Krabi (Ao Nang) or Phuket? What is the best destination for a family trip?
Our family trip to Thailand started in Bangkok, which we considered the perfect way to start your trip in Thailand (you can see our itinerary in Bangkok here) but, like the vast majority of people visiting Thailand, we also wanted to visit and get to know some of the most famous beaches in the world, especially the Phi Phi Islands and the world famous Maya May.
That being the case, and after studying the different possibilities a bit, we were left with the same doubt that many people stay when visiting this area of Thailand: where to make our base to explore the different beaches Phuket or Krabi (more specifically Ao Nang)?
Both options look great when you study both destinations and, that was a really difficult decision to make, as it probably will be for you. In this way, we hope that by talking about our decision and the reasons for our choice, help you make your decision to. Before we talk about our choice, let us just talk a little about both destinations.
Phuket
Phuket is probably the most famous place for travelers to this area of Thailand. It has a huge offer of hotels and hostels, restaurants, many tours options and different activities for adults and children, as well as a great offer of flights at very low prices, from a lot of different airports.
The nightlife in Phuket is also world famous and is one of the big reasons for so many tourists to visit this big island.
The less positive points we discover online were, according to our research, that although there are beautiful beaches, they are often very crowded. The less crowded beaches are usually away from the hotels, which forces more trips.
Another of the less positive points is that there are growing reports of the growth of sex industry, and for those of us who want to go on a family trip, prostitution and ladyboys are not the scenarios we wanted.
We also conducted a survey and found that the prices charged by different touristic companies for the normal tours, including the famous Phi Phi Islands, tend to be more expensive in Phuket than in Krabi.
Krabi
Krabi is not far from Phuket (just over 2 hours by car) and there is the possibility of catching a ferry connecting Phuket and Ao Nang (you can find out more information about prices, schedules and buy tickets online here).
Although we are referring to Krabi, we did not really stay in the city, although we highly recommend you to visit it, especially its markets. We decided to stay in Ao Nang beach, as it is a place also with a lot of offer at the lodging level, for very affordable prices and with several offers of restaurants and touristic companies.
Maybe not so much as Phuket, but there are a lot of possibilities to do activities with your children and, of course, the possibility to visit wonderful beaches, the main reason for the fame of this area of Thailand.
Final choice
Well, our choice was not easy, just as it will not be yours if, like us, you are trying to decide your base for exploring these wonderful beaches.
Of course, this choice will always be linked to what you want to accomplish and to your travel goals. For example, if you are looking for wonderful resorts and nightlife, Phuket is probably your best bet.
However, for a family trip like, as was our case, we chose to stay in Krabi or, more specifically, Ao Nang, right by the beach.
And the reasons that led us to this choice are simple. The first the price. On the flights level, we didn't find significant differences in travel to Krabi or to Phuket. On specific dates, even the Phuket option was a bit cheaper, which may not always happen, as the offer is higher for Phuket but, however, we did not notice any significant difference. Where we noticed the biggest differences were in the hotel and tours prices, where both cases in Krabi (Ao Nang) were cheaper.
Then there were other issues that in our case helped us to make that decision, including the issue of security and prostitution, where we thought it would be best for a family trip to stay in Krabi, namely Ao Nang beach.
Then there were other issues that in our case helped us to make that decision, including the issue of security and prostitution, where we thought it would be best for a family trip to stay in Krabi, namely Ao Nang beach.
After making the trip and, of course, without knowing Phuket we can say that we felt we had made a good choice. Having stayed by Ao Nang beach was a great option. We got fantastic prices for the hotel, great quality and, throughout our stay, we always get good meals at good prices, given that we are in a tourist spot. You can see our four days itinerary in Ao Nang by clicking here.
Although, as we mentioned, being a tourist spot, we never felt crowded, and we were able to make the most of our holidays safely, with fun and with a wide choice of activities to do.
Something that we cannot fail to point out is that staying in Krabi or Phuket you will always have the possibility to visit the Phi Phi Islands and the world famous Maya Bay. You will probably even get lower prices if you leave from Ao Nang (Krabi). But do not forget that, during the low season in Thailand (June, July, and August), this beach is closed to tourism to recover from the environmental damage caused due to the huge influx of tourists that have taken place since it was filmed the Beach movie, with Leonardo Dicaprio.
We hope our tips help you to program your trip to Thailand. If you still don't have a place to stay in Thailand, we always do our reservations with booking, they are our partners and its with them that we get the best deals. You can look for the best deals in the city of Ao Nang by clicking here, it won't cost you any money and, it helps us to support our blog.
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3 comentários
Wow click very nice photo with information we are travel agent we provide travel facility to your next trip contact us. Mysore coorg Tour
ResponderEliminarGreat comparison and it looks like you made the right choice for your family! We'll definitely keep all the points you made in mind when deciding where to go with ours!
ResponderEliminarHi! Is there ant big boat to do island hopping there? Thanks..
ResponderEliminar