Thailand for honeymoon

dk185

Hi, I'm booking my honeymoon for next January, I'm just wondering can anyone give me advice on where to go . So far I'm thinking of going to kata in phuket, and koh lanta which I think is in krabi ? Also maybe another island in phi phi. What we are looking for is very
Chlled beach holiday with activities but also an option to head into a town for restaurants and bars, bu not the seedy type bars . I have never been before and I am confusing myself with all the island options at this stage !! can anyone recommend these places if right for us ? and also has anyone found resorts that have a few restaurants and good entertainment that you wouldn't even want to leave the hotel , any input would be appreciated.

podgemonster

Koh Phi Phi is a party island but very charming. Limited in accommodation and decent restaurants due to its size and isolation. Lot of young people drinking buckets on the beach, fire shows.

Ao Nang in Krabi is mellow and not really big on Nightlife, plenty of tailors, families, upper class hotel resorts and places to eat. But you can get a 10 minute boat trip or kayak to Railay beach and or Phra Nang beach which is probably one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Koh Samui i found was essentially Majorca. but plenty of nice resorts if you wana stay there.

Koh Phanaghan is a party island for the full moon. But we went during the half moon and staying in a 4 star resort for peanuts on the opposite end of the island. Had a private beach to ourselves and one German chap.

Koh Tao is beautiful and tiny. Small little bars and restaurants dotting the place. Everyone goes to bed early due to the early scuba dives in the morning. its great! This was my favourite island.

Patong in Phuket was pretty seedy, pingpong shows and bar girls in every bar but the beach there was beautiful. It was cool to experience it anyway. Karon and Kata beach up the road from Patong I found quite dead and dirty but it was quiet while i was there.

All these places will have elements of the classless lager louts and "Girls on Tour" but if you select the right places to stay I am sure you'll have a lovely time.

Your heart maybe set on beaches in the south but I would thoroughly a trip up to Chiang Mai for some jungle day tours/ziplining/cooking courses/elephant trekking etc.

dk185

HI Podgemonster, thanks a mill for the reply, I hope you don't mind me asking a couple of more questions, its so good to speak to someone directly who has been over there and not go by several hundred different views on Google!!

is there anywhere in specific in Koh phi phi you would recommend, seems like a goer for one week anyway

where did you stay in Kho Phangan, I've heard its lovely but it was the full month party that was putting me off, but if I was staying at the other end and it wouldn't affect us it might be worth looking into? where did you stay there?

not really interested in patong or Phuket, don't think its for us. nor does kata or karon sound like the right option now either.

Im really only focusing on the south as i thought the north was a bit colder in January, Is Chaing Mai far from these islands for day trips, sound good

also have you been in Koh Lantan at all?

podgemonster

No we didn't go to Koh Lanta, suppose to be popular with Scandinavians and a bit quieter than other places.

Chiang Mai is about a 2 hour flight from the south. There are over 50 internal flights in Thailand a day and it's dirt cheap to fly anywhere. 30€-40€. Its currently 29 degress Celcius there now and that's plenty warm for me.

Koh Phi Phi is tiny so once you get a ferry there you could walk across the island in less that a day, all id recommend is visiting the view point and get some boat trips around, go snorkeling or scuba diving. We stayed in Guesthouses near beach so it was cheap and cheerful but noisy not really the luxury you may want on a honeymoon. There are 4-5 nice resorts there away from the main area that you should be able to research for yerself, I was no where near them. Also you'll be bored after a week, 4-5 days max.

In Koh Phanghan we stayed in the Chatamaras resort (http://www.chantaramas.com/) but there are numerous gorgeous resorts dotted around the island.

JustAThought

Chiang Mai has lots of lovely reataurants but is essentially a gritty suburban town with a high density of tourists - given the choice between islands & CM I'd go for south coast or islands anytime. We stayed at two differnent & ( at the time) quite upmarket reaorts but once you step outside the resort it is a third world country with busy t shirt & souvenir shops & white lit tiled malls opening onto main streets no matter where you go - and the s** industry is visible wherever you go - either as massage boths or gogo bars or stunning beauties on scooters or at bars hanging from & fawning over anything white & male from 18-80 - its impossible to avoid. But Thailand has incredible food, beaches, people & resorts - not to mention the weather - you will love it. Go upmarket & you won't go too far wrong. It was a few years ago but we stayed at the Imperial in K S - old imperial barges & carriage trains embedded into the grounds with landscaped gardens all around , amazing banquet meals & a private beach with staff hired to keep the hawkers away - there were a few sumptious resorts alongside each other there & you couldn't choose between them - worth a google & seeing if their ratings show that they have kept their standards uo! Avoid Bangkock as a romantic honeymoon destination at all costs - I wouldn't even leave the airport to see it until the way home - just head straight for the connecting flight down south to the beaches & islands!

Enjoy!!

Tefral

I went to Phi Phi, Railay (should have stayed for at least 2 more days) and Samuai.

Heres my post on the matter http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=79617719&postcount=84

CBFi

Just back from honeymoon on Koh Phangan (Santhiya resort) and Koh Samui (Akyra Chura resort). I'd highly recommend Koh Phangan and the Santhiya for a honeymoon. I agree Koh Samui is a little too commercial but the Santhiya is amazing. Go for a pool villa if you can stretch to it. But the main pool is amazing - always sun loungers available. Private beach etc. Its a short walk to the tiny village which has more restaurants and bars, shops and pharmacies.

We booked with Trailfinders and have nothing but good things to say about them - having the transfers and everything organised made us feel really relaxed. We stopped in Hong Kong on the way over. It's cool there but manic. The jet lag was a nightmare so I'd nearly do city part on way back if possible!

PM me nudes

Koh Phangan is a beautiful island, particularly if you avoid the week of the Full Moon Party

fits

CBFi wrote: »

. The jet lag was a nightmare so I'd nearly do city part on way back if possible!

Yep I think the best way to do it is relax at start. Active in middle and relax at the end again. You'll be tired after wedding

I stayed in the Holiday Inn resort on Phi Phi when I was there a few years ago. It's further up the island to the main town and the only way of getting into town was by boat.

It's really nice and might be an option for you if you you don't want to be among lots of backpackers

http://www.phiphi.holidayinn.com/

Also stayed in the Amari Coral in Phuket while there which was also really nice. Although I don't think you'd be missing anything if you skipped Phuket altogether

http://www.amari.com/phuket/

dk185

Thanks everyone for the input, detailed descriptions and even videos , definetly feel confident in booking it all now and has helped with my january blues !!

lorenzo87

I did a tour of thailand last year.. We started off in Bangkok for 3 nights, then went to an elephant camp for 4 nights which was amazing.. Then we jetted off to one of the islands for a week.. So we got city, jungle and beach fitted in, it was brilliant.

JimboJones99

We went on our honeymoon to Thailand last year also. Had a brilliant time.

We did 3 nights in Bangkok, 3 nights in Chaing Mai and finished with six nights in Koh Samui.

I don't agree that you should skip Bangkok. Whilst it isn't for everyone, we absolutely loved it. We stayed in a top class hotel and the room rate wasn't that costly even though everything else in the hotel was very expensive especially for Thai standards. We did get upgrades though as we were on our honeymoon. Great for shopping and food and we loved flying around the place in the tuk tuks. I definitely think if you go that far you have to see Bangkok. Even though 2 nights is probably enough.

I also would definitely recommend Chaing Mai. Great atmosphere, great street food and a great walking market on Sundays. Lots to do and again very cheap. We did loads of activities like zip lining there and 2 full days probably wasn't enough time. Internal flights from Bangkok are very cheap but were pretty expensive to fly on to Koh Samui.

We finished in Koh Samui. We stayed a bit outside Chaweng up near Choeng Mon (I think) which is fairly quiet and calm. Top class resorts, you are treated like royalty, lovely people and relaxed atmosphere. Unbelievable beaches and crystal blue waters. We didn't do much activities up there just pure relaxation. Chaweng is where all the nightlife is. I agree that it is similar to a lot of Spanish party resorts only bigger and seedier but still very enjoyable

Overall a brilliant honeymoon and we would definitely recommend it. We also booked through trailfinders and we were very happy with them. They booked exactly what we wanted and also were very competitive in price. They definitely offered more upgrades and freebies due to the fact that we were honeymooners.

lorenzo87

JimboJones99 wrote: »

We went on our honeymoon to Thailand last year also. Had a brilliant time.

We did 3 nights in Bangkok, 3 nights in Chaing Mai and finished with six nights in Koh Samui.

I don't agree that you should skip Bangkok. Whilst it isn't for everyone, we absolutely loved it. We stayed in a top class hotel and the room rate wasn't that costly even though everything else in the hotel was very expensive especially for Thai standards. We did get upgrades though as we were on our honeymoon. Great for shopping and food and we loved flying around the place in the tuk tuks. I definitely think if you go that far you have to see Bangkok. Even though 2 nights is probably enough.

I also would definitely recommend Chaing Mai. Great atmosphere, great street food and a great walking market on Sundays. Lots to do and again very cheap. We did loads of activities like zip lining there and 2 full days probably wasn't enough time. Internal flights from Bangkok are very cheap but were pretty expensive to fly on to Koh Samui.

We finished in Koh Samui. We stayed a bit outside Chaweng up near Choeng Mon (I think) which is fairly quiet and calm. Top class resorts, you are treated like royalty, lovely people and relaxed atmosphere. Unbelievable beaches and crystal blue waters. We didn't do much activities up there just pure relaxation. Chaweng is where all the nightlife is. I agree that it is similar to a lot of Spanish party resorts only bigger and seedier but still very enjoyable

Overall a brilliant honeymoon and we would definitely recommend it. We also booked through trailfinders and we were very happy with them. They booked exactly what we wanted and also were very competitive in price. They definitely offered more upgrades and freebies due to the fact that we were honeymooners.

Agree. Bangkok is a must see and I once spent 10 days there which was WAY too long, but it is brilliant for a 2-3 night stay. You can't go to Thailand and not see Bangkok in my opinion. You will get a 5 star hotel for 50 euro a night and get treated like royalty. Go see it for sure, you learn so much about the Thai culture there, even if it is very seedy!