9 daysThailandAges 18–40
9 days · Chiang Mai, Pai & Chiang Rai
Northern Thailand Adventure is a 9-day group trip for solo travellers aged 18 to 40 who want the mountains done properly, with no beach detour. You get the overnight train from Bangkok, three nights in Chiang Mai with a hill trek and an observation-only elephant sanctuary, two nights in Pai for the canyon, hot springs and a cave, and a finish in Chiang Rai for the White and Blue Temples. Your Trip Host travels with you from the first evening to the last.
Updated
From, per person
$1,050 / £788 / €920 / A$1,490 / CA$1,490 / NZ$1,850 / ₹1,00,500
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 Chiang Rai, 4 stops in 9 days.
4 stops
9 days
Day 1
Arrive whenever suits you and check in at the hostel. The Trip Host gets everyone together in the late afternoon to run through the week ahead, then leads the group to a street-food market nearby for a first taste of Thai food: skewers, pad thai and mango sticky rice.
Day 2
We're at the Grand Palace gates when they open at 8:30, before the heat and the tour buses. Next door is Wat Pho and its 46-metre reclining Buddha, then a short ferry across the river to Wat Arun. Cover your shoulders and knees for all three. The rest of the afternoon is free for a massage or a nap, and at about 18:40 we board the sleeper train to Chiang Mai.
Day 3
The train is due in at about 07:15, sometimes a little late. After a slow morning we walk the moat-ringed Old City, taking in Wat Chedi Luang's ruined brick chedi and Wat Phra Singh. Late afternoon a red songthaew carries us up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep for the gold chedi and the view over the valley at dusk.
Day 4
A full day trekking in the hills around Chiang Mai with a local guide: forest trails, a waterfall and a stop in a village along the way. You can swim at the waterfall when the water allows. Lunch is packed for the trail. It's a proper walking day with some steep, uneven ground, so wear real shoes.
Day 5
A half day at an observation-only elephant sanctuary in the hills. You watch a small group of elephants feed and roam from a distance, with no riding and no close contact, and lunch is at the camp. In the evening we go to an organic farm for a cooking class: pick your own herbs, pound a curry paste and cook four or five dishes for dinner.
Day 6
A private van takes us up the mountain road to Pai, about 762 bends over three to four hours, with a couple of stops on the way. After checking in we walk out to Pai Canyon for sunset over its narrow ridges. The drops are steep on both sides, so watch your footing.
Day 7
A full day by songthaew and van: the Tha Pai hot springs, the Land Split's roselle juice stall, then about an hour's drive to Tham Lod cave for dusk, when large flocks of swiftlets fly in to roost. Back in Pai, the walking street market has food stalls and live music for a late dinner. After heavy rain the cave can be partly closed, and if so the Trip Host swaps in another stop.
Day 8
A private van takes us from Pai to Chiang Rai, a drive of roughly five to six and a half hours with a few stops. After checking in we walk through Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple, with its turquoise halls and a giant white Buddha. In the evening the group has a farewell dinner at the night bazaar.
Day 9
We're at Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, soon after it opens at 8am, before the tour buses arrive: an all-white complex of mirrored glass, with a mural room that mixes pop culture into the Buddhist story. From there it's a drive of about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half to the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet at the Mekong and Ruak rivers, with lunch included. We drive back to Chiang Rai in the afternoon and the trip ends there, so book evening onward travel. Chiang Rai's airport has direct flights to Bangkok, or you can bus back to Chiang Mai.
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).
21 Nov – 29 Nov 2026
AvailableChiang Mai nights of 23 to 25 Nov cover Loy Krathong (24 Nov) and the Yi Peng city events. No festival event is included: the evening of Day 4 (24 Nov) is free, and lantern releases are at ticketed sites outside the cityMax 16 people
Price
$1,100 / £825 / €965 / A$1,560 / CA$1,560 / NZ$1,940 / ₹1,05,500
9 Jan – 17 Jan 2027
AvailableCool, dry season, with Pai nights that can drop to about 10°CMax 16 people
Price
$1,100 / £825 / €965 / A$1,560 / CA$1,560 / NZ$1,940 / ₹1,05,500
12 Jun – 20 Jun 2027
AvailableGreen season: afternoon showers are likely, trails can be muddy and the Tham Lod cave visit depends on water levelsMax 16 people
Price
$1,050 / £788 / €920 / A$1,490 / CA$1,490 / NZ$1,850 / ₹1,00,500
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 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.
Thailand in 2 Weeks splits its time between Chiang Mai, Pai and two Gulf islands. This trip stays in the north after Bangkok and adds a full trekking day and a night in Chiang Rai, which Thailand in 2 Weeks doesn't visit. If you want an island at the end, that one's the better fit.
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 9 days and looks after the train, vans and check-ins in the itinerary. They're also the person you go to if anything goes wrong. Local guides lead the trek and some visits. Nothing on the itinerary is compulsory: just tell the Trip Host if you want to skip something so nobody waits for you.
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 Rai in the afternoon of Day 9, after the drive back from the Golden Triangle, so book evening travel. Chiang Rai's airport (CEI) has direct flights to Bangkok, so you can fly home from there or connect through Bangkok. You can also take a bus back to Chiang Mai (about 3 to 4 hours) if you'd rather fly from there.
Departures are timed for when the north is dry, cool and clear, roughly November to mid-February, plus some June departures when the hills are green. Some departures line up with Loy Krathong and Yi Peng in late November. We don't run it from late February to April, when farm burning fills the valleys with smoke. In the wetter months, trails can be muddy and the Tham Lod cave visit depends on water levels.
Many nationalities, including the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, EU countries and India, can enter Thailand without a visa for up to 30 days, which covers this trip. The limit was 60 days until 15 September 2026, so older blog posts are out of date. 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) within 3 days before you land.
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, and you can ask us about a private room when you book. On Day 2 you sleep in a 2nd-class berth on the sleeper train. Tell us about vegetarian, vegan or allergy needs when you book and we'll ask the sanctuary and the cooking school to plan around them. Thai food is easy to adapt, but we can't promise a fully allergen-free kitchen, and for serious allergies we can give you a card in Thai to show at restaurants.
Six meals are included. Elsewhere, a street-food dish costs about 50 to 80 baht and a large beer in a bar about 80 to 150 baht. Budget roughly 1,000 to 1,500 baht a day for food, drinks and local transport on the days with no meals included, and less in the north than in Bangkok.
Real walking shoes for the trek, not just sandals, plus clothes that cover shoulders and knees for the temples. Pai nights can drop to around 10°C in the cool season, so bring a light jacket or fleece. Add a refillable water bottle, sunscreen and a torch for the cave visit.
We don't arrange or encourage scooter rental. To ride legally in Thailand you need a motorbike licence from home plus an International Driving Permit that covers motorbikes. Without both, police can fine you, and most travel insurance won't pay out if you crash. We get around by private van and songthaew instead.
Insurance is a condition of joining, and it must cover medical treatment and evacuation. Check that it covers trekking too. You need to be averagely fit: Day 4's trek covers several hours of forest trail with some steep, uneven sections, and there's a fair amount of walking in Bangkok's heat and around Pai. You don't need to be a hiker, just comfortable on your feet for a full day.
Ask here and someone on the team will email you back within 1 to 2 business days.
From
$1,050 / £788 / €920 / A$1,490 / CA$1,490 / NZ$1,850 / ₹1,00,500