Day 1 * France / Bangkok

Departure to Thailand. Night in flight.

Day 2 * Bangkok

On your arrival at Bangkok airport, you are welcomed by your English-speaking guide. Transfer to your hotel. Then departure for the discovery of the Or Tor Kor market. This little-known market located north of Bangkok is the receptacle of many culinary productions from the North and North East provinces. An explosion of colors and smells, between its fruits, its vegetables, its curry pastes and “Nam Prik” (preparations in paste made from plants and meat or fish specific to each region of the Kingdom and eaten with rice or just cooked vegetables) etc…. You will find some curiosities such as dried exotic fruits, Tamarind sweets or even succulent cooked dishes that will ideally lend themselves to a 100% Thai first lunch/dinner! Return to your hotel and free time.

Day 3 * Bangkok

Breakfast at your hotel and departure for Thonburi where the city of Bangkok was originally built after the fall of Ayutthaya, on the other side of the Chaopraya river, the “river of kings”. Thonburi still retains the charm, value and tradition of its glorious day. It is a very last piece of land in Bangkok where people still work in agriculture and fruit growing and navigate vast waterways.

This Thonburi tour is sure to change your perspective of Bangkok. After a short minivan ride, you will visit one of the best-known neighborhoods for local foodies, Talat Phlu. Visit the neighborhood’s sacred temples and a local fresh produce market. Here you will enjoy an original Thai breakfast consisting of Tom Luat Moo soup and Thai coffee. Then, it will be time to enter the heart of Thonburi with its fascinating network of canals. Along the way you will stop at the artists’ house and at another local restaurant. Then our boat will take you for a ride for more scenery and to Wat Rakang Kositaram, one of the most sacred religious sites for Bangkok residents. Your culinary journey will end with a trip through the food markets of Wang Lang, where you will have the opportunity to try various regional Thai cuisines, from central, northeastern to street food. At the end of the day, you will no doubt fall in love with Thonburi. End of the trip at the port of Tha Chang.

You will continue the day by visiting the unmissable sites of the city EireTrip.com The splendid Royal Palace, founded by Rama 1, first king of the current dynasty (Chakri dynasty) when he moved the capital from Thonburi to Bangkok. Throughout the successive reigns, many buildings were added to the Palace which gives it the character of a relic of the cultural influences of the last two centuries. At the heart of the site you will visit Wat Phra Kaew, temple of the Emerald Buddha. This magnificent Buddha, of mysterious origin, is undoubtedly the most sacred in the country. You will continue by the famous Wat Pho, one of the oldest, vast, and famous temples of Bangkok which contains within it a huge Buddha lying 15 meters high and 45 meters long. Wat Pho was also Thailand’s first university. It still has within it a massage school that is a reference in the kingdom. You will let yourself be tempted by the expert hands of masseurs and masseuses for a massage. Return to your hotel and end of the day free.

Day 4 * Bangkok

Breakfast at your hotel and this morning your instruction begins with a cooking class in one of the most prestigious restaurants in the capital: the Blu Elephant. You will first go to a local market. The opportunity to discover the variety of condiments and ingredients used in the composition of Thai cuisine. Then back at the restaurant, you’ll get hands-on with preparing delicious dishes that you can enjoy for lunch.

Return to your hotel around 2:30 p.m. and early afternoon free to enjoy the pool and amenities. Then around 6:00 p.m. meet your driver and transfer near Chinatown where you will change vehicle for a Tuk Tuk, the capital’s legendary tricycles. Departure for a surprising epic in the heart of the streets of the capital. Bangkok is a city that never stops eating. Bangkokians find themselves dining regardless of the time of day or night. This Tuk Tuk ride will be an opportunity to discover the best local restaurants in the capital, but also some must-see sites. You will taste a variety of savory dishes including Northeastern Thai food (Isan Food), the best pad Thai in town and a popular traditional Thai snack. Between tastings, rediscover the monuments and temples of the old city from a perspective different from that of the day. You will be able to witness a side of Bangkok totally unknown to visitors. End of the ride a little before midnight and transfer to your hotel.

Day 5 * Bangkok / Ayutthaya

Meeting with your guide in the lobby of your hotel and transfer to a cooking school by Minivan. This half-day of learning will be more like a life-size Art class. Equipped with a few simple utensils, your instructor will teach you the art of ephemeral fruit and vegetable carving. A way of touching the refinement and the pronounced aesthetic sense of the country and its people who have made this practice an art. Many fruits and vegetables can be carved, including some that you will find when you return to Europe. Your friends will be surprised!

End of the lesson around 12:15 p.m. and lunch in a local restaurant with tasting of Kai Kratiem, garlic fried chicken with soy sauce, an excellent Thai specialty.

Then you will then take the road to the North and the Palace of Bang Pa In: This site dating from the 17th century was neglected for a long time before being renovated by King Rama 5 in the 19th century. It has magnificent pavilions built in heterogeneous styles: European, Thai, Chinese… Then you will meet your host near Ayutthaya and check into a traditional Thai house in the middle of a small village of 8 guest houses. The origin of this grouping is initially linked to the making of essential oils, an activity that the hosts still practice, you can participate with the locals in this activity. Before dinner, your hosts will organize a short cooking class to teach you the secrets of preparing Thai desserts, based on tapioca,

Day 6 * Ayutthaya / Lop Buri / Uthai Thani

Breakfast then continuation to Ayutthaya. Capital of the Kingdom of Siam, until its destruction by the Burmese in the 18th century and the transfer of the capital to Bangkok. Ayutthaya has wonderful vestiges of this sumptuous period when the Kingdom of Siam maintained close relations with France, and in particular King Louis 14. Visit of Wat Mahathat, and its famous Buddha’s head enclosed in the branches of a Banyan, the Wat Ratburana and its Khmer-style chedi. The Mongkol Bophit and its bronze Buddha, the majestic Wat Chai Wattanaram. Continuation to Lopburi and lunch at the Kaeo Chao Chom restaurant specializing in Southern Thai cuisine: refined cuisine with very subtle balances of taste, but which includes many extremely spicy dishes (ask your guide for advice!).

Then visit this pleasant little provincial town and former summer palace at the time of Ayutthaya, which has many vestiges of the time including the Khmer Phrang Sam Yot temple. Tour of this city which has the particularity of being full of monkeys and where the inhabitants have learned to live in harmony with them. Continue to Uthai Thani. Installation at your hotel. Dinner at your hotel and free time.

Day 7 * Uthai Thani / Sukhothai

After your breakfast, visit the market of this small provincial town. A socially important place where rural and urban dwellers meet every day in front of stalls overflowing with products. Visit of Wat Thasung also called the “crystal temple”. This splendid building entirely covered with mirrors which give it an exceptional beauty. This temple is of course revered by the locals.

Return to the city center for lunch of Thai specialties, which will be taken along the Sakaekrang River, the opportunity to observe from your boat the peaceful life of this provincial town and its very pretty temples bordering the river. Then you will take the road to Sukhothai where you will settle in your hotel. On the edge of this highway, you will probably see a few sellers of a rare and quite expensive meat that the most intrepid may taste: barbecued rice paddy rat! Installation at your hotel and end of the day free