Thailand Itinerary: 8 Days in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket
Eight days runs the classic Thailand line: Bangkok’s gilded temples and street-food anarchy, the moated old city and mountain monasteries of Chiang Mai, then two days of Andaman beaches on Phuket.
Thailand ranked #11 worldwide with 35.5 million international arrivals (2024, Tourism Authority of Thailand / UN Tourism). Last reviewed 2026-07-29.
Thailand · 8 days Bangkok → Chiang Mai → Phuket
Best time: November to February — dry, and as cool as Thailand gets.
Bangkok: Grand Palace and Wat Phra KaewDay 1
🏛️9:00 AMGrand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
The royal compound and the Emerald Buddha, Thailand’s holiest image, carved from a single block of jade. Go as early as you can — doors open at 8:30 — and mind the dress code, which is strict and enforced.
🚗 ~9 min · 2.5 mi
🖼️1:30 PMJim Thompson House
Six teak houses assembled by the American silk entrepreneur who revived the industry and then vanished in 1967 — art-filled, canal-side, and genuinely mysterious.
🚶 ~38 min · 🚗 ~5 min · 1.4 mi
🌆6:00 PMYaowarat (Chinatown)
After dark the neon comes on and the woks come out — one of the world’s great street-food strips, still run from family shophouses in a Chinese quarter that dates to the 1780s.
Bangkok: Wat PhoDay 2
🏛️9:00 AMWat Pho
The 46-meter gold-leafed Reclining Buddha with mother-of-pearl soles — and the birthplace of Thai massage, still taught and practiced on the temple grounds.
🚗 ~12 min · 3.4 mi
🥾1:30 PMLumphini Park
The city’s green lung: dawn tai chi, swan boats, and two-meter water monitor lizards cruising the lakes like small dinosaurs.
🚗 ~16 min · 4.6 mi
🎟️6:00 PMThonburi canal longtail tour
A late-afternoon longtail-boat run through the west bank’s canals — stilt houses, temple ghats, and the amphibious Bangkok that predates every road.
Bangkok: Wat ArunDay 3
🏛️9:00 AMWat Arun
The Khmer-style Temple of Dawn across the river, its spires crusted with broken Chinese porcelain. Cross on the cheap shuttle ferry and climb the steep central prang terraces.
🚶 ~27 min · 🚗 ~3 min · 1.0 mi
🖼️1:30 PMNational Museum Bangkok
Thailand’s largest museum, in a former viceroy’s palace — royal funeral chariots, Ayutthaya-era Buddhas, and the backstory to every temple you will see.
🚶 ~10 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.4 mi
🌆6:00 PMBanglamphu
The old royal quarter around Khao San Road — backpacker mythology up front, quiet temple lanes, shrine-makers, and river breezes behind.
Arrive in Chiang MaiDay 4
✈️8:30 AMFlight to Chiang Mai
Bangkok to Chiang Mai in about 1h10 from either airport, with flights all day — or take the overnight sleeper train from Krung Thep Aphiwat station, about 12–13 hours, waking to jungle hills.
✈️ ~1h10 · 362 mi
🛺 Songthaew hop
🏛️2:00 PMWat Phra Singh
The old city’s grandest temple: a gilded Lanna-style chedi and the revered Phra Singh Buddha in a teak assembly hall.
🚶 ~6 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.2 mi
🌆6:00 PMThe Old City
A one-mile moated square with crumbling brick gates and a temple every few blocks — best absorbed on foot as the evening cool arrives.
Chiang Mai: Wat Phra That Doi SuthepDay 5
🏛️9:00 AMWat Phra That Doi Suthep
The golden hilltop shrine at over 1,000 meters’ elevation, high above the city and reached by a 306-step naga staircase. Legend sited it where a relic-bearing white elephant lay down and died. Go early; the terrace view is the whole valley.
🚗 ~16 min · 4.4 mi
🖼️1:30 PMLanna Folklife Museum
Opposite the Three Kings Monument in a colonial-era courthouse — the clearest explanation of Lanna crafts, rituals, and why the north is its own country in all but name.
🚶 ~10 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.4 mi
🎟️6:00 PMNorthern-Thai night-market food walk
A guided evening graze through the markets — khao soi, sai ua sausage, and the Burmese and Yunnanese threads in northern cooking. Learn it once, then eat independently for days.
Chiang Mai: Wat Chedi LuangDay 6
🏛️9:00 AMWat Chedi Luang
A 15th-century brick chedi that once held the Emerald Buddha, half-toppled by a 1545 earthquake and majestic in ruin.
🚗 ~10 min · 2.9 mi
🥾1:30 PMMonk’s Trail to Wat Pha Lat
A forest path marked by strips of monks’ orange robes, climbing to a mossy jungle monastery on Doi Suthep’s flank — 45 minutes up, and the city’s best easy hike.
🚶 ~41 min · 🚗 ~5 min · 1.5 mi
🌆6:00 PMNimmanhaemin
The café-and-design quarter by the university — third-wave coffee, galleries, and northern-modern kitchens.
Arrive in PhuketDay 7
✈️8:30 AMFlight to Phuket
Chiang Mai direct to Phuket in about 2 hours, several times daily — the only sane way to swap mountains for the Andaman in a single morning.
✈️ ~2h · 755 mi
🚗 Taxi hop
🏛️2:00 PMBig Buddha
A 45-meter white-marble Buddha on Nakkerd Hill, visible from half the island — the 360-degree view over Chalong Bay and the west coast is the best on Phuket.
🚗 ~23 min · 6.5 mi
🌆6:00 PMOld Phuket Town
Pastel Sino-Portuguese shophouses from the tin-boom era, now cafés, noodle shops, and shrines — liveliest after dark and during the Sunday walking street.
Phuket: Wat ChalongDay 8
🏛️9:00 AMWat Chalong
The island’s most important temple, its grand pagoda holding a bone relic of the Buddha; firecrackers pop all day in thanks for answered prayers.
🚗 ~15 min · 4.3 mi
🖼️1:30 PMThai Hua Museum
A 1934 Sino-colonial former Chinese-language school in Old Town — the story of the Hokkien tin-mining families who built the island, told inside the kind of mansion they built with the proceeds.
🚶 ~3 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.1 mi
🎟️6:00 PMNight-market food crawl
An evening guided run through Phuket Town’s weekend markets — Hokkien noodles, moo hong braised pork belly, and southern curries far spicier than Bangkok’s.
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Best time to goNovember to February — dry, and as cool as Thailand gets. March to May is brutally hot, and the north’s smoky burning season peaks February to April; the monsoon runs roughly May to October in short, hard afternoon bursts.
Recommended splitBangkok 3d · Chiang Mai 3d · Phuket 2d
Local tip: Cover shoulders and knees and slip off your shoes at every temple — a light sarong solves it. Eat where the queue of locals is, carry small notes for street stalls, and use ride-hailing or insist on the meter in taxis.
Bangkok — 3 days
Bangkok is sensory maximalism — million-dollar malls over canal shacks, monks on the Skytrain, and the best street food on earth on every corner. The royal old city holds Thailand’s holiest sites; the rest of the city holds its appetite.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inYaowarat (Chinatown). After dark the neon comes on and the woks come out — one of the world’s great street-food strips, still run from family shophouses in a Chinese quarter that dates to the 1780s.Banglamphu. The old royal quarter around Khao San Road — backpacker mythology up front, quiet temple lanes, shrine-makers, and river breezes behind.Charoen Krung. Bangkok’s first paved road, now its creative district — century-old shophouses hosting galleries and cafés between the river hotels.
LandmarksGrand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. The royal compound and the Emerald Buddha, Thailand’s holiest image, carved from a single block of jade. Go as early as you can — doors open at 8:30 — and mind the dress code, which is strict and enforced.Wat Pho. The 46-meter gold-leafed Reclining Buddha with mother-of-pearl soles — and the birthplace of Thai massage, still taught and practiced on the temple grounds.Wat Arun. The Khmer-style Temple of Dawn across the river, its spires crusted with broken Chinese porcelain. Cross on the cheap shuttle ferry and climb the steep central prang terraces.
Nature and outdoorsLumphini Park. The city’s green lung: dawn tai chi, swan boats, and two-meter water monitor lizards cruising the lakes like small dinosaurs.Bang Krachao. An undeveloped river-loop “island” of jungle and elevated bike paths, two minutes across the Chao Phraya by longtail boat — the quickest possible exit from the city.
MuseumsJim Thompson House. Six teak houses assembled by the American silk entrepreneur who revived the industry and then vanished in 1967 — art-filled, canal-side, and genuinely mysterious.National Museum Bangkok. Thailand’s largest museum, in a former viceroy’s palace — royal funeral chariots, Ayutthaya-era Buddhas, and the backstory to every temple you will see.
Worth a guided tourThonburi canal longtail tour. A late-afternoon longtail-boat run through the west bank’s canals — stilt houses, temple ghats, and the amphibious Bangkok that predates every road.
Getting around BangkokBTS Skytrain and MRT beat the traffic; the Chao Phraya Express Boat is transport and sightseeing in one. Tuk-tuks are for fun, not value — agree the price first.
Chiang Mai — 3 days
Getting here: Flight — Bangkok to Chiang Mai in about 1h10 from either airport, with flights all day — or take the overnight sleeper train from Krung Thep Aphiwat station, about 12–13 hours, waking to jungle hills.
Chiang Mai was the Lanna kingdom’s capital for centuries after its founding in 1296, and it still moves at temple pace: 300-odd wats, a moated square mile of old city, and a sacred mountain rising straight off the last street. It is also Thailand’s kitchen for northern food.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inThe Old City. A one-mile moated square with crumbling brick gates and a temple every few blocks — best absorbed on foot as the evening cool arrives.Nimmanhaemin. The café-and-design quarter by the university — third-wave coffee, galleries, and northern-modern kitchens.Wua Lai. The silversmiths’ quarter, hammering for generations; on Saturday nights its walking-street market takes over the whole road.
LandmarksWat Phra Singh. The old city’s grandest temple: a gilded Lanna-style chedi and the revered Phra Singh Buddha in a teak assembly hall.Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. The golden hilltop shrine at over 1,000 meters’ elevation, high above the city and reached by a 306-step naga staircase. Legend sited it where a relic-bearing white elephant lay down and died. Go early; the terrace view is the whole valley.Wat Chedi Luang. A 15th-century brick chedi that once held the Emerald Buddha, half-toppled by a 1545 earthquake and majestic in ruin.
Nature and outdoorsMonk’s Trail to Wat Pha Lat. A forest path marked by strips of monks’ orange robes, climbing to a mossy jungle monastery on Doi Suthep’s flank — 45 minutes up, and the city’s best easy hike.Huay Kaew Waterfall. A tiered fall at the mountain’s foot — locals picnic on the rocks, ten minutes from Nimmanhaemin.
MuseumsLanna Folklife Museum. Opposite the Three Kings Monument in a colonial-era courthouse — the clearest explanation of Lanna crafts, rituals, and why the north is its own country in all but name.
Worth a guided tourNorthern-Thai night-market food walk. A guided evening graze through the markets — khao soi, sai ua sausage, and the Burmese and Yunnanese threads in northern cooking. Learn it once, then eat independently for days.Ethical elephant-sanctuary day visit. A day feeding and walking alongside rescued elephants in the valleys outside town. Choose a sanctuary that bans riding and shows — the reputable ones publish their welfare policies.
Getting around Chiang MaiShared red songthaew trucks run fixed cheap hops; ride-hailing fills the gaps. The old city is entirely walkable, and a rented bicycle handles the moat loop.
Phuket — 2 days
Getting here: Flight — Chiang Mai direct to Phuket in about 2 hours, several times daily — the only sane way to swap mountains for the Andaman in a single morning.
Thailand’s largest island funded itself on tin and rubber a century before tourists came, and the Sino-Portuguese shophouses of its old town remember it. Beyond them: the Andaman’s clearest water, limestone bays, and thirty-plus beaches.
Neighborhoods to base yourself inOld Phuket Town. Pastel Sino-Portuguese shophouses from the tin-boom era, now cafés, noodle shops, and shrines — liveliest after dark and during the Sunday walking street.Rawai and Nai Harn. The mellow south coast — a longtail-filled fishing bay, a seafood-grill shoreline, and Nai Harn’s monastery-backed white-sand beach, the locals’ pick.
LandmarksBig Buddha. A 45-meter white-marble Buddha on Nakkerd Hill, visible from half the island — the 360-degree view over Chalong Bay and the west coast is the best on Phuket.Wat Chalong. The island’s most important temple, its grand pagoda holding a bone relic of the Buddha; firecrackers pop all day in thanks for answered prayers.Promthep Cape. The island’s southern tip — a palm-tufted headland where crowds gather nightly for the Andaman’s most famous sunset.
Nature and outdoorsFreedom Beach. A 300-meter arc of squeaky white sand and clear water, reachable only by longtail boat or a steep jungle path — the least developed beach on the west coast.Karon Viewpoint. The classic three-bays lookout over Kata Noi, Kata, and Karon curving away in succession — best in the softer late-day light.
MuseumsThai Hua Museum. A 1934 Sino-colonial former Chinese-language school in Old Town — the story of the Hokkien tin-mining families who built the island, told inside the kind of mansion they built with the proceeds.
Worth a guided tourNight-market food crawl. An evening guided run through Phuket Town’s weekend markets — Hokkien noodles, moo hong braised pork belly, and southern curries far spicier than Bangkok’s.Phang Nga Bay boat day trip. A day among the drowned limestone karsts northeast of the island — sea caves and hidden lagoons by kayak, emerald water, and the bay’s famous needle rocks.
Getting around PhuketThe airport bus and the coastal Smart Bus link the west-coast beaches; otherwise it is ride-hailing, taxis at fixed island prices, or a carefully ridden rental scooter. Distances are bigger than the map suggests.
The full plan as text
The same day-by-day plan, expandable day by day. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: Bangkok: Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
9:00 AMGrand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew
The royal compound and the Emerald Buddha, Thailand’s holiest image, carved from a single block of jade. Go as early as you can — doors open at 8:30 — and mind the dress code, which is strict and enforced.
1:30 PMJim Thompson House
Six teak houses assembled by the American silk entrepreneur who revived the industry and then vanished in 1967 — art-filled, canal-side, and genuinely mysterious.
6:00 PMYaowarat (Chinatown)
After dark the neon comes on and the woks come out — one of the world’s great street-food strips, still run from family shophouses in a Chinese quarter that dates to the 1780s.
Day 2: Bangkok: Wat Pho
9:00 AMWat Pho
The 46-meter gold-leafed Reclining Buddha with mother-of-pearl soles — and the birthplace of Thai massage, still taught and practiced on the temple grounds.
1:30 PMLumphini Park
The city’s green lung: dawn tai chi, swan boats, and two-meter water monitor lizards cruising the lakes like small dinosaurs.
6:00 PMThonburi canal longtail tour
A late-afternoon longtail-boat run through the west bank’s canals — stilt houses, temple ghats, and the amphibious Bangkok that predates every road.
Day 3: Bangkok: Wat Arun
9:00 AMWat Arun
The Khmer-style Temple of Dawn across the river, its spires crusted with broken Chinese porcelain. Cross on the cheap shuttle ferry and climb the steep central prang terraces.
1:30 PMNational Museum Bangkok
Thailand’s largest museum, in a former viceroy’s palace — royal funeral chariots, Ayutthaya-era Buddhas, and the backstory to every temple you will see.
6:00 PMBanglamphu
The old royal quarter around Khao San Road — backpacker mythology up front, quiet temple lanes, shrine-makers, and river breezes behind.
Day 4: Arrive in Chiang Mai
8:30 AMFlight to Chiang Mai
Bangkok to Chiang Mai in about 1h10 from either airport, with flights all day — or take the overnight sleeper train from Krung Thep Aphiwat station, about 12–13 hours, waking to jungle hills.
2:00 PMWat Phra Singh
The old city’s grandest temple: a gilded Lanna-style chedi and the revered Phra Singh Buddha in a teak assembly hall.
6:00 PMThe Old City
A one-mile moated square with crumbling brick gates and a temple every few blocks — best absorbed on foot as the evening cool arrives.
Day 5: Chiang Mai: Wat Phra That Doi Suthep
9:00 AMWat Phra That Doi Suthep
The golden hilltop shrine at over 1,000 meters’ elevation, high above the city and reached by a 306-step naga staircase. Legend sited it where a relic-bearing white elephant lay down and died. Go early; the terrace view is the whole valley.
1:30 PMLanna Folklife Museum
Opposite the Three Kings Monument in a colonial-era courthouse — the clearest explanation of Lanna crafts, rituals, and why the north is its own country in all but name.
6:00 PMNorthern-Thai night-market food walk
A guided evening graze through the markets — khao soi, sai ua sausage, and the Burmese and Yunnanese threads in northern cooking. Learn it once, then eat independently for days.
Day 6: Chiang Mai: Wat Chedi Luang
9:00 AMWat Chedi Luang
A 15th-century brick chedi that once held the Emerald Buddha, half-toppled by a 1545 earthquake and majestic in ruin.
1:30 PMMonk’s Trail to Wat Pha Lat
A forest path marked by strips of monks’ orange robes, climbing to a mossy jungle monastery on Doi Suthep’s flank — 45 minutes up, and the city’s best easy hike.
6:00 PMNimmanhaemin
The café-and-design quarter by the university — third-wave coffee, galleries, and northern-modern kitchens.
Day 7: Arrive in Phuket
8:30 AMFlight to Phuket
Chiang Mai direct to Phuket in about 2 hours, several times daily — the only sane way to swap mountains for the Andaman in a single morning.
2:00 PMBig Buddha
A 45-meter white-marble Buddha on Nakkerd Hill, visible from half the island — the 360-degree view over Chalong Bay and the west coast is the best on Phuket.
6:00 PMOld Phuket Town
Pastel Sino-Portuguese shophouses from the tin-boom era, now cafés, noodle shops, and shrines — liveliest after dark and during the Sunday walking street.
Day 8: Phuket: Wat Chalong
9:00 AMWat Chalong
The island’s most important temple, its grand pagoda holding a bone relic of the Buddha; firecrackers pop all day in thanks for answered prayers.
1:30 PMThai Hua Museum
A 1934 Sino-colonial former Chinese-language school in Old Town — the story of the Hokkien tin-mining families who built the island, told inside the kind of mansion they built with the proceeds.
6:00 PMNight-market food crawl
An evening guided run through Phuket Town’s weekend markets — Hokkien noodles, moo hong braised pork belly, and southern curries far spicier than Bangkok’s.
Make this Thailand trip yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.
Start your free tripFirst trip free. No account, no credit card.