Must-see attractions in Bangkok Region

  • Female Visiting the Cloister with Large Group of Seated Buddha Images in Wat Pho or Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Bangkok Old City, Thailand, ( Self Portrait )

    Wat Pho

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Wat Pho is our absolute favorite among Bangkok's biggest sights. In fact, the compound incorporates a host of superlatives: the city's largest reclining…

  • Grand palace, Wat pra kaew with blue sky, bangkok, Thailand

    Grand Palace

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    The Grand Palace (Phra Borom Maharatchawang) is a former royal residence in Bangkok that was consecrated in 1782. Today, it’s only used on ceremonial…

  • Wat Arun temple in Bangkok during sunset.

    Wat Arun

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Wat Arun is the missile-shaped temple that rises from the Chao Phraya River's banks. Known as Temple of Dawn, it was named after the Indian god of dawn,…

  • Wat Phra Kaew Bangkok Thailand

    Wat Phra Kaew

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Architecturally fantastic, the Wat Phra Kaew temple complex is also the spiritual core of Thai Buddhism and the monarchy, symbolically united in what is…

  • Wat Saket, The Golden Mount Temple, Bangkok, Thailand.

    Golden Mount

    Banglamphu

    Even if you're wát-ed out, you should tackle the brisk ascent to the Golden Mount. Serpentine steps wind through an artificial hill shaded by gnarled…

  • Swan boats, Lumphini Park, Bangkok, Thailand

    Lumphini Park

    Bangkok

    Named after the Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal (Lumbini), Lumphini Park is central Bangkok’s largest and most popular park. Its 58 hectares are home to an…

  • Thai Buddhist temple Wat Suthat.

    Wat Suthat

    Banglamphu

    Other than being just plain huge and impressive, Wat Suthat also holds the highest royal temple grade. Inside the wí·hăhn (sanctuary for a Buddha…

  • South East Asia, Thailand, Bangkok, Samphanthawong district, Chinatown, Wat Traimit temple which houses the Golden Buddha

    Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha)

    Chinatown

    The attraction at Wat Traimit is undoubtedly the impressive 3m-tall, 5.5-tonne, solid-gold Buddha image, which gleams like, well, gold. Sculpted in the…

  • Wat Benchamabophit.

    Wat Benchamabophit

    Bangkok

    You might recognise this iconic temple from its impression on the back of the ubiquitous Thai 5B coin. Also referred to as the Marble Temple, it was…

  • Cycling in Bangkok at Sunset

    Talat Mai

    Chinatown

    With some two centuries of commerce under its belt, New Market is no longer an entirely accurate name for this strip of commerce. Regardless, this is…

  • Bangkokian Museum

    Bangkok

    Comprising three early-20th-century wooden bungalows, the charming Bangkokian Museum illustrates an often-overlooked period of Bangkok's history. The main…

  • Talat Noi

    Chinatown

    This microcosm of soi (lane) life is named after a small (nói) market (đà·làht) that sets up between Soi 22 and Soi 20, along the atmospheric Soi Wanit…

  • SkyWalk at King Power Mahanakhon

    Bangkok

    Offering an unparalleled 360-degree view of Bangkok's cityscape, this two-tiered viewpoint is perched atop King Power Mahanakhon, currently Thailand’s…

  • Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall

    Dusit Palace Park

    Bangkok

    Following his first European tour in 1897, Rama V (King Chulalongkorn; r 1868–1910) returned with visions of European castles and set about transforming…

  • Temple in National Museum Bangkok Thailand

    National Museum

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Thailand's National Museum is home to an impressive collection of items dating from throughout the country's glittering past. Most of the museum's…

  • Thammasat University

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Much of the saga that followed Thailand’s transition from monarchy to democracy has unfolded on this quiet riverside campus. Thammasat University was…

  • Wat Bowonniwet Vihara's golden stupa

    Wat Bowonniwet

    Banglamphu

    Founded in 1826, Wat Bowonniwet (known colloquially as Wat Bowon) is the national headquarters for the Thammayut monastic sect, a reformed version of Thai…

  • Phra Pathom Chedi

    Bangkok Region

    This massive stupa, rising more than 120m, is one of the tallest Buddhist monuments in the world. Its name in Sanskrit roughly translates to 'first…

  • Phra Sumen Fort, Banglamphu.

    Phra Sumen Fort & Santi Chai Prakan Park

    Banglamphu

    Formerly the site of a sugar factory, Santi Chai Prakan Park is now a tiny patch of greenery with a great river view and lots of evening action, including…

  • Wooden boats busy ferrying people at Amphawa floating market.

    Amphawa

    Bangkok Region

    This sleepy canalside village has become a popular destination among Bangkok's city folk, who come here to enjoy its quintessential semirural setting. The…

  • Mahakan Fort at Dusk

    Mahakan Fort

    Banglamphu

    Dating back to the late 18th century, whitewashed Mahakan Fort is one of two surviving citadels that defended the old walled city. The octagonal fort is a…

  • BANGKOK, THAILAND - 2013/10/19: Santa Cruz Church, known to Thais as Wat Kudichin, sits along the banks of the Chao Phraya River. After the fall of Ayutthaya, King Taksin gave the Portuguese a plot of land for the building of a catholic church in Thonburi, the new capital. The current Santa Cruz Church was built in Italian style.  A famous Thai cake is named after Santa Cruz Church "Khanom Farang Kudichin".. (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Church of Santa Cruz

    Chinatown

    Centuries before Sukhumvit became Bangkok's international district, the Portuguese claimed fa·ràng (Western) supremacy on a riverside plot of land given…

  • Pak Khlong Talat Flower Market

    Flower Market

    Chinatown

    In 2016, as part of a cleaning drive, Bangkok's famous and formerly streetside flower market – also called Pak Khlong Talat – was moved indoors. Within…

  • Crowded wooden boats in canal with fruits, vegetables, foods and grocery products for sell and trade by villagers at Tha Kha traditional floating market.

    Tha Kha Floating Market

    Bangkok Region

    This is probably Thailand's most real-feeling floating market, but it's also the most difficult to reach. A handful of vendors coalesce along an open…

  • 500px Photo ID: 64838859 - Sanphet Prasat Palace, Anciet City, Bangkok

    Ancient City

    Bangkok Region

    Don’t have the time to see Thailand’s most famous historic monuments? Then consider visiting scaled-down versions of them in what claims to be the largest…

  • Views from the "Artist's House" in Bangkok, Thailand.

    Artist's House

    Bangkok

    Sort of a gallery, kind of a coffeeshop, more a cultural centre… It's tough to categorise this old wooden house on Khlong Bang Luang in Thonburi. There's…

  • Sanam Luang

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    On a hot day, Sanam Luang (Royal Field) is far from charming: a shadeless expanse of dying grass and concrete pavement ringed by flocks of pigeons and…

  • Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park and botanical garden.

    Si Nakhon Kheun Khan Park

    Bangkok Region

    This is a vast botanical garden with a large lake and birdwatching tower in Bangkok's Phrapradaeng Peninsula. The wilderness is fantastic for hiking,…

  • Royal Barges National Museum

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    The royal barges are slender, fantastically ornamented vessels used in ceremonial processions. The tradition of using them dates back to the Ayuthaya era,…

  • King Prajadhipok Museum

    Banglamphu

    This museum assembles old photos and memorabilia to illustrate the rather dramatic life of Rama VII (King Prajadhipok; r 1925–35), Thailand's last…

  • Democracy Monument

    Banglamphu

    The Democracy Monument is the focal point of the grand, European-style boulevard that is Th Ratchadamnoen Klang. As the name suggests, it was erected to…

  • BANGKOK, THAILAND - December 13, 2014: Dream World amusement park.

    Dream World

    Bangkok

    This is an expansive amusement park north of the city that boasts a snow room.

  • Siriraj Medical Museum

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Collectively dedicated to anatomy, pathology and forensic sciences, this museum has a somewhat atypical (bordering on macabre) array of exhibits ranging…

  • Sao Ching-Cha

    Banglamphu

    This spindly red arch – a symbol of Bangkok – formerly hosted a Brahmin festival in honour of Shiva, in which participants would swing in ever higher arcs…

  • Ban Baat

    Banglamphu

    The residents of Ban Baat inhabit the only remaining village of three established in Bangkok by Rama I (King Phraphutthayotfa Chulalok; r 1782–1809) to…

  • Museum Siam

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    This fun museum's collection employs a variety of media to explore the origins of the Thai people and their culture. Housed in a European-style 19th…

  • Silpakorn University

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Thailand’s universities aren’t usually repositories for interesting architecture, but Silpakorn (pronounced sĭn lá þà gorn), the country’s premier art…

  • Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

    Bangkok Region

    This 100-year-old floating market – once one of Thailand's prestige tourist attractions – is now essentially a floating souvenir stand filled with hordes…

  • Saranrom Royal Garden

    Ko Ratanakosin & Thonburi

    Easily mistaken for a European public garden, this Victorian-era green space was originally designed as a royal residence in the time of Rama IV. After…

  • Wat Ratchanatdaram

    Banglamphu

    This temple was built for Rama III (King Phranangklao; r 1824–51) in the 1840s, and its design is said to derive from metal temples built in India and Sri…