Amazing Thailand Culinary & Culture Tour with Chef Heidi Fink

November 07 to 17, 2024

$ 4,699

Price per person land only $4,699 CAD based on two sharing and minimum of 10 passengers. (Limited to a maximum of 12). Single supplement $1,799 CAD. Hold your space with a $600 non-refundable deposit.

Not included: Internal flights (approx $200 each way, price subject to change until booked), International airfare, travel insurance, personal expenses, and meals not mentioned in the itinerary. Private transfers are available at an additional cost for those not arriving at the same time as the group.

Tour Details

1 shared spot has come available! Join Chef Heidi Fink in a Culinary and Culture Tour of Amazing Thailand! This tour is designed for you to experience the national cuisine of Thailand and the cultural traditions and history of this fascinating country. One of the most distinctive cuisines in the global gastronomy map, Thai cooking demonstrates intricacy and attention to texture, colour, and balance in its presentation, and embraces the use of ingredients which have medicinal value as well as good flavour. Traditional Thai cuisine has been heavily influenced by the neighbouring countries with whom it shares an ethnic history as well as the lingering imprint of Western missions, resulting in strong regional variations. You will start your exploration in Bangkok, which is equally famous for its cultural monuments as its vivid street life. You will sample both with a cooking class, market visits and tours of two of the most famous temples. Next, you head north to Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand and now home to some of the most magnificent ruins in SE Asia. Ayutthaya is steeped in centuries of art and culture of which cuisine plays a large part, so you will also enjoy a cooking class with a local chef on board a traditional teak barge while taking in the majestic views of this region. Moving north to Chiang Mai, you will experience the influences of Laos, Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam on northern Thai dishes. Chiang Mai is also home to over 300 different and distinctive Buddhist temples or Wats, including the iconic Doi Suthep which reigns above the city on a mountaintop. While food is the heart of Thai culture, you will also enjoy visits to many of these temples, as well as traditional villages and markets which will provide insight into the deep and fascinating history of this beautiful country. Few people visit Thailand without a desire to return often to the Land of Smiles.


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Phone: (250)480-0008 or Toll free: 866-544-0008
E-Mail: info@nichetravel.ca


Your Package Includes:

  • Accommodation and Meals as per itinerary
  • Private Transfers and Sightseeing as per itinerary
  • Entrance Fees to Museums and Monuments mentioned in the itinerary
  • All mentioned cooking classes
  • Group arrival and departure airport transfers (Private transfers are available at an additional cost for those not arriving at the same time as the group.)

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Itinerary:

November 07, 2024  – Bangkok 

Welcome to Thailand! Upon arrival, we will be met at the airport and transferred to our hotel. The rest of the day will be free at our leisure to explore the capital city of Thailand, renowned for its ornate shrines and vibrant street life. We will be staying in a modern boutique hotel, providing a lavish experience and true Thai hospitality, with beautifully designed rooms, elegant dining options, a riverside swimming pool and leisure facilities. The hotel’s idyllic location makes it the perfect starting point to visit sights such as the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, China Town, and other popular destinations.

November 08, 2024  – Bangkok (B/L/D)

Today, we will be cooking in a charming two-story Thai-style house with wooden decor in tranquil surroundings and a relaxing atmosphere.
Baipai Thai Cooking School guides you through an organic herb garden or market tour. We will prepare traditional Thai food with fresh ingredients and cook authentic Thai dishes from scratch along with our experienced teachers’ guidance at your individual fully equipped cooking station.

After a rest at our hotel, we will embark on a walking food tour exploring Bangkok’s famous street stalls in Bangkok’s Chinatown (called Yaowarat locally), a district full of traditional, culturally diverse food.

November 09, 2024 – Bangkok (B/L)

Today, we will enjoy a day of cooking at Blue Elephant Thai Cooking School. The day starts with a trip to Bang Rak morning market where the Chef will guide us in discovering a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and spices that will be used in our dishes. After a demonstration class, we will prepare our own culinary creations which we will enjoy for lunch after the class.

The remainder of the day is free. Saturday is the perfect day to explore the world-famous Chatuchak Weekend Market. The biggest market in a country famous for them, it offers more than 15,000 stalls and 11,000 vendors whose goods you can peruse for every manner of item: food and drink, furniture, clothes, electronics, antiques, and even pets. It’s the perfect place to buy souvenirs and experience Thailand’s famous market culture.

November 10, 2024  – Bangkok (B)

Today will start with a half-day tour to the rural, world-famous floating market of  Damnoen Saduak, situated around 100 kilometers west of Bangkok. The market consists of a maze of narrow canals (or khlongs) filled with food stalls and souvenir shops, both on land and mounted in sampans. Don’t forget your camera!

In the afternoon, we visit Wat Phra Kaew and the neighboring Grand Palace. Also called the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Wat Phra Kaew is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. The Grand Palace was the former residence of the Chakri Kings, consisting of over 100 brightly colored buildings, golden spires, and glittering mosaics that all date back to the foundation of Bangkok in 1782. Our day ends with a visit to Wat Pho and the famous Reclining Buddha.

Note: We are required to wear proper attire (no bare shoulders, bare knees, or strapless heel shoes). Shoes must be removed before entering all temple buildings. Sights can be closed during public holidays.

November 11, 2024 – Bangkok – Ayutthaya (B/L)

After breakfast at our hotel, we board a coach for the journey north to Ayutthaya, once the largest city in the world and the former capital of the Kingdom of Siam. Today, it’s a UNESCO Heritage Site world-famous for its magnificent ruins dating back to 1350. Our tour will start at the Summer Palace of the late King Rama V, commonly known as “Bang Pa-In”, and then continue through Buddhist temples, monasteries, and statues. We will enjoy lunch within the Historical Park, which is located on an island between 3 scenic rivers.

November 12, 2023 – Ayutthaya (B)

Today, we will experience true Thai culture with the local people through the art of creating the delicious tastes and fragrances of their native cuisine. An experienced local chef will demonstrate the secrets behind 4-5 authentic Thai recipes so we can create our own Thai meals at home using ingredients easily found there.

After taking our freshly prepared meal on board our exquisite converted traditional teak rice barge, we will enjoy a 1½-hour cruise along rural waterways from the village to Ayutthaya, taking in the incredible scenic views and the majestic city while we dine.

November 13, 2024 – Ayutthaya – Bangkok – Chiang Mai (B/D)

After returning to Bangkok, we will board a flight for Chiang Mai.

The afternoon is free to enjoy this vibrant city at your own leisure, one of the most popular destinations for seasoned travelers. You can explore the old city, with its maze of streets teeming with exciting eateries, handicraft vendors, and centuries-old temples. Don’t miss the stunningly reconstructed pagoda at Wat Chedi Luang or the intricate silver metalwork of Wat Sri Suphan. You can still see vestiges of the walls and moats around the periphery of the city.

In the evening, we will meet our guide for a tour of some of the city’s famous markets. We will start with a Foodie Tour at Chang Puak Marke, where we will find delicious traditional Thai market dishes including soups, noodles, pork, seafood, and Thai desserts. Afterward, we continue to the Night Bazaar where our tour guide will navigate through the labyrinth of stalls peddling everything from fine antiques to souvenirs.

November 14, 2024 – Chiang Mai (B/L)

Today, we will experience a full day of cooking at a Lanna-style school located in a countryside village just 15 minutes from the city of Chiang Mai. Our lessons will focus on Lanna-style (Northern) dishes, Thai sweets, fruit carving, and presentation. This school places a focus on using traditional ingredients that enhance your health and physical well-being. We will prepare 6 dishes: 4 mains, 1 dessert, and 1 snack.

The evening is free to enjoy Chiang Mai as you wish.

November 15, 2024 – Chiang Mai (B/L)

This morning’s tour is a great opportunity to explore the famous home industries of Sankampaeng, where a variety of souvenirs and handicrafts are made, including the production of the famous Thai silk, the colorful paper umbrellas, and the well-known celadon ceramics. You will be amazed when seeing some other craftsmen transforming teakwood into elegant furniture and delicate carvings using only simple tools. Also, fascinating to watch is the production of lacquerware, when even eggshells are used to achieve unusual designs. It’s easy to see why Chiang Mai is the main center for high-quality handicrafts in Thailand.

After lunch, we travel to Mae Rim district to visit various hill-tribe villages. Here we will pay a visit to the Karen, Lahu Shibala, and Palong hill tribes originating from Tibet, as well as the Long Neck people who migrated from Myanmar (Burma). The people of this village have kept their cultural traditions and customs alive, including the brass rings women wear around their necks as a tribal sign of their individual identity. These villages subsist from farming and sales of their handicrafts, in particular, beautiful handwoven textiles.

November 16, 2024 – Chiang Mai (B/L)

Today, we enjoy a morning of temple visits! First, the iconic mountain temple Wat Doi Suthep, situated on a hill 1050m above the city offers an incredible view of both the city and surrounding countryside. Then, Wat Chedi Luang, which contains an enormous pagoda, originally 280 feet high that was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1545, and Wat Phra Singh, which contains the beautiful Lai Kham Chapel with exquisite wood carving and northern-style murals.

Finally, a fun rickshaw (cycle rickshaw) will take us to the Muang Mai Market. Much of the food here has come straight from the farm and is sold directly by local farmers.

In the afternoon, we will head south out of Chiang Mai to Bandoo to visit the home of the Raunkaew-Yanon family, who arrived in the area possibly by elephant almost 150 years ago. They are a Lanna family, continuing the traditions of many generations in building their homes of teak wood and maintaining the natural surroundings in a manner now rarely seen in Chiang Mai. We visit the family orchard, filled with many types of fruit such as banana, mango, and coconut, as well as the organic garden of herbs for cooking. We will have the opportunity to join in on the cooking of our meal with the family.

November 17, 2024 – Chiang Mai – Departure (B)

After breakfast at our hotel, we will say goodbye to Thailand and board our flights home.