Central Thailand Loop

We collect you from your Bangkok hotel at around 09:00, then start at the Golden Mount – Wat Saket – built outside the former city walls in the late 18th century. We continue with a stroll through lively Chinatown, one of the city’s most multicultural districts and home to a sizeable Chinese community, before visiting Pak Khlong Talat, Bangkok’s largest fresh flower market, where roses, orchids and lilies are in abundance. After lunch, we board a traditional longtail boat to explore the canals, a reminder of when locals mainly travelled by water. We arrive by boat at Baan Silapin, the Artist’s House dating back more than 200 years, for a traditional puppetry performance – the canal boardwalk here now features small shops and tiny restaurants. Later, we drive to Kanchanaburi via Nakhon Pathom to visit Phra Pathom Chedi – at 127 metres, the tallest stupa in the world. Dinner is at your leisure. Overnight in Kanchanaburi.

After breakfast at the hotel, we set off to visit the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery and the Thailand–Burma Railway Centre, followed by the famous iron bridge over the River Kwai. After lunch, we continue to Ayutthaya, which became Siam’s second capital around 1530 after Sukhothai. We visit the Ayutthaya Floating Market – located on a large pond with an island – which helps conserve the traditional Thai lifestyle of the Ayutthaya era. With 50 paddleboats and over 200 shops offering local goods and food, it offers an easy mix of browsing and sightseeing. Overnight in Ayutthaya.

After breakfast at the hotel, we set off by tuk tuk to explore Ayutthaya’s key temples and ruins – Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Viharn Phra Mongkol Bophit, and the famed tree‑entwined Buddha head at Wat Phra Mahathat – with time for photos along the way. We then continue to Nakhon Nayok for a ride on a water buffalo cart, a traditional mode of transport. Before lunch, you can help local chefs prepare the meal or simply listen to an introduction to authentic Thai cooking in English. We enjoy the freshly cooked lunch in a simple garden house.In the afternoon, we visit Khun Dan Prakan Chon Dam – the longest dam structure in the country – before heading to a Royal Project site focused on sustainable farming under the patronage of King Bhumibol to see rice planting in action. We round off the day with a cup of coffee or tea and fresh fruit, then return to Bangkok for drop off at your selected hotel.