Phuket, Thailand🍢

Phuket is Thailand’s largest island, in the south. It is the best island to visit first as you can easily get a flight there from North Thailand. To start your Thailand route, you can either start from Bangkok or Phuket depending on your preference. After we finished exploring the North, we flew to Phuket from Bangkok, spending a total of four days here.

Patong Beach

Patong Beach is the busiest and most developed town in Phuket, famous for its long beach of golden sand, high energy atmosphere, and its insane night life. It is very popular for backpackers, with a variety of ages staying here and then popping to Bangla Road to go to the different bars and clubs in the evening.

Kata Beach & Food Market

Kata Beach is a beautiful beach next to Karon Beach, on the north side of Phuket. If you are looking for a more relaxed and quiet beach to visit, this is the best spot. It is known for offering clear blue waters and a more chilled dining and nightlife. There is also a Food Market nearby, so you can make the most of the day, spending it at the beach before getting a cheap bite to eat, and then heading back to Phuket.

Cafe Phuket Viewpoint

One spot to watch the sunset in Phuket, is Cafe Phuket Viewpoint. It sits on the edge of the cliffs, overlooking the sea and if the weather is good enough, you will be presented with a beautiful sunset, sadly for us, we had a cloudy one!

Patong Night Market

Patong also has a huge open night market, famous for its variety of stalls and vibrant atmosphere, offering cheap street food, fresh fruits, clothing and jewellery. Perfect place for a browse, getting a bite to eat, before heading to the bar street.

Cafe del Mar

Another beach club to stay and relax at is Cafe del Mar, which leads onto the beach, it has different lounging areas, sun beds and serves the best food. We all had soft shell crab burgers and they were incredible, especially for the price.

Phuket Old Town

Phuket Old Town is the historic heart of Phuket, famous for its beautifully, colourful architecture, vibrant street art and trendy stalls and cafes. You can drive there and spend the day exploring the whole town and the sights it has to offer, or you can spend a couple nights here to explore this side of the island without having to drive back and forth.

Phuket Old Town also has a Sunday Walking Street Market (Lard Yai Sunday Market), which happens every Sunday. If you end up being in Phuket for then, you must pop here for the evening to explore the different stalls. They sell all kinds of souvenirs, clothes, trinkets and street food. We spent a couple hours walking up both sides and browsing at the market before choosing different street food meals to have for dinner.

Karon Viewpoint

Karon Viewpoint is a famous panoramic lookout, known as Khao Sam Haad. At the top you can see gorgeous views of three different bays, Kata Noi, Kata Beach and Karon Beach, making it one of the islands most popular viewpoints.

The Big Buddha

Another sight to see when in Phuket is the famous Big Buddha, which is a 45 meter tall statue on the top of Nakkerd Hill. It is a beautiful Burmese white marble statue, and is one of the islands most admired landmarks, offering beautiful panoramic views of the islands from the top. We hired a moped and drove here ourselves but you can go with a tour if you want to.

Food:
There are so many places to eat at in Phuket, you can walk around the whole town and find different local restaurants. Not only will it be authentic, but it will be pretty cheap! There are also a variety of food markets and stalls, which happen in the evening where you can pick and choose small dishes ranging from sushi, to dumplings, rice and noodles. Ned and I did this a lot and split different dishes between us.

• 7/11 - for all day snacks and sweet treats.
• Local restaurants along Bangla Road.
• Lock Tian Food Court.

Other things to do in Phuket

• Jungle Beach.
• Elephant Jungle Sanctuary.
• Island hopping to Similan Islands or Phang Nga Bay.
• Local Food Markets.

Overall, Phuket was a lovely place to start our South Island hopping! It is very touristy with lots of travellers from all over, so it can get very busy. If you are not wanting a hectic stay, but want to visit Phuket, I would recommend staying on the other side of the island towards Kata Beach. As a backpacker though, it is a really good place to meet other travellers. There is a big party scene, with lots of events and clubs to go to. The four days we were here was solely around partying and relaxing on the beach!