ADVENTURE TRAVEL
The adventures worth booking.
The 15 most popular adventure trips we cover, from Banff's glacier lakes and northern Thailand's elephant sanctuaries to aurora hunts above the Arctic Circle. What each day is really like, who runs it, and what you will pay.
Ethical Chiang Mai elephant sanctuary plus Mae Wang waterfall swim and bamboo rafting. Close encounters, Thai lunch, and a full day out.
Most Popular“Had a perfect day with our Guide named Nop. saw a lot of elephants and rafting was really nice!”
Spend 9 hours in Doi Inthanon’s cloud forests from Chiang Mai with waterfalls, royal pagodas, and hill-tribe coffee on a GSTC tour.
“Our guide, Sunny, was amazing. She shared lots of interesting facts about the places we visited and certainly knew her way around. Everything was on time and well organized. It’s not a very adventurous tour, but we’ve learned a lot.”
Ethical elephant care at Pon Elephant Thailand, then a jungle hike to Mae Wang Waterfall with lunch and river bathing in 7 hours.
“An excellent trip and beer was an excellent guide .. the entire day was excellent value and beer and the sanctuary workers were all very good would totally recommend”
From Chiang Mai, visit the White, Blue and Huay Pla Kang temples, Mae Kachan Hot Springs, and the Karen long-neck village.
“Having Benz as a guide was a pleasure, he’s really friendly and truly passionate about what he does, he’s constantly making sure everyone is enjoying the tour and giving great tips for pictures, the information he brings is clear and easy to understand. 10/10 highly recommend guide Benz!”
Half-day elephant sanctuary tour near Chiang Mai with guided feeding, herbal treat making, forest walks, and river bathing when elephants choose.
“Perfect half day tour. The transport to the sanctuary was clean, fast and comfortable. The guides (Ms. Oom & Jackie) were friendly and knowledgeable and the elephants were obviously very well taken care of. Most are domestic, but they have a large rescued bull now too. Some light walking between the 4 stations is required,…”
Ride the Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain for 360 views, easy boardwalk walks, interpretive exhibits, and optional mountain meals.
“As someone who enjoys the outdoors and has done lots of exploring around Canada, I cannot say that I’ve had a better view than this. It was absolutely breathtaking.”
Chiang Mai farm-to-table Thai cooking class with a local market visit, curry paste, and optional coconut milk making. Small group.
“Amazing morning/afternoon. We were picked up straight from our hostel, then to see local market and look at some ingredients used for traditional Thai dishes. Then to the main farm! Garnet was super friendly and infectious smile! Made everyone feel happy and safe with their cooking skills and showed us how whilst also letting us…”
White Temple, Blue Temple, and Temple of Light in Chiang Rai on a guided day trip from Chiang Mai. A/C van, small groups, photo time.
“The day trip was excellent. Our tour guide Atii was very knowledgeable and our driver Ache was very safe on the roads. The trip was very smooth, had plenty of time to explore all the temples and take photos. I would highly recommend this tour.”
Chiang Mai cooking class with a market herb walk and organic garden meal. Make curry paste, Thai curries, and mango sticky rice.
“It was amazing! Before you go into a real thai market full of colours and smells, then the cooking lesson was funny and so interesting! Thank you Wave!”
Half-day elephant caretaker time, a river elephant bath, Long Neck Village, and Buatong Sticky Waterfall in one smooth Chiang Mai outing.
“I have nothing negative to say! This was an excellent tour… The beautiful Amy🤣 was great! The bus left promptly, Amy was very knowledgeable with each section of the tour. She was very friendly and knew everyone wanted the typical photos! She knew the drill and was ready, she also took them on her phone…”
Self-drive husky sledding from Tromsø to Breivikeidet, swap drivers, then warm up in a lavvu with tea and cake under Lyngen Alps.
“We had so much fun. I’ve been to Husky camps in the summer and was glad to visit one in the winter to see it in operation. The dogs were so excited to get going and we just had a blast. The suits kept us warm and it’s a well run and organized operations (if…”
Tromsø Northern Lights tour with cozy bonfire, photo coaching, and a free professional aurora portrait delivered next day.
“they did offer winter coats for when we went camping, sadly my coat that i was wearing was not suitable to combine to wear on top of the winter coat. the worst thing was that the was a lot of solar activity but there was too much cloud cover and we were at the end…”
A hands-on ethical elephant sanctuary day in Chiang Mai: feed rescued elephants, make healthy treats, enjoy a mud bath, and eat a Thai buffet.
“Our guide picked us up and drove us to and from the elephant sanctuary. We were driven by locals all week and only her car rides felt unsafe. Regardless, we got to the elephant retirement camp and immediately fed an elephant bananas, changed into local clothes (a long top), spent time with the elephants and…”
A 3-hour Chiang Mai Old City temple walk with a local English guide, from Wat Chedi Luang’s stupa to Wat Phra Singh mosaics.
“Had a fantastic tour of 3 temples in Chang Mai with Nana this morning. She knew so much about the history of these amazing ancient beauties as well as the city itself. Often wandered around historical sites without a guide. Nana reminded me how much better it is with such an informative local person. She…”
Sunrise at Doi Suthep, then Wat Pha Lat and Wat Umong tunnels. Small-group, low-impact tour with hotel pickup for $32.
“The guide, James Bond, who lived with the monks for 5 years was very knowledgable and gave a lot of good information. The offerings to the monks and receiving blessings was interesting. Each temple was unique. For me - I’d say towards the end the info was a bit repetitive. Overall, good value for money…”
From the Rockies to the rainforest to the Arctic, every kind of adventure and where to find it.
