Thailand Songkran Festival Tour

You reserve your spot for free and pay nothing to join, and you can reserve until 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.

It's built around the three official Songkran days, 13 to 15 April, plus travel time on either side. If you want more of Thailand in one trip, our Thailand in 2 Weeks trip covers more of the country on other dates.

Yes, they can. Chiang Mai's Old City fills up for the festival and prices rise, so we book accommodation well ahead of each departure. Reserve your place early too, since the group size is capped.

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 train, ticket and check-in. They're also the person you go to if anything goes wrong. Where an activity needs one, a licensed local guide leads the visit.

Yes. Nothing on the itinerary is compulsory, including the water fights themselves. Just tell the Trip Host 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 Mai after breakfast on Day 7, so you can fly home from Chiang Mai (CNX) any time that day. If you'd rather fly home from Bangkok, the overnight train or a short flight gets you back down in a day.

Many nationalities, including the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and most of Europe, can enter Thailand visa-free for up to 30 days as tourists, 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 arriving.

It can be. Northern Thailand's burning season usually peaks in March and eases through April, but some years the smoke lingers into the month. Check the air quality index for Chiang Mai before you fly, and talk to us if you have asthma or another respiratory condition.

We stay in 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 on Day 2 you sleep in a 2nd-class berth on the sleeper train. Tell us about any dietary needs when you book. Thai food is easy to adapt, and both the sanctuary lunch and the cooking class are vegetarian-friendly. For serious allergies we can give you a card in Thai to show at restaurants.

Quick-drying clothes that won't go see-through when wet, sandals with a good grip, a waterproof phone pouch on a lanyard and a dry bag for your valuables. Revealing outfits can be fined as public indecency during Songkran, so leave the swimwear for the beach. Bring a small water gun if you like, but leave high-pressure and modified ones at home: authorities ban them, with penalties that have included up to two years in prison or a fine, and officials confiscate them on the spot. For the temples, pack clothes that cover shoulders and knees, and bring a light layer for the train's air-con and a refillable water bottle.

Yes to insurance: it's a condition of joining, and it must cover medical treatment and evacuation. For fitness, averagely fit is enough. There's a lot of walking and standing in Bangkok's and Chiang Mai's heat, and the water fights mean hours on your feet in a crowd. Roads are more dangerous than usual during Songkran, so we don't use motorbikes or ride in the back of pick-up trucks.