14 Days in Thailand: A Couple's Trip from Bangkok to the Phi Phi Islands

Last Updated: August 07,2026

Travel Style: Private Couple Journey
Destination: Thailand
Trip Length: 14 Days
Number of People: 2
Route: Bangkok → Chiang Mai → Phuket → Phi Phi Islands
Focus: Culture • Cooking • Wildlife • Island Time

Richard, 52, lives outside Manchester and runs a small joinery business with two brothers. His wife had been asking about Thailand for a couple of years — she had read about Chiang Mai and the food, and he wanted somewhere with enough variety that two weeks would not feel long. They had looked at group tours and decided quickly that a Thailand trip for couples did not start with a forty-person coach. The private Thailand tour option came up before the second call finished.

The first call was about pace. Two weeks is a long window, and Richard had watched friends come back tired. They wanted enough variety that Bangkok, the north, and the islands all got proper time, plus two days open so his wife could decide in the morning. She has a knee that plays up on long days, and they wanted to avoid five-temple mornings.

His wife on that first call: "We wanted to do Bangkok properly, slow down for a bit, and end on a beach without rushing everything together." They were after a Thailand private itinerary with one cooking class and one full beach day without an early start.

how it was put together

Phobe, the travel consultant, sent the plan within ten days. Bangkok four nights, Chiang Mai five, the islands four, with internal flights between each. One driver worked Bangkok; another worked the islands. No morning started before nine. The Mama Noi class was confirmed three weeks out. The Phang Nga Bay boat was booked for day eleven, late afternoon. Richard said later that was when it felt like a real customized Thailand vacation — every detail had answered a question they had already asked. One phone number worked the whole trip.

bangkok, days 1 to 4

The first morning was a long-tail boat down the Khlong to Damnoen Saduak — grilled pork on skewers, coconut pancakes on coal stoves, mango on a stick. On the way back, the train came through Maeklong at walking speed and vendors pulled their awnings in, then back out.

Day two was the Grand Palace. The tailor at the gate had Thai costume for both — Richard in a white shirt and patterned wrap, his wife in a red silk sash. There was a short queue at the entrance and the guide handled the tickets. The inner court is a long terrace of gold-leafed buildings with a bright-yellow central chedi. The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho was a short walk away — the 46-metre figure fills its own hall, and the mother-of-pearl inlay on the soles of the feet is still visible up close.

Day three was Wat Arun — the spire is covered in broken porcelain set into plaster, a detail you notice up close. His wife did the wai at the gate as a monk passed. By half past one the heat had turned the day — the one part they had not prepared for. The driver noticed before she said anything and turned the car back without anyone having to explain. They sat in air-conditioning three hours, walked the river at seven, and ate at a place on the bank.

Day four was open. Their driver took them to Bubble in the Forest for lunch, they took the swings over the water for the photos, then read by the pool.

chiang mai, days 5 to 9

They flew north on day five. The hotel was inside the old city walls. The first full day was the cooking class at Mama Noi — they walked the market with the chef first, cooked four dishes each, ate what they had cooked.

Day six was Doi Suthep. The temple sits on a ridge above the city, with a brass Naga staircase running 300 steps from the car park to the platform. Richard took it slowly; his wife waited at the bottom with coffee. The platform looks out over the whole of Chiang Mai, and the chedi at the centre is bright gold in the late morning.

Day seven was the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, outside the city. They were assigned Mae Mali, a female elephant in her late thirties. Mae Mali walked with them through a river, fed from Richard's hand, and put her trunk around his wife's wrist for a few seconds before letting go. They stayed two hours and went back through the photos that evening.

Days eight and nine were open. They did Warorot Market on one morning and sat by the hotel pool on the other.

phang nga bay & phi phi, days 10 to 14

The internal flight south was quick. The hotel was on a quiet stretch of west-coast beach. The catamaran in Phang Nga Bay went out at three on day eleven. The sea was flat, the limestone pillars tall. They stayed on the water until sunset, watching the cliffs change colour as the boat turned back.

Days twelve and thirteen were on Phi Phi. The afternoon boat on day twelve was moved to the morning because of wind — the only schedule change of the trip, and the guide sorted it the evening before. They took a long-tail to Monkey Beach, where a few macaques run down to the waterline. Maya Bay was closed to boats but reachable through a smaller bay to the east. Bamboo Island had the clearest water of the trip — the sea was warm enough to stay in for an hour.

The last morning was a walk along the beach and a fresh coconut from a stall at the end of the path.

what they took home

Richard said the trip worked because nobody had to hold it. The driver took them back from the Bangkok heat without being asked. The cooking class is what both bring up first when friends ask. The Grand Palace photos in the Thai costume are framed at home. They have started talking about Vietnam next winter.

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