5 Day Itinerary for Krabi with Parents
After Chiang Mai, my parents and I were ready for a more relaxed itinerary in Krabi. We planned five days for relaxing and exploring the coastal town of Krabi.
As there are a number of non-stop flights between Chiang Mai and Krabi, it was an easy choice as our next stop. There are several airlines to choose from, but ultimately I chose Bangkok Airways as the flight was $65 per person. At the airport, the baggage check line and the security line were both moderately busy, but moved quickly and the flight was uneventful. To say we were ready for our 5 days in Krabi, would be an understatement.
Accommodation
Accommodation options in Krabi were far from scarce. There is something for every style of traveler. Traveling with parents has its perk, and one of those is being able to stay in fancier resorts.
In Krabi, there are several different neighborhoods to stay, however the most popular location(s) would be Ao Nang or Railay Beach. Both are fairly close to one another and accessible between the two by long boat. I ultimately decided on Ao Nang, to give us more access to the mainland.
I gave my dad a few examples of places, the parameters, and let him make the final decision. In the end, we decided on a place that allowed for both my parents and I to have separate rooms, without breaking the bank.
Pakasai Resort
Our selection for accommodation was Pakasai Resort; a boutique hotel, set on the side of a mountain surrounded by tropical jungle. It is located about a half mile northwest of Ao Nang Beach and offers several different options for rooms.
Mostly designed for couples and adults with queen/king size beds, the largest differences between each room is the size. Each room comes with a balcony and a large bathroom, however the Honeymoon chalets and premier grand rooms each contain a bathtub in addition to the shower. Plus, in each room, the resort provides beach blankets, towels, beach bag, and a few other items to make beach days less stressful.
One of the unique aspects of Pakasai Resort is they offer “GREEN” chalets. These “green” chalets offer eco-friendly service, locally made in-room amenities, and low energy consumption appliances. My parents actually decided to stay in their Honeymoon “Green” Chalet, since this was a big trip for them.
Room Selection
The room I stayed in during our time in Krabi was a superior double room, priced roughly $315. My parent’s stayed in a honeymoon chalet that was priced at roughly $420. This is not a resort for budget travelers and is designed for couples/adults. However, if you break down the cost per night, the superior double room was $63. It could have easily been split between two people and is a great option for the budget traveler looking for a little “travel” holiday.
One piece of advice, when it comes to the room size, I wouldn’t upgrade to the larger room sizes. We didn’t spend that much time in the rooms and in the end, we felt upgrading wasn’t worth it.
Amenities
Pakasai Resort offers several amenities including the typical fitness room and rooftop pool, but also a renowned spa and bicycle tours. This resort is designed for more couples and adults so it does have a romantic feel to it. The rooftop pool, however, was an infinity pool and has a pool bar and cafe.
In addition to the facilities, Pakasai Resort offers daily afternoon traditional Thai classes and learning experiences, such as making simple handcrafts. I wish I could say they were good classes, however we never had the chance to try them out.
Regardless, I honestly loved my stay at Pakasai Resort. It was nice having a separate room from my parents, but yet was able to spend quality time together. The pool was a nice change in pace from the beach and the perfect afternoon hangout with a nice tropical cocktail. I highly recommend this beautiful, tropical resort.
5 Day Itinerary in Krabi
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Day 1: Travel and Arrival Day
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a million times, travel days are exhausting, yet exciting at the same time. This travel day was no exception.
We selected an afternoon flight, which got us into Krabi around 2pm. Ao Nang, the beach-front neighborhood we were staying is roughly 45-60 minutes away, give and take traffic.
By the time we collected our luggage, found a taxi, and drove to the hotel, it was nearing 4pm. Once we checked in and spend some time unpacking, we heading off towards the beach.
At this point, my parents have been in Thailand for just under two weeks, and I could tell they were ready for a change in cuisine. Thankfully, the Main Street we were staying in had restaurant after restaurant.
Indian Food in Thailand
One thing I learned about Krabi is that it does have a high Muslim population, which means there are vast opportunities for Indian food. It is a nice change from Thai food and is DELICIOUS! From the curries, to the naan, the options are endless. This is because of the close proximity to Malaysia.
I was told that the Islamic religion has become more widespread, with families relocating throughout the country; Krabi and Phuket being two of those places.
Finding a place to eat was easy. We selected an Indian food restaurant a few blocks from our hotel and it was delicious! It was a nice change from Thai cuisine that we’d been eating the past 7+ days. Eating Indian cuisine should be a must on your itinerary in Krabi.
We continued wandering one of the main streets looking at the countless stores selling every type of souvenir and clothing item. For sunset, we ventured to Ao Nang Beach for a stroll along the sea. It was our first little sprinkle of rain, but the sunset was a perfect pink, blue, and purple combination.
For dinner, we decided to spend the night in and relax. We ate at the resort and enjoyed one of their specialty cocktails. It was going to be a busy next couple of days exploring the islands off the coast of Krabi.
Day 2: Railay Beach Day
One of the most popular places to visit in Krabi is Railay Beach. Railay Beach is an isolated beach and community on a small peninsula south of Ao Nang. This should be a must-see on your itinerary in Krabi and I didn’t let my parents and I visit Krabi without spending the day on Railay Beach.
You can only access Railay Beach via long boat. There is a long boat station on the North end of the Ao Nang beach, with boats running frequently. I believe we paid approximately 600 baht for 3 round trip ticket. These long boat rides only take about 10-15 minutes to get between the beaches.
The long boats drop you off on Railay Beach West, which is the gate way to this little peninsula. The Railay Beach peninsula is known for several things, including being a popular couple or honeymoon type destination.
Phra Nang Cave and Beach
Since my parents and I were not planning on staying in the resorts, we made our way to the popular destination of Phra Nang Cave, or Princess Cave (and beach). This cave and beach is easily accessible by a walking path located on the Railay East. To get between Railay West and Railay East, follow the signs through Railay Resort.
It took us about 15 minutes to walk between Railay Beach and Phra Nang Cave. We spent a solid hour or two just swimming in the cave, wandering the beach, laying out in the sun, and talking with other travelers. (Have I mentioned that my parents make friends really easily?)
Also common on Railay Beach and Phra Nang Beach is rock climbing. Krabi is known for its climbing and these beaches are two of the popular places to go. There were several companies I saw climbing the rocks and heard great reviews. If you like “extreme” sports, looking for an adventure, traveling with children, or just simply like rock climbing, then I highly recommend spending the day at Railay Beach.
After spending some time on Phra Nang Cave and beach, my parents and I headed over to the walking street. It was past lunch time at this point and there were several restaurants overlooking Railay Beach. These restaurants were slightly more expensive and appeared to be connected to a resort, which is probably why they were pricier.
Railay Beach was slightly more expensive than Ao Nang Beach area and I found the food options to be more Western style food. However, the beers were reasonably priced and the views were unbeatable.
We continued walking down the walking street road after lunch and found several crepe, roti and coffee shops. There were even more bars as Railay Beach is also a backpackers destination on the way to the Phi Phi Islands.
After eating, we spent another couple hours relaxing on the beach before taking a long boat back to Ao Nang. For the remainder of the evening, we enjoyed happy hour by the pool, at dinner at a local Indian restaurant, and went shopping. It really was a perfect beach day.
Day 3: Boat Day
One of the benefits of vacationing in Krabi is being able to island hop. Krabi has several smaller, but fairly well known islands off its coast. As part of your itinerary for Krabi, I highly recommend a day trip by boat. They are super easy to book these tours at the numerous tour stands located around the Ao Nang town.
We booked a 4 Island snorkeling by speed boat day trip. It was roughly 1000 baht ($35) per person and included lunch. The reason I chose the Hong Islands was because I really wanted to visit Koh Lao Landing. However, it wasn’t the only factor.
Other speed boat day trips that we could have done would have included Chicken Island and Phra Nang Cave/Beach. Since we already visited Phra Nang Cave/Beach, it did make our decision easy.
Our tour started with a stop at a group of limestone islands like Koh Lao, Koh Lao Riam, and Koh Lao Ding. They were beautiful, but this wasn’t a true stop.
Koh Lao Landing
Koh Lao Landing was our first stop. It’s a small island with a beautiful beach, a small walking path to a smaller inlet/beach, and beautiful rocky views. We spent a little time wading in the water, however it started getting busy. This caused the water to be murky and snorkeling wasn’t the greatest. We didn’t mind.
Pakbia Island
The next stop was Pakbia Island, which is located within the Than Bok Khorani National Park. The national park fee is included in the boat tour. This was also our lunch spot. We went during high season, so unfortunately the island was super crowded as it was small. However, still extremely beautiful.
Koh Hong
Our last stop of the day was Koh Hong, also part of the same national park. My favorite part of this island was the wildlife and nature walk, that went through the vegetation. It only takes about 15 minutes to complete the walk, but for the three of us, the walk was much needed.
It was fun spending the day island hopping around Thailand with my parents. I highly recommend adding a day trip on a boat to your itinerary in Krabi. It could be a speed boat, like what my parents and I did, or it could be a long boat. Long boats can be privately hired for the day, but it does come at a decent price point. They take longer to travel between the islands, and cannot travel as far, but makes for a more local experience.
Day 4: Day Trip
Even though we had a super exhausting day island hopping, we weren’t done explore. Next on our itinerary in Krabi, we decided we wanted to do some mainland exploring. There are two fairly well known location in Krabi to visit.
One was the emerald pool and hot springs, located about 1.5 hours from Ao Nang. That means it either requires a tour, privately hire a taxi, or rent a car. All three were pretty costly for the day and to enter costs about 200 baht to enter. It would have been an experience, but also would have meant for a longer day.
Instead, we opted to visit the second popular destination of Tiger Cave Temple. We asked our hotel to order us a taxi and we privately hired him for the day. It was a nice change just being with the three of us, instead of a tour.
Tiger Cave Temple was nothing what we expected. For starters, to get to the top of this temple where the pagoda stands requires a climb. Literally, over 600 meters straight up climbing over 1300 stairs. We were not prepared for this extensive of a climb.
It took us way longer to reach the top than we thought it would, but the view was worth every step. On the way down, we almost had a run in with some monkeys, but I learned my lesson in Phuket. We kept our items close to us and out of sight.
I think in total, we spent about 4-5 hours on this adventure. This time included the drive, climb, time at the top, climb down, and a coffee for an afternoon pick me up. It’s not truly a full day, but trying to squeeze something else during the morning/afternoon would have been too much. We wanted time by the pool and time to get ready to explore the Saturday night market in Krabi Town.
Krabi Town Street Market
Getting to the Saturday night market was super easy. We had our hotel book us the round transportation for 200 baht per person, with pick-up and drop-off directly at our resort. We had approximately 3 hours to spend at this market. The only downfall was the small amount of rain we experienced. But, that amount of time allowed us to eat, shop, and explore a local fruit and veggie market.
Overall, I do recommend spending time at Tiger Cave Temple and Krabi Town. Its a good break up from the beach for just a short while, but still just as beautiful.
Day 5: Rest, Relaxation and Explore Ao Nang
For our final day on our itinerary in Krabi, we decided to do NOTHING. It had been a fast, pace, quick moving past 11 days and we were all beginning to feel the exhaustion. Thankfully, Krabi and Ao Nang is the perfect location for a down day.
We spent the day by the pool, getting massages, eating, shopping, and walking the beach. One thing that surprised us at night was this hidden walkway.
We were doing our nightly stroll when towards the south end of Ao Nang we noticed lights. It ended up being this bamboo walkway over a giant rock (hill/mountain) connecting Ao Nang Beach to Centrara Grand Beach Resort, called Monkey Trail, Ao Nang.
I wish I would have known about this walk before nighttime, as I know we would have enjoyed the walk. I highly suggest adding Monkey Trail on your itinerary in Krabi.
Day 6: Goodbye Krabi, Hello Siem Reap, Cambodia
Our time in Krabi quickly came to an end. Our flight was super early in the morning of our 6th day in Krabi. I booked us early morning flights because we were flight through to Siem Reap, Cambodia. This was our last destination on my Parents Southeast Asian Adventure.
Unfortunately, there is no direct flight between these two cities, which meant we would have to change plans in Bangkok. We decided an early morning flight would allow us to arrive into Siem Reap at a reasonable time.
I was sad for my parents to be leaving Thailand, but I was also excited to show them a city I truly fell in love with. Stay tuned.
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7 Comments
Just One Passport
It sure sounds like you and your parents had a great time in Krabi. I love the sound of the hotel you stayed in at the edge of the jungle. It would have been fund to participate in some of the traditional Thai classes.
Kelly
Love that you had a wonderful trip creating memories with your parents! I love travelling with mine too and Thailand seems like such a beautiful place to do that. I haven’t been yet, but hope to one day soon 🙂
Ildiko
Thailand is on my short bucket list. I love and appreciate the many suggestions. I hope to get there soon.
Nicole | Mapless Adventures
Thank you so much! I hope you get there soon too! It’s truly an amazing place!
Michelle Segrest
Oh it sounds like you had a lovely time on this trip and have developed an interesting and informative travel guide to Krabi. I would really love the Tiger Cave Temple, even though it sounds like the climb was challenging!
Appetite for Adventure
I don’t know how, but I’ve never heard of Krabi before last week! Someone recommended it to me in my plans to travel to Thailand in December! I had yet to look into what there is to do there yet so stumbling on this post came at a great time!
Smith Mitchell
I have not yet managed to get to this part of the world. It looks very tempting and beautiful! Thanks for sharing!