Thailand Grand Tour: Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket in 10 Days
Three cities, one loop, one domestic flight — the capital, the nearest coast and the islands, in the order that wastes the least time.
Ten days is the length at which Thailand stops being a city break and starts being a proper trip. It is also the length at which route order begins to matter more than anything else on the page. Get it wrong and you lose two days to airports; get it right and you lose one flight and one two-hour drive. This is the right order. Bangkok first, because you land there anyway and jet lag is best spent in a city where every second stop is air-conditioned. Pattaya second, because it is two hours south by road — no airport, no baggage claim, no check-in — which makes it the cheapest three days of coast you will find anywhere in the country. Phuket last, because it is the one leg that genuinely needs a flight, and you want the islands at the end when nobody has any energy left for temples. The Bangkok days are the classics, and on a first trip they should be. Day one is deliberately soft — Siam for the afternoon, then Mahanakhon's skybar at dusk to see the shape of the city from above before you go into it. Day two is the old city: the Grand Palace early, before the heat and the tour groups, then Wat Arun across the river, then Chinatown after dark, which is when it is worth seeing. Day three is Chatuchak, one of the largest weekend markets on earth, then Iconsiam and a river dinner cruise. Pattaya is the leg most itineraries skip, and skipping it is a mistake made on fifteen-year-old information. What the city actually offers a family is very good value on the beachfront, plus three attractions that would be headline sights anywhere else: the Sanctuary of Truth, an enormous hand-carved teak temple still unfinished after forty years; Nong Nooch, six hundred acres of botanical garden with a dinosaur valley; and Koh Larn, forty minutes offshore, where the water is clear in a way the mainland beach is not. Phuket closes the trip with four days built around one big island day. Phi Phi takes a full day and is worth every hour of it. Carnival Magic in the evening is the largest show of its kind in Thailand and reliably the thing children talk about on the flight home. Day nine is the Big Buddha early, Aquaria — the country's largest aquarium — through the hot part of the afternoon, and Central Phuket for the last shopping. Day ten is a beach and a beach club, and nothing else, because the last day of a ten-day trip should not have a schedule. Halal food is available throughout: the Bangkok malls, the resort restaurants in Pattaya, and Pantai Seaview in Phuket, which is one of the better halal seafood kitchens on the island. Budget roughly 38,000–80,000 THB ($1,065–$2,250) per person for the ten days, mid-range, including the Bangkok–Pattaya car and the domestic flight south. Come between November and February if you can pick your window — that is dry season in all three places at once, which is not true for most of the year.
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Budget Estimate
Accommodation
2,000-5,500 THB/night
$55-$155
Novotel Platinum Pratunam from 2,800 THB, Centara Grand Mirage beachfront Pattaya from 3,200 THB, Amari Phuket in Patong from 4,000 THB
Food & Dining
500-1,500 THB/day
$14-$42
mall halal food courts from 120 THB, Pantai Seaview halal seafood 400-800 THB, Chao Phraya dinner cruise about 1,300 THB
Transport
400-1,200 THB/day
$11-$34
BTS 20-60 THB per trip, private Bangkok to Pattaya car 2,200-3,000 THB one way, Pattaya to Phuket domestic flight from 2,000 THB, Grab in Phuket 200-400 THB
Activities
800-2,200 THB/day
$22-$62
Grand Palace 500 THB, Phi Phi speedboat 1,600 THB, Carnival Magic from 1,800 THB, Nong Nooch about 700 THB, Sanctuary of Truth 500 THB
Total Estimated
38,000-80,000 THB
$1,065-$2,250
for 10 days per person, mid-range comfort including the Bangkok-Pattaya car transfer and the domestic flight to Phuket
Trip Map
Day-by-Day Itinerary
10 days of adventure and exploration
Land, check in at Pratunam, and spend the afternoon at Siam Paragon — air-conditioned, walkable from the BTS, and the gentlest possible landing after a long flight. At dusk, go up Mahanakhon. Seeing the shape of Bangkok from 300 metres before you go down into it makes the next two days legible in a way a map does not: you can see where the river bends, where the old city sits, and how far the towers run. It is the right first evening of a ten-day trip.
Bangkok's flagship mall, directly above a BTS station and fully air-conditioned — the softest possible first stop after a long flight, with a large halal food selection on the ground floor.
Go to the basement food hall rather than the restaurant floors. It is cheaper, faster and has more halal options.
The rooftop bar near the top of the King Power Mahanakhon tower, the pixelated-looking building that defines the modern Bangkok skyline. Roughly 300 metres up with an open-air deck.
Arrive about forty minutes before sunset. You get the city in daylight, at golden hour and lit up, from one seat.
