8 days 7 nights
Specific Tour
14 people
English
Quick answer
An eight-day private tour of Isan in northeast Thailand: Khao Yai National Park, the Khmer temples of Phimai and Phanom Rung, silk and silver villages near Surin, the Mekong from Khong Chiam to Nakhon Phanom, then Ban Chiang, the Red Lotus Sea and Nong Khai.
From US$1,050 per person for the whole tour, based on 4 travellers sharing double rooms in 4★ hotels as listed (couples travelling alone pay a little more). It changes with hotel level, season and group size, and is confirmed in your tailor-made quote.
| Day | Route and highlights | Overnight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrive in Bangkok | Bangkok |
| 2 | Klang Dong market and Khao Yai National Park | Khao Yai |
| 3 | Dan Kwian pottery, Ban Prasat and Phimai | Korat |
| 4 | Phanom Rung, Muang Tam and Surin | Surin |
| 5 | Silver and silk villages to the Mekong | Khong Chiam |
| 6 | Mukdahan market and Wat Phra That Phanom | Nakhon Phanom |
| 7 | Blessing in Sakon Nakhon, Ban Chiang and the Red Lotus Sea | Udon Thani |
| 8 | Nong Khai, Sala Kaew Ku and fly to Bangkok | — |
Private tour with your own English-speaking guide · 8 days / 7 nights · Bangkok – Khao Yai – Korat – Phimai – Phanom Rung – Surin – Khong Chiam – Mukdahan – Nakhon Phanom – Sakon Nakhon – Ban Chiang – Udon Thani – Nong Khai
This Isan private tour takes you off the usual Thailand trail and into the wide plateau of the northeast, a land of rice fields, silk weavers and ancient Khmer temples. After a night in Bangkok you drive to Khao Yai, Thailand's first national park, for a forest walk to a waterfall. Then come the great stone sanctuaries of Phimai, Phanom Rung and Muang Tam, built when this region was part of the Khmer world centuries ago.
From Surin the road follows small villages where families weave silk under their stilt houses and craft silver by hand, to Khong Chiam on the Mekong. You travel north along the river to the Indochina market of Mukdahan and the sacred chedi of Wat Phra That Phanom, with Laos across the water.
The last days bring a monk's blessing in Sakon Nakhon, the prehistoric site of Ban Chiang, a boat ride on the Red Lotus Sea near Udon Thani and the strange giant sculptures of Sala Kaew Ku in Nong Khai, before a short flight back to Bangkok.
Moderate. This is a road journey with daily drives of three to five hours across flat country, broken by many stops. Walking is easy, mostly around temple sites and villages, with a forest trail in Khao Yai. Lunches are on your own in local towns, which is part of the experience. Suits curious older travelers and families with children over 10.
Seven nights in the best simple hotels along the route, with daily breakfast: I-Residence Silom in Bangkok, Belle Villa Resort in Khao Yai, Leosor Hotel in Korat, Slive Hotel in Surin, Tohsang Khong Jiam City Hotel, Fortune River View in Nakhon Phanom and Wara Hotel in Udon Thani, or similar. These are clean, comfortable 2- to 3-star hotels; upgrades are possible in Bangkok and Khao Yai.
The best time is November to February, when the northeast is dry and pleasantly cool, and the Red Lotus Sea is in bloom from December to February. March to May is very hot on the plateau. From June to October the rains turn the rice fields bright green, and the Mekong is high.
Your guide and driver are yours alone for the whole trip, so the pace, the stops and the start time each morning follow you. The standard version has an English-speaking guide; guides who speak French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese or Vietnamese can be arranged on request.
More ideas: All private tours in Thailand · Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai: Tea Hills, Temples and Doi Inthanon in 8 Days · The North of Thailand: Bangkok, River Kwai, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in 9 Days · Royal Echoes of Siam: Ayutthaya, Sukhothai and the North in 10 Days
Photos: Philip Nalangan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Grendelkhan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Songpholt, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Philip Nalangan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; กิตติ เลขะกุล, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Guido Johannes Joerg (Endimione), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Christophe95, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
You are met at Bangkok airport and taken to your hotel in the Silom area. The rest of the day is free to rest and adjust after your flight. In the evening, take a walk to a nearby night market or riverside restaurant for a first taste of Thai food before you head into the countryside tomorrow.
Overnight: Bangkok
Drive northeast out of Bangkok, stopping at the roadside fruit market of Klang Dong, piled with local fruit and vegetables. Continue to Khao Yai, Thailand's first national park, opened in 1962 and today part of a UNESCO World Heritage forest complex. Walk the trail to Haew Suwat waterfall through tall evergreen forest, where you may spot hornbills, gibbons or macaques. Lunch is at a local spot of your choice before you check in to your resort.
Overnight: Khao Yai · Meals: B
Head for Nakhon Ratchasima, still called Korat by local people, the gateway to Isan. On the way, stop at Dan Kwian, a village known for its rust-colored pottery. In Korat, visit the monument to Thao Suranari, a local heroine of the 19th century. In the afternoon, see the excavated burial pits of Ban Prasat, one of the oldest settlements in Thailand, then explore Prasat Hin Phimai, a vast Khmer temple that may have inspired Angkor Wat. End under the giant banyan tree of Sai Ngam.
Overnight: Korat · Meals: B
Drive to Buriram province and climb the long processional stairway to Prasat Phanom Rung, a Khmer sanctuary on top of an extinct volcano and one of the best preserved in Thailand. A few kilometers away, visit Prasat Muang Tam, surrounded by lotus ponds and laterite walls with finely carved lintels. Continue to Surin and visit its National Museum, which tells the story of the Khmer, Kui and Lao peoples of the region (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays).
Overnight: Surin · Meals: B
Visit Ban Khwao Sinarin, a village of silversmiths, and Ban Sam Kho, where silk is woven beneath almost every stilt house, then see the five brick towers of Prasat Sikhoraphum. Continue to Prasat Kamphaeng Yai, an 11th-century Khmer temple with carved lintels of Shiva and Vishnu. In the afternoon, arrive in Khong Chiam, where the Mun River flows into the mighty Mekong, and enjoy the evening by the water.
Overnight: Khong Chiam · Meals: B
Follow the Mekong north to Mukdahan, a border town facing Savannakhet in Laos, and browse its lively Indochina market of Lao, Thai and Vietnamese goods. In the afternoon, visit Wat Phra That Phanom, one of the most sacred temples in Isan, with its tall white and gold chedi in Lao style. Before reaching Nakhon Phanom, stop at the village of Ban Na Chok, where Ho Chi Minh lived in the late 1920s, to see his restored wooden house. Your hotel sits on the riverbank.
Overnight: Nakhon Phanom · Meals: B
In Sakon Nakhon, a monk ties a sacred white thread around your wrist in a traditional blessing for good fortune. Then visit Ban Chiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where pottery and bronze tools more than 3,500 years old were found, and its museum. Stop at craft villages known for bamboo weaving and painted pottery. In the afternoon, near Udon Thani, take a boat across Talay Bua Daeng, the Red Lotus Sea, which is covered in blossoms from December to February.
Overnight: Udon Thani · Meals: B
Visit an orchid farm where the fragrant Udon Sunshine orchid was first bred in the 1970s. Then drive to Nong Khai on the Mekong, the border with Laos, and walk among the giant concrete sculptures of Sala Kaew Ku, some more than 20 meters tall, inspired by Buddhist and Hindu stories. Browse the riverside Tha Sadet market for crafts from across the region. In the afternoon, return to Udon Thani for your flight to Bangkok and your onward journey.
Meals: B
It suits travelers who have already seen Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the beaches, or who simply prefer quiet places. Isan has few foreign visitors, warm village life and some of the most impressive Khmer temples in Thailand.
Outside Bangkok and Khao Yai, the northeast has mostly simple local hotels. We use clean, comfortable 2- to 3-star properties with private bathrooms and air conditioning, chosen for location. We can upgrade in Bangkok and Khao Yai on request.
The lotuses flower from about December to February and are best in the early morning. Outside these months the boat trip still runs on a calm lake, but with few or no flowers.
Yes. This is a private tour with your own English-speaking guide. We also arrange private guides who speak French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese or Vietnamese: tell us when you enquire and we confirm your guide in the quote. Book early for the December to April high season.
Nothing is payable until you approve your written quote. We then ask for a 30% deposit to confirm, and the balance 45 days before arrival, by bank transfer or card. Bank details come with your booking confirmation; always confirm them with us by phone or WhatsApp (+84 812 247 572) before any transfer.
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