There are many gorgeous national parks and hiking in Thailand. We were prepared for beautiful waterfalls and hiking on the way through the park but we found this park to hold sparse trails and dried up fields for camping. We were disappointed to not find much outdoor adventure but discovered a beautiful spot to explore for the day. The true gem and beauty of this national park area is a valley that holds a large resort called Toscana Valley. Toscana Valley is a mini Italy in central Thailand. It is a resort, residential grounds and has a golf course and clubhouse grounds. The rooms start at 6,000 baht a night or around $200USD/night. The grounds have sunflower fields, cafes, shops and restaurants in a mini Italy in central Thailand. This is such a beautiful area to go for the day even if you do not stay. As long as you eat at a restaurant at the resort you are allowed to enter the grounds. The grounds hold your license with the guards outside and return it when you leave. There is a small tower of Pisa, pools to swim in, a valley view with a beautiful courtyard and many areas to walk around. There is a bakery that makes the most delicious homemade bread. We shared a focaccia loaf fresh baked that they serve with an olive spread. They also had delicious limonatas as well. There were several quality boutiques selling home decor and artisan goods. See more about Toscana Valley and room rates here. This valley is close to Lopburi and could be a great weekend trip to see both.
Read our Lopburi, city of monkeys blog for things to do here.
Main Piazza
The main piazza is where all of the restaurants, cafes and bakeries are. There are several boutiques and there are two of the main swimming pools here as well. There is a flower truck and a beautiful cafe that feels like a greenhouse with all of its greenery. There is golfing, a spa, a gym, a playground and other activities. This is the courtyard with their famous pizza restaurant and the cute souvenirs boutiques for shopping.
Side Courtyard
Vino Cafe & Wine Bar is the more casual outdoor seating courtyard for a nice drink and appetizer. They serve Italian style caffe and wine with some of the best seating in the piazza. They have a wine room with selections from around the world and a delicatessen. This is where we ordered our limonatas from and the bakery is across the courtyard on the other side. They will bring out whatever bread you order and heat it up and bring it to you at the Vino Cafe. There is live music in this courtyard on Friday and Saturday nights. The cafe hours are 8am-11pm. The bakery is called, 223 Pasticceria. They serve bread, biscuits, and ice cream fresh daily and are open 7am-10pm daily. There is a formal restaurant called Caffe del Museo in this courtyard as well serving Italian affair 7am-10pm daily.
Tower of Pisa, The Eyrie
There is an overlook of this area of the valley which is a beautiful view. This is also an event center and there is a sunflower field across the street. This is the more residential area where there are condos and houses for rent and sale. This is a great overlook over the area and to see the national park hills as well.
Khao Yai National Park, Waterfall Hike
There are a few waterfall hikes inside the national park that have signs and turn offs. They are in the southern portion of the park closer to the southern entrance/exit depending on where you enter. This waterfall hike took us over a wooden bridge and was around a 40 minute hike roundtrip. The waterfalls are best to see during rainy season otherwise they will be pretty small and probably not worth hiking to see. The national park fee per person is 400 baht. The national park entrance fee alone is honestly in our opinion not worth it for the amount of hikes or overlooks at all available in the park. Toscana Valley is on the north top area of the park before the entrance.
