3 week Southeast Asia itinerary

The best of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia for your first trip to Southeast Asia!

I had been dreaming of visiting Southeast Asia for years but ended up putting it off for later for fear of taking the kids, still so young, to the other side of the globe, or due to pure lack of time and money.

But then in 2022 the opportunity finally arose and, after months of planning and planning and replanning, on Christmas Eve we left for Bangkok, for what turned out to be the most spectacular trip we have taken in recent years.

We only had three weeks to explore Southeast Asia – it may not seem like much time for such a beautiful and culturally rich region, but I guarantee it's enough to make you fall in love and want to come back again and again.

Here, I share our itinerary, where we stayed, how we got around, and what I would have done differently if I knew then what I know now.

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How we've decided which countries to visit in 3 weeks in Southeast Asia

When planning the trip, our objective was to experience, in the short time we had available (3 weeks), the best of Southeast Asia. We were a group of 7 people - 4 adults and 3 children - and we wanted to get in touch with culture, learn history, enjoy the beaches and have lots of fun, on a low to middle-range budget (the order of priorities varied depending on the group member😂). It may seem difficult to please everyone but I'm glad to say I managed to put together a itinerary that was perfect 💪🏻

I had already traveled through Southeast Asia in the 90s, backpacking on a very tight budget. On that trip, I spent most of the time in Indonesia, but I also visited Bangkok and Singapore. Indonesia was, thus, out of the plans for this visit (my unilateral decision, of course).

Thailand made it onto our itinerary for two reasons (1) Bangkok is the region's main hub , which simplifies air logistics (and costs) when crossing the world with two children in tow; and (2) the beaches are amazing, although there are plenty of other beautiful ones in Southeast Asia. Cambodia was included because I had always dreamed of visiting the Angkor Wat temples (and I convinced the other adults in our group to go along). Laos made it to the list due to a close friend’s insistence — he spent months in the region a few years ago and fell in love with this small landlocked country.

Vietnam? Philippines? And Indonesia, which is so beautiful, why not go back there after such a long time? Yes, these questions crossed our minds several times, and were asked by many people. Time is short, money is limited, choices must be made.

If it all goes well, we'll be back many other times to South East Asia and we'll have plenty of time to explore every corner of this amazing part of the planet.

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How to get to Southeast Asia

From Brazil to Southeast Asia there are two most common routes: connection in Europe or the Middle East. We flew Emirates, with a connection in Dubai.

The flight from São Paulo to Dubai takes 14 hours and from there to Bangkok around 6 hours. Our waiting time in Dubai was around 4 hours, but this can vary as there are several daily flights between Dubai and Bangkok.. Another option is via Qatar, with connection in Doha.

A 14-hour flight is not easy. Feels like it will never end. There's plenty of time to sleep, eat, watch 3 movies, read a book, walk 345 times on the hallway and still have the feeling that time has not passed. Jokes aside, it's important to have a strategy in place for all these hours tucked inside an airplane, especially if you (like us) are going to be squeezed in economy class. After that never-ender flight, the next one, Dubai-Bangkok, was fast and easy – in fact, I slept the whole time on that flight, both on the way out and on the way back.

In conclusion: Emirates is an excellent airline: the seats are comfortable (as much as possible, of course), the food was great, the in-flight entertainment was perfect, and the price for the trip was the cheapest among the available options at the time. Less than six months later, we were once again aboard Emirates, this time headed to Japan.

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3 week Southeast Asia itinerary overview:

• 3 days in Bangkok
• 6 days in Siem Reap
• 4 days in Luang Prabang
• 4 days in Railay Beach (Krabi)
• 4 days in Koh Samui

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How to get around Southeast Asia and where to stay

On our 3-week itinerary through Southeast Asia, we did all the internal sections by plane, with the exception of the section between Railay and Koh Samui, which we did by bus and ferry with Lomprayah.

Getting around Bangkok: we stayed at Bangkok Hotel Lotus Sukhumvit, close to a BTS (Sky train) station, we moved around the city by SkyTrain and on one of the days by van, with a hired tour.

Getting around Siem Reap: the hotel we stayed in – Golden Temple Hotel was walking distance to the touristic center, so we did everything on foot and took a tuk-tuk when needed to go anywhere to far to go walking. We visited the temples with an organized tour.

Getting around Luang Prabang: we chose the Villa Masahok Hotel , which was a few blocks from the touristic area (and the night market), so we did everything on foot. The tour to Kuang Si Waterfall, Pak Ou Caves and Mekong River we did with an organized tour.

Getting around Railay Beach: It's a tiny village, you can do absolutely everything on foot. We stayed at Railay Phutawan Resort which had the most amazing views and was a short walk from the main (and only) street in town.

Getting around Koh Samui: iIt is a relatively large island (contrary to what I naively had imagined). We rented a scooter to explore the island and couldn't even cover half of the road that surrounds the island. On the other days, we took boat trips that included hotel pick-up; close to Tembo Beach Club & Resort there were several options of restaurants, bars and markets, so either we walked or took a tuk-tuk if needed.

Check hotel availability and rates here:

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What to do in Southeast Asia - 3-week itinerary

1th day – Arrival in Bangkok, settle in Bangkok Hotel Lotus Sukhumvit and explore the city.

2nd and 3rd days – Discover Bangkok: main temples (Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Temple of the Golden Buddha, which we did with a Portuguese speaking guided tour); take a break and immerse yourself in the oriental culture in Jim Thompson Museum, and then enjoy the most iconic street in Southeast Asia, the Khaosan Road .

Enjoy late afternoon at one of the city's ​rooftops or Asiatique. Stroll around in one or some of the city's many shopping malls.

If you feel like it, do a day tour to Ayutthaya– you can do it on your own or with an organized tour with a guide in Portuguese – we didn’t do it this time, but I did it on my own (without Google Maps and without a cell phone) in the 90s and I loved it!

4th day– flight to Siem Reap (Cambodia), we flew AirAsia. Arrival at Golden Temple Hotel (the best hotel of our entire trip!) and afternoon National Museum (we went by tuk-tuk).

5th and 6th day - 2 days are perfectly enough to visit the temples in the region – Angkor Wat is the largest and best known of them, but there are dozens of other temples, equally beautiful and full of history

7th to 9th day – we spent New Year in Siem Reap and took the opportunity to rest a little. On those days, we took the tour to the floating villages on Lake Tonlé Sap, zip-lined, visited the city's markets and the National Museum, enjoyed the hotel pool, in short, full vacation mode activated.

On those days, we took the tour to the floating villages on Lake Tonlé Sap, zip-lined, visited the city's markets and the National Museum, enjoyed the hotel pool, in short, full vacation mode activated.

10th day – flight to Luang Prabang (Laos), we flew Lao Airlines (there was a stop in Pakxe, where we did immigration and got the visa-on-arrival), and upon arriving in Luang Prabang, the guys from Villa Masahok Hotel was waiting for us at the airport and, after checking in, we went to dinner in the city.

11th to 13th day - explore Luang Prabang and surroundings:

Kuang Si Waterfall, Pak Ou Caves, Mekong River boat trip sunset, city temples (Wat Mai, Wat Xieng Thong, Wat Manorom, Wat Sene, Wat Wisunarat and others), climb Mount Phousi and, if possible, enjoy the sunset there, Alms Giving Ceremony, National Museum and Haw Pha Bang Temple.

Luang Prabang is a charming and pleasant city, with excellent restaurants and a great night market to buy handicrafts and souvenirs. We took a cooking course and watched some excellent traditional Lao storytelling theater.

14th day - flight to the south of Thailand, we went by Thai Airlines – we took a flight to Phuket, because the times and connections were better, but the closest airport to our destination was Krabi. This day was spent in transfers, flights, airports, vans, boats and even a tractor. We arrived at Railay Beach at night and stayed at Railay Phutawan Resort.

15th to 17th day – Railay beach – have you ever dreamed of paradisiacal beaches, with incredible rock formations and crystal clear turquoise water? In Railay your dream will come true. Here we found the most beautiful beaches of the entire trip.

One day we enjoyed the beaches of Railay, the other days we took boat trips to Hong Island and 4 Islands. Wish I could have stayed longer in Railay.

You can do the same tours staying in Krabi, a bigger town with more accommodation options.

18th day – get to Koh Samui. It was the only stretch where we didn't take a plane. We went by bus and ferry. From Krabi, it was about 2 ½ hours by bus and 45 minutes by ferry, then plus 40 min taxi to Tembo Beach Club & Resort.

19th to 21th day – Koh Samui.

On the first day we took a boat trip to Ang Thong Marine National Park (the best tour in the area). You can do this tour on a speedboat or catamaran, we went by catamaran and it was delicious.

On another day we took the tour to Ko Mat Sum (the “pig island”) and the next day we explored Koh Samui and its waterfalls by scooter.

22th day – Leaving Koh Samui for the end was strategic as there is an airport on the island (which was actually very close to our hotel) with several daily flights to Bangkok (Bangkok Airways), which made the return back home trip really easier – it took us 3 flights and more than 34 hours of travel to get home.

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What would I change in the itinerary

The trip was incredible and we loved everything, but saying that I wouldn't change anything isn't true, right?

Now after the trip is over, if I were to redo this 3-week Southeast Asia itinerary, I would make these adjustments:

– I would exclude one (or maybe 2) days in Siem Reap and include them in Railay. Better to rest on a paradisiacal beach, right?

– Not having so much time available, I would seriously consider excluding Koh Samui from the itinerary. It's a beautiful island, and the trip to Ang Thong Marine Park is amazing, but after visiting Railay Beach, your standard for beach beauty will definitely change. You will never look at a beach the same way again. It might be worth exploring more of the coast of the Andaman Sea, including other beach regions: Koh Lanta looks like a hidden paradise; Koh Lipe sounds amazing with its laid-back atmosphere; and the classic, unmissable Koh Phi Phi. However, I have reservations about Koh Phi Phi, as I think it is really overtouristed (although, as I said, I've never been there).

– As far as beaches are concerned, if you want to explore Cambodia further, the island of Koh Rong looks fantastic and not yet too devastated by the hordes of tourists that plague Thailand.Today I think that maybe we could have gone to that island, and excluded Koh Samui from the itinerary, but the logistics would have been much more complicated.
- If you find yourself with extra days to explore Thailand, there are numerous other fantastic destinations worth exploring. Chiang Mai is a must visit , boasting a mountainous ambiance and some of the region's most stunning temples.

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Map and Itinerary of our three weeks in Southeast Asia

Here is the map of our trip in Google MyMaps, with our detailed route, everything we did, where we stayed, and all the cool spots we visited. It's super easy to use and you can even save it to your own Google account for future reference. So when you plan your next trip to Southeast Asia, you already know where to start 😉

On the map, you’ll find details of everything we did, where we stayed, and the best places we visited. There are different layers, each with a unique color for the various regions we explored.

In this post, I explain how I use Google MyMaps to plan my trips. It's an amazing resource for saving places, calculating routes and distances, and overall trip planning. I really love using Google MyMaps for my travels!

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