropical sun. But while they might all sound alike, Thailand’s southern islands can be surprisingly diverse, encompassing uninhabited jungle islets, sleepy seaside fishing towns, upmarket enclaves and deserted, hidden coves. The best way to get a sense of the variety is to spend a day island-hopping by boat, swimming among coral reefs teeming with fish, stopping to sample seafood fresh from the waves, and cruising to beaches so stunning they’ve starred in Hollywood films.

Aerial view of the bridge over the River Kwai

Visit the Bridge on the River Kwai

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.