A 5D4N road-trip itinerary through 3 iconic (but lesser-known) cities in Southern Thailand. Get ready for a journey filled with food, drinks, some scenic spots, and even more food! Here’s a rundown of what I managed to explore in a brief visit per city. Buckle up and enjoy the ride—and I mean literally; we clocked more than 10 hours in the car!
Before I get started on what we did, here’s a mini reminder to all the non-early birds out there. There’s only one flight landing in Chumphon per day departing at around 7 in the morning from Don Mueang Airport, so make sure you head to bed early and set more than one alarm because I almost missed my flight! Packing last minute, one hour of sleep, and greasy hair was definitely not how I envisioned starting a trip. But anyhow, I made it to the flight and landed (not-so-)fresh and happy to rock-and-roll!
A quick rundown of all the stops we made on the first day:
On our second day, we decided to make our way down to Khao Sok National Park, located in Surat Thani. The ride there took us around 3 hours, but it didn’t seem that long. However, I would recommend planning early on what you want to do because there are lots of boat tours around the man-made Cheow Lan Lake, spanning from 2 hours to a whole day.
Since we only arrived late in the afternoon, we could only take the 2.5-hour boat tour that took us to Khao Sam Kloe, the Guilin of Thailand, and a floating raft place where we could make a quick swimming stop. The views and the boat ride were amazing and could by far be the highlight of this entire trip. The lake is so big that it doesn’t feel man-made. I highly recommend a longer boat ride to explore more of what this Cheow Lan Lake has to offer!
After the boat trip, we then made our way to dinner, also located in the national park, before heading back to our hotel stay at River View Resort At Chaewlan. The location is very quiet and private, and it is right next to the river so you can pop by for a morning swim. The room wasn’t too big but can easily fit 3 people for a cozy kind of night. Quick reminder: expect some slow internet connection, so bring some games or a book to read since you won’t be able to load YouTube videos fast enough!
On the morning of our third day, we quickly grabbed breakfast at the hotel, and coming from a person who doesn’t normally have morning appetites, their porridge is amazing! Post-breakfast, we then popped by for a quick jump in the river at our hotel; the water was insanely refreshing and clean—a much-needed wake-up for our bodies before the long car ride!
Then we left Khao Sok and the car ride karaoke session began! On the way down to Hat Yai, we also made a quick stop at Cuppa Cottage Cafe & Bistro, serving Thai and European food (we’d been having the same Thai southern menu for the past few days, so spaghetti was needed for a change). If anyone’s a fan of Instagram-worthy spots, this is definitely a place to visit. And not to mention the desserts—I’m a huge fan, and my stomach was definitely smiling after this meal!
We arrived at Hat Yai close to 6 pm, and we directly checked in at Casa 33 Hat Yai. The hotel is located fairly in the city center (close to many breakfast places within walking distance, and a 7-11 is 5 minutes away, so in case you need anything, you’re pretty covered), and the room was very well-maintained and seemed very new. I highly recommend this place, and I would definitely visit again—it’s pretty, it’s clean, and it’s safe. There’s also a cafe right in front of the hotel, so no worries about your morning coffee fix.
Once we checked in, we headed over for dinner at a local porridge place, then went to stroll around the night market area and popped by a roti place before ending the night at a bar.
On our fourth day, we drove our way to Songkhla city, a 30-minute ride from our hotel, and made our visits to some of the must-see attractions:
We then ended the night dining at Kiaping Restaurant (if you’re a fan of grey pomfret fish, you have to visit) and visited a few bars around the area – including Poco Loko and The Panic Room.
If you’re ever visiting Hat Yai, you have to try the fried chicken here. So that’s exactly what we did for our last meal before flying back to Bangkok. Once we ticked that off our bucket list, we then headed home, flying off from Hat Yai International Airport in the afternoon. The airport isn’t that big, so one hour before flying time is already plenty.
To wrap up this blog, we highly recommend renting a car if you’re going to follow this itinerary – it’s just more convenient and cheaper than booking a Grab car everywhere. Plus, you get to drive through lots of scenic spots without having to get out and face the heat!
