I would like to go to Thailand to go backpacking for the first time. Hopefully in the summer of 2022. Do any of you have some recommendations on where I should go and what the best route is? I would like to see the north and south, so it is quite difficult to find a good route.
And would it be easy to add on Bali or would a different place be better?
I hope somebody can answer my questions 😊
4 weeks would be great for Thailand! And if you wanted to fit in Bali, it would be doable, though obviously you would have to make sacrifices on either end. I spent a little over 3 weeks in Thailand, entering from the north via the slowboat from Laos. I don't remember the exact number of days I spent in each place, but it was between 3 to 7 nights in each place.
First night I crossed the border into Chiang Kong, and took a bus the next morning to Chiang Mai (definitely could have fit in Chiang Rai first, but I had booked a day at the Elephant Nature Park in advanced and wanted to be sure I didn't miss it).
Did a few days in Chiang Mai, and headed next to Pai for a few days there.
Now, if I had budgeted my time better, I could have traveled more slowly from the north to the south by train and/or bus, but instead I went back to Chiang Mai after a few days in Pai to catch a plane down to Krabi.
I stayed in Tonsai, right next to Railay, for a few days. Tonsai was by far my favorite but I also did day trips from there to Railay and Koh Phi Phi.
Then I flew to Bangkok and spent a few days there, including a day trip to Ayutthaya, before leaving.
___
So, if you are entering the country from Bangkok (and exiting from there), you could include a few days exploring the city at the beginning or end of your trip. You can take an overnight train north to Chiang Mai and do a week or two around the north, and head south. I would recommend with 4 weeks to split 3 weeks between the north and south, either an even half and half or a two-and-one thing depending on what you want to see. Then your fourth week would be split between travel days and whatever time you spend around Bangkok.
If you wanted to see Bali AND the north and south of Thailand in 4 weeks, you'll definitely want to travel more quickly and just fly between the major areas of Thailand. It would be a lot but it could be fun for sure! One idea for an itinerary would be something like: 2 days in Bangkok
Fly to Chiang Mai, 2/3 days in Chiang Mai
Bus to Pai, 2/3 days in Pai
Bus back to Chiang Mai and fly down south
Have around 4 days on whatever beach or island of your choice in the south
Fly back up to Bangkok
1 more day in Bangkok
Fly to Bali
Choose 2 spots in Bali (maybe Ubud and then somewhere on the coast?) to spend your time for the remainder of the trip.
___
Bali can be a bit harder to get around than Thailand so even though it is significantly less area to be traveling around, that's why I would recommend taking things more slowly there.