Southeast Asia: Your Luxe Two Week Itinerary

Southeast Asia holds such a special place in our hearts — which makes it so hard to decide where to go when you’re limited on time. For this trip, we decided to combine big city exploration, rural serenity, and beautiful beaches – all with a bit of luxury considering how packed the itinerary was – with 45 hours of flying time alone! From the bustling streets of Bangkok to peaceful mornings on the Mekong in Luang Prabang, to the gorgeous resorts of Phuket and lively bars of Patong Beach, this whirlwind itinerary will take you on an unforgettable adventure through Southeast Asia. We even added bonus nights in Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul to break up the long journey home. Here’s what we did on our two-week adventure.

We’re sharing our authentic experiences to help you plan your next adventure. We hope you enjoy learning about our experiences and pick up some tips you can add to your itinerary.

Trip At a Glance

We’ll discuss the details below with links to activities and photos. But here’s a summary of our plan:

• 3 Nights Bangkok (city action)
• 3 Nights Luang Prabang, Laos (rural tranquility)
• 3 Nights Phuket, Thailand (beach vibes)
• 2 Nights Kuala Lumpur (city, culture, and easy international departure point.)
• 1 overnight layover in Istanbul, Turkey (bonus free night with Turkish Airlines)

Day 1: Fly in Style on Turkish Airways

We started our journey in Washington, D.C., touched down at Istanbul Airport, and made the most of our 5-hour layover. We’re usually the “premium-economy types” but decided to splurge on Turkish Airways business class tickets for this trip, particularly since we had four 10+ hour flights on this once-in-a-lifetime itinerary to the other side of the world.

Pro tip: We booked these flights the day they were issued and saved HUGE for two tickets – the price never dropped that low again, according to my fare tracker.

Budget savvy tip: Turkish allows you to upgrade for a fee or points at the gate on the day of departure. Since there were still empty seats on all our flights, this may be a great way to save big on business class. Just be prepared to fly economy if nothing is available. We reviewed our Turkish Airways business-class experience in more detail here. 

We actually left Washington, D.C., on a late-night flight the day before our trip truly began, and the official “Day 1” was entirely spent traveling. But it was the most fun we’ve ever had on a travel day considering the swanky lounge access, lie-flat seats, amazing meals, and priority service.

Day 2: Arrive in Bangkok

Arrive in Bangkok and kick off your adventure with a stay at the luxurious Hotel Riva Arun. One of the things we love about this part of the world is the affordability. In my backpacking days, I was splitting the cost of $25-$50 accommodations with travel partners (and knew many travelers who spent just $5-$10 on hostel beds). But we’re looking for a bit more comfort and style these days. Still our average nightly hotel price on this entire trip was just $208 (including our free night in Istanbul), which is shocking when you see our gorgeous accommodations and consider the flawless hospitality.

Traditional Massage

We arrived in Bangkok in the early afternoon, and the hotel’s staff arranged traditional Thai massages next door for us while we waited for our room. After checking in and taking some jaw-dropping photos of our room, we decided to take a nap to build back a bit of energy to check out the famous Bangkok night markets.

Food Tour

On our first evening we headed straight to Chinatown to try the street food. There are tons of night markets in Bangkok, but we chose this area because it was close to our hotel (but not walking distance) and easy to get to.

Transportation Tip

Grab (which is like Uber) is pretty easy to take around town, and you’ll want to download the app to use all over Southeast Asia. But we had better luck just hiring a tuk-tuk at 7 PM on a Friday – you can flag them down on the street and negotiate a price or ask your hotel to call one for you.

Public transport is also super efficient in Bangkok. To get to Chinatown, you can head to Hua Lamphong MRT station and walk from there to Yaowarat and Charoen Krung Road. If you arrive early enough, you can check out the Golden Buddha at Wat Traimit, too.

Travel Guide

We hired a local guide for Chinatown. This is a totally unnecessary expense, but we thought it would be great to connect with a local, get some tips, and try some food we wouldn’t otherwise order. This is usually a fantastic experience!

Unfortunately, it was a total fail when the guide sent a last minute replacement who had no idea what they were doing. So, we won’t recommend them here, but it did force us up from our nap to combat the intense jetlag – and we did get to try some unique food. I’m only sharing so you know we do have big disappoints sometimes, we just generally post about the things we want you to try!

Day 3: Explore Bangkok at Leisure

Exploration

After such a long journey and a full night in Chinatown, it was nice to take a casual stroll through town at leisure. We visited iconic landmarks like the Wat Pho Reclining Buddha – which was right across the street from our hotel – and the Grand Palace. We wandered down the lively Khaosan Road and reminisced along Soi Ram Buttri where I spent most of my time on prior trips.

Next, we hopped on the water taxi near our hotel’s sister property, Riva Surya, where you can also use the pool and gym with a nice view of the Chao Phraya River – the massive main waterway that runs through Bangkok.

We took the water taxi down to grab lunch at ICONSIAM Mall. We’re not big shoppers but this place is extraordinary and has a huge indoor food market on the bottom floor. We grabbed some delicious cheap eats and then went up to the main floor to have a drink and people watch.

Water Taxi

The water taxi system was a little confusing, even after it was explained to us. We just wound up taking the hop-on, hop-off Chao Phraya Tourist Boat. It was super convenient, spacious, easy, and fast.

At night we had some appetizers at our lovely hotel rooftop restaurant and enjoyed the view from our balcony with a bottle of wine.

Day 4: Discover Markets, Waterways, and Thai Cooking

For an unforgettable experience, you must plan a day with Chef Aoy: a strong woman, kind soul, amazing guide through local markets, and lovely host at her beautiful restaurant on a tranquil waterway. She even won Iron Chef Thailand!

Iron Chef Thailand champion Chef Aoy took us to some beautiful local restaurants and markets, shared the ingredients of the region that make Thai food so unique, took us on a boat ride to her restaurant, and guided us through cooking and experiencing the true flavors of Thailand.

This was a full-day experience of about seven hours round trip – and we enjoyed every minute of it. Even with limited time in Bangkok, we would absolutely choose this off-the-tourist-path, authentic, beautiful experience any day over some of the other options we were considering for our last day in the area.

Cooking class: We really felt like we had a new friend and kindred spirit in Chef Aoy, her lovely staff at her family-run restaurant, and her adorable dogs, too! So special.

Day 5: Head to Luang Prabang, Laos

On our last morning in Bangkok, we enjoyed a lovely room-service breakfast on our balcony — with Wat Arun and the bustling activity on the Chao Phraya River as our backdrop — before bidding farewell to this incredible city and catching an afternoon flight to Luang Prabang on AirAsia.

Pro Tip: Luang Prabang has a very small airport, so we suggest arranging for transportation in advance. You can also take out some local currency at the airport or use the ATM in town – as many places operate on a cash-only bases (but the hotel restaurants mostly took credit cards).

Gorgeous Accommodations

We checked into our beautiful villa at Le Sen Boutique Hotel and were just blown away by how relaxing the whole experience was from start to finish. I think our accommodation was the only villa on the property – the rest were rooms – and if it’s available, you should definitely book it if you are traveling as a couple. Note that the only shower was outdoors, and it was peaceful, private, and luxurious.

Walkability

Le Sen is a bit of a walk into town and Luang Prabang doesn’t have the greatest sidewalks, but the hotel offers a shuttle that is easy to coordinate if you’re not up for an adventure on foot. We had no problem walking everywhere, but we know we’re pretty adventurous in this way!

Sunset

For a special experience, you can spend the evening soaking in the sunset at Mt. Phousi Viewpoint before exploring the vibrant night markets.

Day 6: Explore Luang Prabang at Leisure

We embraced the tranquility of Luang Prabang with a free day to wander the streets of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Where to Eat

You can explore the many temples, wander through local markets, and indulge in delicious Laotian cuisine at restaurants like 3 Nagas and The Belle Rive Terrace (Note: These two restaurants are part of hotels by the same names, which where runners up to Le Sen for us. If you want to be in the heart of town, they both seem like great options).

We had a lazy lunch on the Mekong at Belle Rive and highly recommend it.

Day 7: Cruise the Mekong on a Long Boat

Today is all about exploration. We recommend rising early to (respectfully) witness the morning alms ceremony, then embarking on a private slow boat tour to Pak Ou Cave, a pottery village, and Kuangsi Falls.

Hire a Long Boat

We hired a private long boat for our day of adventure and discovery on the Mekong River. Our guide met us at our hotel in the morning to take us on the boat and dropped us off at the hotel at the end of the full day itinerary.

Connecting with the Mekong: Our guide, Anong Nong (or just Nong), was so amazing, and we got to genuinely connect with him and learn all about life in Laos. Everything about this relaxing day of exploration on the Mekong was so memorable. We highly recommend it!

Pak Ou Cave was even more spectacular than we imagined (and it was totally fine for us even though we are claustrophobic – nothing too enclosed).

The pottery co-op was so interesting to learn about.

The Kuangsi Falls were absolutely gorgeous.

Sadly, a multibillion-dollar dam project threatens Luang Prabang’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and could change the tranquil beauty of the surrounding area. While I’m happy to see things have changed a bit for the better in terms of infrastructure since my first visit over a decade ago, I do hope Laos finds a way to maintain the special serenity of this area that makes it so unique.

Day 8: Make Your Way to Phuket

We spent another lovely morning in Luang Prabang listening to the sounds of the roosters while enjoying  breakfast before catching an afternoon flight to Phuket (via Bangkok).

Where to Stay

Note that Phuket is a large island, and it can take a long time to get from one end to the other. Since we arrived after 9:00 PM, we decided to stay at a resort that’s just 30 minutes north of the airport. Technically, Santhiya Phuket Natai Resort & Spa is over the bridge on the mainland, but it’s a true hidden gem nestled along the pristine shores of Natai Beach.

Would you believe we paid less than $200/night for this spacious and ornate room, which even had its own private deck and dipping pool?!

Day 9: Enjoy the Tranquility of Natai Beach

Today, we savored a free day soaking up the sun, swimming in the calm waters, and indulging in beachside relaxation.

The resort included an ample and delicious breakfast spread, and the massages and other spa services were affordable add-on experiences.

We highly recommend staying here for three nights to recharge during your adventure (even though we only had two).

Day 10: Hit the Action at Patong Beach

We wanted to stay at Santhiya for another night, but we couldn’t leave Phuket without checking out the madness of Patong Beach. We decided to stay at the DoubleTree Phuket Banthai Resort and spend the evening exploring this vibrant area. We missed the renowned breakfast spread at the DoubleTree (look it up on YouTube) but you should definitely check it out.

The beaches were crowded and nowhere near as pristine as Natai Beach, but you’re there for the party vibe, not the tranquility.

We really liked the hotel – the pool is in need of an update, but renovations are in progress and our room was in a very nice, updated wing. The DoubleTree is in a perfect location to get to the beach and explore the infamous Bangla Road, which is known for pub crawls, live music, and go-go dancers.

While Bangla Road is a bit over the top, it’s definitely worth checking out for a night.

Day 11: Spend a Night in Malaysia

We only stayed one night on this trip, but we recommend two and adding a food tour of the markets. We could have flown back to Istanbul directly from Phuket on Turkish Airlines, but this option was too expensive, so instead of tracing back to Bangkok, we hopped on a 90-minute budget flight to Malaysia’s capital and briefly check out one more country before making the long journey home.

Amazing Rooftop Sunset

Since we only had a night in Kuala Lumpur, we wanted to stay somewhere that gave us a great impression of the city. We booked the Banyan Tree in the heart of town, and it did not disappoint! The views from our gorgeous room and the rooftop restaurant were absolutely stunning, especially of the Petronas Twin Towers. We had a lovely meal on the rooftop at sunset and enjoyed the luxury service and quality of all the amenities at the Banyan Tree.

We really wish we had more time to enjoy this hotel and the city of Kuala Lumpur. We recommend adding one or two more nights to check out the surrounding area, including KLCC Park, the night markets, and maybe even a day trip to the Batu Caves. I enjoyed all of these activities on a prior trip to Malaysia (I also highly recommend checking out Melaka, especially if your heading down to Singapore). For now, though, it was all about a little lux at the end of an amazing adventure.

Day 12: Journey Back to Istanbul

On the way home, we wound up having an overnight layover in Istanbul due to a schedule change, but this worked out great. Turkish Airlines will actually provide you with a complimentary hotel stay if your layover is 20+ hours. We were booked at the Sheraton Istanbul Ataköy Hotel, which was comfortable but not in walking distance to anything. So we had dinner on arrival at the hotel restaurant and got some much needed sleep.

Day 13: Indulge in Turkish Delights

To make the most of our 24-hour stopover, we woke up early and took a taxi over to the historic old city — the Sultanahmet area — to check out the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia.

Perfect Breakfast (for like 20 people)

After wandering around the historic sites, we journeyed up to a rooftop restaurant at the Seven Hills Sultanahmet Hotel to enjoy the beautiful views over an insanely bountiful and delicious Turkish breakfast.

More Gorgeous Rooftops

Be sure to go all the way up to the roof to get your epic photoshoot before leaving Seven Hills. We only had a few hours to check out Istanbul and this excursion into Sultanahmet really made us feel like we experienced the city. From there, we headed back to the hotel to collect our things and catch an 11-hour flight home.

From exploring bustling cities and ancient temples to lounging on pristine beaches and cruising through the waterways of Southeast Asia, this journey had it all. Have you been to any of these locations? What tops your list? Let us know in the comments!