Chiang Rai Day Trip Small-Group from Chiang Mai City with Golden Triangle

We had a fantastic tour this week to the golden triangle as well as the White Temple, hot springs and other temples along the way. Our tour guide taught us so much about language, culture and history. This is a huge day out however. Over 13 hours which contains hours and hours of driving. If you get car sick, I suggest you bring medication as there's nowhere to stop along the way. An incredible day out, we're so glad we did it.

We took this tour as a private group of 5. We had one adult and 4 kids ages 11 to 17. This is a very full day trip, but well worth it. You get to see many sites including the golden triangle and a boat trip to Laos. Be sure to plan to have a long day in a van. Lunch and water were provided. Lunch was a nice restaurant and food was ready when we arrived.

The Chiang Rai day trip to the white temple, the golden triangle + Mekong river boat ride, and the opium museum was really great. our tour guide Gek provide us enough information about all the places we visited and she really take good care of us. She provide us sufficient cold water, chilled napkins, and even junk food along the long ride from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, really appriciates her caring and kindness. Food was nice during the half day of our visit, the views and temples are spectacular!

This was a great tour, except too long. 14-15 hour round trip starting at Chiang Mai. Maybe they can look at dropping one of the activities on this tour.

We loved this trip and although it is a lot of driving the van they provide is very comfortable. Our tour guide and driver picked us up last for the tour about about 7:30 AM from our condo. We then headed out to the hot springs while he explained what to expect in a very humorous way. We arrived at the hot springs at 9 AM and they gave us 20 min to use the facilities, wander about and get refreshments if we choose to. This is mostly a bathroom stop, but there are hot springs, there are shops, little places to get food and drinks, etc. There is a very cool temple next door also that we explored, but it is not kept up. We got back in the van and drove on to the white temple where we arrived at 11 AM. This is a very cool place to explore. We spent the first 30 min with our tour guide explaining the place to us, then had 30 min to explore on our own. This was the perfect amount of time so you can see everything, but not get bored. We then headed out from there to the remnants of the 7th-century Thai kingdom at Chiang Saen where we arrived a little after 1 PM. This was an interesting place and our tour guide showed us around here for about 30 minutes. From there we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. It was a great meal of Thai food served family style. It included fried dry chicken with thai basil, curry pork dish, coconut soup, fried spring rolls, fried rice and a few other dishes. It was very tasty and there was plenty to fill up even the most hardy appetites. They then gave us little bananas grown locally for desert. It was a great meal. From there we drove on to the Opium Museum and spent about 20 minutes there. We then walked across to the boat docs and got on a comfortable size boat and went down the river for 15 minutes or so to Laos. They gave us 30 minutes at the market there which was more than enough time for all of us. It was OK to see, but the market itself is not that interesting. The boat ride and the fact that this is the point where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet makes it very interesting. We found it interesting that you can just hop off the boat in Laos without going through any customs. After we left this area it was back in the van for the long drive back. We stopped after two hours for a bathroom break and they offered us all smoothies, coffee, juice, or tea, as well as a chance to use the facilities. From there we headed back to Chiang Mai which took about 2 more hours getting us back at about 8:30 PM. We really enjoyed our tour guide Ekk and the driver Tom was a very good driver. I would highly recommend this tour, but do be prepared for a long day and a lot of driving, sometimes on roads that are not so nice.Show less

Picked up on time by our guide John and the driver Tom and we were on our way. A few quick stops to pick up the rest of the small group before heading out of the town. John explained the day and after a while we reached the first stop by the hot springs. It was OK, not fantastic but still a nice stop en route.Then the day continued. The White Temple was spectacular. Completely stunning artistry in every detail and so much to see. A must see if you have the chance. Then off for a delicious lunch at a local restaurant. The food was plenty and every bit of it tasty.The trip then took us up to the Golden Triangle with a visit to the Opium Museum and a short boat trip to the market on the Laotian side of the river. Quite interesting as well.Then time to head back with a short coffee break on the way courtesy of John, the guide.This is a long day out but well worth it. Loads to see and our guide John and driver Tom did an excellent job in making the trip a delight. Highly recommended.

Amazing tour with an on-time pickup. It's meant to be a rushed tour given the sightseeing spots we need to cover in one day, but it's worth it to see the Golden Triangle and have a chance to see tidbits of Laos. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good, action-packed 1-day adventure.

This trip is quite a new experience to us. Good for family trip. Tour guide is knowledgeable of the area, speaks good english and made sure that his guests are comfortable.