Jet into the biggest airport in Southeast Asia: BKK. We'll have a driver ready and waiting for you when you emerge from the baggage hall. Excited? Good. They'll whizz down the Bangkok highways towards the (in)famous backpacker quarter of Khaosan Road – you know, the one from the start of The Beach? We'll get stuck into the street food and parties that Khaosan is so famous for. It's the perfect way to get acquainted with your new travel buddies!

Included Activities

• Airport Pickup

• Welcome Dinner

• Khaosan Road

Meals Included

• Dinner

Don't party too hard on Khaosan on day one, because next up are the bucket-list-busting sights of Thailand's capital. Straight after breakfast, we walk from the hotel to the Grand Palace. Keep your eyes peeled for a glimpse of the Thai King (it's his official residence) and don't miss the priceless Emerald Buddha relic, the most important religious artefact in the country. After, we make for the famous Bangkok river boats and cruise the water to Wat Arun, a seriously photogenic temple with eye-catching ceramic art. Then it's onto Chinatown to shop through frenetic wet markets where you can buy anything from shark fin soup to snow globes.

Included Activities

• Grand Palace

• Wat Arun

• Chinatown

• Bangkok River Boats

Meals Included

• Breakfast

It's time to bid farewell to Bangkok. Next stop: Ayutthaya. Welcome to the erstwhile capital of the Siamese Kingdom. Founded in the middle of the 14th century, this town was once the glorious epicenter of an empire that spanned all of Southeast Asia. You should have at least a whole afternoon to cycle around the UNESCO-tagged Historic City of Ayutthaya. There are oodles of temples and palaces to get through, but you won't want to miss Wat Phra Si Sanphet – the largest – and Wat Mahathat – where a statue of the Buddha has been enveloped by a silk cotton tree. For the evening, we'll board a boat and cruise around the old city to see it from all sides. Then, it's straight to the train station to catch the sleeper service into the north!

Included Activities

• Historic City of Ayutthaya

• Wat Phra Si Sanphet

• Wat Mahathat

• River Cruise

Meals Included

• Breakfast

The train rolls to a stop just after 7am. Welcome to Northern Thailand. Where better to kick-start your jaunt through this amazing region than the second-city of the Land of Smiles? Chiang Mai it is. After dropping the bags and refreshing after a night on the rails, we'll head out for a walking tour of the Chiang Mai Old Town. It's not really like anywhere else in the country, what with its Lanna-style timber cottages and occasional golden stupa sprouting into the sky. In the evening, we'll hitch a ride up to the Doi Suthep Temple. It's an enthralling religious complex that has panoramic views of the city. Visitors can hear the spinning prayer wheels, smell the incense, and even meet the resident monks.

Included Activities

• Chiang Mai Old Town

• Doi Sutep Temple

Meals Included

• Lunch

All of day five is about one thing and one thing only: Elephants. We've put a lot of effort into filtering out any so-called "elephant sanctuaries" that come with even a whiff of unethical behavior. That's why we take our guests to the award-winning Elephant Nature Park. Run by the Save Elephant Foundation, it's all about raising awareness for the plight of the Asian elephant while offering amazing glimpses at these gentle giants. The park takes a very hands-off approach; no elephant riding, no bathing with the elephants. You'll learn loads about what the creatures eat, how they socialize, and more. Back in Chiang Mai come evening, you'll dive headfirst to the iconic Chiang Mai Night Bazaar to shop for souvenirs and vintage clothes.

Included Activities

• Elephant Nature Park

• Chiang Mai Night Bazaar

Meals Included

• Lunch

Shh! The mountain town of Pai is a secret hippie escape that's tucked into the northern ranges of Thailand along the Burmese border. It takes about two hours to get there on a snaking roadway from Chiang Mai. The reward? A true escape from the Rat Race. Once you arrive, we'll make straight for the Pai River with a couple of cold ones in tow and hop in a tube, proceeding to drift down a tropical waterway through jungles while putting the world to rights. There's some time to shower and sober up (if you must!) after that before we head out to Pai Walking Street. It's a hubbub of life after dark, with pad Thai stalls selling peanuty noodles and craft workers touting New Age jewelry that's supposed to measure you chakras or something.

Included Activities

• Bus To Pai

• Tubing the Pai River

• Pai Walking Street (night bazaar)

Meals Included

• Breakfast

You might have noticed on the bus ride into Pai that the surrounding countryside here is jaw-droppingly beautiful. So, that's the focus on our second day in the mountain town. The first port of call is the Kho Ku So Bamboo Bridge, a kilometer-long boardwalk built entirely out of bamboo that weaves over emerald-green rice paddies. Next you drop by the Pam Bok Waterfall to cool off in fresh mountain H2O. Then, it's onto arguably the most amazing natural wonder of the Pai Valley, the Pai Canyon, where you'll wander a dusty dirt bluff and get to spot rugged mountains dominating the horizon. The day finishes with a hard-earned bathe in a local hot spring – Pai is full of them, but we know the best, most secret ones!

Included Activities

• Waterfalls

• Pai Canyon

• Bamboo Bridge

• Hot Springs

Meals Included

• Breakfast

We depart Pai very early to link up with an internal flight out of Chiang Mai Airport. That's your ticket to Southern Thailand, the second portion of this 15-day odyssey through both halves of the Land of Smiles. By the afternoon you should have touched down in Krabi, from where it's a quick 1.5-hour drive to the island of Koh Lanta (or, as some like to call it, paradise). Assuming there's not all that long left in the day, we drop our bags and make straight for a secret beach only our guides and some locals know about. There's a shack there selling cold Singha beers and sunset shows you'll never forget. Later, we hit a local reggae bar to really get into the rhythms of island life.

Included Activities

• Internal Flight To Southern Thailand

• Sunset on Secret Beach

• Reggae bar

Meals Included

• Lunch

We recommend starting the day (read: curing the hangover) with a swim in the Andaman Sea. There's a beach less than a minutes' walk from the hotel, so that should be easy. After breakfast, we cruise through the heart of the island, watching the rubber plantations and jungles roll by, to reach Koh Lanta Old Town. It's a traditional sea gypsy village with craft stores and over-water restaurants. Then we head back to the west coast where you can choose between a cooking lesson or a visit to Lanta Animal Welfare. The first will have you crushing red chilis and ginger to make proper curry pastes. The latter is a dog- and cat-rescue sanctuary where you can play with puppies and kittens. Hard choice, we know!

Included Activities

• Koh Lanta Old Town

• Lanta Animal Welfare

• Cooking Class

Meals Included

• Breakfast

After breakfast we head straight over to the port in Old Town Koh Lanta to board a longtail boat for the full-day Four Islands Tour. Get ready for an odyssey around some of the most eye-wateringly gorgeous isles in the whole of the Thai Andaman Sea. The first stop is Koh Cheuk, which looks like something out of Castaway, what with its single dash of pure white sand and fringing of brilliant snorkeling reefs. Then you move onto Koh Mook. That's home to the Emerald Cave, which you paddle through to find a hidden beach deep in the jungles. Later in the day, you'll swim with stingrays in the turquoise seas of Koh Waen and get to sip a cocktail on the shores of gorgeous Koh Ngai.

Included Activities

• Four Islands Tour

• Emerald Cave

• Snorkelling

Meals Included

• Lunch

Board a ferry by 9am and zoom west over the Andaman Sea to Koh Phi Phi. Welcome to one of the most famous islands in the whole of Thailand – nay, the world. Two large mountain massifs rise on either side, while a narrow strip of flat land flanked by glistening beaches rolls through the middle. After dropping the bags, it's those beaches that fill our morning. There are plenty to pick from, but we usually like to hike Phi Phi's south-coast trail to find secret coves like Viking Beach or Love Beach – both of which offer an opportunity to take that compulsory sea-swing photo. The night is about feeling the buzz of Phi Phi's main town. It's a raucous little number, famed for its fire shows and muay Thai arenas. We'll be sure to check both off the list!

Included Activities

• Koh Phi Phi Beaches

• Muay Thai

• Fire Show

Meals Included

• Breakfast

There's not just one Phi Phi island; there are six of them. So far, you've only set foot on Phi Phi Don, the largest of the bunch. A boat trip can remedy that. It first takes you south to Phi Phi Leh. That's been fodder for travel brochures on account of Maya Bay, a paradise lagoon that hides at its heart. You'll stop there and then move over to the Pileh Lagoon, a deep inlet that's home to brain sponges, coral gardens, and even the occasional shark! Later, your boat goes north to stop at Monkey Beach, a hidden run of golden sand on the west coast of the larger Phi Phi, before hitting Bamboo Island, a cluster of coconut palms and talcum-white sand further north.

Included Activities

• Phi Phi Leh

• Monkey Beach

• Bamboo Island

Meals Included

• Breakfast

Wave goodbye to the Thai islands, but not the beaches. Most certainly not the beaches. Railay is a mecca for tropical sands back on the mainland. It's an hour's boat north of Phi Phi, beset by colossal needles of karst rock and jungle-topped coast mountains. There's no better way to arrive than on a local longboat – it's travel photo 101! Get your shots and then hop out of the boat onto daffodil-tinged sands. It's only a short walk to the hotel. Then, we're straight onto SUP boards to paddle around this glorious region for the afternoon. Those who prefer to stay on dry land can opt for a jungle hike instead, taking them through monkey-filled forests to the climber village of Ton Sai.

Included Activities

• Railay Beach

• Ton Sai

• SUP Boarding

Meals Included

• Breakfast

Ao Nang is one of the OG beach resorts of south Thailand. A rambunctious, ramshackle town that spills onto a pretty beach between two huge karst mountains in Krabi Province, it thrums with life and energy. After spending the morning on the gorgeous sands of Railay, you'll arrive by longboat around midday. The plan is to hop straight in a tuk-tuk and drive into the mountains to discover the incredible Tiger Cave Temple. There are 1,237 steps to conquer before you reach the top, but the rewards are panoramic views of the coast and visions of glimmering golden Buddha statues. Back in Ao Nang for the evening, we'll hit the night bazaar to encounter ladyboys and muay Thai fighters and eat traditional street food.

Included Activities

• Ao Nang Beach

• Tiger Temple

• Night Market

Meals Included

• Dinner

Your final day waking up to the sound of the lapping Andaman Sea and the chirp of tropical birds in the surrounding coast jungles. We usually make time for one last swim together. Then, it's the moment to say goodbye. Krabi Airport is only 40 minutes' transfer away, or you can hop on a boat/bus and keep exploring Southern Thailand with your new travel pals.