I recently travelled to Sri Lanka for a wedding and planned the trip so as to get a stopover both on the way there (to Bergamo, Milan) and on the way back (to Bangkok). For full details on the trip, please check out the Sri Lanka Road Trip blog post. This current post is focused all on the amazing things I did on my 4 day visit to Bangkok, Thailand.
Day 1 Tuesday 12 August: Sleep, Travel, Markets
The flight arrived at 4:15am! So I had booked a hotel at the airport (Don Mueang Station Hotel) to get a few hours of sleep before starting off the day and to help adjust to the different time zone. I bought a SIM card from a 7-Eleven (top tip, it’s very helpful if you bring a SIM card removal tool with you!) so that I could use my phone to call a taxi to my “real” hotel. Bolt and/or Grab are generally recommended in Bangkok instead of Uber but I found that all of them worked fine. My Uber took me to my hotel for 2 nights, Sala Arun Hotel. It was a splurge but we’re worth it! The views from out of the bedroom window of Wat Arun (the pointy temple) were stunning! Our booking also included a free drink at the rooftop bar, named the Eagle Nest. Even if you’re not staying at this accommodation, the rooftop bar is a great way to get the same amazing views at just a fraction of the price.
The rest of the day was spent exploring the markets. The first market I visited was Pak Khling Talet (Flower Market), for a taste of a genuine local market. While it was pretty cool to see people making the flower necklaces but this would be the first thing I would skip if you were short of time.
Next up was The Old Siam Plaza for a food court inside of a local shopping centre. It was a great and cheap place to try local street foods in a clean chilled out environment. I was especially excited to try durian (the smelly fruit!) and mango sticky rice.
Finally I visited the Chinatown Bangkok night market (the market you see on TV, a must see, a bustling crowd of smells and tastes and noise and people). Chinatown is known for street food, speakeasies and a gigantic Buddha. The neighbourhood is formed around Yaowarat Road, a strip that runs just west of Chao Phraya River to Hua Lamphong train station.
Day 2 Wednesday 13 August: The Grand Palace and a Show
Today it was time for some history! I headed to The Grand Palace and spent many hours checking out the beautiful buildings and temples. Remember to bring water and shade (like an umbrella) because it gets hot hot! As a woman, shoulders, chest and knees must be fully covered but there are extra rules than even this. You cannot wear sleeveless tops, short skirts/shorts, nothing tight fitting (leggings count as being tight fitting!) and no scarfs or sarongs are allowed to do the covering- it must be actual items of clothing. I was disallowed entry for wearing a shawl to cover my shoulders, as an example.
In turned out that the ticket to The Grand Palace included a free show! Outside the exit from the palace, there are free buses which take you to the Sala Chalermkrung Royal Theatre. The show was a 25 minute long traditional Khon masked dance show. I strongly recommend joining! Personally I was worried it was a scam and I was about to get kidnapped but it was definitely worth the risk!
Day 3 Thursday 14 August: Giant Gold Buddha, Shopping Centre and Boat Trip
I checked out of the posh hotel and into a more affordable one (The Quarter Hua Lamphong), via a taxi. I then headed to a different taxi to an amazing viewpoint of Wat Paknam, a giant gold Buddha. This viewing point can be found at 13°43'19.8"N 100°28'17.4"E and is currently marked on Google Maps as “Photo spot for the Big Buddha at Paknam Temple (Phra Buddha Dhammakaya Thep Mongkol)”. This is the best photo spot for this buddha- most of the images of it online (e.g. looming over a motorway) are fake images generated by AI and don’t actually exist!
Next up, I travelled to ICONSIAM, a giant shopping centre. I am not normally one to visit a shopping centre on a holiday but I recommend this one! The food court is so ginormous and diverse that it has its own floating market! After eating some local food, as well as some crocodile, it was time to explore the mall further. From the rooftop there were decent views over the city, for free, although I think better views can be had from rooftop bars.
To travel back to the hotel from ICONSIAM, I took a local boat and bought tickets from the pier (boat as a public transport method is as common as a bus). It was very cheap, and the views were great, although I was a bit nervous about jumping on and off!
The day ended back at the hotel, which included a free token on check in for a foot massage. Though not quite the full Thai massage, it was just the ticket for some tired feet!
Day 4 Friday 15 August: The Historic City of Ayutthaya, Night Market
This day was the Historic City of Ayutthaya coach trip tour. On this trip, I was picked up from Future Café (near Thailand Cultural MRF Station) at 7:45am and dropped off at Jodd Fairs night market at around 4pm. It was booked on Klook and was named “Ayutthaya Temples One Day Tour from Bangkok” and cost around £25pp. While the tour was quite cringy, it was a hassle free way to see the sights of the historic city with next to no effort. The group tour booked included:
- Bang Pa-In Palace - you could get out and walk around 2.4km 1h
- Wat Chaiwatthanaram – 1km 35 minutes
- Wat Lokaya Sutharam – 1km 15 minutes
- Wat Phra Si Sanphet – 1.5km 40 minutes
- Lunch at Venice Ayothaya - this was not included in the itinerary on the website.
- Wat Mahathat – 1km 30 minutes
- Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon – 1.25km 30 minutes
After the group tour, we had been dropped off at Jodd Fairs night market so we mooched around the market and ate here. I did find that this market was purposely designed for tourists so was not as good as other markets I had visited during my time in Bangkok. There was a lot of mass produced junk and the foot was very expensive.
The day ended by going back to the hotel to collect my bags, using the hotel pool and showers, before heading over to BKK airport for the 4:40am flight home. While I had planned to take the Airport Rail link there (ARL on Google Maps), which is operational until midnight, it was easier and less hassle to simply take an Uber.
Some ideas for the next Bangkok adventure
- Visit a floating market
- Damnoen Saduek Floating Market - touristy but a floating market and open every day. If you want to boat around it, wait until you get into the market (i.e. don't pay for a boat to take you there) because you will be paying a lot and paying twice. Often combined with The Maeklong Railway Market (Talat Rom Hoop), which is equally as touristy.
- Even more markets! E.g. Khlong Toei Market (apparently a proper local market), Bang Kachao Asiataique Night Market or Patpanf Night Market
- Cycle around Bang Krachao- wooden paths through a jungle, £2, 15km
- Khao San Road for a party and backpacker scene
