ACROSS the globe are lots of beautiful islands with incredible beaches, jungles, even mountains – and I’ve been lucky enough to visit the world’s best.
Off the coast of Thailand, Koh Samui is a tropical paradise with inexpensive luxury hotels along with cheap restaurants and cocktails for a few quid.
It was recently crowned the ‘Best Island in the World’ by Travel + Leisure.
Hundreds of thousands of readers voted for their top island destination to form the list of the 25 best.
Koh Samui took the crown and was praised for its “array of elevated accommodations, luscious jungles, and roaring waterfalls—has become a leading destination for self-care.”
While I can’t say I went to Koh Samui for self-care per se, I did feel incredibly relaxed when checking into one of its many gorgeous resorts.
During my stay last August, I checked into the beautiful the Anantara Lawana on the northeastern side of the island.
It did give serious White Lotus vibes, and with good reason as the cast of series three actually filmed bar scenes in its Singing Bird Lounge.
The five-star hotel is reasonably priced as well considering just how beautiful it is.
A seven-night stay for two at the Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort with Expedia starts from £1,131.24 or £95pppn.
This is in a Deluxe Lawana room with breakfast included, a garden view and a beautiful outdoor balcony.
However, you can actually book an Anantara Pool Suite – which has its own private plunge pool and an outdoor rain shower for an extra £160.
The resort itself has its own beach which, while it’s not private, was incredibly quiet with sunloungers dotted about.
I found it to be perfect for a paddle after a long day in the sun as the sandbank made it incredibly shallow.
The hotel also has a spa and daily activities like sunrise yoga – there’s plenty to choose from at the buffet breakfast too which comes with an impressive ocean view.
When it comes to dinner, the on-site restaurants have lots of tasty meals like pineapple fried rice – which is served in an actual pineapple and Mai Tai cocktails.
While Koh Samui does have elements of luxury, I would say that venturing outside of these hotels is a whole other adventure.
It’s not the peaceful retreat you see in The White Lotus – instead, it’s scruffy and a tad chaotic with locals darting along the road in mopeds, hectic food markets and late night beach parties.
But having the best of both worlds is what makes it so brilliant.
Tucked away along the bustling streets are tiny restaurants with sticky tables and handmade menus serving up Pad Thai and spicy tom yum soup, with cocktails for £2.
Bars are constantly advertising happy hour too – so quite often I could even bag two drinks for this price.
One of the restaurants I popped into was a five-minute walk from the hotel, and while it didn’t look like much – in fact it still had Christmas decorations up in August, the food was delicious.
Mango sticky rice is a Thai staple and could be picked up all over the island for as little as £1.65.
Food wasn’t the only cheap thing I found on the island – for anyone wanting an authentic Thai massage, these were as little as £6 for an hour.
The island is known for having some of the most beautiful beaches too with either golden or powdery white sand and bright blue waters.
Chaweng is one of the most popular — but there are many pockets of coast where you’ll find secret sandy spots and likely be the only people around.
Other popular spots include Lamai Beach, Choeng Mon Beach and Thongtakian Beach.
From Koh Samui, it’s easy to visit other beautiful spots too like Koh Nangyuan, Koh Tao and the Instagram-worthy Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park.
Here’s the full list of the ‘best islands in the world’…
Here are Travel + Leisure’s best islands in the world – and their scores out of 100…
- Koh Samui – 95.64
- Maldives – 95.38
- Galapagos Islands – 94.99
- Bali – 93.20
- Phuket – 93.18
- Seychelles – 92.95
- Fiji – 92.71
- Sri Lanka – 92.67
- Dominica – 91.87
- Zanzibar – 91.83
- Golden Isles – 91.59
- Sardinia – 91.57
- Skye and the Hebrides – 91.17
- Malta – 91.00
- Grenada – 90.36
- Madeira – 90.33
- Azores – 90.18
- Maui – 89.70
- Sicily – 89.53
- Milos – 89.50
- Virgin Gorda – 89.43
- Crete – 89.39
- Vieques – 89.38
- Paros – 89.33
- Kauai – 89.16