Thailand Lantern Festival Tour

You reserve your spot for free and pay nothing to join. 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 bank transfer within 7 days, in US dollars, pounds, euros, Australian dollars, Canadian dollars, New Zealand dollars or Indian rupees, whichever you choose.

Sukhothai sits between Bangkok and Chiang Mai and holds its own Loy Krathong festival among the ruins of Thailand's old capital, with candles and fireworks. It's a quieter, more historical way to start the festival before the bigger crowds in Chiang Mai.

Solo travellers aged 18 to 40. Most people come on their own, and some bring 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 7 days and sorts out every flight, van and check-in. They're also the person you go to if anything goes wrong. Nothing on the itinerary is compulsory, so tell them if you'd rather skip something. Where an activity needs one, a licensed local guide leads the visit.

It starts at our hostel in Bangkok on the afternoon of Day 1, and we send you the address when you book. It ends in Chiang Mai after breakfast on Day 7, so fly out of Chiang Mai (CNX) that day or the next. The airport has changed or cancelled flights around the lantern nights in past years, so check your flight time against its latest notice.

Many nationalities can visit Thailand without a visa for up to 30 days, which covers this trip. Rules change, so check our Thailand visa guide for your passport before you book flights. Everyone also needs to fill in the free online Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) before landing.

Not in Chiang Mai city, where it's against the law and fines can reach 200,000 baht. The mass releases you see in photos happen only at licensed, ticketed sites outside the city, and those tickets are a separate booking. The Trip Host can show you how to book one, but it isn't part of the trip.

Social hostels and small guesthouses with air-con, chosen for location and cleanliness. You share a twin or small dorm room with travellers of the same gender. Five meals are included. Street food and local restaurants usually cost about 60 to 200 baht a dish, so budget roughly 800 to 1,200 baht a day for food and drinks.

Yes. Tell us when you book. Thai food is easy to adapt. For serious allergies we can give you a card in Thai to show at restaurants.

A light jacket or jumper, since Chiang Mai evenings in November can be cool. Clothes that cover shoulders and knees for the temples, comfortable shoes for standing in crowds, a small bag you can keep in front of you at the festival, and a headlamp or phone torch for Sukhothai in the dark. A krathong costs a few baht on the streets near the water in the days around the festival, so bring a little cash.

Yes, it's a condition of joining. It must cover medical treatment and evacuation.

Averagely fit. There's cycling around Sukhothai's flat historical park, and a lot of standing and walking in crowds on the festival nights in Chiang Mai. Watch your footing on riverbanks and piers after dark, and keep an eye out for firecrackers, which go off through the evening in many places.