2 days — the 48-hour stopover
One half day at sea, an elephant sanctuary, one loop of the island, two good dinners. The plan for a layover, a long weekend cut short, or a first taste before Koh Phangan.
See the itineraryWhy this order
A week is what Koh Samui is actually sized for. The island itself takes two days to see properly; the rest of the time you are using it as a base for the Gulf, which is the point — Ang Thong to the west, Koh Tao to the north, Koh Phangan twenty minutes across the strait.
This plan gets you all three, plus the temples, the waterfalls, the mountain, a night at the stadium and an afternoon learning to cook what you have been eating all week. It still leaves genuinely empty time, and that is deliberate: the mistake people make with a week is filling it, and seven consecutive days of 6:30 am pick-ups is not a holiday, it is a schedule.
It starts on a Friday because that is the day the calendar rewards: you land into the Bophut Walking Street, Ang Thong sails the next morning, and everything after that falls into place without a single wasted day.
The best day to start : Friday
⚓ Friday
Friday puts the island's best market on your first evening, Ang Thong on Saturday, the trawler cruise on Monday, Koh Tao on Tuesday and the stadium on Wednesday — every fixed point caught, none of them moved.
If your flights land on a different day, keep the shape and rotate it: the rule is a land day after every sea day, the two marine parks at least two days apart, and the cruise on a weekday. Send us your dates and we will do the rotation for you.
The week at a glance
| Day | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 (Fri) | Arrive, swim | Bophut and the north coast | Fisherman's Village Walking Street |
| Day 2 (Sat) | Ang Thong Marine Park | Emerald Lagoon and kayaks | Early dinner, early night |
| Day 3 (Sun) | Big Buddha, Wat Plai Laem | Na Muang waterfalls, west coast | Lamai night market |
| Day 4 (Mon) | ATV & buggy over the mountain | Sunset cruise on a wooden trawler | Late dinner on the north coast |
| Day 5 (Tue) | Koh Tao coral gardens | Koh Nang Yuan sandbar | Quiet dinner in Bophut |
| Day 6 (Wed) | Thai cooking class and market run | Nothing at all | Muay Thai at Phetch Buncha |
| Day 7 (Thu) | Koh Phangan waterfalls | Viewpoints and secret beaches | Maenam walking street |
Day by day
Day 1 — Land into the best market on the island
Nothing booked, nothing early. Get your bearings, then walk into a street closed to cars and full of grills.
- AfternoonAirport to hotel, then the nearest water. Cash, SIM, sunscreen, and a look at the map so the rest of the week makes sense.
- 17:30Fisherman's Village, Bophut. On a Friday the lane closes to traffic from around 5 pm to 11 pm: century-old Chinese-Thai shophouses, seafood grills, crafts, live music.
- 19:00Eat between 19:00 and 20:00 — after eight the queues lengthen and the good grills sell out. Bring small notes; almost nothing takes cards.
- 21:00A drink at the seaward end of the lane, where the tables are almost on the sand and the lights of Koh Phangan are across the strait. You will be there again on day 7 — from the other side.
💡 Tip : Do not book anything for your arrival day. Flights into Samui are routinely delayed, and there is no plan worth missing your first evening for.
Day 2 — Ang Thong — get the big one done early
Forty-two limestone islands and a lagoon in a collapsed crater. Doing it on day 2 means there is a whole week left to reschedule into if the sea says no.
- 06:30Pick-up, time confirmed the night before.
- 08:30Speedboat out to Mu Ko Ang Thong, about an hour across.
- 10:00Koh Mae Ko: the steep short climb to the Hidden Emerald Lagoon viewpoint. Optional, rocky, and the photograph everybody comes back with.
- 11:30Kayaking under the cliffs, then snorkelling. Park fee in cash on the day: ฿300 adult, ฿150 child under 130 cm.
- 12:30Buffet lunch on the beach at Koh Wua Ta Lap, then the 42-island viewpoint.
- 17:30Back at the hotel. Eat early and sleep — tomorrow is gentler on purpose.
💡 Tip : Putting the marine park on day 2 rather than day 6 is the single most useful thing in this plan. If the crossing is cancelled for weather, you have five days to move it into.
⚠️ Watch out : Closed 1 November to 15 December. In that window take the luxury catamaran instead — it sails year-round.
🎟️ Book this day — Ang Thong Marine Park — VIP small group
The 42 islands of the national park on a boat capped at 16 guests: the Emerald Lagoon viewpoint, sea kayaking under the cliffs, snorkelling and a beach lunch.
7 h · Mon · Wed · Sat · from ฿4,300 / person
Book on GetYourGuide → See the tour
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Day 3 — The island by road: gold, water and the quiet coast
A land day after a sea day, always. Temples in the morning, waterfalls at midday, the west coast in the afternoon.
- 09:00Pick-up for the island and temples tour. Big Buddha first, before the coaches.
- 10:00Wat Plai Laem and its eighteen-armed Guanyin over the fish lake. Shoulders and knees covered at both.
- 11:30Na Muang waterfalls: the first is a two-minute walk and swimmable, the second is a proper climb.
- 13:00Thai lunch, included.
- 14:30Hin Ta & Hin Yai at Lamai, then Nathon and the west coast villages.
- 19:00Lamai night market: fewer souvenirs, more food, better value than Chaweng.
💡 Tip : This is the day to buy anything you want to take home. Prices in the Lamai market are half what they are on Chaweng Beach Road.
🎟️ Book this day — Island & temples tour
The whole island in a day: Big Buddha, Wat Plai Laem, the Na Muang waterfalls, the Hin Ta & Hin Yai rocks, local markets and a Thai lunch.
full day, 9 am – 5 pm · daily · from ฿1,750 / person
Day 4 — Up the mountain in the morning, out to sea at sunset
Jungle tracks and a hidden waterfall before lunch, then a slow wooden boat into the light. The biggest day of the week and the best one.
- 09:00Pick-up for the ATV and buggy tour above Maenam. Automatic machines, briefing and a practice loop; no licence, beginners welcome.
- 09:45Wide dirt tracks up to the island's highest viewpoints, then down to a hidden waterfall to swim. Take the two-hour version today — you need to be showered and ready by two.
- 11:45Back down, and a quick lunch somewhere on the north coast.
- 14:00Pick-up for the sunset cruise on a restored wooden trawler: beanbags on the roof, an anchored swim stop in a calm bay, snacks and soft drinks as the light goes.
- 18:15Sunset from the water, which is a different thing entirely from watching it from a beach bar.
- 19:30Back on land, late dinner on the north coast.
💡 Tip : Two sharing a quad is ฿8,600, a two-seat buggy is ฿9,800, a solo quad is ฿5,400, and a private departure is ฿5,400 more.
⚠️ Watch out : The trawler sails Monday to Friday only, needs a minimum of eight guests and closes bookings four hours ahead.
🎟️ Book this day — ATV & buggy tour
Mountain jungle tracks above Maenam, the highest viewpoints on the island and a hidden waterfall to swim in. Automatic machines, no licence needed.
2 h or 4 h · daily · from ฿5,400 / machine
🎟️ Book this day — Sunset cruise on a wooden trawler
A restored Thai trawler, beanbags on the roof, a swim stop in a quiet bay, then the sun going down over the water. Pick-up around 2 pm, back for dinner.
5 h · Mon–Fri · from ฿3,150 / person
Book on GetYourGuide → See the tour
GetYourGuide partner link: booking through it costs you nothing extra and helps us keep these itineraries up to date. Prices are per person and set by GetYourGuide.
Day 5 — Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan
The second marine park, three days after the first. Clearer water, better coral, and the sandbar that joins three islands.
- 07:00Pick-up. Sixteen guests maximum, eight minimum to sail.
- 08:30An hour and a half north to Koh Tao.
- 10:30Guided snorkelling over the coral gardens — the best in the Gulf, and noticeably better than anything off Samui.
- 12:30Thai buffet lunch on Koh Tao, facing the sea.
- 14:00Koh Nang Yuan: the sandbar, a second snorkel stop, and the climb to the viewpoint.
- 17:30Back at the hotel. Quiet dinner in Bophut — the lane is at its best on a weekday evening, when the cars are back and the crowds are not.
💡 Tip : If you are going to dive rather than snorkel anywhere in Thailand, this is the water to do it in — the discovery dive below is the same day with tanks on, and needs no licence.
⚠️ Watch out : Departures Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Children over 120 cm pay the adult fare; pregnant travellers and guests with reduced mobility are not admitted.
🎟️ Book this day — Koh Tao & Koh Nang Yuan — VIP small group
The clearest water in the Gulf: guided snorkelling over Koh Tao's coral, a Thai lunch facing the sea, then the sandbar and viewpoint of Koh Nang Yuan.
7 h · Tue · Thu · Sun · from ฿4,085 / person
Book on GetYourGuide → See the tour
GetYourGuide partner link: booking through it costs you nothing extra and helps us keep these itineraries up to date. Prices are per person and set by GetYourGuide.
🎟️ Book this day — Discovery dive — Koh Tao or Sail Rock
Your first breath underwater: no licence, an instructor beside you and a maximum of 12 m over the best reef in the Gulf. Instruction available in French.
7 h · daily · from ฿7,650 / person
Book on GetYourGuide → See the tour
GetYourGuide partner link: booking through it costs you nothing extra and helps us keep these itineraries up to date. Prices are per person and set by GetYourGuide.
Day 6 — Cook your own lunch, then eight rounds at the stadium
Six days in and you have been up at dawn three times. Today you learn to make the food you have been eating all week, then spend the afternoon doing nothing at all.
- 09:00Pick-up for the Thai cooking class. It starts at Big Buddha Market: the herbs, the pastes and the produce explained by someone who buys them every week.
- 10:30In the kitchen. Curry paste pounded by hand in a granite mortar — the part that separates Thai food here from Thai food at home — then four dishes cooked from scratch.
- 13:00You sit down and eat what you made, with the family. Recipes to take home.
- AfternoonNothing. Sleep, swim, read. If you must do something: the Secret Buddha Garden up the mountain, or an hour in a proper Thai massage shop rather than a hotel spa.
- 21:00Phetch Buncha stadium: eight bouts and the Wai Khru Ram Muay ceremony, until about 23:50. Take a taxi both ways — the ticket does not include transfers.
💡 Tip : Skip breakfast. You cook four dishes and then eat all four of them, and the class is the best-rated activity on this whole site — 5/5 from 494 travellers.
⚠️ Watch out : The class takes ages 10 to 65 only. Fights are Monday, Wednesday and Saturday: on this Friday-start plan day 6 is a Wednesday, which works — shift the plan and check the stadium calendar again.
🎟️ Book this day — Thai cooking class with a Samui family
Herbs and ingredients picked out at Big Buddha Market, then four Thai dishes cooked from the paste up in a family kitchen — and eaten. Rated 5/5 by 494 travellers.
4 h · daily · from ฿2,500 / person
Book on GetYourGuide → See the tour
GetYourGuide partner link: booking through it costs you nothing extra and helps us keep these itineraries up to date. Prices are per person and set by GetYourGuide.
🎟️ Book this day — Muay Thai at Phetch Buncha Stadium
Eight real bouts and the Wai Khru Ram Muay ceremony, on the main road in Chaweng. It is a ticket, not a tour: transfers are not included.
9 pm – 11:50 pm · Mon · Wed · Sat · from ฿1,500 / person
Book on GetYourGuide → See the tour
GetYourGuide partner link: booking through it costs you nothing extra and helps us keep these itineraries up to date. Prices are per person and set by GetYourGuide.
Day 7 — Koh Phangan — the island across the strait
Twenty minutes of ferry and a completely different island: jungle waterfalls, two-bay viewpoints, a Chinese temple, and beaches nobody photographs.
- 07:30Pick-up and the short ferry crossing to Koh Phangan — the ferry is included.
- 09:30Inland: jungle waterfalls and the viewpoints over both bays at once, which is the image of Phangan that is not a beach party.
- 12:30Thai lunch, then the Chinese temple and the quiet north-east beaches.
- 16:00Ferry back, hotel around 17:30.
- 19:00Maenam walking street if it is on — small, village-scale, easy. Otherwise back to Fisherman's Village for the last night, and look across at the island you were standing on this morning.
💡 Tip : If the Full Moon Party falls during your week, this is the day to move: go over in the afternoon, stay the night, come back the next morning. Tell us and we will arrange the boat and the room.
⚠️ Watch out : The crossing is short but it is still a ferry: on a rough day it is the first thing to be cancelled.
🎟️ Book this day — Koh Phangan discovery
Samui's wilder sister beyond the Full Moon Party: jungle waterfalls, two-bay viewpoints, a Chinese temple and quiet beaches.
full day · daily, ferry included · from ฿2,500 / person
What it costs, honestly
| Line | Budget | Comfort | Treat yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activities as planned | ฿19,785 | ฿24,085 | ฿34,500 |
| Food and drink (7 days) | ฿3,500 | ฿8,400 | ฿21,000 |
| Local transport | ฿1,400 | ฿3,000 | ฿7,000 |
| Accommodation (7 nights) | ฿5,600 | ฿17,500 | ฿70,000 |
| Total per person | ≈ ฿30,300 | ≈ ฿53,000 | ≈ ฿132,500 |
Per person, per trip, excluding flights, in Thai baht. Activity prices are the ones shown on this page; food, transport and accommodation are our own field estimates for high season.
Where to sleep for this itinerary
For a week, the north coast is the strategic choice: Bophut, Bangrak and Maenam sit on every pick-up route in this plan, are ten to fifteen minutes from the airport and put you inside the Friday market. Chaweng suits travellers who want the long beach and somewhere open late; Lamai gives you the same island for noticeably less; Choeng Mon and Taling Ngam are where you go if the week is a honeymoon. Whatever you choose, book seven nights in one place — the temptation to split the week between two hotels costs you a full day and gains you nothing.
Swaps and upgrades
🌙
The Full Moon Party is that weekMove day 7 to the party date and stay over on Koh Phangan. We will arrange the crossing, the room and the boat back at dawn — see the full moon guide first.
🐬
Something almost nobody seesThe pink dolphins of Khanom leave at dawn and are back by lunch. Take them on day 6 in place of the cooking class, or on day 1 if your flight lands early.
🛥️
Take one day privateA week is long enough to justify one day on your own boat. Our yacht and speedboat charters run to Ang Thong, Koh Tao or wherever you point them.
👨👩👧
With children under eightSwap Koh Tao for the Koh Madsum half day and the quad ride for the 4x4 jungle safari. Same island, half the sitting still.
🐘
Add the elephantsThe Elephant Kingdom sanctuary is only three hours and runs every day — it fits the free afternoon of day 1, or day 6 in place of the cooking class.
In pictures
Frequently asked questions
Is one week too long for Koh Samui?
Not if you use the island as a base rather than a destination. Samui itself takes two days to see properly; the other five are for the Gulf around it — Ang Thong, Koh Tao and Koh Phangan are all day trips from your hotel, and none of them looks like the others. Where a week does get long is if you plan a tour every single day. The empty afternoon on day 6 is part of this plan, not a gap in it.
What is the best 7-day Koh Samui itinerary?
Start on a Friday: the Bophut market on arrival night, Ang Thong on Saturday, the temple and waterfall loop on Sunday, quad biking and the sunset cruise on Monday, Koh Tao on Tuesday, a cooking class and a Muay Thai night on Wednesday, and Koh Phangan on Thursday. It puts a land day after every sea day and catches every fixed departure without moving anything.
How much does a week in Koh Samui cost?
About ฿27,800 per person keeping it simple and ฿50,500 done comfortably, excluding flights — roughly €730 to €1,320. Activities run ฿17,285 to ฿21,585 of that, and accommodation is the line that can multiply by ten depending on your taste. Food is cheaper than most people expect: ฿60 to ฿150 buys the best meal of your day at a market stall.
Should I stay on Koh Phangan or Koh Tao for part of the week?
Only for a specific reason: the Full Moon Party, or serious diving on Koh Tao. Otherwise the arithmetic is against you — each hotel change eats a morning and an afternoon, and both islands work perfectly well as day trips with the ferry included. If you do want a night on Koh Phangan, take it at the end of the week, not in the middle.
Can I do this itinerary with children?
Yes, with two swaps: Koh Madsum instead of Koh Tao — five hours instead of ten, and pigs — and the 4x4 jungle safari instead of the four-hour quad ride. Ang Thong works from age five for the kayaking and age two on board. The stadium is loud but children are welcome, and under 130 cm is the child fare.
What is the one thing I should book before I fly?
Ang Thong on day 2. Sixteen seats, three departures a week, free cancellation up to 24 hours before — there is no reason to leave it and every reason not to. After that, the sunset cruise, which needs a minimum of eight guests to sail. Everything else on this page can be arranged the day before.
📖 Read more: Koh Phangan beyond the Full Moon Party · The top 10 things to do on Samui
