Thailand - Bangkok, The Wonders of the North and Sea

Special departure - 10 August

10 nights/13 days

Day 1: Rome Fiumicino / Doha
Departure from Rome Fiumicino with a Qatar Airways scheduled flight to Doha.

Day 2: Doha / Bangkok
Arrival in Doha and onward transit to Bangkok. Arrival and transfer to hotel with assistance. Overnight stay in a hotel.

Day 3: Bangkok
Breakfast at the hotel. Day at leisure for individual activities. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Day 4: Bangkok / Ayuttaya / Sukhotai
Breakfast at the hotel and departure by bus with an Italian-speaking guide. First stop Ayutthaya, home to the famous ruins that were the capital of the Kings of Siam for over four hundred years. Visit to the temple Wat Chai Wattanaram, Wat Sri Samphet, the temple of the ancient Royal Palace, and finally Wat Mahathat, the temple of the Great Relic of Buddha, a ruin particularly well known and sought after by international visitors. Stop for lunch at a local restaurant set in a beautiful tropical garden. Afterwards, departure for Sukhothai, the city that was once the first capital of Siam, where you will arrive in the evening. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Day 5 Sukhothai / Phrae / Phayao
Breakfast at the hotel and depart for a pleasant and relaxing bike ride through the ruins of Sukhothai's historical park. You will reach the most important ruins of the park, including Wat Mahathat, a temple of the royal palace built in the shape of a mandala, Wat Sa Sri and its famous bell-shaped pagoda, and Wat Sri Sawai, an ancient Hindu temple built by the Khmer. We will leave the historical park and continue cycling towards the old quarters of the city, to visit the active handicraft centres. Lunch at a local restaurant in Phrae, in whose village you can admire the craftsmen in the production and colouring of textiles. Visit to the local museum and departure for Phayao, known for its old town with small wooden houses and the large lake the town overlooks. Dinner at leisure and overnight at the hotel.

Day 6: Phayao / Chiang Rai
Early in the morning transfer to the pier and departure for a small cruise on Lake Phayao in a small wooden boat typical of local fishermen. Return to the hotel for breakfast and departure for Chiang Rai. Visit to Wat Rong Khun, the famous White Temple, one of the most photographed buildings in the world. Afterwards you will leave the city behind and head further north to a large plain planted with rice and tropical fruits, furrowed by the courses of the Mekong's main tributaries. This is one of Asia's most active and bustling ethnic and commercial crossroads, where cultural interaction has fused traditions and folk wisdom. Here one can find the ingredients needed to prepare northern Thailand's most famous dish par excellence: Khao Soi, a delicious curry soup rich in coconut milk and various spices. From the market, we head into the countryside, until we reach a
Local farmstay where we will be hosted to find out how this succulent dish was prepared and to taste it. After lunch we will reach the 'Golden Triangle', the border place where the three countries meet. You will visit the local museum that traces the history of poppy cultivation and opium production. The meeting point of the rivers will be admired from the top of the hill that houses the ancient place of worship known today as Phrathat Doi Pu Khao. Dinner at leisure and overnight in Chiang Rai.

Day 7: Chiang Rai / Chiang Mai
Breakfast at the hotel and check-out. Early in the morning you will leave Chiang Rai in the direction of Chiang Mai. The landscape is mountainous, with hills covered in dense tropical vegetation. Once in Chiang Mai, the first stop is in the Bo Sang district, which has been known for its handicrafts since ancient times. You will visit a production centre for the famous Thai silks. Lunch in a local restaurant. In the afternoon, you will embark on a leisurely walking tour to immerse yourself in the local daily life of the city's historic core. Here narrow alleys wind their way through small Lanna-style houses alternating with the 119 Theravada temples that have made Chiang Mai the main centre of Buddhist worship in South East Asia for over seven centuries. Starting from the large square dominated by the bronze statues of three legendary kings of antiquity, and passing by Wat Inthakhin Sadue Muang, where the city's foundation stone was once kept, we reach Wat Chedi Luang
where you will find the largest Chedi (pagoda) in the entire Lanna region, built in the 14th century. The historic centre of Chiang Mai lies in a wide valley bordered to the east by the imposing Mount Doi Suthep, which rises up to 1600m, towering over the entire city. It is here that you will climb in the afternoon to reach one of the most famous and sacred shrines in the entire country: the Wat
Phrathat Doi Suthep, built at an altitude of over 1000 metres. Legend has it that the site of its construction was indicated by the wandering of a mythological white elephant carrying a sacred relic of the Buddha on its back. The relic was buried where today stands the imposing golden Chedi in the centre of the shrine, one of Thailand's most recurrent religious images. Dinner at leisure and overnight at a hotel in Chiang Mai.

Day 8: Chiang Mai / Koh Samui
Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the airport. Boarding on the flight to Koh Samui, arrival and transfer to the hotel. Overnight stay.

Day 9: Koh Samui
Breakfast at the hotel. Day at leisure for individual activities. Overnight stay.

Day 10: Koh Samui
Breakfast at the hotel. Day at leisure for individual activities. Overnight stay.

Day 11: Koh Samui
Breakfast at the hotel. Day at leisure for individual activities. Overnight stay.

Day 12: Koh Samui / Bangkok / Doha
Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to the airport. Boarding on the flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok. Arrival, baggage collection and check-in for the flight to Rome Fiumicino with a stopover in Doha.

Day 13: Doha / Rome Fiumicino
Arrival in Rome Fiumicino.

The fee includes:
➢ Qatar Airways economy class flight with stopover
➢ Bangkok Airways internal flights in economy class
➢ 2 nights in Bangkok at the Holiday Inn Silom hotel, deluxe room on bed and breakfast basis
➢ 4 nights tour with Italian-speaking guide, standard category hotel, treatment as per attached programme
➢ 4 nights in Koh Samui at the Baan Chaweng Beach Resort and SPA, superior room on bed and breakfast basis
➢ Transfers included in Bangkok, tour and Koh Samui
➢ Medical Expense Reimbursement Insurance (cover up to EUR 50,000) and Baggage Insurance**
➢ Airport taxes
➢ Registration fee

The fee does not include:
➢ whatever is not expressly indicated under 'price includes'.
➢ Cancellation insurance € 90.00**
Documents required: Individual passport with a minimum residual validity of 6 months from the date of departure and compliance with entry requirements for Thailand