In chilled-out Chiang Mai, street-food shacks live side-by-side with gourmet coffee shops, and you’re as likely to find yourself in a trendy contemporary arts space as a traditional open-air bazaar. You’ll be exploring the town by train, bike, songtaew truck and saleng scooter — stopping in at its most sacred temples, bouncing along dirt roads to coffee plantations, visiting ethnic minority villages in the hills, and even getting a Thai massage from an inmate at the Women’s Correctional Institute! In-between classic sights, you’ll dip into daily markets, duck down hidden alleys, and explore residential neighbourhoods to get a sense of daily life in this endlessly beguiling town.

From its wedding cake-esque White Temple to its bone-encrusted Black House, Chiang Rai is Thailand’s unofficial capital of offbeat travel. In case you need any proof, you’ll start your visit at “Cabbages and Condoms” — a restaurant which uses profits to promote family planning — before proceeding to explore a few of the town’s more traditional attractions. Travelling by three-wheeled rickshaw, you’ll snack on barbecued kebabs and fried grasshoppers at a local market, visit the beautiful brass-and-copper Buddha at Wat Phra Kaew, pay homage to King Mengrai as you pass by his monument, and finish off by learning about the region’s minority cultures at the Hilltribe Museum.

Cross the border into Laos and join the mighty Mekong as you embark on one of the most beautiful river journeys in Asia. Travelling in an open-air longboat, you’ll cruise on coffee-coloured waters, floating between hills cloaked in greenery and banks fringed with palms. Along the way, stop to stretch your legs at Khmu ethnic minority villages and enjoy a buffet lunch on board, disembarking just before the town of Pakbeng in the late afternoon. Your home for the night will be a beautiful riverside lodge, where you’ll be served your first dinner of traditional Lao cuisine on the terrace as you watch the sun go down over the Mekong. We can’t imagine a better introduction to Laos.

Continuing downstream, you’ll stop to see the Buddha-filled caves of Pak Ou before concluding your cruise in the former royal capital of Luang Prabang. It’s a glittering treasure trove of golden wats and French-colonial shophouses surrounded by glorious tropical scenery, and we’ve rarely met anyone who didn’t love it. You’ll have three days to soak up its laid-back charms, rising early to see the morning alms ceremony, exploring World Heritage Sites with a local guide, and heading into the jungle to see otherworldly waterfalls, meet rescued bears, and sample buffalo cheese at a local dairy farm. Luang Prabang is one of those places you might never want to leave.

To conclude your journey through Thailand and Laos, step off the beaten path and discover one of our favourite destinations: Nong Khiaw. Sandwiched between steep-sided mountains on the banks of the Nam Ou River, this little town is a superlative base for active adventures. Trek through rice paddies and farmland, splash in pools beneath waterfalls, and explore hills riddled with limestone caves once used to shelter from American bombs. Then, kayak along the river, watching people fishing, kids swimming, and buffaloes bathing as you go. Enjoy dinners and post-adventure beers with some of the best sunset views anywhere, then return to Luang Prabang for one final night in Laos.