Small group tours to Thailand
| country: | Thailand |
| location: | Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai |
| trip type: | A small group adventure |
| departures: | 2010: 27 Mar, 10 Apr, 24 Apr, 8 May, 22 May, 5 Jun, 19 Jun, 3 Jul, 17 Jul, 31 Jul, 14 Aug, 28 Aug, 11 Sep, 25 Sep, 9 Oct, 23 Oct, 6 Nov, 20 Nov, 4 Dec, 18 Dec 2011: 1 Jan, 15 Jan, 29 Jan, 12 Feb, 26 Feb, 12 Mar, 26 Mar, 9 Apr, 23 Apr |
| price: | From £710 (9 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
introduction to Small group tours to Thailand
This trip introduces you to the best that Thailand has to offer. The incredible historic temples and palaces of Bangkok and Chiang Mai showcase this country's colourful and unique culture, but you also discover a different facet by riding on elephants and travelling on longtail boats through lively waterways. You experience local life by spending a special night with the hilltribe people in the north, staying in their simple village hut. Along the way, there is ample time to take advantage of the bargains to be had in the shopping paradise that is Thailand.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | (Sat) Arrive in Bangkok and transfer to hotel. |
| Day 2-3: | City tour of Bangkok. Drive to Kanchanaburi, visit the Bridge on the River Kwai. |
| Day 4: | Rice barge cruise around ancient city of Ayuthaya. Overnight in Thai teak house. |
| Day 5-6: | Drive to Sukhothai and cycle around this ancient city. Drive to Lampang. |
| Day 7: | Visit Lampang Elephant Centre. Drive to Chiang Mai, visit night bazaar. |
| Day 8: | Drive to Chiang Dao. Elephant ride and visits to hill tribe villages. Drive back to Chiang Mai. |
| Day 9: | Trip ends in Chiang Mai this morning (Sun). |
traveller reviews for Small group tours to Thailand
Beyond and all around the jungle rolled away in a series of luscious green hilltops, into a misty purple distance. This was home for the night. You felt you were the first people on earth: it was a privilege to be in such a lonely and exquisitely beautiful place. I'll never forget it.
(more)
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places. highly commended
This tourism business was Highly Commended in our 2007 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
|
We are involved in assisting a number of projects that have a positive contribution to the welfare of communities, wildlife or environment around the globe. On this tour, we stay at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in northern Thailand. This project is supported by the Thai royal family and plays a vital role in providing a safe haven for elephants rescued from injury or ill-treatment. In addition to providing sanctuary, the centre also develops elephant conservation in a sustainable manner that allows local traditions to be preserved. We stay in home-stay accommodation at the centre and get to meet these beautiful beasts and learn more about the centre’s work.
When you travel with us, you support our Community Trust, which provides funds for local community projects and initiatives that promote responsible and sustainable tourism development in the destinations in which we operate. First and foremost, but not exclusively, the Trust supports projects and initiatives that advance education and employment within the tourism and hospitality industry. The Trust operates on a not-for-profit basis, with every cent of funds donated by us, our staff and our travellers, going to the nominated projects. As part of our responsible travel policy we also employ local leaders and actively avoid international hotel chains, preferring to give our patronage to authentic, centrally-located and owner-managed establishments whenever possible. Our locally born and raised leaders are highly qualified and will be a great part of your holiday because of their intimate knowledge of the sights, culture and customs, history and language of their homeland. The maximum group size on all of our adventures is 16 passengers. Travelling in small groups ensures we make significantly less impact on the natural environment, as well as breaking down many of the communication barriers presented by a larger group. In 2009, we aim to neutralise all major emissions created by most of our trips, so they can be offered as the best green alternative available. We have conducted detailed analysis to assess the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the ground component of our adventure holidays. This means that the greenhouse gases emitted by transport and accommodation during most of our trips will be balanced and reinvested in projects that offer Gold Standard (or similar) Carbon Credits, and are aimed at ‘neutralising’ your contribution to greenhouse gases. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
check out similar holiday ideas...