21 daysBali & IndonesiaAges 18–40
21 days · Bangkok, Koh Phangan & Bali
Bangkok to Bali is a 21-day group trip for solo travellers aged 18 to 40. You start in Bangkok, ride the night train to Chiang Mai, then island-hop to Koh Phangan, before flying to Bali for Canggu, Ubud, Nusa Penida, Gili Trawangan and a last few days on Bali's east coast. Your Trip Host is with the group the whole way.
Updated
From, per person
$2,660 / £1,990 / €2,335 / A$3,780 / CA$3,760 / NZ$4,690 / ₹2,55,000
Free to reserve
Sarthak's best travel memories come from going solo: hostel dorms, a new activity most days, new cultures and new food. SoloNomads grew out of that.
Sarthak travels with every group, from the first day to the last, so there's always someone on hand to sort things out when plans change and to make sure nobody gets left out.
In every country, a licensed local agency and licensed local guides look after the ground services, so you get local know-how too.
Bangkok to Sanur, 9 stops in 21 days.
9 stops
21 days
Day 1
Fly in whenever suits you and check in at the hostel. The Trip Host gets everyone together in the late afternoon to go through the three weeks ahead. Then we take the metro to Chinatown for a welcome dinner along Yaowarat Road, working from stall to stall: noodles, grilled seafood and mango sticky rice.
Day 2
A morning with the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, home of the reclining Buddha, with a local guide. The afternoon is free: a canal boat, the Jim Thompson House or just air-conditioning and a nap. In the evening we board the overnight sleeper train north, second class with air-con bunks.
Day 3
The train gets into Chiang Mai in the morning. After checking in and a shower, we head to an observation-only elephant sanctuary in the hills, where you walk through the forest and watch a small herd feed from a distance, with no riding and no shows. Lunch is at the sanctuary, and the evening is free in the old city.
Day 4
The morning is yours: temples, a massage or a coffee in the old city. In the late afternoon we ride a red songthaew up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep for the gold chedi and the view over the city at sunset. In the evening we head to an organic farm for a cooking class: you pick herbs from the garden, pound your own curry paste and cook four or five dishes for dinner.
Day 5
A free morning for a last Chiang Mai coffee. We fly to Koh Samui in the early afternoon, and a boat is waiting to take us straight across to Koh Phangan, no overnight in Samui. We're checked in by early evening, with time for a first walk along the beach before dinner on your own.
Day 6
A full day boat trip around Angthong Marine Park's limestone islands: snorkelling over the reef, a hike up to the viewpoint for the postcard shot over the islands, and a look at the Emerald Lake from its own lookout, because swimming in it isn't allowed. Lunch is included.
Day 7
Nothing planned. Rent a scooter for Bottle Beach or Mae Haad, book a yoga class, or just stay on the sand at Haad Rin or Thong Nai Pan.
Day 8
A travel day. We take the boat back to Koh Samui and fly on to Denpasar, connecting through Bangkok. There's no direct flight from the islands, so allow most of the day. We land in Bali in the evening and transfer to Canggu, with a simple dinner near the hostel on your own.
Day 9
A beginner surf lesson on Canggu's beach break, with a board and an instructor included. In the afternoon the group heads to Tanah Lot, the sea temple on a rock just offshore, for sunset and a welcome dinner nearby.
Day 10
A free morning in Canggu, then a drive of about an hour and a half to Ubud, depending on traffic. In the afternoon we walk the Tegallalang rice terraces, stepped green paddies cut into the hillside, and visit a working subak irrigation temple nearby.
Day 11
A very early start, around 2am, to hike Mount Batur by torchlight and reach the summit for sunrise over the crater lake and, on a clear day, Bali's neighbouring volcanoes. Breakfast is cooked on the crater using its own volcanic steam. We're back in Ubud by early afternoon, and the rest of the day is free to recover.
Day 12
A free morning for the Sacred Monkey Forest, the art market or a yoga class. In the evening we cook a Balinese dinner together at a family compound: you help make base spice pastes, skewer satay and roll rice-flour snacks over the fire.
Day 13
A fast boat from Sanur to Nusa Penida, about 45 minutes. A full day by private van around the island's west coast: the Kelingking viewpoint over a cliff shaped like a T-rex, Broken Beach's collapsed archway, and Angel's Billabong's tidal pool when the tide and sea are safe enough. We stay at the Kelingking viewpoint, because the path down is steep. Lunch is included.
Day 14
A morning snorkel trip off Manta Point, where reef manta rays come in to be cleaned. Sightings are common but never promised. After lunch we take a fast boat on to Gili Trawangan, arriving in the late afternoon with the evening free.
Day 15
Nothing planned, and there are no motor vehicles on the island. Rent a bike, snorkel from the beach for turtles, or book a dive with one of the island's dive shops on your own.
Day 16
A boat trip around all three Gili islands, stopping at the best snorkel spots for turtles and reef fish, with a beach stop for lunch on Gili Meno.
Day 17
A free morning for a last swim or a bike ride round the island. In the afternoon we take the fast boat back to Bali, then a van to Sanur, Bali's calm east-coast harbour town, and check in for the last few nights.
Day 18
Nothing planned. Sanur's beach path is good for an early walk or run, or take a day trip to Nusa Lembongan on your own. The Trip Host has recommendations if you want them.
Day 19
A drive down to the Bukit Peninsula for Uluwatu Temple, perched on a cliff above the surf, followed by sunset and the Kecak fire dance, a chanted performance telling part of the Ramayana. Dinner is at a warung nearby afterwards.
Day 20
A free day to finish any shopping, a spa visit or a last beach afternoon. In the evening the whole group meets for a farewell dinner near the water.
Day 21
The trip ends after breakfast. Ngurah Rai airport (DPS) is a short drive from Sanur, so any flight from late morning onwards works.
Prices are per person, and reserving is free. A date goes ahead once about 10 travellers have joined. You pay nothing until then. Once it's confirmed, we send you an invoice for the full price, and you have 7 days to pay it (or until the trip starts, if that's sooner).
8 May – 28 May 2027
AvailableEarly dry season in Bali, past Thailand's smoke seasonMax 16 people
Price
$2,660 / £1,990 / €2,335 / A$3,780 / CA$3,760 / NZ$4,690 / ₹2,55,000
12 Jun – 2 Jul 2027
AvailablePeak dry seasonMax 16 people
Price
$2,660 / £1,990 / €2,335 / A$3,780 / CA$3,760 / NZ$4,690 / ₹2,55,000
4 Sept – 24 Sept 2027
AvailableLate dry season, before Bali's wetter months returnMax 16 people
Price
$2,660 / £1,990 / €2,335 / A$3,780 / CA$3,760 / NZ$4,690 / ₹2,55,000
You reserve your spot for free and pay nothing to join, and reservations close 7 days before departure. Once enough travellers have signed on, usually around 10, we confirm the departure and email you a confirmation with an invoice for the full trip price. You pay it by card or bank transfer within 7 days, in US dollars, pounds, euros, Australian dollars, Canadian dollars, New Zealand dollars or Indian rupees, and the price shown for each date is what you pay.
No, this trip is sold as one 21-day booking. If you only want one country, our shorter single-country trips cover the same ground: see Thailand Express and Bali & Gili Islands.
Solo travellers aged 18 to 40. Most people come on their own, and some come with a friend. The maximum for each departure is shown with its dates, and it's never more than 16.
The Trip Host travels with the group for all 21 days, sorts out every transfer, ticket and check-in, and is the person you go to if anything goes wrong. A licensed local agency and licensed local guides deliver the ground services in each country, and a licensed local guide leads the visits that need one. You can skip any activity, including the Mount Batur trek. Just tell the Trip Host so nobody waits for you.
It starts at our hostel in Bangkok in the late afternoon of Day 1, and we send the address when you book. It ends in Sanur after breakfast on Day 21. In between we use social hostels and guesthouses picked for location and cleanliness, plus one night on the sleeper train. You share a twin or small dorm room with travellers of the same gender.
Fly into Bangkok (BKK) for Day 1. For the way home, book a flight out of Denpasar (DPS) any time from late morning on Day 21. There's no direct flight from the islands to Bali: the nearest airport is Koh Samui, and the routing from there to Denpasar connects through Bangkok, so Day 8 is a full travel day. We've kept the days either side of it free or low-key for that reason.
We run this trip between May and September. Bali is in its dry season from April to October, and Mount Batur is clearer then, because cloud cover is more likely from November to March. By May Thailand's northern smoke season is over, the Gulf islands are in their drier months, and Chiang Mai is green with the odd afternoon shower.
For Thailand, travellers from the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the EU and India can enter visa-free for up to 30 days, and everyone fills in the free online Thailand Digital Arrival Card before landing. For Indonesia, most nationalities need a Visa on Arrival, bought online in advance as an e-VOA or at the airport, which costs IDR 500,000 and gives 30 days (a higher fee has been announced with no start date, so check the official portal). You also fill in the free All Indonesia arrival card within 72 hours before you land, and pay the Bali tourist levy (IDR 150,000), easiest online. The Gilis belong to Lombok, not Bali, so we'll tell you before you travel whether the levy applies again when you come back to Bali. Rules change, so read our Thailand visa guide and Bali visa guide before you book flights.
Second-class air-conditioned bunks in an open carriage, with a curtain for privacy and bedding provided. It's not luxury, but it's a comfortable way to cover the distance overnight instead of losing a travel day.
A soft bag or backpack rather than a suitcase. Bring clothes that cover shoulders and knees for temples, swimwear for the islands, a warm layer for the pre-dawn climb up Mount Batur, which is cold at the summit, sandals or water shoes for the boat days, and a padlock for the sleeper train and dorm lockers. You also need some cash: Thai baht for Thailand and Indonesian rupiah for Bali. ATMs are easy to find in every town on this route, but scarcer on Nusa Penida and the Gilis, so take out what you need before each boat.
Insurance is a condition of joining. It must cover medical treatment and evacuation, and it should cover the activities on this trip, including surfing, snorkelling, diving if you book it, and trekking. You need to be reasonably fit: the Mount Batur trek is the main physical day, about two hours uphill on a loose volcanic path in the dark with a similar descent. Everything else is easier, though there's a fair amount of walking in hot, humid weather.
Possibly. See a travel clinic at least eight weeks before you go. The UK's TravelHealthPro and the US CDC both publish up-to-date advice for Thailand and Indonesia. The CDC issued a Level 2 travel health notice for Zika in Indonesia on 7 August 2026 after cases in travellers returning from Bali, and Bali's provincial health agency said on 23 August 2026 that it had no reported cases.
Ask here and someone on the team will email you back within 1 to 2 business days.
From
$2,660 / £1,990 / €2,335 / A$3,780 / CA$3,760 / NZ$4,690 / ₹2,55,000