You live in the USA and need to get away with your family for some peace & quiet on the beach? You want to travel in comfort, but not spend a fortune? If you have two weeks, you can do all that easily and inexpensively – Bangkok is a fun gateway city with food, shopping, culture and entertainment and it’s also close to the beaches, so you can relax on the beach and buy all those gifts your loved ones (and yourself) a few hours later!
Traveler: 2 adults, 2 children
Starting from: San Francisco, Los Angeles
Experience: Beach Getaway & Cultural Discovery
Trip Duration: 2 weeks
Region: Asia
Comfort Level: Comfort
Budget for Air fare and Hotels: $3,300 – $3,800
Once you arrive in Bangkok, you take the taxi to your comfortable hotel, like the Novotel Siam Square, and kick-off your vacation with drinks or dinner at a rooftop bar like Vertigo, with stunning views over the city!
Novotel Siam Square
You’ll take some time to explore all that Bangkok has to offer, with a visit to the Grand Palace and a trip on the Chao Phraya River . You can get your first taste of how markets look like in Asia at Asiatique!
After 3 days, you take the pre-arranged taxi to take you to the little town of Ban Phe about 3 hours South of the city, to transfer to a speed boat. Just 15 minutes later, you walk through the waves onto the shore of Ko Samed island, my favorite Thai beach at any price!
The staff of the Samed Villa welcomes you right on the beautiful beach and you are checked into a quiet villa for the next week. You can relax for four days doing nothing on the beach, be pampered with massages or go for quiet walks along the island, with few people to bother you.
You enjoy dinner & drinks stretched out on the beach with the waves crushing onto shore just steps from you. Fire dancers will entertain you with their skills – don’t try that at home – or you can head to Silver Sands for some music and dancing!
When your visit comes to an end, the speed boat will pick up up on the beach and return you to the pier and your taxi back to Bangkok. For your last three nights, you stay at the Park Plaza Sukhumvit, just steps from the fun Terminal 21 mall and the SkyTrain to take you to all the malls Bangkok has to offer! You can buy all the gifts you need and some unique items you’ll only find in Thailand, before enjoying one more dinner of delicious Thai food at Soulfood Mahanakorn!
It’s only been a week, but with an island as nice as Ko Samed, it’s easy to relax and recharge – and all without having to travel far or spend a fortune!
If this sounds like the right trip for you, check out my tips Bangkok – How to get there and around, where to stay and what to see & do to help you plan your trip! To learn more about the beach, check out my post Escape to Ko Samed!