Thailand · Itinerary · Updated September 2026
10 days in Thailand: Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Railay
Ten days is the most common length people actually take in Thailand, and it is enough for two very different halves of the country if you stop trying to add a third. Every fare and fee below was checked in September 2026.
Length
10 days
Budget
฿26,800 / $805
per person, mid-range
Best season
Nov–Mar
Dry in both north and south
Stops
5
1 flight, 1 overnight train
The route
Bangkok and Ayutthaya, the overnight sleeper to Chiang Mai, then a direct flight to Krabi for Railay.
Day by day
Days 1–2 · Bangkok
Two nights, and no more
Airport Rail Link from Suvarnabhumi to Phaya Thai, then BTS. Day one is mostly a write-off, eat and sleep. Day two does the old city properly: Wat Pho, Wat Arun by cross-river ferry, then Chinatown after dark for Yaowarat street food. On a ten-day trip Bangkok is a gateway rather than a destination, and the third day it deserves is the day this itinerary spends in Ayutthaya instead.
Sleep: Phra Nakhon for temples, Ari for cafés and quiet.
Day 3 · Ayutthaya
Ruins by bicycle, then straight onto the sleeper
Third class from Krung Thep Aphiwat, 1h30–2h for ฿15–20. Rent a bicycle at the station and ride Wat Mahathat, Wat Chaiwatthanaram and Wat Phra Si Sanphet in a loop. Then take the northbound sleeper from Ayutthaya the same evening rather than backtracking to Bangkok. It stops here, and that single decision is what buys you the third Chiang Mai night.
Sleep: On the train. Second-class air-conditioned berth ฿941 upper, ฿1,041 lower; first class ฿2,446.
Days 4–6 · Chiang Mai
Three nights, and the whole north in one base
You arrive in the morning off the sleeper with the day intact. One day for the old city temples and, if the timing lands, the Sunday Walking Street. One for Doi Suthep and a Doi Pui village walk. One for a cooking class at ฿1,000–1,500, market visit included. If you want elephants, choose a sanctuary that does observation only, no riding, no bathing.
Sleep: Old City inside the moat, or Nimman for coffee and coworking.
Days 7–9 · Railay & Krabi
A peninsula you can only reach by boat
Chiang Mai to Krabi is direct (nineteen flights a week on Thai AirAsia and Thai Airways, from about ฿2,205) which is why this route ends here rather than at Surat Thani. From Krabi Town, a longtail from Ao Nam Mao or Ao Nang. Railay West for the beach, Railay East for cheaper rooms, Tonsai next door for climbing. Three nights is enough to do the viewpoint and lagoon scramble, a day boat to the nearby islands, and one day doing nothing at all, which is the point.
Sleep: Railay East ฿800–1,800; Railay West from ฿3,500.
Day 10 · Krabi airport
Out from where you came in
Longtail back to Ao Nam Mao and a half-hour transfer to the airport, or straight to Bangkok on a domestic hop. Because the route ends at the coast rather than looping north, there is no wasted transit day. The thing a ten-day itinerary can least afford.
Sleep: Nowhere. This is the day you leave.
Best things to do on this route
If you cut the trip short, these are the ones to keep.
- 01
The overnight sleeper from Ayutthaya
Boarding here rather than going back to Bangkok saves a travel day and a hotel night in one move.
- 02
Ayutthaya by bicycle at sunrise
The park opens at 8am but the outer ruins are unfenced and empty from first light.
- 03
Yaowarat after dark
Bangkok's Chinatown from 7pm. Go hungry, eat standing up, budget ฿300 for the whole night.
- 04
A northern Thai cooking class
Half a day in Chiang Mai, ฿1,000–1,500, market visit included. Ask for khao soi.
- 05
The Railay lagoon scramble
Twenty minutes up a rope-and-clay trail. Hard, short, and the best view on the Andaman coast.
- 06
Doi Suthep before the coaches
First songthaew up the hill, and you get the terrace and the view to yourself.
Where to stay
Neighbourhoods rather than specific hotels. Prices move, areas don't.
Bangkok: Phra Nakhon or Ari
Phra Nakhon puts you inside the temple district. Ari is 15 minutes on the BTS and much calmer.
The sleeper train
A night's transport and a night's accommodation at once, which is what makes ten days stretch to two regions.
Chiang Mai: Old City or Nimman
Inside the moat for temples and markets; Nimman for cafés, coworking and better food.
Railay: East side
Mangrove not beach, but a five-minute walk across the peninsula and less than half the price.
What it cost
Per person, 10 days. International flights not included.
| Category | Cost |
|---|---|
| Accommodation: 9 nights, one of them the train | ฿10,500 / $315 |
| Food and drink | ฿6,000 / $180 |
| Transport: trains, one flight, transfers | ฿5,200 / $156 |
| Activities and entry fees | ฿3,000 / $90 |
| SIM, laundry, ATM fees, tourist entry fee | ฿1,500 / $45 |
| Longtails and local boats | ฿600 / $18 |
| Total | ฿26,800 / $805 |
Converted at ฿33.3 to the dollar, checked 2 September 2026. About ฿2,680 a day, inside the ฿2,150–3,600 band Thailand mid-range travel runs to. Rebuilt rather than scaled from the longer routes, and the comparison is worth knowing: the 22-day route runs about ฿3,040 a day, this one ฿2,680. Longer is dearer per day here, not cheaper, because the extra days are the ones carrying the internal flight, the rafthouse night and the island ferries. Adding four days to reach the 14-day route costs about ฿3,250 for each of them.
Getting around
The overnight train is the whole trick
A second-class air-conditioned berth is ฿941 upper or ฿1,041 lower, ฿2,446 in first. It removes a travel day and a hotel night at once, and on a ten-day trip that is the difference between three nights in Chiang Mai and one. Board at Ayutthaya, not Bangkok.
Fly north to south, not back through Bangkok
Chiang Mai to Krabi is direct, nineteen flights a week on Thai AirAsia and Thai Airways from about ฿2,205. Routing through Bangkok to save a few hundred baht costs half a day, which at this length is the more expensive currency.
If you would rather fly north
Bangkok to Chiang Mai runs 738 flights a week from roughly ฿600 on the budget carriers. It saves nothing over the sleeper once you count the airport transfers at both ends and the hotel night the train replaces, but it is the fallback if sleeper berths are sold out, which they are in high season if you leave it late.
Scooters and apps
฿150–350 a day. You need an international permit with a motorcycle endorsement for your insurance to be valid. Most rental shops will not ask, and your insurer will. Grab works in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket.
Packing notes
The things that are annoying to find locally, or that people forget.
- Long trousers and a shoulder covering for temples. Sarongs are sold at every entrance but cost triple.
- A fleece or light jacket. Chiang Mai drops sharply at night from December to February, and the sleeper's air conditioning is fierce.
- Reef-safe sunscreen. Thailand bans four compounds in marine national parks (oxybenzone, octinoxate, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and butylparaben) with fines up to ฿100,000.
- A dry bag. Reaching Railay means wading off a longtail boat, every time.
- Trainers with grip for the Railay viewpoint.
- Cash in small notes. Railay has no ATMs worth the fee, and Thai ATMs now charge foreign cards ฿250 on Visa and ฿350 on Mastercard.
What ten days costs you against fourteen
Two whole regions come out, and nothing is thinned to compensate.
Khao Sok goes, which is the hardest loss on this site. Dawn on Cheow Lan Lake is the single best thing on the long route, and it cannot be done as a day trip. The rafthouse night is the experience. Four days minimum with the transfers, and ten days does not have four spare.
The far islands go too, Phi Phi and Lanta. Keeping one of them would mean a ferry day each way for a single night, and ferry days are the cheapest thing to cut because you spend them looking at the sea from a seat rather than from a beach.
What that buys is three nights in Chiang Mai and three at Railay instead of two and two. The trip is shorter and slower, which is the right trade at this length: a ten-day Thailand with six stops is an airport tour.
If you have the extra four days, the 14-day route adds Khao Sok and the islands back. If you have three weeks, the 22-day adds the far north as well.