A collage of sights, sounds, and sensations. Ornate temples, gilded palaces, bustling markets, and snaking canals. Motorbikes darting past hot pink taxis. Monks in orange robes sharing the street with boisterous students. Incense smoke trailing past vendors preparing spicy stir-fry and mango sticky rice.
Bangkok has all of this and more! We collected some recommendations after a wonderful whirlwind time in this vibrant city. Here, we’re sharing our tips for your trip to Thailand’s kaleidoscopic capital.
About Bangkok
In the 15th century, the Bangkok area was a trading post that blossomed into two capital cities: Thonburi (established in 1767) and Rattanakosin (established in 1782). Under King Rama I, a single metropolis grew, and the Grand Palace was constructed.
Fun fact: the Thai call the city Krung Thep, which means “the City of Gods, the Great City, the Residence of the Emerald Buddha, the Impregnable City (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the Grand Capital of the World Endowed with Nine Precious Gems, the Happy City Abounding in Enormous Royal Palaces Which Resemble the Heavenly Abode Wherein Dwell the Reincarnated Gods, a City Given by Indra and Built by Vishnukarm.” You can listen to the pronunciation of the ceremonial name here.
Nowadays, Bangkok is experiencing a travel boom—it was the most visited city in the world in 2025. Sightseers can take in more than 300 wats, or temples; visit teeming markets; and learn about the area’s past and present at a variety of historically significant sites. While it would take many lifetimes to enjoy everything that Bangkok has to offer, we hope your experience is as rich as ours.
Quick Tips
➜ You may have heard of Thailand’s backpacker trail. This is a well-trodden route that typically hits Bangkok (and sites including Khao San Road, Wat Pho, the Grand Place); Chiang Mai; and popular southern islands and beaches. While visiting popular Bangkok sites, we remarked to each other a few times that we seemed to be in “Thailand-Land,” a Disneyworld-ified version of Thailand that had been carefully crafted and optimized for tourists. Those seeking “authentic” travel experiences and less frequently visited locales may have to put in extra effort to avoid throngs of fellow tourists. However, if you have limited time for exploration, the frequently visited sites are renowned for a reason and still worth a visit. Travel responsibly, respect the people and places around you, and be open to the Land of a Thousand Smiles‘ magic.
➜ That being said, if you’ll be spending just a few days in Bangkok, we recommend staying in the historic center (Phra Nakon district) for easy access to sites like the National Museum, the Grand Palace, and Wat Pho.
➜ Learn and use some basic Thai phrases. While you’re likely to find plenty of English speakers in tourist hubs, we found that the people we met seemed to appreciate—or at the very least be amused by—our (bumbling) attempts at basic conversation!
➜ Pack lightweight, conservative clothing and good walking shoes that are easy to remove and put on again. When entering wats, be sure that your knees and shoulders are covered. (Bangkok is hot and humid, so we recommend breezy button-down shirts, lightweight pants and skirts, and maxi dresses.) Since you’ll also remove your shoes outside of temples, it’s nice to have footwear that’s easy to slip on and off.
➜ Be prepared for lots of traffic! Bangkok’s rapid urbanization and relatively few major thoroughfares has contributed to significant road congestion, so be sure to allow for plenty of time to get to places like the airport. If you can avoid driving during the morning and evening rush hours, we recommend it.
➜ Try alllll of the street food! Street food in Bangkok is generally very safe, particularly if you opt for cooked, freshly prepared food that’s popular with locals. While there are some conflicting opinions about the safety of Bangkok water for tourists, we tend to play it safe and buy bottled water—or treat tap water. We’re fans of Aquamira Purifier Tablets and use them frequently when backpacking and traveling.
Arrival and Getting Settled
Still buzzing from our short, dreamlike stopover in Tokyo en route to Bangkok, we arrived in Bangkok after a red eye. After a smooth customs experience, we called a GrabCar to travel to our Airbnb. (GrabCar is Southeast Asia’s Uber equivalent. Download the Grab app to hail taxis and/or order food.)
Our Airbnb was among the most unique places we’ve stayed. After traversing a labyrinthine amulet market at the edge of the modern Tha Maharaj Mall, we reached the bustling Chao Phraya River, where ferries, barges, and neon party cruises floated by in the pink dawn. At the end of a pier, a houseboat named Sabai Sabai (สบายๆ), “take it easy” or “relax” in Thai, beckoned to us. We met our very chill host and dropped our bags off in our surprisingly spacious room.
Then, we set out for the day.
The Grand Palace
After perching on plastic stools at a quiet university food stand to enjoy a breakfast of fried rice with shrimp, we approached the Grand Palace.
A quick word of warning: while Thailand is renowned for its excellent hospitality and Bangkok is generally considered quite safe for tourists, there have been some reports of tourist scams.
We learned about a common—albeit fairly harmless—scam through experience. Two men dressed in security guard uniforms stopped us on the path to the palace, pointing to Alex’s shorts and saying he’d need to change into pants to enter. We showed them that he had pants stashed in his backpack, but then they relayed to us that the palace was closed for an hour for cleaning. Why not take a 20-baht tuk-tuk ride to Phra Aitnit pier to get a boat tour of the west bank of the river instead? Clearly it was a scam, but we were interested in a tuk-tuk ride nonetheless. When a woman at the bank of the river offered us an expensive tour package, we declined and made our way back to the palace, which was open.
The Grand Palace is a sprawling complex of buildings that first served as Rama I’s personal residence and the site of administrative buildings. Today, it still hosts royal ceremonies and visiting dignitaries.
The Temple of the Emerald Buddha consists of twelve pavilions (or sala) that boast elaborately carved figures and stone.
There is so much to see within the walls of the palace! You can view it on Google Maps to start to get a sense of the majestic architecture and opulent design.
Tickets are 500 baht for foreigners and can be purchased online or at the main entrance.
Wat Pho
From the Grand Palace, we continued on to Wat Pho, both the oldest and largest temple in the city. This wat is home to the remarkable Reclining Buddha. Built in 1832, the Reclining Buddha represents the moment when Buddha reached nirvana and became free from suffering. He’s lying on his right side to represent peace and acceptance.
Visitors can also pay 20 baht to get coins to place in bowls along the wall to make merit, creating a very cool soundscape around us as we circled the Buddha.
Then, we walked the Wat Pho grounds, a lively spot with public education spaces, a library, and dozens of monks and schoolchildren milling around.
If you’ve got a moment, we recommend stopping by the Wat Pho Traditional Thai Massage School for a 30-minute massage. (And if you’re in town for a while, you can also enroll in massage classes!)
Before we headed out, we filled up our water bottles at a convenient fill-up station (and treated them with Aquamira out of an abundance of caution.)
Entrance to Wat Pho is 300 baht for foreigners; you can buy tickets online or in-person.
Eat Sight Story Restaurant
After our visit to Wat Pho, we walked to the Chao Phraya River and serendipitously stumbled across Eat Sight Story, a restaurant which we’d seen pop up in a few guidebooks. We decided to stop in and it did not disappoint.
We ordered a perfectly spicy papaya salad, the red curry with beef, and the green curry with prawns. Yum.
Market Walk/Yaowarat Road
Sufficiently fueled, we walked south and then east toward Bangkok’s Chinatown, one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. Thai-Chinese make up around 10-12% of Thailand’s total population.
Passing by a series of picturesque canals, we walked through a fragrant flower market, an Indian market, and a Thai clothing and miscellany market.
After weaving through dense rows of market stalls, we reached Chinatown’s main artery, Yaowarat Road, which is famous for its street food. We grabbed a Thai Iced Tea and a black sesame bun for some more energy and took in the masses of incredible food stalls.
We also tried durian for the first time. A massive, spiky fruit, it’s known for its custard-like texture, pungent smell, and unique taste (some people compare it to almonds or runny cheese, but we tasted a hint of onion…) Although durian wasn’t our favorite, we’re glad to have tried the produce that grounded a flight in Indonesia. (True story! Passengers refused to board an aircraft that was carrying more than two tons of the divisive fruit.)
If you have more than a couple of days to spend in Bangkok, you should definitely spend more time wandering Yaowarat Road than we did. There are also plenty of guided and self-guided food tours available.
But alas, at this point it was time for us to head back to the cozy houseboat Airbnb. Between our jet lag and our feet complaining at the end of a 14-mile day, the last leg of our walk was a bit of a struggle. Eventually, we reached the now-quiet amulet market as the sun sank over the river. We stopped to enjoy a Singha beer (one of Thailand’s classics) on a patio. We were in bed by 8:23 PM. 😆
National Museum
The next day, rested and rejuvenated, we ate breakfast at a cafe near the houseboat. Alex got stir-fried chicken with Thai basil and Laura got noodles with shrimp. And we both had coke, too! We’re not generally big soda drinkers, but Coca Cola in Thailand is made with cane sugar and—in our humble opinion—tastes better than its U.S. counterpart.
Then we toured the National Museum, which has Thai art and artifacts dating back to the prehistoric and Bronze Ages.
Our guide Elodie, who is French but has been a long-term Bangkok resident, gave us a helpful summary of Buddha’s life and an overview of Thai Buddhism. More than 90% of Thailand’s population identifies as Buddhist, and it’s customary for men to spend a short time as monks around age 20.
Elodie also shared some ways to identify Buddha: arms as long as an elephant’s trunk, androgynous appearance, and an additional dome on the head, which isn’t a bun but extra space for his very large brain.
Although Hinduism is a minority religion in Thailand, it’s influenced Thai culture and components of it have been incorporated into daily practices. Elodie provided us with some tips about identifying different Hindu gods as we walked by representations of them. For example, Vishnu has a cylindrical hat, Bhrama has four faces, and Ganesha has an elephant head, a bowl of candy, and a serpent to restrain his belly.
Finally, we learned about spirit houses, or shrines installed on the north side of buildings to shelter the guardian spirits of a property. Spirit houses represent a blend of animism with Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Daily offerings ensure that these spirits remain contentedly outside houses and public buildings, leaving the people inside in peace. Spirits can be male or female, young or old (we saw a spirit house for animals outside of a vet clinic!)
We highly recommend dropping by the museum for a tour. It’s open Wednesday—Sunday and costs 240 baht for foreigners. Guides speak English, French, German, and Japanese.
Wat Arun
From the museum we headed on over to Tha Phra Chan, a pier just north of the amulet market, to catch a short ferry ride across the river to Tha Wang Lang. We walked south along the river, stopping for fresh papaya and a quick pad thai lunch (and of course, a few cokes to wash it down!)
Then we meandered over to Wat Arun. Unlike most wats in Bangkok, Wat Arun isn’t gold but white. It’s adorned with a rainbow of mosaics. Its striking 82-meter spire pierces the sky in the spot where King Taksin came across a local shrine, interpreting his discovery as a sign that this should be the new site of the capital of Siam.
Don’t miss the chance to take the steep stairs to the top of Wat Arun for an excellent view.
The on-site cafe is also worth stopping by. Lovely trees shade a large patio and the drinks are refreshing, especially on a humid day. We got an amazing iced green tea latte and mango passionfruit soda.
Entry to Wat Arun is 200 baht, and tickets can be purchased onsite.
The Giant Swing & Wat Saket (The Golden Mount)
Next, we took the ferry back to Wat Pho. From there, we walked past the Giant Swing, an almost 70-foot tall religious structure shaped like a….you guessed it…swing! It was once used for Brahmin ceremonies in which young men would launch themselves in the air and catch sacks of coins in their teeth.
We continued on our walk, ascending 320 steps to Wat Saket for a beautiful view of Bangkok.
Wat Saket’s identifying feature is a gilded dome, called the Golden Mount. On the final stretch of the walk, bells lining the path for good luck, and hit the gong three times after making a wish. (This is another lush soundscape; the bells, wind chimes, and the sounds of prayer thread together high above the roar of traffic.) Entry is 100 baht for foreigners.
Thip Samai (Home of Pad Thai)
If you’re thinking that it had been far too long since we’d had a snack or a meal, you’re correct! Fortunately, the Golden Mount is close to Thip Samai, a restaurant known for its pad thai and said to be one of the oldest pad thai joints in town.
A a popular tourist stop, Thip Samai can get crowded, but fortunately we arrived early enough to avoid a wait. The service was quick and the pad thai was good—quite sweet and generous portions.
During World War II, a flood seriously damaged the rice paddies around Bangkok for three months, so the government launched a campaign to motivate its citizens to trade and eat noodles. The result? Stir-fried noodles inspired by Chinese culinary tradition were consumed more widely. However, some experts argue that the dish that we recognize as pad thai today didn’t emerge until the 1960s. In an era of globalization, it’s become a widely beloved culinary export and form of soft power.
Thip Samai only serves pad thai; it’s wrapped in an egg and comes with fresh (and very sweet!) orange juice.
Democracy Monument & Thao San Road
As we digested our generous portions of pad thai, we strolled by Democracy Monument, a structure installed to commemorate the 1932 Siamese coup that lead to a constitutional democracy. You can read more about Thai history and this revolution here.
Our next stop was Khao San Road, a major backpacking hub packed with overpriced restaurants and raucous bars. In the 1970s, it became a stop on the hippy trail, and today it’s a nightlife destination reminiscent of the Vegas Strip. Although we didn’t linger in the area, it was interesting to take it all in.
With that, our short time in Bangkok had come to a close. That night, we bobbed on the deck of the houseboat, cold Singhas in hand, toasting our delightful time.
Summary
There are so many things to learn, fantastic sites to see, and delicacies to eat in Bangkok! Plan to spend a minimum of 2-3 days exploring the city, and stick around for longer if your schedule allows for it.
We hope you love your trip as much as we loved ours.
Is there anything we should be sure to do in Bangkok next time around? How do you feel about durian? Let us know!
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