THAILAND
Comfort‑first, school‑age family travel — with real itineraries, real costs, and practical planning you can copy
WHY THAILAND FOR FAMILIES
Thailand was an unforgettable family trip that perfectly balanced culture, adventure, and downtime. In Bangkok, we explored the city from the water on river boats, drifting past temples and Buddhas that made the scale and spirituality of the city easy to absorb with children. Northern Thailand brought a completely different pace—exploring the beautiful temples of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, chasing waterfalls and views in Doi Inthanon, and discovering quirky cafés that quickly became family favourites. We finished in Phuket, where beach days, staying in treehouse‑style accommodation, visiting James Bond Island, and seeing elephants up close made the trip feel both adventurous and relaxed. It’s a destination that felt exciting but easy, full of contrast, and incredibly memorable as a family.
Destination Guides
From the temples of Bangkok, to the street markets of Chiang Mai, the temples of Chiang Rai and the family beaches of Phuket — here's what each destination is genuinely like with a school-age child.
Itineraries & Routes
Planning Thailand with kids from the UK? Start with our family itinerary — covering Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket with advice on internal flights, travel days & what works with school-age children.
Planning Your Trip
Is Thailand safe for UK families? What do kids eat? Internal flights versus trains? When's the best time to visit? How much does Thailand cost for a UK family? We answer every practical question in one place
Hotels We Loved
Honest family hotel reviews from our own stays across Thailand — Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Phuket. What worked, what didn't, and which properties are genuinely good with children.
pLANNING TIPS
When to Book
We usually aim to book our long haul trips around a year in advance, as soon as flights are released. This gives the best choice on flight times and routes, and often better value on family‑friendly hotels. For planning guidance start here.
Booking Tools
Start with comparison websites like Trip.com to review the latest flight, hotel, and route options. We booked our flights with Swiss Air, connecting via Zurich.
Trip.com is also a useful place to look for car rentals, hotels, and pre‑booked airport transfers in one place.
That said, for accommodation we personally tend to favour Hotels.com and Expedia, mainly because their loyalty schemes have consistently worked well for us on longer trips. We booked all our India hotels ourselves through these platforms.
Finding Things to Do
Start here. We focus on things that genuinely work well with kids, not just the headline attractions.
You can also browse platforms like Get Your Guide and Viator to explore tours and activities — they’re a great way to see what’s available, compare options, and build an itinerary that suits your family’s interests and pace.
How to Budget
We always start with a realistic budget for each destination and build the trip from there. For Thailand, you’ll find a full budget breakdown showing exactly what we spent and where — flights, accommodation, activities, transport, and extras — to help families plan future trips with fewer surprises.
What to pack
For Thailand we have shared a practical, family‑tested packing list, designed to help you pack smarter, lighter, and with confidence, available here.
A quick note on links: some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you choose to book through them, we may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
We only ever share places, tours, and experiences we’ve personally used and genuinely enjoyed. If you’re planning your own family summer trip, feel free to use these links as a starting point — they’re the same ones that helped us plan efficiently, avoid unnecessary expense, and cut down hours of searching.