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A whole week in sun-kissed, sea breeze blessed, Phuket sounds heavenly. You can spend hours on the beach – swimming, soaking up the sun and chasing thrills with watersports. Phuket is also home to an ethical elephant sanctuary, and it is a UNESCO creative city for gastronomy. Hence, you can enjoy good food, visit gentle giants and a great nightlife.

Day 1 – Arrival and settling in

Once you get to your Phuket luxury hotel from the airport, take some time to wind down from jet lag, and get into holiday mode. Hotels like the Anantara Layan Phuket Resort offer spa facilities. You can book a spa session to allow yourself to relax. Take some time to linger over meals, use the pool and simply come into your own holiday vibe. You can go to a nearby beach in the evening to catch a sunset with cocktails and a platter of seafood.

Day 2 – Visit the Elephant Sanctuary and enjoy beach time

After a lavish hotel breakfast, make your way to the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary (PSE). It is an ethical sanctuary for elephants in the last years of their lives – a sort of retirement home for elephants. The sanctuary rescues older elephants from the logging industry or similar places. The elephants roam free in this 30 acres space, and they are well looked after. You can watch them roam free from a safe distance from the canopy walkway. After lunch, take some time to rest and then go to Kata Beach or Patong Beach.

Day 3 – Visit the Old Phuket Town

The Old Phuket Town received the UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy status. You can get to know Phuket through its street food. Spend the day in the town, strolling along the enchanting streets, observing Sino-Portuguese architecture, and quirky boutique stores. You can go to the local markets to feast on bowls of Thai noodles in broth, grilled meat dishes, crispy vegetables, spicy rice and sides and butterfly pea sticky rice with custard. The Wat Chalong and the Big Buddha are popular historical sites in the town.

Photo by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas or alternatively © CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, Phuket Town Thailand-Houses-in-Thalang-Road-01, CC BY-SA 4.0

Day 4 – Try Island Hopping

Choose your islands wisely. You can either go to the gorgeous and popular Phi Islands or Coral Island with a pit stop at the famous James Bond Island. Alternatively, you can go to Ko Racha Yai to spend an entire day of island hopping. You can rent a private catamaran along with the crew for your adventure. If you join with a few friends or fellow travellers, the trip won’t be too expensive. Make sure that the catamaran is equipped with all you need for a day in the sea. Here is a brief checklist:

Snorkelling gear
SUP boards
Kayaks
Plenty of food and snacks
Drinking water
And, some catamarans come with floating Jacuzzis and inflatable slides.

Day 5 – Visit the Bong Bong Village or learn to cook Thai food at a farm

The Bong Bong village is a 200-year-old rural community, enveloped by a mangrove forest. You can visit the village to catch a glimpse of a traditional Thai village and learn all about growing food and catching fish for a living. You can ease into the slow pace of life as they work the land or fish in close harmony with nature. If this is not really your kettle of fish, sign up for an organic cooking lesson at a farm. You can cook Thai dishes using ingredients sourced from the farm, and of course, relish your own food.

Day 6 – Enjoy adventures

You can gear up to go trekking in the tropical jungle, and try zip-lining and ATV riding. If watersports are more your thing, try your hand at paddleboarding or go on a kayak ride in the salty waters. You can even scuba dive to meet and greet creatures deep beneath the turquoise waters. In the evening, find a nice spot by a lovely beach and forget the world or go for a dip in the salty waves.

Day 7 – Enjoy a spa day and beach time

Reserve your last day to seek bliss at the spa. Go for an invigorating Thai massage or choose an Ayurvedic spa session to completely let go of the mundane world. On your last day, drink in the beauty of Phuket’s beaches, breathe the sea breeze and catch a sunset to take back that soothing glow from the holidays back home.

Aside from the minibus rides & boating excursions that are part and parcel of day trips in and around Phuket, one will be called upon to study one’s environs and step out armed with a passion and an unquenchable thirst for exploring. Phuket Island itself holds an abundance of tourist attractions such as Old Phuket Town and the sacred Chalong Temple but for the complete experience while on holiday here, it is best that you venture out across the neighbouring islets that dot its immediate vicinity.

Tour through Phang Nga Bay

Phrases such as ‘magnificent,’ ‘alluring’ and ‘enormous’ best encapsulate the value of going on a tour to Phang Nga Bay. Surrounded by massive limestone formations and calm, azure seas, the Bay is arguably, one of the highlights of being in Phuket. For starters, pick and choose your tour provider carefully and in this case, the well-known John Gray Sea Canoe would rank as a good bet. Travellers can look forward to kayaking past giant cliffs together with an opportunity to move in and out of caves with relative ease while having clear, unobstructed views of towering trees and thick vegetation.

Head off for Phi Phi Island

Considered a favourite stopover for backpackers, thrill seekers and notably, party animals owing to its wonderful nightlife scene; Phi Phi Island is one of the most lauded and sought-after attractions in all of Phuket. While average day trip (full day) costs hover around the 2,800 Baht mark, the returns for your investment will be fulfilling and unforgettable. After going over the fundamentals of your trip with your service provider at Royal Phuket Marina, you will be escorted via speedboat. Once arrived, a plethora of escapades can be partaken of. These include swimming at Camel Rock, snorkelling near Phi Phi Don and Koh Khai Nai and tucking into succulent Thai cuisine within the waters of Tonsai Bay.

Be seduced by the Similan Islands

Strikingly scenic and inviting from one corner to the other, the Similan Islands found some 120km northwest of Phuket Island form part of an archipelago in the Andaman Sea. Although comprising 9 islands, the main islands that you need to be focussing your attention on are Koh Similan and Koh Miang. When on Miang Island, one can expect to while away the hours swimming and snorkelling before the time arrives to enjoy some lunch. Additionally, a visit to Koh Similan will bring with it more opportunities to swim, snorkel and uncover the secrets of the deep. However, value addition to being here is the ability to ascend Sailing Rock, passing by and stepping over boulders en route to its summit from where vistas of the islands and boats can be caught sight of.

Conclude your time at Old Phuket Town

No description of Phuket would ever suffice without ever so much as making the slightest reference to the treasure trove which is Old Phuket Town. Replete with Sino-Portuguese mansions, cosy cafes that evoke memories of yesteryear, temples that bear red, green and gold roofs and noisy yet welcoming marketplaces; Old Phuket Town ought to be marked down on your itinerary no sooner than you’ve reserved your air tickets. Essentially, Thalang Road is where you must spend the majority of your time as the area overflows with restaurants and traditional boutiques from where pretty souvenirs can be purchased. Interestingly, the streets that make up this section of Phuket are a photographer’s paradise given the many buildings that serve as backdrops for selfies. In the event, you need sound and comfortable accommodation from where such journeys can be planned, make a note of Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas which is treated as one of the best Phuket luxury hotels worth spending time at.

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How to spend a week in Phuket