Bangkok & Koh Samui, 6 Nights

Into the city and an afternoon to recover from the flight. Towards evening the Chao Phraya express boat upriver, the ferry across to Wat Arun to see the porcelain-studded prang close up, and back for dinner on the river at one of the old-city terraces. The temples of the palace district can be added tomorrow afternoon for travellers who have not seen them; this itinerary spends its Bangkok day on the water instead.

Early out of the city south-west to Damnoen Saduak, where the market on the canals is at its best before nine: a paddle boat through the vendors' boats, coconut pancakes handed across the water, the noise of it. Then to Maeklong for the market built on the railway line, where the stallholders pull their awnings back eight times a day as the train comes through at walking pace. Lunch on the way back; the afternoon free for the Grand Palace or the hotel pool.

The morning flight south to Samui, whose airport is a set of open-sided pavilions built by the airline that owns it, and a short drive to the beach. Chaweng on the east coast is the long beach with the choice of restaurants; Lamai is quieter; the north coast at Bophut and Maenam is calmer still. The afternoon is the sea. In the evening, if it is a Friday, the Fisherman's Village walking street at Bophut; otherwise dinner on the beach.

A loop of the 51 km ring road with the driver: the Big Buddha at Wat Phra Yai on its causeway islet, the eighteen-armed Guanyin at Wat Plai Laem next door, the Hin Ta Hin Yai rocks at Lamai, and the Na Muang waterfalls inland, where the second fall drops thirty metres into a pool you can swim in. Lunch at Lamai. A stop at the coconut groves and the mummified monk at Wat Khunaram for those who want it, and back to the beach by mid-afternoon.

A day among the forty-two islands of Mu Ko Ang Thong, 28 km west of Samui: the walk up to the lagoon on Ko Mae Ko, an emerald lake enclosed by the island's cliffs, the viewpoint climb on Ko Wua Talap over the whole archipelago, a swim and some kayaking in the channels, lunch aboard. The park is closed each year from 1 November to 15 December and the operators cancel for rough seas on other days, in which case the day becomes a Koh Tao snorkel trip or a second free day.

Nothing planned, deliberately. The beach in front of the hotel, a Thai cooking class in the morning, a massage in the afternoon, the sunset from the west coast at Nathon or Lipa Noi, or a scooter-free day at the pool. Travellers who want a second boat day can add Koh Phangan or the Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan snorkelling trip; most people use the day for exactly what it is.

A last swim and the short drive to the airport for the flight to Bangkok and the international connection home. Samui's flights connect through Suvarnabhumi with the same airline, so baggage is checked through where the tickets are on one booking, and we build the connection with a comfortable gap. An alternative departure via Bangkok with a final city night is available on request.